Is this estate agents strategy sensible, or a bit mad?

Slashrfnr

I want to put my 2 bed, 2 bath, top floor flat (3 floors total) on the market. The main bedroom is east facing, and the living room and kitchen are south facing, so it gets lot of sun, and also has a big balcony. It's in South East London, and sits on the border of Zone 3 and 4. I paid £325,000 for it in 2020. I believe it was built in 2012/13. Service Charge has consistently been around £3k every year, which I recognise is on the high size, with about £1,200 of that going towards our Sinking Fund.

A similar sized flat in my block sold with the same number of bedrooms, and bathrooms sold for £300,000 over a year ago. And more recently, a split level maisonette attached to my building with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a small garden, but similar square foot size to mine sold for £340,000.

I've had six estate agents round, over the past couple of days. 3 valued it at between £300,000 and £325,000, which I think accounts for the Service Charge (1 said, in a less subdued market, and without the service charge, she valued it at £350,000 to £375,000). 1 valued it at £325,000 to £350,000. 1 valued it at £350,000.

The last person who came round, and the one who valued at £325,000 to £350,000 thought suggested he would put it up at £350,000. I pushed back a bit, referencing my other valuations, and the sale of the flat for £300,000 last year. He responded saying that with the current market, people will always offer under anyway, so if I list at £325,000, I'll get offers at the £300,000 - £310,000 mark, so I might as well start higher, then reduce if need be.  He also pointed out that there are barely any flats of my size with 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms going in my price bracket in a 3 mile radius (most are smaller, 2 bed, 1 bath, which I confirmed on rightmove). The other 2 bed 2 bathroom flats going in my area at the moment are right next to the station (I'm 7 minutes walk away), are slightly never builds, and are going for £425,000 or more.

He did say that if he went listed at £350,000, if anyone viewing it said it was a bit high, he would just tell them to make an offer (which ironically is what happened when I bought the place)

He was quite frank that you could list at £350,000, and then reduce it after a couple of weeks, and that it would then go back to the top of the Rightmove listings, which would nullify the effects of a slow launch. I'm not sure how much it effects things if it shows you've reduced your asking price?

How much is the estate agent blowing smoke up my !!!!!! just to get my business? Honestly, I was fairly prepared that I may not get as much as I paid for it, as I realise I bought at a time when interest rates were way lower, but I also don't want to lose a chunk of money that I could otherwise get.

DE_612183

He's correct that reducing in a few weeks will then reset the date on Rightmove - but it will then say reduced - which gives the impression you are desperate for a sale.

Also there are many extensions that collect the Rightmove price history so people can see it being reduced and then increased etc.

Why not go halfway - £335k?

bobster2

Because of the way Rightmove search works - there are possible advantages to having a listing price that corresponds with one of their search band boundaries. E.g. 300, 325 or 350

E.g. if you list at 350 you'll show up in searches for 325-350 and 350-375. If you list at 335 you'd only show in the 325-350 band.

So just to get more visibility - can be useful to pick 300, 325 or 350. Another factor to consider - default sort is high to low.

ReadySteadyPop

Slashrfnr said:

I want to put my 2 bed, 2 bath, top floor flat (3 floors total) on the market. The main bedroom is east facing, and the living room and kitchen are south facing, so it gets lot of sun, and also has a big balcony. It's in South East London, and sits on the border of Zone 3 and 4. I paid £325,000 for it in 2020. I believe it was built in 2012/13. Service Charge has consistently been around £3k every year, which I recognise is on the high size, with about £1,200 of that going towards our Sinking Fund.

A similar sized flat in my block sold with the same number of bedrooms, and bathrooms sold for £300,000 over a year ago. And more recently, a split level maisonette attached to my building with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a small garden, but similar square foot size to mine sold for £340,000.

I've had six estate agents round, over the past couple of days. 3 valued it at between £300,000 and £325,000, which I think accounts for the Service Charge (1 said, in a less subdued market, and without the service charge, she valued it at £350,000 to £375,000). 1 valued it at £325,000 to £350,000. 1 valued it at £350,000.

The last person who came round, and the one who valued at £325,000 to £350,000 thought suggested he would put it up at £350,000. I pushed back a bit, referencing my other valuations, and the sale of the flat for £300,000 last year. He responded saying that with the current market, people will always offer under anyway, so if I list at £325,000, I'll get offers at the £300,000 - £310,000 mark, so I might as well start higher, then reduce if need be.  He also pointed out that there are barely any flats of my size with 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms going in my price bracket in a 3 mile radius (most are smaller, 2 bed, 1 bath, which I confirmed on rightmove). The other 2 bed 2 bathroom flats going in my area at the moment are right next to the station (I'm 7 minutes walk away), are slightly never builds, and are going for £425,000 or more.

He did say that if he went listed at £350,000, if anyone viewing it said it was a bit high, he would just tell them to make an offer (which ironically is what happened when I bought the place)

He was quite frank that you could list at £350,000, and then reduce it after a couple of weeks, and that it would then go back to the top of the Rightmove listings, which would nullify the effects of a slow launch. I'm not sure how much it effects things if it shows you've reduced your asking price?

How much is the estate agent blowing smoke up my !!!!!! just to get my business? Honestly, I was fairly prepared that I may not get as much as I paid for it, as I realise I bought at a time when interest rates were way lower, but I also don't want to lose a chunk of money that I could otherwise get.

This is probably the most important point, the agent is obviously just trying to get your business, ask around and go with the agent that offers the best service.

ReadySteadyPop

DE_612183 said:

He's correct that reducing in a few weeks will then reset the date on Rightmove - but it will then say reduced - which gives the impression you are desperate for a sale.

Also there are many extensions that collect the Rightmove price history so people can see it being reduced and then increased etc.

Why not go halfway - £335k?

Using the extensions it is mostly reductions that I am seeing.