Estate Agents: Selling Techniques
Discussion
We're about to put our house on the market (valued with 3 estate agents at £550-575k) & the agent we've chosen (mainly because they're the agent for the house we've put an offer in on- so hoping it will go smoother than usual) are convinced the best way to get the maximum £ is to put it on at 500 with 'offers over' tag line ...which i'm extremely dubious about (i'd never offer over, indeed the house we're buying is 'offers over' but our offer 25k under that has been accepted)
so does anyone have experience of this selling tactic actually working- either as a buyer or seller ...or is it usual estate agent b
ks?
so does anyone have experience of this selling tactic actually working- either as a buyer or seller ...or is it usual estate agent b
ks?FlyVintage said:
You’ve put an offer in on a purchase that you have no way of progressing and the agent thinks the best way forward is to put your house on the market with a £50-75k underprice…. I wonder what their motivation is for that strategy?
indeed ...but a strategy that i've been pretty explicit wont work if it doesn't work for us- i.e we wont be selling for under 550 (i appreciate that we're also being played by the EA, but we can't move at anything under 550)Edited by anonymous_user on Wednesday 3rd September 16:33
SEDon said:
Getting competition between buyers can be useful to drive up the price but I wouldn't list for 50k under the lower band of what an EA has valued unless you're desperate to get it gone
i agree... i get the the 'theory' but i really can't see a bidding war going over 10% the advertised price regardlessanonymous_user said:
SEDon said:
Getting competition between buyers can be useful to drive up the price but I wouldn't list for 50k under the lower band of what an EA has valued unless you're desperate to get it gone
i agree... i get the the 'theory' but i really can't see a bidding war going over 10% the advertised price regardlessEdited by FlyVintage on Wednesday 3rd September 16:58
In my experience it very much depends on the house and the level of interest (and probably the state of the market at the time).
Case 1)
Our current house was bought this way - It was advertised at a low enough but reasonable number and there was a huge amount of interest. I offered the asking price over the phone before even stepping inside and was told I had to come and see it.
We saw it along with ~35 other people many of whom had brought their builder friends with them. We offered again on the drive - It was now 50K over the asking price, we matched that there and then and said we'd remain interested.
It ended up at sealed bids and we got it for 17% over the asking price! Estate agent did a good job for the vendor there.
Case 2) the same agent said to do the same with the place we were then selling - we priced it at 50K under what we wanted to sell it for (and 75K under the agents valuation) expecting oodles of interest and a bidding war right? - wrong, we had a smattering of interest and ended up selling at the asking price (i.e. well under the agents valuation)
Looking around the market here in Cambridge, nothing is shifting - I'd be extremely surprised if a bidding war is happening for any property - the cynic in me would suggest the agent knows that the only way to sell is to price it well under your "expectations" and take the only offer you get.......
Case 1)
Our current house was bought this way - It was advertised at a low enough but reasonable number and there was a huge amount of interest. I offered the asking price over the phone before even stepping inside and was told I had to come and see it.
We saw it along with ~35 other people many of whom had brought their builder friends with them. We offered again on the drive - It was now 50K over the asking price, we matched that there and then and said we'd remain interested.
It ended up at sealed bids and we got it for 17% over the asking price! Estate agent did a good job for the vendor there.
Case 2) the same agent said to do the same with the place we were then selling - we priced it at 50K under what we wanted to sell it for (and 75K under the agents valuation) expecting oodles of interest and a bidding war right? - wrong, we had a smattering of interest and ended up selling at the asking price (i.e. well under the agents valuation)
Looking around the market here in Cambridge, nothing is shifting - I'd be extremely surprised if a bidding war is happening for any property - the cynic in me would suggest the agent knows that the only way to sell is to price it well under your "expectations" and take the only offer you get.......
FlyVintage said:
anonymous_user said:
SEDon said:
Getting competition between buyers can be useful to drive up the price but I wouldn't list for 50k under the lower band of what an EA has valued unless you're desperate to get it gone
i agree... i get the the 'theory' but i really can't see a bidding war going over 10% the advertised price regardlessbut im wary of thinking i know better than the agent & getting them to stick it up at 575 & with a view to accepting 550
fat80b said:
In my experience it very much depends on the house and the level of interest (and probably the state of the market at the time).
Case 1)
Our current house was bought this way - It was advertised at a low enough but reasonable number and there was a huge amount of interest. I offered the asking price over the phone before even stepping inside and was told I had to come and see it.
We saw it along with ~35 other people many of whom had brought their builder friends with them. We offered again on the drive - It was now 50K over the asking price, we matched that there and then and said we'd remain interested.
It ended up at sealed bids and we got it for 17% over the asking price! Estate agent did a good job for the vendor there.
Case 2) the same agent said to do the same with the place we were then selling - we priced it at 50K under what we wanted to sell it for (and 75K under the agents valuation) expecting oodles of interest and a bidding war right? - wrong, we had a smattering of interest and ended up selling at the asking price (i.e. well under the agents valuation)
Looking around the market here in Cambridge, nothing is shifting - I'd be extremely surprised if a bidding war is happening for any property - the cynic in me would suggest the agent knows that the only way to sell is to price it well under your "expectations" and take the only offer you get.......
interesting & thanks! Case 1)
Our current house was bought this way - It was advertised at a low enough but reasonable number and there was a huge amount of interest. I offered the asking price over the phone before even stepping inside and was told I had to come and see it.
We saw it along with ~35 other people many of whom had brought their builder friends with them. We offered again on the drive - It was now 50K over the asking price, we matched that there and then and said we'd remain interested.
It ended up at sealed bids and we got it for 17% over the asking price! Estate agent did a good job for the vendor there.
Case 2) the same agent said to do the same with the place we were then selling - we priced it at 50K under what we wanted to sell it for (and 75K under the agents valuation) expecting oodles of interest and a bidding war right? - wrong, we had a smattering of interest and ended up selling at the asking price (i.e. well under the agents valuation)
Looking around the market here in Cambridge, nothing is shifting - I'd be extremely surprised if a bidding war is happening for any property - the cynic in me would suggest the agent knows that the only way to sell is to price it well under your "expectations" and take the only offer you get.......
That strategy may work under some market conditions, but unless you're very fortunate, there aren't many parts of the country where buyers are likely to expect to pay 10%+ over list price right now.
The problem is once you've hit the market at £500k, and you don't find anyone to pay £550k, then it's very difficult to increase the price.
Obviously can be very difficult to advise much without knowing how the local market is behaving.
Certainly a bold strategy.
The problem is once you've hit the market at £500k, and you don't find anyone to pay £550k, then it's very difficult to increase the price.
Obviously can be very difficult to advise much without knowing how the local market is behaving.
Certainly a bold strategy.
rah1888 said:
That strategy may work under some market conditions, but unless you're very fortunate, there aren't many parts of the country where buyers are likely to expect to pay 10%+ over list price right now.
The problem is once you've hit the market at £500k, and you don't find anyone to pay £550k, then it's very difficult to increase the price.
Obviously can be very difficult to advise much without knowing how the local market is behaving.
Certainly a bold strategy.
my thoughts exactly ...to my mind it's far easier to go on at a flat 575 with no blurb & see what happens- & then pivot to offers over 525 at a later point, than the other way aroundThe problem is once you've hit the market at £500k, and you don't find anyone to pay £550k, then it's very difficult to increase the price.
Obviously can be very difficult to advise much without knowing how the local market is behaving.
Certainly a bold strategy.
I did post pretty much this exact question in another thread a few weeks ago. Something originally on for £1.5M was re-listed as offers over £1.4M and I couldn't see the logic in this.
The only thing it does do is put your property in a lower price bracket for Rightmove searches. At £575K it would be seen by people looking at properties between £500K and £600K. At offers over £500K it would be seen by those people AND by people looking up to £500K. Not that that helps if £500K (or less) is all they've got to spend.
It will result in more people being exposed to your property, but that's no help if they're not in a position to buy it.
The only thing it does do is put your property in a lower price bracket for Rightmove searches. At £575K it would be seen by people looking at properties between £500K and £600K. At offers over £500K it would be seen by those people AND by people looking up to £500K. Not that that helps if £500K (or less) is all they've got to spend.
It will result in more people being exposed to your property, but that's no help if they're not in a position to buy it.
One will overprice it to win the business, then your house is sat doing nothing for 6 months with no viewers, he then recommends reducing it, so you do, and if you have been checking your notes, it's probably the same or lower than the middle quote. I think the guys with the green Minis do this?
So go with the middle one and sell your house sooner.
So go with the middle one and sell your house sooner.
Hoofy said:
One will overprice it to win the business, then your house is sat doing nothing for 6 months with no viewers, he then recommends reducing it, so you do, and if you have been checking your notes, it's probably the same or lower than the middle quote. I think the guys with the green Minis do this?
So go with the middle one and sell your house sooner.
to clarify, all 3 EA's gave the same range of valuesSo go with the middle one and sell your house sooner.
Another factor is how much you need to achieve with your sale.
Ultimately its the cost to change.
If you've bid a 25k below asking price offer then you are ahead already (assuming the house you are buying doesn't need any major spends)
I wouldn't go with offers over 500k if I were you, more like offers over ' the amount you'd accept'
What's that...550 ish?
Ultimately its the cost to change.
If you've bid a 25k below asking price offer then you are ahead already (assuming the house you are buying doesn't need any major spends)
I wouldn't go with offers over 500k if I were you, more like offers over ' the amount you'd accept'
What's that...550 ish?
Dog Biscuit said:
Another factor is how much you need to achieve with your sale.
Ultimately its the cost to change.
If you've bid a 25k below asking price offer then you are ahead already (assuming the house you are buying doesn't need any major spends)
I wouldn't go with offers over 500k if I were you, more like offers over ' the amount you'd accept'
What's that...550 ish?
yep 550 is the absolute minimum to make it viable Ultimately its the cost to change.
If you've bid a 25k below asking price offer then you are ahead already (assuming the house you are buying doesn't need any major spends)
I wouldn't go with offers over 500k if I were you, more like offers over ' the amount you'd accept'
What's that...550 ish?
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