It's starting to feel like lowering the price was the wrong thing to do....

Horizon81

If it bothers you that much then put the price back up. Or hold firm for the 125k you really want.

Davesnave

I still don't know what this thread is about.

You want to sell quickly, so you have put the place on at a price which is attracting interest. This is leading to the usual offers well under, so it's now down to you & your agent to negotiate the price up a bit closer to the figure you seek.

If it really is a bargain, and there are people in your area who can afford it, then that will be self-evident to them. If not, then at least you know that you got all the likely suspects through the door.

Keeping your house at a price which attracts no interest does no one any favours.

krlyr

From a buyer's POV, we had a budget and we looked at properties about £5-10k over budget with the view that if we really liked them we'd make an offer of our highest limit and see what happened - no loss if they turned it down as we knew we couldn't physically stretch to any more, but always worth a try just incase (and we'd read that offering 10% less than the asking price wasn't a total no-no, that seemed to be deemed the maximum to drop but not a total faux pas to offer the whole 10% less). The people who've made low offers may have a similar strategy in place - if you'd priced the house at £140k and the most they could do was £120k then they may not have made the offer.
Not to mention that if the buyers can see you've dropped so much already, they have possible reason to believe you'd drop again. Our seller dropped his house £20k from its original price and still had little interest so we cheekily offered a bit less (managed to stick an extra £1k on our maximum offer, but it was the very highest we could go) and he accepted. I think you've possibly shot yourself in the foot by dropping so much.

skinnyman9000

The potential buyers seem to be doing as all buyers do at the minute, take the asking price, lop off 10%, make an offer, pretty standard practice. Even if they feel the house is worth £125k they'd be foolish to make that their first offer. The initial offer is a starting point for negotiating, its very rare that the buyer will expect this to be accepted, they'll be expecting a counter offer, and so the dance begins.

Different buyers have different strategies. We're looking to buy next year, and our top limit is £120k, so we're looking at houses that are on for £130k, knowing that we're not likely to pay the asking price, and the sellers know this, they would be foolish to put the house up for the minimum they're willing to take. So all in all, you might be offended with the offers, but don't be. You clearly have a connection with the house because you're upset by the offers, but to the buyers you're just another seller to play the game with, of which there are plenty.

brit1234

When estate agents are telling sellers to increase the asking price to cover any lower offers what is a buyer to do other than offer far less than the asking price.

moneybunny123

An update.... We had our third viewing in three weeks yesterday and before the morning was out a third offer - they offered £125k. It was their absolute limit, but they loved it so much that they just wanted to do their best to try and secure it. The EA assured us that they couldn't offer a penny more, and they were such lovely people and so excited at the possibility of living here that it was impossible to turn down. I even managed to negotiate a little more off the EA fees - so great result all round!

Paid £152k six years ago, and valued at £145k 3 months ago - so they are getting a bargain (I think) but then so are we with our next place. Going to bed a happy (money)bunny now

Davesnave

moneybunny123 wrote: »

they are getting a bargain (I think) but then so are we with our next place. Going to bed a happy (money)bunny now

Exactly how we felt a couple of years ago. We sold at a price well below the previous market value, went into rented and only viewed property where it looked like the vendors would deal, recouping our 'lost' money inside 9 months.

Thanks for the update.

steve1980

Caveat_Mortgagor wrote: »

The agents dont tell you what they think it will sell for, they tell you a number that they believe will win the instruction. As such you can discount their figures - the only relevance those figures have is that you can guarantee the actual selling price will be lower.

You have two would be buyers offering very similar amounts.

The £10k you've spent sounds like money spent on personalising the property - landscaped gardens and new carpets arent generally considered to be improvements that will increase the price - unless you watch re-runs of property programmes from around the time you bought!

You havent mentioned in this thread what other similar properties in your street are selling for. Dont be offended at this suggestion, but did you get the house for a good price when you bought? If you overpaid then - it will only be driven home now and may be why they are offering so much less than you paid.

Has your agent tried to get the two bidders to compete against each other?

Might be worth agent telling them that they have rival bidders and the first to offer £125k wins - see how that goes.

Good luck!

G_M wrote: »

Ignore the price the EA tells you - as said above, they just want your business.

And ignore what they tell you the people offering are saying - again, the EA just wants you to accept so they get their commission.

Only YOU can decide
a) what you think it's worth and
b) what you're willing to sell for
c) which depends to some extent how much of a hurry you're in.

If you want/need/expect more, just decline the offers and say you want more.

One of the reasons why I left Estate Agency. So many companies just went in over the top it became stupid.

OP, only you can decide what is a fair price for your home.

sugarwalsh

Why not go for the part exchange offer of £140,000?

If you didn't want low offers then I am at a loss as to why you put your house on market £20,000 below what EA's suggested and lower than the price you had been offered. Why not put it back on at £140000? I feel you may have shot yourself in the foot as people are sensing a bargain due to the big price fall. They probably think you are desperate. If you are not then wait until the right offer comes in. If you are, take up the part exchange offer or the lower offers.

MEgan

serious_saver

Don't be disheartened. There are a lot of people out there at the moment who are offering low in the hope of a bargain.

Just because you are getting low offers that doesn't mean that's all you will get.

Your offers so far have probably come from people like me, who have a set price in mind but not necessarily looking for something specific.

Personally I've put a couple of offers on properties that were above my budget on the off chance that the seller is desperate to move quickly. Most have been rejected outright but one very nearly came off.

It probably doesn't help that we're coming into December and it's an incredibly quiet time of year for the property market. If your house was on in the spring then I expect that it would fly off at the price you've gone for.