What do you think? Is EA selling us short?

Claw Hammer

Graham wrote: »

You’re suggesting the EA and purchaser colluded to dive the original price UP?

There was no original price. There was a marketing price. It was under the market value.

davo10

Claw Hammer wrote: »

The EA knows the true value. Either he has taken a backhander from her to get the house cheap or she is going to sell on the property off the contract and split the profit with the EA. It is a classic scam.

The "true value" is what someone is willing to pay for it. The op said there were a few bids way below asking price, and as of now there is only one bid.

By driving the price up they would be reducing profits, after paying a solicitor for two conveyances and CGT on the profit, they would be lucky to make any profit. Where are you getting this from?

Claw Hammer

davo10 wrote: »

The "true value" is what someone is willing to pay for it. The op said there were a few bids way below asking price, and as of now there is only one bid.

By driving the price up they would be reducing profits, after paying a solicitor for two conveyances and CGT on the profit, they would be lucky to make any profit. Where are you getting this from?

The EA has valued the property. A few bids to green self sellers is not a good indication of market value. There will not be two conveyances. The first wont close,

fifigogo

Sleeper12 wrote: »

"We can get that price for you" is not a promise or anything like it. We can get that price for you, is saying that, that price is achievable. Ea did not promise. He wouldn't leave himself open to being sued for not delivering on the promise.

I'm not suing anyone. I'm just curious as to why after 3 days of the advertising going live, the EA was so eager to get me to seal the deal with this lady (who is playing the game) when prior to that he was so confident about having so many interested buyers. He should have said "the price is achievable IF we can get buyers to bid". Instead he sai"d we can get the price, in that region and more if there's more than one bidder"

davo10

Claw Hammer wrote: »

The EA has valued the property. A few bids to green self sellers is not a good indication of market value. There will not be two conveyances. The first wont close,

But the op valued the property, there has been one bid at that price, the others were below, and you are saying the EA & the one bidder colluded to drive the bid up?

And then you think another bidder is going to come in, at the same time for the contracts to be signed simultaneously , with all the finance in place, and agree to buy at a price way above what it is on the market for now? Seriously, where is this other buyer? Why wouldn't he/she have bid on it now?

davo10

fifigogo wrote: »

........,,,,. if there's more than one bidder"

Ah here, you left a very important phrase out of your opening post. If you want to wait and see if another bidder enters the game, then wait, you may well get you're 30k, but if you told the EA, as you have said here, that you want a quick sale, then this lady might be the offer to accept.

fifigogo

davo10 wrote: »

Ah here, you left a very important phrase out of your opening post. If you want to wait and see if another bidder enters the game, then wait, you may well get you're 30k, but if you told the EA, as you have said here, that you want a quick sale, then this lady might be the offer to accept.

I never said I wanted a quick sale.

EA said "in the region of X - X ( which is the 30k above AP) and more if there is more than one bidder i.e 30k+

fifigogo

davo10 wrote: »

Ah here, you left a very important phrase out of your opening post. If you want to wait and see if another bidder enters the game, then wait, you may well get you're 30k, but if you told the EA, as you have said here, that you want a quick sale, then this lady might be the offer to accept.

This is what I said "He told us there are buyers very interested in our property and may be able to get 30k+ more for us"

davo10

fifigogo wrote: »

I never said I wanted a quick sale.
+

In that case, why don't you turn down the offer and wait for a higher bid?

Sleeper12

fifigogo wrote:

I'm not suing anyone. I'm just curious as to why after 3 days of the advertising going live, the EA was so eager to get me to seal the deal with this lady (who is playing the game) when prior to that he was so confident about having so many interested buyers. He should have said "the price is achievable IF we can get buyers to bid". Instead he sai"d we can get the price, in that region and more if there's more than one bidder"

I didn't say that you were suing anyone. I was just pointing out that the ea didn't "promise" a certain amount.

I think if the ea can pull off this sale then he has done a great job. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. He is weighing everything up. A firm offer from someone with finance secured against possibly months of waiting for a better offer.

This what he does for a living. He has given you his professional opinion/advice. It's up to you if you take that advice or risk losing this buyer for the chance of more money months down the road. I don't see a conspiracy, backhanders or anything else that has been suggested.
He's not forcing you to do anything.

If you want a quick sale, jump on this. If you are not in a hurry then you might get more if you wait.

Claw Hammer

davo10 wrote: »

But the op valued the property, there has been one bid at that price, the others were below, and you are saying the EA & the one bidder colluded to drive the bid up?

And then you think another bidder is going to come in, at the same time for the contracts to be signed simultaneously , with all the finance in place, and agree to buy at a price way above what it is on the market for now? Seriously, where is this other buyer? Why wouldn't he/she have bid on it now?

The contracts don't have to be signed simultaneously. The closing will be delayed until the second buyer is found. There have been bids alredy. They are from people who see greenhorns with no EA. They are trying to get a bargain. The current top bidder was one such.

kaymin

fifigogo wrote: »

This is what I said "He told us there are buyers very interested in our property and may be able to get 30k+ more for us"

I'd be very skeptical of an estate agent looking to close the transaction after only one week on their books. You should ask the estate agent to provide details of all bids and names/ contact details of bidders that have been submitted no matter whether they are below the current highest bid. I think you are right to be concerned. For certain I'd want a property that I was selling to be advertised for at least a month before accepting any offers.

davo10

kaymin wrote: »

I'd be very skeptical of an estate agent looking to close the transaction after only one week on their books. You should ask the estate agent to provide details of all bids and names/ contact details of bidders that have been submitted no matter whether they are below the current highest bid. I think you are right to be concerned. For certain I'd want a property that I was selling to be advertised for at least a month before accepting any offers.

The op doesn't have to accept the bid just because the EA advised him/her to. If the op rejects the bid, then the op will have to accept that other bids may or may not be made above this bid.

The op is going from a couple of bids way below asking, to one €16k above, and you are "skeptical" of the EAs advice to take it? What if there isn't another bid above asking? Will that be an "oops, my bad" moment?.

The fact is that no one knows if another higher bid will come in, but if the op isn't in a rush and he/she is confident one will, then wait it out. The EA is giving advice, not an order to accept the current bid.

Out of interest op, how did you and your brother come to decide on the price you advertised when trying to sell it yourself?

kaymin

davo10 wrote: »

The op doesn't have to accept the bid just because the EA advised him/her to. If the op rejects the bid, then the op will have to accept that other bids may or may not be made above this bid.

The op is going from a couple of bids way below asking, to one €16k above, and you are "skeptical" of the EAs advice to take it? What if there isn't another bid above asking? Will that be an "oops, my bad" moment?.

If the estate agent is trying to pull a fast one then obviously he's not going to pass on higher bids. Hence why I'd recommend seeking full transparency of what bids are received and from whom.

It doesn't make sense to me why an estate agent would want to close the transaction after only one week of advertising the property. This alone would leave me distrustful of him.

fifigogo

davo10 wrote: »

Out of interest op, how did you and your brother come to decide on the price you advertised when trying to sell it yourself?

We checked the other properties around us including the one a few doors down that are very similar and went by that. The EA increased it saying it was more but not too high so as to attract the buyers

Grumpypants

This is the most confussing thread I've read in a long time. Op you have first hand experience of the level of interest in the house from trying to sell it yourself. So you know the EAs door isnt being beaten down by people looking to get into a bidding war.

The EA has managed to get 15k more than the price you wanted, in a few days, and you are not happy. It isn't a scam, the EA did get lucky that you had the bidder lined up and they just had to finish the negotiation.

To be honest you have already messed the woman (the only bidder interested in paying what you want for the house) around so much i'm surprised she is still an option. The EA is giving you honest professional advise that this is a serious bid and at the bidders limit of money and patients so you should accept it or risk losing it.

Given your own experience with being unable to sell the house why are you willing to scupper the only offer in months for a chance if an extra 15k.

By the time you pay the fees and split it with your brother it will be a few grand. You are risking selling the house for 15k over what you think is fair for a few grand.

On the photos in the ad. The EA takes bad photos on purpose. People don't buy from photos, they buy from viewings. You want people showing up thinking wow it looks better than in the photos. Not showing up saying it looks worse and getting put off.

davo10

fifigogo wrote: »

We checked the other properties around us including the one a few doors down that are very similar and went by that. The EA increased it saying it was more but not too high so as to attract the buyers

So you have gone over and above the price of every other property with your guide price, and got €16k on top of this. And you think the EA screwed you? There is a simple and obvious answer to this, tell the EA you are not accepting the offer, wait and see if you get a higher one.

What a mad thread, the lady and bidder are in collusion to drive the price up, the EA is doing a bad job by advising you to take an offer €16k above previous best sale price, but you should be "skeptical", and you don't have to accept the bid.

fifigogo

davo10 wrote: »

So you have gone over and above the price of every other property with your guide price, and got €16k on top of this. And you think the EA screwed you? There is a simple and obvious answer to this, tell the EA you are not accepting the offer, wait and see if you get a higher one.

What a mad thread.

No we haven't gone over and above every other property. The asking price through the EA is the same as the other properties. The other properties have sold or are sale agreed.

fifigogo

Grumpypants wrote: »

This is the most confussing thread I've read in a long time. Op you have first hand experience of the level of interest in the house from trying to sell it yourself. So you know the EAs door isnt being beaten down by people looking to get into a bidding war.

The EA has managed to get 15k more than the price you wanted, in a few days, and you are not happy. It isn't a scam, the EA did get lucky that you had the bidder lined up and they just had to finish the negotiation.

To be honest you have already messed the woman (the only bidder interested in paying what you want for the house) around so much i'm surprised she is still an option. The EA is giving you honest professional advise that this is a serious bid and at the bidders limit of money and patients so you should accept it or risk losing it.

Given your own experience with being unable to sell the house why are you willing to scupper the only offer in months for a chance if an extra 15k.

By the time you pay the fees and split it with your brother it will be a few grand. You are risking selling the house for 15k over what you think is fair for a few grand.

On the photos in the ad. The EA takes bad photos on purpose. People don't buy from photos, they buy from viewings. You want people showing up thinking wow it looks better than in the photos. Not showing up saying it looks worse and getting put off.

I haven't messed this lady around. She offered below what we were asking. I rejected it. She offered the asking price but she was too late. That's not my fault. She said she didn't want to enter the bidding process through the EA and wished me luck. As far as I was concerned she didn't have the money because that's what she told me originally. It was just the EA got in before she offered our original asking price.

davo10

fifigogo wrote: »

No we haven't gone over and above every other property. The asking price through the EA is the same as the other properties. The other properties have sold or are sale agreed.

You just said you based it on other properties, then the EA increased it just a little so as not to scare off bidders. That means it was marketed for more than other similar properties. This is getting silly.

You guys most definitely need the help of an EA.

fifigogo

davo10 wrote: »

You just said you based it on other properties, then the EA increased it just a little so as not to scare off bidders. That means it was marketed for more than other similar properties. This is getting silly.

Our value was 5k less than the other properties. Thought I'd put that in my original post. If it's getting silly for you then don't post!

kingbhome

Crazy how people carryon. I get this when pricing jobs. Listen OP, the EA got you a good deal, you should take his hand off with this offer. That 30k more is just a figer plucked from the air. Its like this, you could potentially lose this offer coming up to xmass which isnt a great time to sell houses and have to wait around until next spring to make a few grand extra. Its not like your going to get the 30k extra in your pocket. You need to split t 3 ways between you, your brother and the EA. Just take the offer and move on instead of messing about over a few k. Theres an old saying, one bird in the hand is like 2 in the bush.

ArthurG

3 pages later and I'm really not sure what the problem is or what advice you are looking for.

If you aren't happy with the bid, then reject it. No-one on here can tell you if you should be happy with the bid, only you can decide that.

Although given other information posted (lack of people beating a path to the door etc.), I'm really not sure what more you can expect.

Of course the EA upsold you on what he thought he could get - that's what they do. if you are unhappy as a result walk away. You aren't under any obligation that I can make out, other than perhaps your own expectation that you can sell for more.

jsd1004

fifigogo wrote: »

A bit of background first: (apologies for the long post)

My brother and I put our house up for sale a couple of months ago and at the time we decided not to go with an EA to save a few quid. We had a few viewings but buyers were aware of the fact we didn't have an EA to negotiate for us so they were bidding well below the asking price and nit picking at everything to get the price down. The last lady who viewed the house was very interested and had a surveyor (her brother) out to check all is ok, which it is but she said she couldn't offer the asking price. I didn't hear from her for a week but in that week I was contacted by an EA who said he could get us a much higher amount for our house and he wanted to meet with us and get the business so we agreed.He told us about a house he represented on our road and said they got a considerable amount above their asking price. He told us there are buyers very interested in our property and may be able to get 30k+ more for us as our house is better condition than the one he sold down the road. My brother and I decided to go with him. EA increased our asking price by 5k and advertised as per usual. At the same time my brother and I were meeting the EA and considering things, the lady came back to me via email with a very low offer and wanted her mam to view the house. I rejected the offer. She said she was prepared to offer the (original) asking price but her mam had to view the property first. At this point my brother and I already agreed to go with EA and I told the lady that she can, if still interested, enter the bidding process through the EA. She said NO.

Last Monday the For Sale sign went up. On the Wednesday the EA called me and said the lady who'd viewed the house with me twice offered 15k above our asking price. The EA said he knew this lady as she was bidding on a few houses in our area but was out bid and that this is a great first offer for us (even though technically it wasn't her first offer, it's her third). The EA said it might be good to consider it as the phone "wasn't hopping" for viewings of our house. He said he'd see if she can go higher so the following day he called me and said she went up 1k more and that was final offer and we should really consider it as even though there were enquiries about our house, buyers only offered the asking price and not more. He said more houses are going for sale in the area and the lady may bid on another house.

So although the offer is a good offer, it's not the kind of offer the EA said we could get when we first met him plus why all of a sudden was he singing a different tune just a few days after the For Sale sign went up? This guy is getting his fee 1.25% of the sale price with 23% vat on the fee. He didn't even do a viewing and his advert was so average with bad photos. The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get. I feel like there's something underhanded going on. Am I over-reacting?

Did you ask him how he planned to market the property? What was he going to do differently to what you were already doing?
I have never met an EA that actively tried to sell me a property. The main way EAs have of securing a better offer is to tell someone they have been outbid. EAs do nothing generally to sell a property. They put an ad on daft and wait for interested parties.
Then they wait for bidders to determine a price. If there is only one offer the price generally does not move as the bidder believes they have bid enough if no one is countering.

alastair

Didn’t expect to feel sympathy for an estate agent, but this has to take the biscuit for awkward customer antics. The EA will obviously put the rosiest glow on expected valuation, but the current offer is well above what you were prepared to sell for only recently. The clear outcome of introducing the EA into the equation is that you’re getting a higher offer on the property. If the desire for more has taken hold, then reject that offer and see if anything better comes your way. Nobody is being undersold - you’ve just got greedy.

C3PO

It's really simple OP - either accept the offer or reject it and tell the EA that you are waiting for a higher bid!

awec

kaymin wrote: »

If the estate agent is trying to pull a fast one then obviously he's not going to pass on higher bids. Hence why I'd recommend seeking full transparency of what bids are received and from whom.

It doesn't make sense to me why an estate agent would want to close the transaction after only one week of advertising the property. This alone would leave me distrustful of him.

Contrary to popular belief I think it is ideal for EAs to get houses sold as fast as possible. Their percentage cut is so low that relatively small increases in the price are not worth it to them to justify the ongoing effort.

Unless they feel that by waiting they can increase the price significantly (doesn't sound like it in this case) there's no point in hanging on to it.

kaymin

awec wrote: »

Contrary to popular belief I think it is ideal for EAs to get houses sold as fast as possible. Their percentage cut is so low that relatively small increases in the price are not worth it to them to justify the ongoing effort.

Unless they feel that by waiting they can increase the price significantly (doesn't sound like it in this case) there's no point in hanging on to it.

Yes, if the EA is acting in their own interests as you indicate then that's reason to distrust their advice.

I suggest the property be left on the market for a month and then a decision to accept the offer or not be made. Inform the lady bidder that this is how you intend proceeding so there is no accusations of 'messing her around' :rolleyes:

awec

kaymin wrote: »

Yes, if the EA is acting in their own interests as you indicate then that's reason to distrust their advice.

I suggest the property be left on the market for a month and then a decision to accept the offer or not be made. Inform the lady bidder that this is how you intend proceeding so there is no accusations of 'messing her around' :rolleyes:

EA is acting in your interest too. What's the point in waiting a month if there is no chance of anyone offering you a lot more money?

It's just an unnecessary delay. This house has been on the market with and without an EA for many months, a bidder willing to go way above what other people are willing to pay isn't going to suddenly appear out of the woodwork.

kaymin

awec wrote: »

EA is acting in your interest too. What's the point in waiting a month if there is no chance of anyone offering you a lot more money?

It's just an unnecessary delay. This house has been on the market with and without an EA for many months, a bidder willing to go way above what other people are willing to pay isn't going to suddenly appear out of the woodwork.

Who says there is no chance? The property was put on the market a couple of months ago not many months ago. It has had the promotion of an EA for only one week. Personally I would like to give the promotion by the EA a little longer than a week before closing it off especially as EAs are known to act in their own self interest.

If the highest bidder is unwilling to wait a month then that is an important consideration.