same estate agent to buy & Sell?

northernexposure_2

I am in a quandry and too "going with the heart" and not head so need some advice!

House i want to buy is on for 275 in a lovely area, will attract lots of viewers BUT it's run down, needs new everyhting including heating and possibly electrics. Think carpets that dogs have done their do do's on!

Estate agents who are selling this house already said to me it's overpriced, and would expect to sell for 250, it's a probate cause and vendors trying the mrket at 275 first. House the same as this but in much better condition sold earlier this year for 233

SO i've had 3 estate agents value my house all different prices from 220 up to 245 (i live in a popular road and my house is very up together) house up road same as mine which is run down went for 215.

They all know i only want this 1 house, they have all come right down on selling fees and have all gone into overdrive wanting to sell my house as there isn't much on the market at the mo -

now do i go with the same estate agents who are selling the house i want? They have quoated the lowest fees but are the smallest estate agents but i'm guessing it all goes on rightmove anyway so whats the difference between agents? Will they work harder to get me that house as they will get 2 fees but they are the ones which have quoted my house a the least.

What would you do?

Also the same agents have told me if a vendor accepts an offer the house will come off the market and no more viewings, so if someone makes a higher offer and they haven't viewed it they cannot submit it to the vendor - is this a load of rubbish?

Really appreciate some advice. big thanks

hazyjo

Sounds to me like they didn't want to market at £250k cos they knew they'd get offers under. They're basically saying they want £250k, which sounds too high still from what you've said.

Personally, I'd wait until they drop the price (which they will), then offer.

Has probate actually been sorted?

Would go with the agent who definitely advertises on RM, zoopla, and who will include a floor plan (and obviously not charge extra for standard things like photos!). Have a look through RM at others each one has on the market to compare their photos, descriptions, etc. Go with the best.

Also make sure you view something through each agent - you need to know how they will treat your viewers! I've discounted houses before cos the EAs have been utterly useless or incompetent.

Finally, they often send a salesy sort of person round to try to sign you up. Make sure you know who you'll actually be dealing with. I picked a seemingly good agent once only to find out we were lumped with some useless [insert expletive!] who was totally incompetent with just about everything.

Jx

hazyjo

northernexposure wrote: »

Also the same agents have told me if a vendor accepts an offer the house will come off the market and no more viewings, so if someone makes a higher offer and they haven't viewed it they cannot submit it to the vendor - is this a load of rubbish?

Really appreciate some advice. big thanks

It's unlikely anyone would offer without having at least seen it once first.

They can refuse viewings.

It will always be up to who's selling the house to accept/decline offers. If someone did come along and offer, you would hope the seller would tell them no as they have already accepted an offer. Granted, not everyone shares the same morals, loyalty, etc...

Jx

kingstreet

I suspect you are being manipulated.

You are not in a position to proceed. There will be non-dependent buyers, first time buyers, cash buyers all viewing the one property for which you are going to put your home on the market.

If you make an offer unable to proceed, your offer is unlikely to be accepted. If it is, it can be trumped by the same financial offer by someone able to go ahead immediately.

Once the agent puts a proceedable offer in front of the beneficiaries, I would expect yours to be rejected. I do not think the property will be taken off the market on the basis of an unproceedable offer.

The best hedge you can get for your bet is to choose the agent with the lowest cancellation charge/period in case you are not successful in purchasing this property.

northernexposure_2

Thank you both for your replies, i am reviewing the property again tomorrow and decide if i will put my house on the market.

I wouldn't make an offer until ours was sold (house up road sold in 2 weeks but hey i guess no one knows how long a house sale would be) just hoping the people in the house i like would hold on a few more weeks for more offers (ie mine) but who knows.

Would you guys go with the same estate agents as them, would they be more likely to try their hardest to sell to us to get 2 fees or do they not care? ? All the estate agents to be honest are a bit pants ha ha !

I know i'm asking a lot of questions no one really knows the answer too !! It's all getting a bit dramatic in my mind ha ha !

Thanks though appreciate your time x

kingstreet

I do not believe you will derive any advantage in marketing with the same agent, so I would choose the one which you feel is most likely to look after your needs, not theirs, or another vendor's.

Personally, I'd always choose a local firm run by a surveyor as these are the firms I've worked for in the past and the kind of tricks you hear about on here were never practiced at such firms.

National chain firms are motivated by their targets and the need to sell mortgages, conveyancing, surveys etc. For this reason, I would avoid such firms.

JimmyTheWig

northernexposure wrote: »

Would you guys go with the same estate agents as them, would they be more likely to try their hardest to sell to us to get 2 fees or do they not care? ? All the estate agents to be honest are a bit pants ha ha !

If you go with the same estate agent they will be eager to do what is needed to get you a buyer so they get two lots of fees.

Does that mean they will push the marketing on yours really hard, try to steer customers towards it, put the advert in a prominent position on their window display, etc? Hopefully.
Does it mean they will try to get you to drop the price (particularly once you've signed up to them)? Probably.
This is my problem with estate agents. They get a commission, yes, but it is a commission on the whole final price which has no real bearing on how good a job they have done.

Lets say they are taking 1% commission.
Lets say the house you want accepts an offer from you for £250k.
Lets say your house, if marketed right and you hold out for a decent offer, can go for £245k.
If the agents sell these at this price they will get £4,950.
If the agents suggest you drop your price to, say, £210k they will get £4,600.

To sell your house at £210k would take almost no work, from what you've said. And they still get almost as much as they would get if they sold it for £245k.

So I guess I'm saying that by going with the same agent they will be more keen to sell your house, but that might not be a good thing!

northernexposure_2

Thank you Kingstreet you've been really helpful

I bough my home 16 years ago and it's the only one i've been in so never moved when i've had to sell, i've very naive !

Thank youx

northernexposure_2

Thanks Jimmy

Yeah i forget estate agents aren't my friends and it's all about the £.
I'm learning fast though.

Thanks for your reply, appreciate it

p/s the estate agent that is selling theirs has quoted the lowest fee and it's a set price on and not dependent upon our selling price. These guys are keen!

kingstreet

In the Midlands, my experience is set fee, rather than percentage. This means the agent has less interest in the price being obtained. This can be a benefit, but also a disadvantage, as the agent may want to get a sale tied up at any price and move on to the next one.

JimmyTheWig

That's even worse than a fixed percentage! Where's the incentive for them to get the best price for you?

In fact the whole thing is difficult, isn't it? Because if an agent starts to be known locally as a place to get a good price for their sellers, buyers will start to know to avoid them as they are overpriced!

[I'm so glad that we've finally exchanged contracts and after this no longer need to move again!]