House sale - reasonable offer to reluctantly accept

greengirl89

Hi all, 

A mum is being forced to sell the family home after a relationship breakdown - she's under a lot of pressure from her ex-partner to sell; he is getting impatient as house was put on market just before lockdown so that's delayed things a lot. 

EA has been useless throughout, doesn't attempt to sell the property during viewings (just stands there quietly), made repeated errors suggesting they're disorganised (e.g. my mum has requested viewings on properties up for sale with them and they've never got back to her) etc. They've also shown little respect for my mum, not even bothering to tell her about some offers and instead informing only her ex-partner (which is ironic given my mum owns a larger share and is the current occupier).

House was valued at £340k and put on market for this. It's a 3 bed semi. All other 3 bed semi's in the area are on for £350k-400k but my mum's house does have 'liveable' but very dated kitchen and bathroom, compared to similar properties available. There are 3 bed *terraced* properties in the £315k-325k range.

The first offer made was £315k and was rejected. Second offer made (by someone else) was for £290k, same people then offered £300k, then £309k. The EA has said 'the buyers think work is needed to bring it to £340k' which is an odd thing to say - of course any buyer making a low offer will say they think work is needed; but I'm interested in what the EA thinks. The EA is giving no advice on what similar properties are actually selling for at the moment or what could be done to improve the offers being made. The EA repeatedly asks what's the lowest they would accept but my mum's refused to say.

The issue here is that my mum is that after the mortgage is paid off and her ex gets his share, there needs to be enough equity left for my mum to buy a new (much smaller) property without a mortgage, and that is already very tight. She is very upset at having to sell the family home, downsize, and potentially move away from all her neighbours/local friends to a cheaper areas - I can't bear her also getting a lower sale price than she could have done just because the EA was no good.

I'm concerned the EA may just want to get this property off the books now, and that at best they're doing little to maximise the sale price and at worse they may be hinting to prospective buyers that a lower offer may be accepted given the circumstances of the sale.

Any thoughts?
Many thanks

JGB1955

Change agents?

Thrugelmir

greengirl89 said:

EA has been useless throughout, doesn't attempt to sell the property during viewings (just stands there quietly), 

Property sells it itself. Doesn't require someone to state the obvious. 

Scotbot

It sounds like your mum is getting viewings so the asking price is not putting viewers off. Assuming a new bathroom and kitchen needed plus fixing general wear and tear I would accept  320, maybe 315 if it needs new carpets as well. 
 Are there really no other 3 beds in the area for less than 350? How are you defining area? If you are  OK to post the link people will tell you how it compares pricewise but as it is not your house understandable  if you don't want to
It will actually help the EA to negotiate if she tells him what she is looking for so I  woukd tell him 320

MoneySeeker1

I'd be inclined to change agents - as people will (probably) see downsides for themselves - but the agents need to pro-actively point out the positives.

I'm (part) involved in selling a house right now - that does have some downsides (eg needs modernising for instance) BUT there are upsides too (ie highly desired road/good neighbours/privacy in back garden/etc) and I would expect an agent to point those plus points out.

We do have to bear in mind the seller "needs what they need" and may literally not have any room for manoeuvre and have to get what the place is worth. I know that I was in that position in my last house and I HAD to get what it was worth and I knew that would mean a longer wait than "grabbing for first offer" and, sure enough, that is exactly what transpired and the offer I went with in the end came through very much at the point in time I had calculated it would do.

moneysavinghero

The first offer made was £315k and was rejected. Second offer made (by someone else) was for £290k, same people then offered £300k, then £309k. The EA has said 'the buyers think work is needed to bring it to £340k' which is an odd thing to say - of course any buyer making a low offer will say they think work is needed; but I'm interested in what the EA thinks. The EA is giving no advice on what similar properties are actually selling for at the moment or what could be done to improve the offers being made. The EA repeatedly asks what's the lowest they would accept but my mum's refused to say.

Why are you only interested in what the EA thinks. They are not the ones that are going to be parting with cash. And you have already said that you think they are useless.

The people you need to be interested in are the potential buyers. And so far the view of the property is clear - it is worth about £310k-£320k. Why do you think that it is odd that the buyers stated that work is needed? You already stated that it needs a new bathroom and kitchen as a minimum.

eddddy

Based on your post, it sounds like the mum might be getting some things out of proportion.

greengirl89 said:

EA has been useless throughout, doesn't attempt to sell the property during viewings (just stands there quietly), 

I expect that the EA knows from experience that is what many prospective buyers prefer.  It can be quite annoying to have an EA trying to do a "hard sell" whilst your viewing.

And are you saying that the EA, the 'viewers' and the (annoyed) mum are all in the house at the same time? Doesn't that produce a very tense, unpleasant atmosphere? Wouldn't it be better if the mum went out during viewings? (That's what I did when EAs did viewings.)

greengirl89 said:

They've also shown little respect for my mum, not even bothering to tell her about some offers and instead informing only her ex-partner (which is ironic given my mum owns a larger share and is the current occupier).

Who instructed the EA, and what instructions were given to the EA about passing on offers?  For example, if the instructions were to send all offers by email to both mum and ex-partner, I suspect the EA would do that.

Perhaps it's something that mum and the ex-partner need to agree on, then instruct the EA accordingly.

greengirl89 said:

I'm concerned the EA may just want to get this property off the books now, and that at best they're doing little to maximise the sale price and at worse they may be hinting to prospective buyers that a lower offer may be accepted given the circumstances of the sale.

That's just a standard EA's sales technique - which can sometimes work. It's to draw a buyer into the bidding process.

Instead of saying "Either offer £340k or forget it" the EA says something like:

• "Try an offer of £310k"
• "Unfortunately, it's been rejected. But if you try increasing it to £320k, I think you stand a good chance"
• "The seller is still holding out for a better price, can you stretch to £330k?"
• etc

Angela_D_3

I speak from an awful experience with one estate agent to a better one with another but with the outcome being about the same.  What you need from a sale doesn't always translate to what buyers are prepared to give you.  They don't care if you need a certain amount to make the move worthwhile and whilst in normal circumstances the two owners would be on the same side, agree a price that "works" and not accept any less the circumstance you describe - which I also found myself in - mean it's about just getting the house sold unfortunately.   I ended up taking £20,000 less than works for me tbh but in the long run it's better for me to be out of the extremely stressful situation.  I'd be happier in a smaller house, worse area, anything than the current status quo.   
The ex can force the sale, if she starts obstructing in ie demanding more than the market is dictating i'm afraid she'll ended with his costs to pay too which nobody needs.

greengirl89

Thanks all for the thoughts. 

• When I bought my flat a couple of years ago I appreciated the EA pointing out the benefits; some things I just hadn't considered. I don't think the EA is drawing on experience - they're all quite young (mid 20s) and have been operating without a manager, who left after my mum signed with them. 
• My mum and her ex instructed the EA jointly though it was my mum who initiated things and is the sole contact for viewings. My mum and her ex are in agreement they should both be kept up to date. 
• I appreciate value is about what a buyer is prepared to pay, but I also think it's a given that anyone making a lower offer will give some rationale around work needing doing; the question is whether - based on the EA's experience - this is a buyer thinking 'you never know'. The fact that the EA doesn't seem to be weighing in on this adds to my suspicions of not being very good. 
• There are no 3 bed semi-detached properties for < £350k in that town. 

It sounds like £320k ish might be the best we could hope for. I just can't see why needing a new kitchen and bathroom would reduce offers so much. The kitchen/bathroom are small so I imagine you could put new ones in for £10-12k. There's a similar property for sale opposite my mum's house on for £375k ! The kitchen/bathroom are newer and it might be slightly bigger, but it's not hugely different. I guess this is really why we need an EA we can feel confident in / trust their judgement.

Angela_D_3

Could you put in the new kitchen and bathroom ?   Ikea DIY kitchens could be done for £3k and tbh my bath just needed a bit of lino down - £95 and new bath panels at £60 and it transformed the room from "needs a new bathroom"  to "ooooh isn't it lovely and new" - it's not it's 12 years old, i'd rip it out if I was moving in.

theoretica

You should be well placed to catch people who like the house opposite, but not the price.  Who is the agent for that - it might be worth a chat with them to see what they say if you can leave your current agent without penalties.