Help, is the EA telling the truth?

Christal_2

Me and my hubby has been looking for a small flat for some time, went to this agency the other day and he showed me a property which is on the market for 122500, it's a nice little place and we are quite interested after seeing it.

But what makes me feel uncomfortable is when I was sitting in his office looking through the details, he told me this property was sale agreed for 121500 some weeks ago, and for some reason the buyer just disappeared so the owner has to put it back on the market again. There has already been another offer on this property for 119000 but the owner insists on 120000, so this is not sold, blah blah....

On one hand I do appreciate him giving me all this information since it does make me know more about the property and the seller position, but on the other hand........is EA not suppose to disclose the exact figure of how much the other offer is and how much exactly the owner want?

I'm a bit confused cause the EA looks like a very professional and nice guy, so he may well be helping me out on the sale, but it's also possible that he is just trying to squeeze as much as he could, cause from the look on my face he can tell I'm not much experienced at all!

It would be very much appreciated if anyone can share some comments/experience, thanks.

towseriv

What do you think it is worth and can you afford that amount are the only two questions needed. Do you feel comfortable at that price? Would you want to try and offer under and be happy to raise it slightly if it was turned down?

Guy_Montag

The EA works for the seller not for you, they will try to get the best price possible for them. They are not your friend!

Angela_D_3

I wonder what the vendor would think of him illegally revealing what the other offer is ?

Christal_2

Thanks Guy and towseriv for your quick reply. I think we will be happy to pay something around 115-117K, no more than 118K. We both quite like the place so have thought about offer something like that, but the EA did meantion something like he was wasting his time with the buyer who offered 119K, that obviously made me feel a bit uncomfortable to offer something below......

Guy_Montag

yeah, he'd hate to only make £1190 off the deal rather than £1180 (or whatever). Successful salesmen, in whatever field, know how to tweak the customer to get the highest price for their goods.

Do you really want this place? Well if you're prepared to lose it & take another one then that gives you some leverage. Personally, I would offer more than 10% under as an opening offer, then negotiate up. If the EA gets annoyed, remind them they are obliged to pass on all offers to the vendor.

Of course, I've never bought a place!

towseriv

Just offer what you think is wort. When I was buying I recieved advice from here to also write down the details of your offer and post them through the letter box of the current owner, just incase the EA 'forgets' to pass the offer on or tries to massage your offer into a less positive light.

Christal_2

Writing an offer leter and post through the letter box is great idea, but the agent said the current owner is away in Australia.......so it looks like he is cutting every possibility for me to improve the offer chance myself.......anway thanks for all the great advice, I now have to think really hard if it's worth it or not. Would feel I'm quite stupid if I just go for the amount he says, cause like you guys said he works for the seller and his commission, the more I pay the more he gets.....

Guy, I always think to offer something like 10% lower, but tried it last week offered something like 7% lower than the asking price on one property. got turned down pretty instant. This technique can only be used when the market is not great......

clutton_2

have you checked on https://www.nethouseprices.co.uk or https://www.rightmove.co.uk to find out what houses in this street have actually sold fo r?

Christal_2

Have done the checking, similar ones has been selling for between 110-115K, that's why we don't want to pay more than 118K.......

What puzzles me is if the EA is telling the truth, then I won't even need to bother offering anything below 119K cause obviously the seller won't sell......but what if he is not........

willis

Hi,
When I bought my first house I placed an offer of 133k (asking price 140k) which was turned down and the e.a said the vendor would only accept 137 and above. I called 10 mins later and offered 135, which the vendor accepted.
Take everything an e.a tells you with a big pinch of salt. I'd offer 118 anyway, the worst they can do is say no, but they just might say yes.
Good luck.