Estate agents tricks? 22 September 2010 at 9:56PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in House Buying, Renting & Selling 8 replies 6.5K views

melmo

we viewed a property on a Sat and liking it rang back on the monday to book a second viewing. It has been on at 197000 for several months and is ex rental so we were considering starting at 10% under given the current market and our position as ftb.

Then a few hours before the second viewing the estate agent rang and basically said he wanted to gauge how much we might offer as if it was "only" 185 then there was no point in viewing and that they had another interested ftb so I would need offer about 193 to get the seller to "swap". I said I wasn't interested in getting into a bidding war and didn't think it was worth that much. (2 weeks later there is no change on right move)

Last night we went to view another place and the estate agent seemed to guess we liked it as by the time we had viewed it had gone from "a repossession" to "we have several offers the highest being a cash buyer with 183000" (its on for 189000)

Am I just being cynical thinking these are tricks or is this what i should expect? any advice appreciated.

Yorkie1

Have a look at this thread for starters ...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2693791

DVardysShadow

Put a note through the vendor's door, saying what you have been told and that if it is true, you respect it, but otherwise you would be interested in viewing. Be a little vague on prices and only deal with what the EA said.

Jinx

What a cheek!! You dont actually have to discuss what you 'might' offer with the EA. Just call up and rebook a 2nd viewing and say that you havent decided how much to offer, if you will offer at all!!

I can understand the EA trying to make you think its a much sought after property so you will put in a fab bid which increases the commission or it may be that the vendor has said they will only accept offers over xxx so the EA doesnt want to miss Corrie doing a viewing but either way there is no excuse.

If all else fails, knock at the door of any house you are interested in. Its how Ive bought all my houses (and Im an ex estate agent).

melmo

the offer through the door is a great idea - unfortunately in this case it was being rented and is currently empty.

the first house is also on with another estate agent so out of curiosity I rang to enquire. They have offered me a viewing on Sat!

firstaspect

I never tell the EA anything about what i might offer or even if I'm interested at all. If they ask I just say I'm thinking about it. If they then want to not let me view something because of that then it's up to them. When I'm ready to make an offer I will then ring to discuss.

satchmeister

melmo wrote: »

we viewed a property on a Sat and liking it rang back on the monday to book a second viewing. It has been on at 197000 for several months and is ex rental so we were considering starting at 10% under given the current market and our position as ftb.

Then a few hours before the second viewing the estate agent rang and basically said he wanted to gauge how much we might offer as if it was "only" 185 then there was no point in viewing and that they had another interested ftb so I would need offer about 193 to get the seller to "swap". I said I wasn't interested in getting into a bidding war and didn't think it was worth that much. (2 weeks later there is no change on right move)

Last night we went to view another place and the estate agent seemed to guess we liked it as by the time we had viewed it had gone from "a repossession" to "we have several offers the highest being a cash buyer with 183000" (its on for 189000)

Am I just being cynical thinking these are tricks or is this what i should expect? any advice appreciated.

Eh that's why you want a second viewing, to help decide on what sort of offer to make ... (oh, and there is no other offer)

betmunch

EA's are not allowed to make up an offer to get you to increase your own offer.

We have a situation like this right now.

Client A offers X
two days later Client B offers X+2
Client A is informed and asked if he would like to increase his offer, which he does to X+5
Shortly after Client A asks for an email to confirm we have recieved an offer after his first offer!!!

I can only assume that he thinks we are lying, which we are not. However I can see you suspect it looks! Its really going to hit the fan when Client B returns from holiday and offers X+10 or something!!!!

hazyjo

We've been trying to buy/move for about 9 months now (not much further forward!). The first few houses we offered on, they declined. They really weren't bad offers - we were led to believe each time by the EA that there was LOADS of interest on them and that they had 2nd or 3rd viewings booked in. Funny how two of those same houses were on the market 8 months later - one's dropped £25k in total now (and is still on the market) - about £10k more than we'd offered - bet they're kicking themselves(!), and the other took forever to sell (dunno at what price).

Basically, work to your own timescale and try to accept the fact early on that if you lose something, you lose it. If you want to make an offer, do so. Don't be influenced by what they're saying others have offered. It's not all about money in this market - are you in a chain? If not, you're a better bet than someone who is, even if they can pay another £10k or whatever.

Jx