Any Estate Agents out there? Advice on pricing and offers

marienj

I'm curious as to how far beyond a stamp duty threshold an agent will market a property to achieve a figure above the threshold?

For example at over £500k the threshold rises to 4% SDLT - so if an agent prices a house at £525k are they expecting to achieve that or close to it or would they anticipate most people to offer below £500,001 at which the tax increases?

Also what do Agents mean by "Guide Price"... are they expecting more or less?

Thanks.

Seabee42

I am not an estate agent so am just looking at the stamp duty costs:-

If a property is on for 500k and you pay 3% thats 15k

if its 501k and 4% you pay 20k, so whilst the 5k difference is not insignificant it surely is not enough to expect a 20k drop automatically.

Personally I would think a property priced at 520k has been done to try and achieve a price higher than 500k because they have deliberately priced it higher than a band which would be more attractive and therefore attract more buyers.

Ultimately its worth what someone is willing to pay, if thats 500k to you, you can offer that!

savvy1234

I'm an ex estate agent.

there are no set rules. I've seen properties marketed at 550K go for 500K. I've seen properties marketed at 500K go for 600K. Stamp duty levels can artificially 'cap' prices so its a good place to start.

Do your research. See what other similar properties are selling for in the area, and offer what you think is a fair price. This is the only way to do it.

Your first offer will almost always get rejected so don't put your absolute best offer on the table first!

marienj

Thank you both for your replies, which both make total sense.

I guess there's no way to second guess the agents intentions, we'll just have to make our offer, which I think is more than generous given the market, the condition of the property and the selling prices of nearby properties that didn't require modernisation.

Fingers crossed.