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Not quite sure what to make of this...
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Gra76
Posts: 804 Forumite
We're selling at the moment, have had quite a lot of interest in the last few months but mainly from people unable to proceed as they had property on the market too.
Earlier in the week we got a call from our EA about a young couple who were FTB'ers who'd been to see the house a couple of weeks before. They'd narrowed their search down to 3 houses they wanted to see again. Ours was one of them. They wanted to bring their parents with them, which I'd already said wouldn't be a problem at the first viewing.
So they arrived with their parents, I let them wonder around on their own and poke around cupboards etc and when they were done they asked a few questions and then left. Everything was nice and straightforward as expected.
Got another call from the EA the next day to say they really liked it and could they come again the same day to measure up for furniture? Luckily it was my wifes day off so that wasn't a problem.
When they arrived they measured up but mentioned in passing that they wanted to come back a 4th time but with their parents, so the parents could negotiate on price with us. My wife wasn't very comfortable with this as she's not keen on being put on the spot, and it's not really something I fancy doing either, especially when it's something as important as your home. If it was a car I'd do it, but not when it's a house. She didn't want to sound rude so told them to call the EA and discuss it with them.
Then this morning we got a call from the EA to say the FTB'ers had called again and asked if they could come again tomorrow with their parents (but there was no mention of why they wanted to come again).
My wife mentioned to the EA that she thought the intention was for the parents to negotiate with us directly on price, but that she wasn't very comfortable with it and could the EA deal with the negotiating for us. The EA said that's how it's supposed to be anyway, so the EA called the FTB'ers and mentioned to them that if they wanted to make an offer they should really be doing it throught them and not directly with us, as that's what we're paying the EA to do, but that they were still ok to come round if they wanted to.
FTB'ers then said they'd have to call back after speaking with their parents.
When they did, they cancelled the appointment for tomorrow (so it's pretty clear they were only coming to haggle I suspect) and that they'd 'had a re-think' and wanted to look at a couple of other houses before they made a final decision. The EA told us they'll chase them up next week to see what the outcome was.
I can't help thinking this is the start of what is likely to be a game where we get told half a dozen stories to try and get us to lower the price. The annoying thing is that I'm very 'straight-to-the-point' when it comes to money and had already told the parents what we'd realistically accept as I wanted to cut out any of this messing around. I realise this might not make sense until I mention that we're priced £5k above the 1% stamp duty threshold so it doesn't take a genius to work out where offers are going to be topped out at. I figured I'd cut out the games by telling them we would accept 125k. Maybe a mistake, but I know I wouldn't offer more if it was the other way around.
So... What do you think is likely to happen next. I'm pretty confident I already know what the next phone call is going to be, but would be interested to hear another angle other than my own!
Earlier in the week we got a call from our EA about a young couple who were FTB'ers who'd been to see the house a couple of weeks before. They'd narrowed their search down to 3 houses they wanted to see again. Ours was one of them. They wanted to bring their parents with them, which I'd already said wouldn't be a problem at the first viewing.
So they arrived with their parents, I let them wonder around on their own and poke around cupboards etc and when they were done they asked a few questions and then left. Everything was nice and straightforward as expected.
Got another call from the EA the next day to say they really liked it and could they come again the same day to measure up for furniture? Luckily it was my wifes day off so that wasn't a problem.
When they arrived they measured up but mentioned in passing that they wanted to come back a 4th time but with their parents, so the parents could negotiate on price with us. My wife wasn't very comfortable with this as she's not keen on being put on the spot, and it's not really something I fancy doing either, especially when it's something as important as your home. If it was a car I'd do it, but not when it's a house. She didn't want to sound rude so told them to call the EA and discuss it with them.
Then this morning we got a call from the EA to say the FTB'ers had called again and asked if they could come again tomorrow with their parents (but there was no mention of why they wanted to come again).
My wife mentioned to the EA that she thought the intention was for the parents to negotiate with us directly on price, but that she wasn't very comfortable with it and could the EA deal with the negotiating for us. The EA said that's how it's supposed to be anyway, so the EA called the FTB'ers and mentioned to them that if they wanted to make an offer they should really be doing it throught them and not directly with us, as that's what we're paying the EA to do, but that they were still ok to come round if they wanted to.
FTB'ers then said they'd have to call back after speaking with their parents.
When they did, they cancelled the appointment for tomorrow (so it's pretty clear they were only coming to haggle I suspect) and that they'd 'had a re-think' and wanted to look at a couple of other houses before they made a final decision. The EA told us they'll chase them up next week to see what the outcome was.
I can't help thinking this is the start of what is likely to be a game where we get told half a dozen stories to try and get us to lower the price. The annoying thing is that I'm very 'straight-to-the-point' when it comes to money and had already told the parents what we'd realistically accept as I wanted to cut out any of this messing around. I realise this might not make sense until I mention that we're priced £5k above the 1% stamp duty threshold so it doesn't take a genius to work out where offers are going to be topped out at. I figured I'd cut out the games by telling them we would accept 125k. Maybe a mistake, but I know I wouldn't offer more if it was the other way around.
So... What do you think is likely to happen next. I'm pretty confident I already know what the next phone call is going to be, but would be interested to hear another angle other than my own!
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Comments
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I'd say you had a lucky escape, they sound like nightmare buyers who would further haggle at survey and not give you the confidence to complete the sale. I'd stand firm with your decision.0
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I find this behaviour very odd!
I'm a 23-year-old and my boyfriend is 25. We are FTBs and yes our parents did go round with us on our 3rd viewing (particularly because BFs father is gifting us some money towards the deposit) and although we asked for input and advice outside of the viewing we would never have brought them to the table with us!!
Personally I think if you still need your hand held to that extent you shouldn't be buying a house and living alone, god forbid the boiler went or something...First home purchased 09/08/2013
New job start date 24/03/2014
Life is slowly slotting into place :beer:0
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