Estate agents and their psychological games

nickmack

We're putting our place on the market, so we narrowed our choice down to three estate agents to come and value the property and let us know their terms:

• Estate agent 1, valued property at £144k, with a view to getting at least £140k. Claims to have recently sold an almost identical property for £144k, but this seems excessive for other sold prices we've seen.
  Asked for 1% fee plus Vat and lock in for 16 weeks.

• Estate agent 2, valued property at £139,950, with a view to sell for £135.Very keen young man, bit of a geezer who appears to have Lord Sugar as his idol.
  Asked for 0.9% fee plus Vat and no lock in

• Estate agent 3, valued property at £135k with a view to selling at this price. Again an enthusiastic polite young man.
  Asked for 0.9% fee plus Vat and 2 week lock in.

Initially we thought the decision was fairly easy. We would go with number 2, taking the middle valuation and probably most realistic asking price and best terms.
We felt number 1 had overpriced the property and it may put off potential viewings.

We thought number 3 were being unrealistic expecting a buyer to pay the asking price without negotiating down, psychologically it's not a desirable enough property for people to think they are getting a good deal at the asking price.

We got a contract from number 2 to read through and number 1 called to say he had a cash buyer who wanted to view the property. He said he would bring them around today and didn't need us to sign any contract until they made an offer. We told him we didn't want to be tied in for 16 weeks and he said he would drop that and also reduce the fee to match the other agent.

We said this seemed to be ok, but we would like to wait until Monday because the carpets were being cleaned today and the house would look a mess. We asked him why he would show a buyer round with no contract between ourselves, when we could theoretically cut him out of the deal. He said he knew he could sell at this price and it would demonstrate this to us. He then said he was finding us hard work and we were playing games with him, that he'd bent over backwards and what else did he need to do? He said we should go with estate agent 2 and then come back to him when they couldn't sell it at the price we want.

We're thinking either he is the one playing games to get our business (after all who just only goes to one agent and accepts their terms without negotiation) or is supremely confident in his ability to get a sale (maybe both)

It almost seems too good to be true to have a cash buyer before it's even on the market, it's not that seriously desirable and almost all other identical properties have gone for quite a bit less. He also then mentioned, the cash buyer had made an offer on the one he claims to have sold for £144k, but it was not high enough. If this is true, I guess they could have offered £140k, which is why he's so confident he can get this price.

What do you think?

olly300

You are paying the EA.

Tell the EA what you want.

Also if possible make sure one of you is in when a buyer comes round and be very friendly towards them then leave it to the EA to show them around. (Though if the EA is useless you may have to do it.)


The idea for that is if they put in an offer and things are being held up by the EA playing games or the EA is telling them rubbish, the buyer knows you are approachable and so can contact you.

DO NOT in any circumstances negotiate the price with the buyer. Leave that to the EA.

Nearly every buyer I know has had an EA try and play games on them.

Cissi

After reading your first post, my initial reaction was to try negotiating with agent 1 on the fee and lock-in period and go with him. His actions since then would make me stay well away though. His pushy tactics would make me run a mile tbh. Your estate agent is supposed to be working for you, and has absolutely no place to be pushy or put you to an ultimatum. He finds you "hard work" and "playing games with him" and he's been "bending over backwards"??? Forget him, he sounds like such a prima donna you'd never be able work with him in the long term. Just my opinion though!

Ivana_Tinkle

No. 1 overvalued the house (in your opinion, which is almost certainly right!), wants the highest fee and an unreasonably long lock-in, and is now insulting you! Of course he's not going to introduce a real buyer without you signing a contract. Tell him to sling his hook!

michaels

I had an agent round just for a valuation and he called a few days later saying he had a very interested cash buyer to show round if I would just sign up with him to sell - again a lot of me thought this is just a ploy to push me in to selling with that agent, I wonder if this is a common trick?

Dan-Dan

Number 2 all the way , even before reading about number 1`s antics

C_Mababejive

Crooks in smart cars..the lot of them..

nickmack

Actually having thought about it a little more, it could be number 1 is playing a clever game.

If he does bring around the cash buyer on Monday, they're genuine and they do actually make a good offer, he is in a strong position.

Because we haven't signed a contract, assuming he's not cut out, he can ask for better terms because the offer is right there.

If it's a decent offer within a couple of days of looking to sell, I guess many people would not risk turning this down and perhaps waiting months for a similar offer, for the sake of a couple of hundred quid more in commission.

Dan-Dan

nickmack wrote: »

Actually having thought about it a little more, it could be number 1 is playing a clever game.

If he does bring around the cash buyer on Monday, they're genuine and they do actually make a good offer, he is in a strong position.

Because we haven't signed a contract, assuming he's not cut out, he can ask for better terms because the offer is right there.

If it's a decent offer within a couple of days of looking to sell, I guess many people would not risk turning this down and perhaps waiting months for a similar offer, for the sake of a couple of hundred quid more in commission.

You meet cash buyer
He makes offer
You sign NOTHING

You win

=


The cash buyer is fictional

ValHaller

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Number 2 all the way , even before reading about number 1`s antics

He is the one I would kick out of the door immediately. 'geezer' 'sugar as idol' is enough - how will my buyers react to him and his outfit?

3 largely encapsulates 2 - 139500, 139000 and 135000 are essentially different manifestations of the same 140000 ceiling

For me, it is between 1 and 3, although I do have a distaste for 1 bringing on the primed 'buyer'

DaftyDuck

If no 1 has a buyer in mind, he certainly doesn't need a sixteen week lock-in, does he? Of course, if he hasn't got a ready buyer, he might....

The two statements don't match up. Offer him a week to introduce his buyer. Or just tell him to get lost. Anyone that interested in buying your property would find it with any of the 3 agents.