Negotiating directly with sellers - tips required!

zappahey

mrobbo wrote: »

Thanks Sunnylooloo

The thing is, the house is of an exceptional standard. If we don't go up to asking price (which at this stage, I'm not planning on), he'd have every right to say, "If you don't buy it at asking price, then someone else will", which to be fair, would be true imo. I'll be honest - I'd be gutted to see someone else grab it and for us to lose out.

You seem to be talking yourself up to full asking, so you might as well just pay it and save yourself the stress.

If you're talking about it as "your" house, you've already lost the negotiation because you'll find it difficult to walk away.

Sunnylooloo

Hi Robbo

I agree with Zappahey it looks like you set your heart on the house.

Speak to the agent - ask about interst... how many views/2nd views - they should be about to tell you that - ask them how the current market is in your area - are things selling quickly - for asking?

I know that in the area my partner works in - they have has one of the busiest Dec/Jan's in a long while and things have gone above asking price - esp with FTB under 250.

My boss had also just purchased a house in central london - and was going to go in lower but was advised to go in at asking otherwise he would lose it - so offered asking - the house has not even got as far as going on the internet - but obv this is London.

When are you planning to chat to him?

can you afford the asking price?

I see no harm at trying the 145K - worst case come up to asking. Are things included like white goods? etc? Also ask him that if he does accept your offer will he be taking it off the market etc......

I know the agent selling my house acutually gave me the offer from my purchasers in front of them and I was a bit taken aback - as i prefer dealing throught the agent. As your vendor is a builder he may have had other properties so prefers the face to face way.

I really hope it goes well for you - so exciting!

hazyjo

Don't rush back with counteroffers. I had an investor buy off me - all the negotiations were done via the EA, but he bought my washing machine and two wardrobes. Not quite at the same level as spending thousands, and I'm usually pretty good with negotiating and sticking to my guns, but I found it horrendous dealing with even such small sums face to face with him! I kinda knew what I would accept (and probably got more than I thought I'd get, think it was over £100 for the lot), but he did absolutely throw me with what he'd come back with each time as it was the working out bit that was hard.

Can't remember figures, but say I started on £160, wanting £120 or £90 absolute minimum, he came back with say £90, I was then umming and ahhing and suggested say £140 min, and I think eventually we got down to a hundred-odd. It was those inbetween bits where your brain stops working and you're thinking OMG what's inbetween those two figures, and how much is my minimum, and if I say this then what should I suggest knowing he'll come back with whatever figure...

Doing that with tens/hundreds of thousands must be very difficult!

Take it slow. Might help to have someone in another room saying you want to discuss each offer in private. You might find you only throw a couple of prices back at each other, or he accepts say your 2nd offer, but just be careful as he'll know these 'quick-fire' tricks better than you

Jx

Yorkie1

If he has verbally indicated that he will leave lots of oak furniture, I'd make sure you include that in your offer - and put it in writing if agreed. Otherwise you haven't included it in your offer and might get a nasty surprise when you get the seller's paperwork through and he hasn't included it in the sale goods - you have to renegotiate to include those items at that point.

DVardysShadow

hazyjo wrote: »

Don't rush back with counteroffers. I had an investor buy off me - all the negotiations were done via the EA, but he bought my washing machine and two wardrobes. Not quite at the same level as spending thousands, and I'm usually pretty good with negotiating and sticking to my guns, but I found it horrendous dealing with even such small sums face to face with him! I kinda knew what I would accept (and probably got more than I thought I'd get, think it was over £100 for the lot), but he did absolutely throw me with what he'd come back with each time as it was the working out bit that was hard.

Can't remember figures, but say I started on £160, wanting £120 or £90 absolute minimum, he came back with say £90, I was then umming and ahhing and suggested say £140 min, and I think eventually we got down to a hundred-odd. It was those inbetween bits where your brain stops working and you're thinking OMG what's inbetween those two figures, and how much is my minimum, and if I say this then what should I suggest knowing he'll come back with whatever figure...

Doing that with tens/hundreds of thousands must be very difficult!

Take it slow. Might help to have someone in another room saying you want to discuss each offer in private. You might find you only throw a couple of prices back at each other, or he accepts say your 2nd offer, but just be careful as he'll know these 'quick-fire' tricks better than you

Jx

This is where as both buyer and seller, the Agent is so useful. He gives everyone an excuse to take some space for themselves.

the_flying_pig

I do have some [limited] experience in trying to buy directly from someone rather than going through an EA.

It's really difficult to reach an agreement IMO.

If a seller lists his house for sale with a decent EA & on rightmove then he knows beyond reasonable doubt that the highest offer he's had within a month or two is, at that point in time, probably the best he'll do & a good representation of what his house is worth. So he'll accept it.

But if you try and negotiate one to one then, well, the seller never quite knows what he can get elsewhere so never quite knows what to accept. Quite often he'll find it hard not to insist on a price that the seller can't live with, meaning that there's no sale.

The only thing be gained by avoiding EAs is saving the 2.5% [or whatever it is] EA's commission, which isn't chicken feed of course but frankly the uncertainty/error margin in valuing a house is usually quite a bit more than 2.5%.

A good middle ground between an EA & doing it yourself is going with an internet only EA, usually much cheaper, provided it uses rightmove & whatnot, e.g. a quick google search found this place, no idea if it's good or not - http://www.hatched.co.uk/hitchin/?gclid=CISFtLHN6a0CFYQLtAodFx7c6w.

[edit - I reread the whole thread & realised that my response is answering the wrong question. still, I'll leave it up in case anyone is interested in the answer to that particular question...]

hazyjo

DVardysShadow wrote: »

This is where as both buyer and seller, the Agent is so useful. He gives everyone an excuse to take some space for themselves.

Agree. Had a bloody awful buyer who kept trying to 'negotiate' on a house I was selling. I wouldn't budge and he was persistent enough to make me feel extremely uncomfortable. He was showing other house details to me saying what else he could get (horrible houses/flats in not such nice areas/roads). I kept telling him to go buy one of them as I would not entertain dropping as much as he wanted (crazy amounts). I also kept telling him to deal with the EA as I had no desire to negotiate face to face.

In the end, I told the EA I wouldn't sell to him even if he paid double the asking price. Horrible man.

So, just as an afterthought, mrobbo, don't forget you may not actually reach an agreement! Pretty sure you will if he has a price range, but I'd definitely be trying to negotiate under that.

Do your research into sold prices nearby for similar properties, and print off lists/details and take with you if it goes in your favour.

Jx

DVardysShadow

hazyjo wrote: »

Agree. Had a bloody awful buyer who kept trying to 'negotiate' on a house I was selling. I wouldn't budge and he was persistent enough to make me feel extremely uncomfortable. He was showing other house details to me saying what else he could get (horrible houses/flats in not such nice areas/roads). I kept telling him to go buy one of them as I would not entertain dropping as much as he wanted (crazy amounts). I also kept telling him to deal with the EA as I had no desire to negotiate face to face.

As buyer, many years ago I was interested in a house where the seller was buying a new build which would not be ready for 6 months. As it happened, I was in a position where I could accommodate that and give the buyer a long contract, enabling him to fix his buying price. I asked for a discount to reflect the value of that contract. The Agent then sent me to the seller to discuss directly.

Silly blighter had heard the outline of my proposition and as soon as I went through the door started telling me that he was not going to pay my living expenses for the 6 months. I tried explaining what I was asking for and he went off on an even bigger rant. I walked out in the end.

zappahey

Though there is a perception that the agent is on the side of the seller, that's not strictly true.

The agent is as keen as anyone else to get the sale through as no sale means no fee. The agent has a role to play in persuading the seller to work on the price and make the sale happen, so while it's easy to see the agent as the enemy they can also be an ally.

Sunnylooloo

zappahey wrote: »

Though there is a perception that the agent is on the side of the seller, that's not strictly true.

The agent is as keen as anyone else to get the sale through as no sale means no fee. The agent has a role to play in persuading the seller to work on the price and make the sale happen, so while it's easy to see the agent as the enemy they can also be an ally.

This is very true