Estate agents and their psychological games

Thrugelmir

nickmack wrote: »

• 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.

It's your house. You set the price.

The EA is merely giving a guide!

Hence why you may be receiving the comments.

nickmack

We just spoke to number 2 who wanted us to sign the contract and come round on Monday to take photos.

We explained that agent 1 claimed to have a 'cash buyer' who he was bringing around on Monday and we were using this to test the water and would see what resulted. Also, we had not instructed anyone yet, so the business was still available.

He then claimed that he has 3 cash buyers and could they all come around Monday as well to look around.

Hmm, time to check their shoes I think...:-)

harpoboy

If this "cash buyer" exists, he or she will very likely have registered with all the local EAs so I'd not put too much emphasis on that.

Kathy535

harpoboy wrote: »

If this "cash buyer" exists, he or she will very likely have registered with all the local EAs so I'd not put too much emphasis on that.

^^this. If a buyer is keen to look round your house, surely it won't matter to them which estate agent you use? If I was a cash buyer (if only!) I'd be on Rightmove and chatting with all the local agents to get in first. I wouldn't be saying 'I'm relying on agent 1 to show me round, if you're with another agent then i won't be calling'.

propertyman

One good test is look at what a potential agent is selling-online, in window, and boards on the street.

If they are selling what you have that generates enquiries that can come your way.


:money:And a cash buyer ready to go, sign a contract if he makes an offer, yeah right. Ask him
"I will sign a contract to pay you half your commission to sell to him alone if he exchanges in 4 weeks and completes a month thereafter. if he doesn't exchange in 4 weeks our contract ends
If he says ok then they buyer might be real..:cool:

propertyman

Young and enthusiastic apart from being discriminatory is a narrow basis to make a choice-
what have they sold of your type recently-
how many applicants do they have -
do many of them typically have properties to sell first -
will they filter out the looky loos from the urgent "needs to buy" and those able to proceed-
when an offer is made what and when do they check their ability to buy no point in accepting an offer on a house that needs modernization when they 100% loans or haven't had their home valued to see if they can sell it.

This sort of discussion and you can see if they are a thoughtful precise agent or one that throws many stray buyer at you hoping one will stick.

What people don't know is that an EA makes money by selling, but they also have targets for getting houses on to sell even if they don't sell them and those that get offers and don't complete.

nickmack

Well, after spending hours tidying, cleaning and getting the house in good order, agent 1 called about 5 minutes before the 'cash buyer' was due to view and said they have cancelled.

We have decided to sign up with agent 2. They are supposed to be doing a viewing tomorrow...

Taiko

Anyone other than me see it coming?

moneyistooshorttomention

Hope this agent 2 works out for you then.

The thought of picking an EA with a lot of similar properties hadn't really occurred to me until pointed out here - anyway my own agent does "right across the range" from cheapest to over £1 million touch - including some like mine. So I guess that will do...

One thing I have noticed about THE agent that does a lot of similar-to-mine properties is there seems to be a distinctly high proportion of their homes that are advertised as "no chain" and I am distinctly suspicious about an agent that is declaring "Many of MY terrace house owners are ready to move into rented or with relatives at the drop of a hat" (as that's what my EA tells me "no chain" is supposed to mean and so I cant state that on mine - though the property and back-up property I have chosen won't put me in a chain).

(ie this "no chain" thing on many of those properties must be a lie that particular EA tells would-be buyers....).

Dan-Dan

Dan-Dan wrote: »

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

*cough*

good luck with your sale! :beer: