Offer expectations - ignore EA?

sterl1ng

Having seen few properties I try to get some idea on whether any offers have been placed whereby the EA then gives me an idea as to what the offers were 'whereas the vendor are looking more around this offer'...in those circumstances is it worth still going with my opening offer despite what EA says as I do wonder whether they are being colourful with truth. Sorry but that's my pessimistic side coming out!

Cissi

I think the majority of posters will advise you to offer what you feel the property is worth - do your research beforehand!

dotdash79

I made 3 offers in total, when i made the second offer I said to the agent if we are miles away from what the vendor wants then let me know otherwise we are wasting time.

I have to say the agent I dealt with were very good.

shortchanged_2

Just remember the golden rule. The EA is acting on behalf of the seller.

So expect plenty of jackanory stories and take a great deal of what they say with a pinch of salt.

dominoman

The agents are experts at skirting with the truth. Place the offer you feel and they will pass it to the seller. The worst that can happen is he will say no.

In that case you have the option to increase, but do it in small steps and don't appear too keen or the agents will ramp you up and up to your absolute limit.

harrup

sterl1ng wrote: »

Having seen few properties I try to get some idea on whether any offers have been placed whereby the EA then gives me an idea as to what the offers were 'whereas the vendor are looking more around this offer'...in those circumstances is it worth still going with my opening offer despite what EA says as I do wonder whether they are being colourful with truth. Sorry but that's my pessimistic side coming out!

Hmmm, I am trying to decipher what your post could mean....

No estate agent, unless they moonlight as a saint, can ever be expected to truthfully reveal the exact price of any other offer made. Or even if there was another offer. Their sole job is to a) introduce a willing and able buyer to the vendor and b) to obtain the very best price for the vendor. Always remember that their client isn't YOU - even though it is you who will will fork out the money for the place - their client is the seller and the agent ONLY works for the seller.

So....whatever they say MIGHT be true. Or it could be pure confabulation. And unless the agent is your BFF whom you have known since kindergarten there is no way for you to distinguish truth from fiction. Not if the EA is halfway competent, anyhow.

Only offer what you think a property is worth and, to a certain extent, what you can afford. As a side note, unless you are a seasoned buyer ( which you aren't) don't make silly offers on properties that are outside your price range anyway, on the sole grounds that you FEEL they should cost less and that they should be affordable to you. There is a subtle difference between a "cheeky" offer and one that is just asinine. Asinine offers invariably mean that EA will no longer take you seriously which isn't what you want.

As "Cissi" stated - do a LOT of reasearch. Consult zoopla sold prices, propertybee, etc.

Once you start offering - be prepared to fail a few times. Sucessful negotiation really is a skill...and like every skill it needs practicing. So don't take it to heart if you lose out and don't succeed immediately. Eventually you will develop an eye for what a property is worth given it's location, size and condition.

And remember - the super friendly, super helpful estate agent is NOT your new best friend!

ValHaller

harrup wrote: »

Hmmm, I am trying to decipher what your post could mean....

No estate agent, unless they moonlight as a saint, can ever be expected to truthfully reveal the exact price of any other offer made. Or even if there was another offer. Their sole job is to a) introduce a willing and able buyer to the vendor and b) to obtain the very best price for the vendor. Always remember that their client isn't YOU - even though it is you who will will fork out the money for the place - their client is the seller and the agent ONLY works for the seller.

......

And remember - the super friendly, super helpful estate agent is NOT your new best friend!

I think OP is mature enough to understand the the Agent is not his best friend and given that understanding, what he is trying to do is quite sensible - if you understand how the game works.

I got roundly slated on here a week or 2 back for suggesting on a particular negotiation that the OP say something along the lines "I am offering X, but if that is not acceptable to the vendors then they need to understand that they will need to move much more towards X than I will move towards their asking price Y"

It is the same idea. The agent is never the buyer's best friend. Nor is he the seller's best friend to any greater extent. He is first and foremost his own best friend. And his motivation is getting done deals. He will always go for a done deal over the possibility of getting the best price.

So non specific discussions about where a deal might be struck actually allow the Agent a chance to manage the both the buyer's and the seller's expectations towards a done deal.

Tancred

sterl1ng wrote: »

Having seen few properties I try to get some idea on whether any offers have been placed whereby the EA then gives me an idea as to what the offers were 'whereas the vendor are looking more around this offer'...in those circumstances is it worth still going with my opening offer despite what EA says as I do wonder whether they are being colourful with truth. Sorry but that's my pessimistic side coming out!

The offer you make depends on what you can afford and how much you like the property. Simple as that.

The market has now gone ballistic in the south-east, so we are finding it impossible to have any offers considered unless at or near the asking price. You may have more luck.

harrup

ValHaller wrote: »

I think OP is mature enough to understand the the Agent is not his best friend and given that understanding, what he is trying to do is quite sensible - if you understand how the game works.

I got roundly slated on here a week or 2 back for suggesting on a particular negotiation that the OP say something along the lines "I am offering X, but if that is not acceptable to the vendors then they need to understand that they will need to move much more towards X than I will move towards their asking price Y"

It is the same idea. The agent is never the buyer's best friend. Nor is he the seller's best friend to any greater extent. He is first and foremost his own best friend. And his motivation is getting done deals. He will always go for a done deal over the possibility of getting the best price.

So non specific discussions about where a deal might be struck actually allow the Agent a chance to manage the both the buyer's and the seller's expectations towards a done deal.

True enough - whether the vendor accepts a much lower offer relative to the AP is of no great concern to an EA. The difference in their commission may not be significantly affected. Equally accurate is the premise that EA's dont operate under the matra of "I Heart my vendor".

However, the only expectations the EA has to "manage" and the only party they have to satisfy is that of the vendors. What the buyer expects or wants really doesn't factor into it. And as long as the vendor calmy says "nope" the wannabe buyer can whistle in the wind with whatever proposition or rationale they may have why the price should be x and not z.

Undeniably, there ARE unrealistic vendors out there. Those who are generally advised by the EA to market the property for a certain AP but who stubbornly stipulate that the AP should be ££ more. And who will not budge from it. Those are the properties which often hang around for YEARS.

And, equally undeniably, there ARE some desperate vendors out there. Who will slash the price over and over just to be rid of the place. Vendors may well yield to a buyer to some extent to prevent a formed chain from collapsing...but most would just instruct the EA to look for a different buyer and disregard the current offer.

Lastly, there ARE thoroughly incompetent or unscrupulous EAs. Who are unable or unwilling to accurately appraise a property.

However.....the VAST majority of vendors are neither delusional, nor desperate and nor are the vast majority of EA's that incompetent. And a wannabe buyer offering way below the AP effectively says to the EA that they are hapless nitwits who don't know their job. Which is unlikely to endear them to the EA never mind the vendor!

I think its a fallacy and a myth to suggest that the approach of " "I am offering X, but if that is not acceptable to the vendors then they need to understand that they will need to move much more towards X than I will move towards their asking price Y" would work but in the rarest of cases. Most vendors would just dismiss this and the buyer forthwith. As would the EA.

The only time I can see this method working if the buyer essentially doesn't give a hoot about a certain property. Where it is purely an investment and the ONLY thing that counts is price.

But I think that this isn't applicable to the OP. Nor to the vast majority of buyers.

ValHaller

harrup wrote: »

I think its a fallacy and a myth to suggest that the approach of " "I am offering X, but if that is not acceptable to the vendors then they need to understand that they will need to move much more towards X than I will move towards their asking price Y" would work but in the rarest of cases. Most vendors would just dismiss this and the buyer forthwith. As would the EA.

Certainly worked for us. The EA was very professional throughout and was astute enough not to relay the full message in one go as far as I can make out. So it took a week for the message to penetrate that a deal could be done at higher than our offer but way down from seller's expectations

A lot of the business is about setting expectations. If you just go making straight offers of £X, £X+5000 you have a job to set an expectation and indicate to the vendor the limits of possibility for striking a deal.

Put another way, it is a lot easier to stall negotiations with your offer of 329 rejected and leave room for the vendors to come back and suggest 334 than it is to get that price when the vendors are still on their high horse and have rejected 329, 335 and 339 in quick succession. But if you do that, you need to pull out at 329 and indicate that the territory for a deal is nearer your 329 than it is to their 355.

We got our price with 1 offer and agreed the counter offer subject to things being left behind.