"Guide" asking prices driving me mad

Moonraker71

Accepted an offer on my flat today, fifth person to view and on the market for 16 days so am pretty happy with that

Now I have to find somewhere to buy....

One thing that's driving me mental at the moment is the amount of properties going on sale in my area with a "Guide Price" and a range spanning about £40k. I'm going to look at a place tomorrow that says 'Guide price £280k - £320k' and I have no clue what the thinking behind it is. Can any EAs or anyone with experience shed any light on this? I'm thinking either:

a) They want the top end of the range but are pricing it like that to attract potential buyers who only search up to £280k on Rightmove etc - who they think might be enticed to stretch themselves to the limit if they really loved the property

b) They ideally want somewhere in the middle/top of the range, but would accept £280k as their absolute lowest, and don't want to attract 'timewasting' buyers who would put in offers at £265/£270.

Unfortunately I fall into the second camp, though at a push I could stretch to the bottom of their range. It's such an annoying tactic though. Just tell me the s0dd!ng price!

Obviously I haven't even seen the flat yet, but I'm just thinking about what I would do if I liked it. Has anyone else put in an offer on somewhere with this kind of pricing? What happened?

richardw

Flats can vary in value according to lease length, service charges, upcoming repairs etc.

Go and view it and then go from there.

R_P_W

Pay what u think it is worth! Start below the minimum of the range!

moneyistooshorttomention

I can relate to that.

We have a local EA that does that and it is frustrating thinking "Just what ARE you charging for that house then?" and I tend to assume that the asking price is somewhere around the middle of the given range. Certainly, on comparing with similar properties from other EA's, in this area at least the expected asking price is indeed mid-range of "guide price range".

joujou

I just ignore all the OIEOs and ranges and what have you and offer what the house is worth to me.

I have little faith in EAs using these terms sensibly and logically.

geoffky

What you do when spending a fortune is do some homework.
You check out sold prices for the flats and the area and work from there..
Asking prices are just dreams...Sold prices are real.

mrsmortenharket

This also annoys me.

Sold yesterday.

We now have to ut an offer in in a place we like.

With a guide price range of £50,000.

SG27

joujou wrote: »

I just ignore all the OIEOs and ranges and what have you and offer what the house is worth to me.

I have little faith in EAs using these terms sensibly and logically.

That's pretty much what I did.


I viewed a house with a large guide range and my thinking was why would anyone offer anywhere higher than the lowest end? I decided that I would offer about £20k under that. It was rejected and the agent told me they were looking for near the top of the guide range! I said I think that's way too high and the agent agreed! I think sometimes maybe the agent wants to drop the price and the seller won't budge so they compromise with a guide.

GoldenShadow

EA who came to see my grandparents house said this, guide price of 250-280K with the idea that a cash buyer is much more preferable in our instance hence the lower end for a cash buyer. Supposedly anyway...

Mr_Moo_2

Marketing gimmick, no more, no less. Low end price draws in punters looking at that end of the range, while typically the EA sales pitch to the vendor is that you will achieve towards the upper end of the range.

As already mentioned, do your homework and offer what you think it is worth. As with all offers it's hard to go down from your starting point .....

Moonraker71

Thanks all. Pretty much as I thought. The most I could afford to offer on this particular property would be the lowest end of the range and not a penny more. (Haven't even seen it yet I should add - viewing this afternoon - though it's exactly what I'm looking for on paper.)

I've done my homework thoroughly, the place was last sold in June 2007 for £235k - is now on the market for £280-£300k which sounds like a massive leap considering that was the height of the market, but other similar flats in the surrounding streets are all on the market for the same price if not more, and recent sold prices (there are not many *that* recent, a couple in Dec 12, one in July 12 and one in Nov 11) indicate that prices have indeed risen that much. Crazy money. It's a slightly tricky area as it's all mainly big family houses in this particular part of town and not many have been converted into flats, so not a massive amount of comparisons.

I'm the first person to see it too which is annoying. Be far better if it had already been festering on the market for a while.