William h brown???

chris180682

Hi,
Wondered if anyone had any experience or inside knowledge on William H Brown and any specific "tactics" they or any other EA might use. Basically we've offered £110k on a house that's on at £124950 and has been on for well over a year and as expected the opening offer was rejected. That was yesterday. I called back today (probably too soon I know!) and offered £115k stating that we could just about stretch to this. The lady I spoke to was a different one from yesterday and she basically was quite dismissive saying she had the buyers minimum price in front of her and this was not it, other than asking if I could go higher she just left it at that and gave the impression she wouldn't let the seller now or get back to me at all and I didn't get much of a chance to say anything else. The lady yesterday did actually say he wanted £121k which we are not willing to go to as it's virtually the asking price and considering how long it's been on.
Now I know this is all going to be pure speculation as the buyer could have genuinely told them not to entertain any offers below a certain amount but wondered if anyone had any experience which might indicate they are just bluffing a bit and trying to get us to come back higher? I'm now going to try and leave it a least a week or two before thing of upping our offer to our maximum otherwise they are just going to presume we will keep upping it. Leaving it s hard though as the sale of our own house will be going through in this time. Any experience/advice appreciated!

GDB2222

I would make an offer in writing of £110k. They will normally have to pass that on. Then see what happens. Bear in mind that one reason that properties languish on the market is that vendors have not found anywhere to move to. Or they need a minimum amount to clear their mortgage. So these people may not be very interested in your offer.

myhouse_2

EA is trying to get the max price out of you - that's their job. Your job is to make sure you pay a price you're happy with. Put your offer in writing and be prepared to wait it out while the EA hums and haws, complains about your low offer etc etc.
Maybe you'll get the house, maybe you won't. But with an offer that close to the asking price in this market, the vendor should be jumping on you.

evansmummy

Hi,
as difficult as it is when you see a house I would try and play it cool. As you say if it's been on the market over a year they should be happy they've got an offer at all.
Make sure they also know your position i.e if you've got a buyer for yours etc etc. If you've sold your house you're in a really strong position.
Lets hope I take my own advice when I get into this position in the next few weeks! Good luck

chris180682

Thanks for the help/advice. Im wishing i had not called them back so soon but the more i think about it logically the less downbeat i am, im just going to leave it a week or two and hopefully the agent will call back. Our maximum is 118 so thats our last card to play....will keep you updated on how it goes or doesn't as the case may be!
Ps the seller is already living somewhere else so that's another positive but like you say GDB it depends what his financial circumstances are regarding mortgage, etc.

GDB2222

I would definitely keep looking.

Mallotum_X

Keep on looking, sounds like the vendors are happy not to sell their house if its been on for a year.

chris180682

As far as i'm aware i don't think they've had any offers previously but might be wrong. Im constantly looking but tbh we are wanting something in that specific area and this is the only one we like in our price range at the moment. If it doesn't happen we are looking at renting in that area until something else comes along as we csn't risk losing the sale of our house due to the fact it's taken us about 18 months to get an offer.

LandyAndy

Put your final offer in writing to the EA. Send a copy to the vendor.

stokesley

We made a low-ish offer on a William H Brown house about a year ago - it was rejected, but they did put the offer forward to the vendor, and confirmed the rejection on a completed form. We've found that they vary depending on the Branch Manager - our nearest city branch is utterly useless. The local branch is superb, with an extremely able manager.

BTW, the property we offered on is still for sale and has now dropped in price to just over what we offered:D.

botchjob

chris180682 wrote: »

wondered if anyone had any experience which might indicate they are just bluffing a bit and trying to get us to come back higher?

Do the maths. It’s the seller that is refusing to budge, not the estate agent. Estate agents make money by turning over as many properties as they can, as quickly as they can. A property that has been sitting on their books for a year is no use to them whatsoever until it actually sells. I’m sure they’ll be doing all they can to persuade the seller that they may have to revise their bottom line if they actually want to sell.

Assuming a 1.5% commission, the estate agent would earn a whole 90 quid more by selling it for £121k than they would for £115k. The estate agent just wants rid of it and is not going to play silly games for the sake of a few quid either way.

Decide what the house is worth to you, then make your best and final offer to the agent in a decisive and final way. Be candid and friendly and hopefully the agent will make a good case for you to the vendor. Then it’s up to them.

And there’s no point in waiting a week. If I were the vendor I’d take that as a sign of indecisiveness or game playing, neither or which are qualities I’d look for in a buyer. Being straightforward and open is the best approach.