Do estate agents value at what they think you want?

TANZA_2

My boyfriend has been trying to sell his flat for 14 weeks and has only had 3 viewings. It is up for sale for £145000. there are 5 other flats up for sale in the same complex, all about the same price and all have been up for sale that long or longer. I think it's too expensive and he has now changed estate agents and the new estate agent valued it at £145000 again!! Do estate agents really value property or just go by what the other flats are up for? My BF won't reduce the price as that's what the new estate agent has valued it at but nobody has viewed it in 6 weeks. In the news today it said flats are not selling well and haven't increased as much as houses. Does that mean they will be even harder to sell now with this bad publicity?

epz_2

dont know how big the complex is but 6 people up for sale at once would ring alarm bells for me as a buyer, if all are on at the same price and not selling then its the price.

Doozergirl

The EA works for you, apparantly, so they will market at what you say. Many do overvalue in the first place in order to get your business.

You have to do your own research on what you think it is worth and NEVER answer the EAs question "What do you think it is worth?" Because they go with that.

Other EAs put out feelers to see what you are happy with. I had one agent that was suggesting marketing a two bed flat with a £30,000 difference in his lowest and highest valuations. (It's only a small property, how much variance can there be!) He just kept spitting them out, simply trying to find what I thought it was worth. People like to be agred with, and if the EA agrees, they are probably more likely to get the business.

olly300

EA just guess the price property will sell for. Some are better than others with their guesses due to selling similar properties before in the local area. They cannot be sued for getting it wrong. (Well you can try but it ain't going to stick.)

If there are 6 flats going for the exactly the same price in the same complex I would be worried as a buyer.

I've looked at flats in the same complex and the prices have varied due:
1. Not being new builds and having different standards of internal decoration.
2. The flat having a garden,a balcony, different sized rooms or facing a certain way compared to another flat on the market.

TANZA_2

Thanks for all your advice. I guess I really knew that estate agents value at what you want. Now the mortgage rate has gone up, the flat is going to be even harder to sell. I don't know why so many flats have gone up together. I know that we want to move to a bigger place, one the owner is moving, one owner has a little girl and is expecting another and don't know about the others. I suppose they've all got good reasons =it's just unfortunate we all want to sell together. There are other owners who've been there for years and have no intention of moving. I think the price was set by one owner who had sold for £145000 and changed their mind and now it's up for sale again-bet she wished she'd sold it then! I'll just keep working on reducing the price.

pcwilkins

At the end of the day, the value of any item is simply the amount that someone is willing to pay for it. If nobody was willing to pay more than £10 for the flat, then the flat is worth £10. The EA cannot possible know what people are willing to pay for your flat so the value they give is only a guess.

And of course they will overvalue it so that they get your business. Once they have you hooked, then they will spin out some tale about demand falling and the value of the flat reducing.

Peter

devils_advocate

The EA values at a price to get you to sell through them, and not with the competition down the road. Once you're hooked, they can make all sorts of rcommendations.

If it isn't selling with someone, an agent will still want it on their own books, because (again) you're not selling with someone else.

BrixMorta

Unfortunately people are very sensitive when it comes to the value of their biggest asset. If you (the EA) give a well researched opinion, based on good comparable evidence and this figure is below their expectations, then you may as well close your clipboard and leave the moment the expression on their face changes. The negative vibe in the air will swallow you up. Nothing you do from there on in will salvage things for you. On the whole people need their ego’s massaged and EA’s are therefore guilty of playing the system in order to stand a better chance of winning the instruction. It’s a sad indictment, but that’s life.

You need to be mature, very experienced and a fabulous communicator to give an honest opinion and survive to win the instruction and therein lies the problem!

Bogof_Babe

When selling my mum's house at the end of last year, the agent we chose (due to being the lowest for fees) came armed with details of the last few houses sold in the road, and suggested £195K, as the most recent sale was £190K.

I said I thought things had moved on a lot in the last few months, and we settled on £210K asking price, and sold at £205K. If we'd gone with the agent's advice we would have lost at least £10K.

It pays to do your own research.

Snow_Dog

50% fact
50% fiction

50% fact - they usually have a good idea of what the property will 'achieve' as they are in on a lot of the local sales, they will have checked previous sale prices and so on.

50% fiction - They will want your business, 3 EAs value a property, 135K, 140K, 145K, what is the likelyhood of you choosing to go with the 135K.
They are always pushing the boundary anyway, trying to edge prices up. And has been previously stated, its an ego boost.

I know someone who has just been valued at £600K, £600K and £650K, guess who they went with, yup £650K, looking at the properties available in the surrounding 5 miles there is a lot better available for £550K-£600K, after 2 months they will quietly suggest maybe £625K, then maybe £600K.

Snow_Dog

Bogof_Babe wrote: »

When selling my mum's house at the end of last year, the agent we chose (due to being the lowest for fees) came armed with details of the last few houses sold in the road, and suggested £195K, as the most recent sale was £190K.

I said I thought things had moved on a lot in the last few months, and we settled on £210K asking price, and sold at £205K. If we'd gone with the agent's advice we would have lost at least £10K.

It pays to do your own research.

Must admit, we had three valuations on our last place, we picked the highest, added some on, and sale agreed within 2 weeks, haggled down to top price suggested by the EA. Sometimes it does work but it has to be the right place at the right time.