Estate Agents

Sphynx

Just wondering if I am being too cynical. I went to see a house I liked a while ago and made it known I was interested. The hose has been on the market since May and when I spoke to the EA that showed me round she said they had had interest but no offers.
Following advise from our EA we phoned to make a non proceed-able offer on the basis that we would reduce by 10% to get ours sold if seller would take a similar (but smaller) % hit. 

I spoke with a different EA. He said there were two viewings at the house that day and that the vendors had previously turned down a less than 10% offer. Put me right off.

seller have put the house on the market with a different EA as well now. I am tempted to phone the new EA and try and deal through them though I suspect there is a clause in the first EA contract that says they will get the (large) payment for introducing us to the house. 

Am I just too desperate to believe this house is out of our reach? 

Doozergirl

If you were in the same situation and someone offered you 10% less for you to make it easier for them to sell their own house, would you?  

Logically, if they were desperate, they could just reduce the asking price in the hope of getting any, actually proceedable, buyer.  It makes far more sense than losing all control and putting the onus Of finding a buyer onto a random stranger who wants 10% off to boot.   

Even if they took you seriously for a second, how would they even know that your valuation of your own house was right compared to theirs?  

Frankly, if you're going to do oddball things like that, don't expect a response that you think is reasonable.  

And if you contact the new estate agent, you potentially land your vendor in an awkward situation over who is entitled to the fee.  

 

Sell your house first.  

Sphynx

Doozergirl said:

If you were in the same situation and someone offered you 10% less for you to make it easier for them to sell their own house, would you?  

Logically, if they were desperate, they could just reduce the asking price in the hope of getting any, actually proceedable, buyer.  It makes far more sense than losing all control and putting the onus Of finding a buyer onto a random stranger who wants 10% off to boot.   

Even if they took you seriously for a second, how would they even know that your valuation of your own house was right compared to theirs?  

Frankly, if you're going to do oddball things like that, don't expect a response that you think is reasonable.  

Ha ha I had forgotten how brutal this forum is. 

Actually a 10% below asking price offer isn’t particularly remarkable and we are living in difficult economic times, but I’m actually more interested in whether the EA was lying about the offer on the property - do they do things like that? 

To be clear I’m not asking you Doozergirl. Feel free to go and be snide on someone else’s post.

Doozergirl

There's nothing snide there at all, it's totally frank and based on experience.  There was nothing attractive about your offer.   

Estate agents can and do tell porkies, but those agents will do it to both sides in order to try and find a price that both parties can agree on.  Estate agents don't get paid by being on the vendor's side, they get paid by making sales and that is their motivation.   What they say doesn't actually make a lot of difference, you just offer what you think a property is worth to you and it's up to the vendor to accept, reject or counter-offer.  

You're not proceedable.  Most agents would discourage a vendor from accepting even an asking price offer from an unproceedable, let alone a low one.  The vast majority would thank you for the offer and ask you to come back when sold.  

greatcrested

doozergirl was neither brutal, nor snide. She said it how it is, in her view (and incidentally I concur).

You post on a forum like this to get peoples' views. And that's what you got - a reasoned opinion with an explanation of how/why she reached it.

The fact that you don't like the opinion, or were hoping for a different response, is your issue, not hers. No need to be rude to her.

No, you didn't ask doozergirl specifically, you asked the forum! And she is part of the forum. If you want to exclude specific people from responding, you should say so from the outset! (not that they need refrain - it's a free forum).

JessJ23425

Sphynx said:

Doozergirl said:

If you were in the same situation and someone offered you 10% less for you to make it easier for them to sell their own house, would you?  

Logically, if they were desperate, they could just reduce the asking price in the hope of getting any, actually proceedable, buyer.  It makes far more sense than losing all control and putting the onus Of finding a buyer onto a random stranger who wants 10% off to boot.   

Even if they took you seriously for a second, how would they even know that your valuation of your own house was right compared to theirs?  

Frankly, if you're going to do oddball things like that, don't expect a response that you think is reasonable.  

Ha ha I had forgotten how brutal this forum is. 

Actually a 10% below asking price offer isn’t particularly remarkable and we are living in difficult economic times, but I’m actually more interested in whether the EA was lying about the offer on the property - do they do things like that? 

To be clear I’m not asking you Doozergirl. Feel free to go and be snide on someone else’s post.

What an awful reply to someone giving you a fair and frank answer to your question (which I completely agree with)

I hope they don't see this, judging by your post and reply you don't sound like someone I'd want to deal with anyway!

Good luck.

csgohan4

OP perhaps if you want to hear what you want to hear, another forum might be more suitable, I hear there is one that is  begins with mum and ends in net. 

ultimately if I a vendor had your offer, whether you offer full asking or 10%  under I would reject, your not proceed-able, it would be another few months you would be. Not to mention the risk of being gazunder would be high with you. 

Btw Doozergirl has bought/built more houses than you or I combined.  

AdrianC

Sphynx said:

Just wondering if I am being too cynical. I went to see a house I liked a while ago and made it known I was interested. The hose has been on the market since May and when I spoke to the EA that showed me round she said they had had interest but no offers.
Following advise from our EA we phoned to make a non proceed-able offer on the basis that we would reduce by 10% to get ours sold if seller would take a similar (but smaller) % hit. 

I spoke with a different EA. He said there were two viewings at the house that day and that the vendors had previously turned down a less than 10% offer.

Just so I'm sure I understand...

You put an offer in at a price they've already rejected - and you aren't even proceedable because your house isn't sold yet?

Put me right off.

I can see why the vendor's not rushing your offer, too...

seller have put the house on the market with a different EA as well now. I am tempted to phone the new EA and try and deal through them though I suspect there is a clause in the first EA contract that says they will get the (large) payment for introducing us to the house.

Well, yes, the first EA get paid for doing their job - introducing you to the house. But that's not your problem. That's the vendor's problem.

Am I just too desperate to believe this house is out of our reach?

Depends if you get yourself into a position where a sufficiently-sized offer can be taken seriously.