Estate agents and their psychological games

knightstyle

Estate agents are like politicians, if their lips move they are lying!
I wonder if the cash buyer is a plant and will dissapear as soon as you sign up?
Next which agent sold in your area recently and for how much? Go to them and they may have buyers on their books who missed out.

Cissi

knightstyle wrote: »

Estate agents are like politicians, if their lips move they are lying!
I wonder if the cash buyer is a plant and will dissapear as soon as you sign up?

He already has...

nickmack wrote: »

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...

Good luck with the sale OP!

topbargainhunter

I think if the EA is being like this with you when he's touting for business, what will he be like once he's got it, and doesn't need to impress?

He sounds awful, and he would likely put buyers off with his attitude.

nickmack

So, two weeks on and we've had two potential cash buyers and two requiring a mortgage interested.
All have had second viewings and appear keen from the EA feedback forms (I guess they don't put any negative comments on these)


This resulted in:

• An offer of £129,000 from the first cash buyer, this was refused and they came back with another offer of £131,000 which we also refused. Our EA is quite strongly trying to push us into accepting the £131,000, as 'viewings have dried up and it's a good offer'. We believe the EA has dealt with this cash buyer at least once before and will manage their rental of the property if they proceed to buy, so maybe that's why the EA is so keen to tie it up in a short time to minimise their costs and get the management fee from rental.

• An offer of 125,000 from the other cash buyer, refused (I guess they are after those who are desperate to sell)

• The first viewers requiring a mortgage apparently cannot raise more than £125,000, which they've been told we already refused (surely the estate agent should have checked their position?)

• No offer from the other viewing requiring a mortgage yet

For us two weeks after putting on the market appears to be a bit quick for our EA to appear to give up. Unless they see our property as a quick sale to earn their commission without incurring too many costs. We asked why he told us he was pretty confident he could get £135,000 only two weeks ago when it went on the market. His reply was that they may have over-estimated a little.

Luckily, we have no tie in and only two weeks notice with this EA, so if they don't have anything else to bring to the table, we can jump ship if need be.

lessonlearned

A £131K offer on an asking price of £135k is a great offer - especially as it is a cash buyer. This is less than 3%.

Snatch their hand off.

WebGuru

The EA is playing you big time. Honestly, do you expect cash buyers just to appear out of nowhere?

They are devious I am afraid. I'll never use one again.

nickmack

lessonlearned wrote: »

A £131K offer on an asking price of £135k is a great offer

I agree , however £139,950 is the asking price. We're looking for and the EA claimed he was pretty confident we could get £135,000. You still think we should accept this after two weeks being on the market?

lessonlearned

Sorry I assumed your asking price was £135K.

Can you play for time, rather than rejecting it outright. Say you need time to review your finances and mull it over.

Make them sweat a little - they might up their offer.

Would you be happy if you could squeeze them up to £133K.

How much do you know about your would be buyers. Is there anything you can throw in to the deal to make it more attractive.

What would appeal most to them - it isn't always about money either.

Can you throw in some goodies that you no longer need or want and which are worthless to you, ie furniture, blinds, curtains, light fittings etc.

Are they in a mega hurry to complete - can you offer them an ultra quick completion if they are prepared to up their offer.

These are "little extras" which you can use as leverage to get a better price and clinch the deal.

Always remember when negotiating what you are looking for is a win-win scenario where everyone gets what they want (or as near as dammit) and everyone walks away smiling.

Remember these classic phrases "If you do this then I will do that". "If you give me ABC then I will give you XYZ".

You should never reject a good offer out of hand. Ask for time and then they will be aware that you are giving it serious consideration.

Leave it over the weekend and see if you get any more viewers. This will give you more time to think and the would-be buyer time to reflect.

If they try to pressure you for a quick answer say you cannot do that because the offer is much lower than you were hoping for and you need time to go over your figures/discuss it with your partner (or parents or whoever).

If you decide you are still not happy, then go back and tell them so and offer them the chance to make another offer.

Try to keep the door open for a few days.

Remember - the traditional "Spring Surge" is drawing to a close, a couple of weeks at most now. Once you get into July then the market tends to go back to sleep through July and August. so think carefully.

Obviously only you know your bottom line so ultimately you will have to decide what is or is not acceptable or realistic for you.

Perelandra

By "cash buyer" do they mean someone with £131k in cash, or do they mean someone who doesn't have a property to sell but who will need a mortgage? Sometimes estate agents can get a little confused over what "cash buyer" actually means...

It can help, when deciding whether to accept or not, to consider hypothetical alternatives for example:

If you had two offers on the table, one of which was a cash buyer at £131k, and the second was from someone in a chain who had offered £135k, which would you prefer?

If the answer is "£131k cash", then it's a good offer. If the answer is "£135k chain", then... I admit it's harder to work out if it's a good offer or not, as that one's not actually on the table.

nickmack

Perelandra wrote: »

By "cash buyer" do they mean someone with £131k in cash, or do they mean someone who doesn't have a property to sell but who will need a mortgage? Sometimes estate agents can get a little confused over what "cash buyer" actually means...

According to the EA they have confirmed funds to cover the full purchase price available in their bank account, so they don't need to sell anything or obtain a mortgage.

So, if true, they are in a good position, but we didn't want to drop our trousers below £135,000 with only being on the market two weeks.