Estate agents behaviour

Mojisola

Our EA knew what our bottom line was and did tell us that he had refused to pass on a very low offer from one potential buyer. They came back with a higher one which was when he told us about their first offer. Their first offer was a ridiculous price and we would have turned it down - he saved time all round.

If I had heard that he had been rude to potential buyers, he wouldn't have kept our business.

londonmaiden

Where we live there is one EA renowned for valuing houses at least £15k over market value, these are the houses that will sit around on the market for a while though and you'll see the prices gradually drop. Unfortunately as the market is so mental, people are being forced to pay over inflated prices for houses and the EA's know this so you are at their mercy. Even if they put the houses on for a realistic price, you will get in a bidding war and the price ends up going £15-20k above anyway so either way they are winners. If you are a cash buyer or have cash to make up the short fall when the mortgage valuation is lower then you're fine, otherwise you're at a total loss.

TrixA

I think one problem that drives up prices and makes it easy for agents to behave this way is that in England at least there is insufficient transparency over sold prices as the Land Registry figures are always several months out of date.

My previous experiences buying property were in New Zealand, where most properties are sold at auction, particularly when the market is moving fast (the current Auckland market shows many parallels with London with rapidly rising prices, lots of foreign buyers etc). The difference in that system is that as a prospective buyer you can simply show up at the auction and you know exactly what price the property sells for, in real time (in NZ agreed offers are also legally binding so there is no post-auction negotiation on price). This means that no one pays more than they need to to beat other offers and also means that as a prospective buyer you have a lot more information about local prices - so the power balance with estate agents is much more even. We are in the process of buying a house in London and I found it really hard knowing what to offer on properties when all I had to go on were overinflated asking prices.

googler

TrixA wrote: »

.... New Zealand, where most properties are sold at auction.... you can simply show up at the auction and you know exactly what price the property sells for, in real time ... as a prospective buyer you have a lot more information about local prices

Surely you'll only know the prices for the auctions you attend, though.... ?

cattie

Green3 wrote: »

Even Mouseprice and Zoopla don't estimate them so high. So on what basis are these asking prices fixed? Exactly similar properties on the same road have more than £90,000/- price difference. How are these con men allowed to fix prices like this? And those people who are putting in offers of 2% or more than the asking price of an already over valued property, do they never consult Mouseprice or Zoopla to get an estimate? When all estate agents have united and turned into con men, then why can't buyers unite and stop paying over asking prices for over valued properties? How on earth do buyers think that they will ever break even after paying so much more for an over valued property? Does no-one forsee how many families can get destroyed by going so much over their budgets. There needs to be some immediate legal action against estate agents and valuers to stop conning people. Buyers please unite and wake up.

Anybody who takes notice of the supposed property prices on sites such as zoopla needs to educate themselves as to the true value of a property. Zoopla clutches prices out of thin air & are about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

Where I live are 12 identical properties, all are given different values by zoopla, with the largest difference in price being £72k. :cool:

A property is only ever over valued by an ea or surveyor when it fails to sell. All properties that sell at, over or very close to asking price have been correctly valued otherwise they would fail to sell.

Buyers need to realise that just because a property costs more than they would really like it to, this doesn't mean it is overpriced, it is just that the buyer doesn't have a proper grasp of the current property market in which they wish to buy & were hoping to pick up a property for far below what they are actually achieving in today's market.

Wanting property prices to be cheaper won't make house prices drop unfortunately. Prices will only begin to stabilize again if mortgages become harder to get once more. In the current market, he who hesitates will find that the longer they wait to buy, the more house prices will rise.

londonmaiden

cattie wrote: »

Wanting property prices to be cheaper won't make house prices drop unfortunately. Prices will only begin to stabilize again if mortgages become harder to get once more. In the current market, he who hesitates will find that the longer they wait to buy, the more house prices will rise.

It's all well and good saying 'he who hesitates' it is actually more to do with supply and demand, you can TRY and buy a house but if you are competing against cash buyers and property investors you do not stand a chance. Buyers aren't completely naive about the housing market as you seem to be suggesting. We have been trying to buy for over a year and have put offers in on houses we can afford but because the EA intentionally creates a bidding war with multiple buyers you are then priced out. It is miserable trying to buy a house in today's market believe me, it has nothing to do with being picky.

Marmaduke123

cattie wrote: »

Buyers need to realise that just because a property costs more than they would really like it to, this doesn't mean it is overpriced, it is just that the buyer doesn't have a proper grasp of the current property market in which they wish to buy & were hoping to pick up a property for far below what they are actually achieving in today's market.

Wanting property prices to be cheaper won't make house prices drop unfortunately. Prices will only begin to stabilize again if mortgages become harder to get once more. In the current market, he who hesitates will find that the longer they wait to buy, the more house prices will rise.

I have a relative who is trying to buy a 2 bedroom flat in London. Open days followed by sealed bids appears to be the norm at the moment, and sometimes an open "day" can be as little as an hour, making it hard to even book a slot to view a property.

If you do succeed in getting a viewing there will be numerous other people attending, maybe up to 40, and a fair number of these will put in an offer at the asking price or above. Then the sealed bid nonsense starts, full and final offers by a certain day and time. My relative has been told by one estate agent that this type of property sold in this way typically fetches at least 10% above the asking price.

It's a simple matter of supply and demand - too many qualified buyers in London chasing far too few properties. I agree it's not a matter of "hesitation", its so difficult and frustrating at the moment.

Jenniefour

londonmaiden wrote: »

It's all well and good saying 'he who hesitates' it is actually more to do with supply and demand, you can TRY and buy a house but if you are competing against cash buyers and property investors you do not stand a chance. Buyers aren't completely naive about the housing market as you seem to be suggesting. We have been trying to buy for over a year and have put offers in on houses we can afford but because the EA intentionally creates a bidding war with multiple buyers you are then priced out. It is miserable trying to buy a house in today's market believe me, it has nothing to do with being picky.

Yes, it's very hard trying to buy in London right now. EA's don't intentionally start bidding wars - they have them because there are multiple interested parties. Which usually means that the property will go for over the asking price and, in some cases, well over the asking price. Demand outstripping supply. That's not the EA's fault, they are simply working in the market that exists now.

It might be worth considering going for the price bracket below the one you are looking in so you are in a better position to offer over the asking price yourselves. Sadly, the reality in London now is that it's a sellers market - and I imagine you know this only too well. A re-think of what you're aiming for might be useful so you're not continually getting your offers refused whilst the prices are still on the up.

DRP

londonmaiden wrote: »

It's all well and good saying 'he who hesitates' it is actually more to do with supply and demand, you can TRY and buy a house but if you are competing against cash buyers and property investors you do not stand a chance. Buyers aren't completely naive about the housing market as you seem to be suggesting. We have been trying to buy for over a year and have put offers in on houses we can afford but because the EA intentionally creates a bidding war with multiple buyers you are then priced out. It is miserable trying to buy a house in today's market believe me, it has nothing to do with being picky.

He's not doing it to spite you, that's his job. An agent can't magic buyers out of thin-air - unfortunately there seem to be (lots of) people out there that can afford to pay more than you are willing/able to.


If you've been trying for a year, I really sympathise as it can be soul-destroying. I think if i was being priced out for a year i would be thinking of expanding my search area and looking over all the alternatives (new job/buy smaller/different area/extend existing).

ognum

londonmaiden wrote: »

Where we live there is one EA renowned for valuing houses at least £15k over market value, these are the houses that will sit around on the market for a while though and you'll see the prices gradually drop. Unfortunately as the market is so mental, people are being forced to pay over inflated prices for houses and the EA's know this so you are at their mercy. Even if they put the houses on for a realistic price, you will get in a bidding war and the price ends up going £15-20k above anyway so either way they are winners. If you are a cash buyer or have cash to make up the short fall when the mortgage valuation is lower then you're fine, otherwise you're at a total loss.

is there a house that you have missed out on that you now wish you had offered the extra £20K for?

If yes then you now know you have got to stretch for the extra. If no then you have done the right thing.