Who is to blame for deluded sellers?

inatdeepend

The sellers themselves or estate agents overinflating asking prices?

kinger101

I'd say where something is overpriced, it's probably more often down to the seller than EA. There's not much point as far as an EA is concerned in overpricing something, as you don't get commission on something that hasn't sold. It just sits on your books for ages, making it look like you can't sell.

mjoneseyjones

Its obviously both - the EAs for trying to get vendors on their books by waving inflated prices in front of them, and the vendors for falling for it.

CLAPTON

inatdeepend wrote: »

The sellers themselves or estate agents overinflating asking prices?

maybe it's a deluded buyer

phoebe1989seb

A couple of times in my experience vendors (neighbours/buyers of our last-but-one house) have ignored the recommendations of EAs and named their own price.....in both cases these properties have subsequently lingered unsold on the market.

lessonlearned

As an ex EA I can confirm that in nearly every case it's the vendor who is deluded. The EA often tries to get the vendor to see reason but ultimately it's the vendors Choice.

This is why you sometimes get EAs who do overvalue because if they didn't the vendor would simply go with the EA who offers the largest carrot.

When discussing prices with clients I offered them three options. A price for a quick sale, a realistic and fair market value and an optimistic valuation.

Guess which most vendors go for:rotfl:

Most vendors insist their house is better than their neighbours and therefore worth more, it is rare for someone to say that their house is not as nice as next doors.

The most deluded are those that live in filthy flea pits........but there you go.

Better_Days

There is one EA round here that consistantly overvalues - I suspect because their business model for fees relies on the initial AP for the property.

When I was looking to buy they appeared most frequently in the 'most reduced' tab in Zoopla.

I do think there is a tendancy among a proportion EA's to over value to get business. In some case EA's appear to be unwilling to express their views regarding realistic value for fear of losing the business.

This reinforces the problem as then the seller is even more convinced that the AP is reasonable as the EA appears to have agreed with them.

princeofpounds

I do think there is a tendancy among a proportion EA's to over value to get business.

Absolutely. Though I hardly blame them.

Any fool can put any price on rightmove, but for some reason vendors so often choose agents based on marketing price, when it's probably the least important thing.

Gonzo1987

Zoopla and it's 'valuation' tool. It's unrealistic, and gives people a ridiculous figure of what their property might be worth.

inatdeepend

CLAPTON wrote: »

maybe it's a deluded buyer

I'm quite sure there are plenty of those too!

inatdeepend

lessonlearned wrote: »

As an ex EA I can confirm that in nearly every case it's the vendor who is deluded. The EA often tries to get the vendor to see reason but ultimately it's the vendors Choice.

This is why you sometimes get EAs who do overvalue because if they didn't the vendor would simply go with the EA who offers the largest carrot.

When discussing prices with clients I offered them three options. A price for a quick sale, a realistic and fair market value and an optimistic valuation.

Guess which most vendors go for:rotfl:

Most vendors insist their house is better than their neighbours and therefore worth more, it is rare for someone to say that their house is not as nice as next doors.

The most deluded are those that live in filthy flea pits........but there you go.

Really helpful perspective on things. I guess it's too easy to blame the EAs but also if you're on commission 1% (or whatever) of no sale is nothing so doesn't do the EA any favour having something overpriced.

As a kind of follow up question, is it common for EAs to point out that buyers can now see an awful lot of information online about what properties are actually selling for, how long properties have been on the market for, how many other properties similar nearby... I do actually wonder if some sellers realise just how much info is out there.