Advice on ESTATE AGENT TRICKS

kingstreet

Can't read. Sorry - ignore!

hazyjo

If it's on with 3 agents, I'd say they were desperate.

Has it just been reduced? How long's it been on market?

Jx

julieq

They're also manipulating you into offering around the asking price.

You should be looking at a 10% discount minimum as a starting position, so that's a 225 rather than 250, and you might want to try 220 or even lower, depending on what similar places are going for, you can always up the offer. You've mentally pushed your price up for fear of losing the house because this pressure is being put on you.

Believe me there are plenty of houses in the world and you're in a strong position. So don't be afraid to walk away.

RedfordML

Personally I would not be looking to pay any more that £235 on any house that is valued at £250k (obv area dependant)

Think sit tight, wait till Sat and play your hand slowly, IF you put an offer in, dont do anything for 7 days if rejected etc, allowing the EA to sweat a little!! As others have said being on with 3 agents suggests they are very keen to get rid and I think this is only another advantage for you, you hold all the cards, don't rush and I actually think you could get a bargain!!

Good luck with any purchase you go onto make...

fairyfaye1986

julieq wrote: »

They're also manipulating you into offering around the asking price.

You should be looking at a 10% discount minimum as a starting position, so that's a 225 rather than 250, and you might want to try 220 or even lower, depending on what similar places are going for, you can always up the offer. You've mentally pushed your price up for fear of losing the house because this pressure is being put on you.

Believe me there are plenty of houses in the world and you're in a strong position. So don't be afraid to walk away.

That is damn good advice thank you :-) So would you always recommend going in 10% lower? I have no qualms about walking away from it. Just never know where to start with price! Ive checked local prices etc

fairyfaye1986

hazyjo wrote: »

If it's on with 3 agents, I'd say they were desperate.

Has it just been reduced? How long's it been on market?

Jx

only been on market a few weeks and the vendor (who doesnt give a figg as its out of hes hand) said they have had an open day and the only second viewing they had was last night

fairyfaye1986

RedfordML wrote: »

Personally I would not be looking to pay any more that £235 on any house that is valued at £250k (obv area dependant)

Think sit tight, wait till Sat and play your hand slowly, IF you put an offer in, dont do anything for 7 days if rejected etc, allowing the EA to sweat a little!! As others have said being on with 3 agents suggests they are very keen to get rid and I think this is only another advantage for you, you hold all the cards, don't rush and I actually think you could get a bargain!!

Good luck with any purchase you go onto make...

thank you! vendor has said property was valued at 280,000 but they will take anything 250,000 upwards (like i said he doesnt care as hes sold it to company) but then i found it a bit strange that if valued at 280,000 they would put it on at 250,000 me thinks that was a little white lie

julieq

I think in this market I'd always be putting in a cheeky low offer, and 10% would be a minimum discount. The thing is that it's a process of negotiation and your starting point sets the expectation, but the difficulty (always) with houses is that you do start really liking them, you imagine yourself living there, and you start bidding yourself up. It's almost impossible to avoid.

The way to deal with this is to imagine that you're starting this process next month, and that house has already sold. You'd still find a house you like, probably more. And when you go back to the house, look for the grotty bits, patches of damp, bits behind the kitchen cabinets, and you'll find you'll see things you didn't on the first viewing. Very few places are perfect enough to overpay for.

Happened to me years ago, I remember trying endlessly to talk a seller down on a house I really liked, eventually gave up, 3 days later went to look at somewhere else and it turned out to be far better and got it cheaper. Best of luck though.

sonastin

If the current owner is part-exing with the company you are looking to buy from, have you tried asking the blunt question of how much are they paying him for it. None of this tip-toeing around valuations and "would accept"s. Straightforward, what is the part-ex price. If his deal is done, there is no harm to him in revealing that figure. And if you know what they're paying, you have a good idea of what they are expecting.

hazyjo

fairyfaye1986 wrote: »

So would you always recommend going in 10% lower?

IMO, no - but some are still saying that.

If people just offered 10% under whatever any property was up for, people would just overprice their properties by 10%. They'd get the price they were looking for, and the buyer would think they've got a bargain.

Obviously, some are already doing this (overpricing), others are pricing realistically. It's really down to you to see what similar nearby properties are selling for (not what they're up for), and for you to work out the value.

It's tricky around that £250k mark as, yes, it might well be 'worth' £250-280k if the stamp duty threshold didn't exist. But the SD level has actually forced that value down to £250k.

I first had my old house on at £265k - no chance. Reduced to £250k, got an offer pretty much straight away at £248k. Chain collapsed, ended up repricing at £243k for a quick sale, took an offer at £230k from an investor but knocked the price of the house we were buying down so my buyer got a bit of a bargain (things were selling for more). Just saying that £250k often ends up becoming £230k-odd. I actually had to drop another £1500 cos of various issues (mainly damp).

They want rid, and they want the deal. Not always great for an EA to compete against 2 others as they're not guaranteed the sale if a buyer's found. Whoever you viewed under will be pushing you for it...

Jx