Executor selling house below market value

elsa1982

Hi everyone

My grandfather recently passed away and as we've lost my mother her share of the estate is to be divided between me and my brother and the other half to be given to my Uncle who is the Executor. My grandfather's property has been on the market for 6 weeks at an asking price of £239,500, we found out that he had accepted an offer of £205,00 last week and told him that we were not happy especially because the house has only been on the market for a short while. He has put the property back on the market but has told us that he will be accepting £210,000 to £215,000, we think that its far too early to accept such low offers but we are not sure how much rights we have? Comments appreciated Thank you

LobsterMemory

My guess is none, but you'll have more informed opinions, I'm sure.

And to my mind, it would be difficult to argue that the house is worth more than what anybody's prepared to pay for it in an open market

elsa1982

Why has the Estate agent valued it higher and its the first offer?

gycraig_2

As a rule estate agents always over quote the price as it’s easiercto go down in price than up and they also want the business. Very rarely does a property sell for what the estate agent says it will sell for.

elsa1982

aware of this but feel it is a substantial amount to reduce on the first offer

nom_de_plume

Is the house in an area with similar properties that you can compare prices with?

Is it in an area of the country where the market is fairly buoyant?

On the face of it that is a low offer compared to the asking price and whilst SOME estate agents have been known to overvalue property to get it on their books, that is a dramatic difference. It may pay to do some legwork before making waves? A chat with another local agent may be a good starting point.

runninglea

Can you both not speak to your uncle and say what your thoughts are..

You also have to remember that he has lost his dad and is upset and maybe just wants as little hassle as possible. Its a lot to have to deal with.

Also if he sells at 215 K you are getting £53,750 each (roughly) if you wait a while and get 230K you will get £57,500. Depends how long you are willing to hold out for that little bit extra

elsa1982

Thank you for your replies. It is worrying us that there is a lack of communication and that he hasn’t been honest from the beginning.

Dox

elsa1982 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. It is worrying us that there is a lack of communication and that he hasn’t been honest from the beginning.

Not sure what you mean by 'he hasn't been honest'. In today's market, selling a house is pretty difficult and your uncle seems to be taking a sensible and pragmatic approach: i.e. get rid of it as quickly as possible if the offer is reasonable. You refer to selling it 'below market value' - agents typically put houses on at a price which allows for considerable negotiation (downwards) so you're starting from a completely unrealistic position. Do keep in mind that your uncle gets half the proceeds, so it isn't as if he has no interest in the selling price.

Your uncle is the executor and it's his decision. He has told you exactly what he is going to do. If he turns down this offer and the house still hasn't sold in another six months, I don't doubt you will be first in the queue moaning about the lack of a sale.

Brynsam

elsa1982 wrote: »

aware of this but feel it is a substantial amount to reduce on the first offer

You've obviously not sold a property in such a horrible market (or possibly at all). If the potential buyer was in a position to proceed (i.e. not stuck in a chain), I'd be biting their hand off, not quibbling.

runninglea

elsa1982 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. It is worrying us that there is a lack of communication and that he hasn’t been honest from the beginning.

If he accepted the 205K then you would have over 50K in your bank in 6-8 weeks.

If you hold out for the extra 7.5K then it might be 6-8 months before you get that money