Selling / Buying Houses..HELP!

[allie5]

Im new to all this selling and buying houses malarkey. Our first and only house was bought new from the builder and we moved in from our parents homes, so no Estate Agents, no offers or deals needed to be negotiated and we didnt need to battle with 10 other people for the same house!!

These are my problems thus far. House went on the market last week. Chose the Estate Agent who gave us the best valuation, and on their advice put the house up at 2.5k over the valuation. We had one call to say they were sending someone round on Sat...they never turned up. Nothing since. Is the house over priced? How soon do you reduce it?? Should I give it a few more weeks yet? Just to add, our neighbours sold their house in 3 days only a few weeks back (though they backed out of the sale). Unfortunately, I dont know what they sold it for and feel uncomfortable about asking....do you think I should? We get on OK.

Another question. Our Estate Agent sent us to see a house last week, and nice as it was, we thought it was over priced. It was an end terrace with no garage, and parking to the back. Also the bathroom needed a refit. We have seen other properties in the same area that have been detatched, with garages and needing no work for the same money!! When the agent rang and asked our opinion, we told him our thoughts and he appeared to agree. He encouraged us to make an offer, even though we said it would be nearly 20k less than the asking price. When he came back to me, he said the vendor had been "insulted" by our offer!!

The couple selling the house were really nice, and I felt bad that we had done that, but still stood by our thoughts that the house was way over priced. Is it normal practice to make offers well below the asking price if you have what you think is good reason, or do people really expect to get the price "on the window"??? I know I am expecting to "haggle" when it comes to selling ours!

We have also lost on out on 2 places that were perfect, even though we offered the full price the next day...do you really need to have sold your property to be in with a chance? Is it worth NOT looking until we have sold, to avoid all the disappointment, or keep at it?

Would REALLY appreciate any thoughts or comments from seasoned house movers! Im totally clueless, so just been watching that Location Location Location program for tips!!

Thanks!
Allie

 

[WDWfan uk]

Hi Allie,

The agent you have chosen - did you choose them because they put the highest valuation on your property out of the agents you saw? Because they put the highest does not necessarily make it the most realistic. It is a good idea to compare the prices of similar houses on the market and see what they are selling for to get some idea of what people might be prepared to pay.

I'd certainly check in with your neighbour - you could start the conversation by asking what they thought of their agents and then get round to asking about the price.

It could also be a rather slow month with many people on holiday and children to keep amused.

Regarding the other house, do not worry about the comment the vendor made - never take these things seriously! They are hoping for a much higher figure and the agent will repeat it (or even have put in their own words) to get you to bump up your offer, but if no-one is prepared to pay it, then they will have to reconsider! And anyway, it is only worth the amount of money that someone is prepared to pay for it!!

Some of your questions really depend on the individual circumstances - whether you only buy when you have sold, depends on how much of a hurry folk in the chain are. We sold a house and then because those people were set to move in, rather than lose the sale, the house we bought was a compromise rather than our dream house. It's swings and roundabouts!

Good luck and let us know how things work out!

Shirley

 

[SidB]

Keep calm, it's just like a game.

Estate agents deserve the bad press they get most of the time. You must remember that the agent works for the seller, not the buyer. they probably made the offer to "encourage" the seller to reduce their price.

I guess you're tied into your agent for some time yet. If they don't sell your house in that time, change. Find the company with the highest profile in the area, negotiate a lower commission, and you name the price you want. If your house is part of a whole estate the agents do know the going rate. If not, they haven't a clue and just "estimate." Buyers tend to believe that the agents price is the going rate, and that is the prime mover in the price rises we're seeing. If you want more, ask for more. A buyer likes to negotiate a lower price and if they think they've got a good deal they're less likely to drop out.

When your house is on the market get a friend to visit the agent and tell them they're looking for a house in your area around your price. If they don't offer your property give them a rocket

Bear in mind that the decor and cleanliness only effects the time a property takes to sell. It shouldn't effect the price more than a couple of hundred quid.

Until you've sold your house sellers will be very wary about accespting an offer from you. Keep looking but don't waste other people's time. Only go for viewings if you've sold your own house.

 

[chunkster20uk]

Ok having been playing this horrible game since March, here is my twopenneth:-

We originally took an estate agents advice and put it on £5K over what it was worth (saying people always look higher and then make offers), after 8 weeks we had 3 viewers, after 12 weeks we had had 5 viewers and an offer for £5K under the asking price.

This fell through because the buyer couldn't get a mortgage (my advice and what our buyer asked his estate agent toask for was a copy of the mortgage offer before the house was taken off the market)

We went with a new estate agent, who put it on at the proper price and we had 18 viewers in 10 days and three offers. The major difference in my opinion was that this agent advertises more, especially on www.rightmove.co.uk

Our buyer lost their buyer, house went back on the market for 5 days we had 8 viewers, sold again, and fingers crossed for exchange of contracts soon.

My Tips:-

Don't over price by too much
Research prices yourself (www.rightmove.co.uk)
Ensure your agent advertises properly, uses the above website
Always stay positive, it is hard but it helps

 

[vernon]

I'm in the same game right now. The more I deal with estate agents, the less I think they know.

All you can do is research similar houses in your area and try to get a good idea yourself of it's value. It seems that these days many estate agents rely, IMHO, too heavily on their on line advertising and aren't using personal contacts to match buyers with suitable houses. To make the best of this situation it's vital that the "front page" of your house details contain as good a picture as possible of your house and a wording that will interest people enough to open the following details and maybe book a viewing. Making sure the house is clean and tidy can make a huge difference, as can colour, decor and lay out. No one likes to admit they wouldn't buy a house because it was messy or they didn't like the colour, but in many ways it sets a subconcious feeling about a house. If people start looking for reasons not to like a house you're dead in the water.

As for buying/making an offer. I wish someone would insult me with an offer LOL, a house is worth what a buyers prepared to pay, if you're the best offer they have a choice, sell at that price or wait. You certainly shouldn't worry about what they say about the situation. I would word it though as "this is as much as I can afford, I would be happy to buy your house if you can get to that level" as opposed to " I think your house is worth X" . Maybe that's the job of the agent to "translate" a little better, although I tend to think he thinks the house is over priced and is trying to talk them down. I am of the opinion estate agents make up 70% of the "feedback" they give you from sellers/buyers LOL.

Trying to sell and buy at the same time is a hugely frustrating situation. In the end on my last sale I sold, moved in with relatives for a couple of months as there seemed to be no way to tie up the chain. It's worth considering renting for a short time if you sell before a house is lined up. It does make things a lot easier and generally sellers will knock some money off for a "cash" buyer.

 

[allie5]

Wow, thanks for all the great replies and tips. Ive learnt more reading this than from the Estate Agents!

Shirley, I chose the agent in question (all the valuations were around the same, except for 1, who valued it at £12k less than the other 3???) because they are the biggest in our area. They promised nationwide advertising and listing on the Rightmove website. I thought that was important, as 80% of the houses I have been interested in myself have come from there. Will try and see if our neighbour will let us in on what theirs went for!!

SidB, some good advice, thanks. Dont think I will let myself get excited about another house until ours is sold.

Chunkster...again, some great tips thanks. I seem to remember you are in Essex as well?? We are in Basildon and are getting very conflicting views on the property market here. Some say its very bouyant, others say its extremely quiet. Im not sure who to believe. I will be changing agents in a few weeks, and this time I wont be tied into a contract so I can use a few from the next town as well.

Vernon, Ive taken your advice and looked at similar properties. I think I will need to drop the price a little to be competitive. Im also not that happy with the picture they took of the front of the house. Can I ask for it to be redone? It has been put on the Rightmove website, so if anyone wants to offer their opinion on the photo, feel free....

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/rm/templ...ails.vm/svr/1027?p_id=3476992&pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

We will be in a position next month to move into DHs mothers house, which she rents out at the moment. The existing tennants are going, so she said we could have it until we find something (possibly we never will, as her house is lovely and in a great area . It will give us the advantage of being cash buyers which will help. Downside is, I will have a 30 min drive to DDs nursery, but I suppose its a small price to pay!

Thanks again. Will keep you posted with what happens!

Allie

 

[chunkster20uk]

We are in Shoeburyness (Southend) we first of all used Dedmans, but used Hunt Roche second time around, they are part of TEAM which covers a lot of this part of Essex, cross advertising etc.