The trials and tribulations of selling property in the current property market

tonymahoney · 08-04-2008 9:41pm #1

Hi all, I am currently selling my house in North Co. Dublin and it is on the market for 6 weeks now (a very short space of time in the current climate, I hear you say). When signing up to a particular estate agent who promised the sun, moon and the stars to get our property onto their books we were told he would most likely have it sold within 2 weeks (which I doubted from the outset) but in fairness he was basing this statement on a couple of similiar properties that sold quickly at the trun of the year before things started slowing down again. There was 1 viewing with no offer and then the phones went silent and no further interest. Yesterday I decided to enquire from the EA if there was any interest at all and if there were any viewings coming down the tracks. They claimed the market is dead again (possibly true as no other houses moving in the area in the last few weeks). About 2 hours later they call me back to say they had someone interested in viewing later on in the day but needless to say this did not suit as the house was not in "viewing condition". They therefore re-scheduled this potential buyer for Thursday. Yhen today they call me back to say that this potential buyer is no longer interested in viewing properties in our estate due to the 3rd bedroom (aka box room) not being big enough but told me that they had not forgotten about us.

Now folks the suspicious side of me says this was all bull**** just to justify having the house on their books. I am in no hurry to move because where I want to move to - trading inland rather than trading up - is not moving either so I won't be offering anything until I am sure my house is sold. Question is, why is the EA playing games like this? Is anyone having similiar experiences? What advice can you offer? All comments good or bad most welcome. Thanks for taking time out to read this

The_Conductor · 09-04-2008 7:35am

Much as I hate estate agents as much as the next person, it is possible that he may have been telling the truth. When you rang it may have given him a little bit of impetus to try peddling your property to the next person who called on the phone. He may have given them some info and assumed they'd at least make a viewing appointment, which they subsequently cancelled after they got a chance to digest more fully the information about your house.

Personally I was on to an estate agent in Naas yesterday regarding a house I originally viewed just before the turn of the year, and indicated a possible interest in it. My offer (which I was totally upfront about) would be around 30% off the advised asking price. She is going to bring it to the vendor regardless- as I can finance it without having to sell. This is the strength that FTB and some lucky others have in the current market- being able to negotiate pretty massive discounts if they have cash in hand.

Things are slow, really really slow. I'd suggest possibly taking on a second agent, and if you really want to sell, reducing your price further. Holding out in the hope of achieving your price, in a falling market, is a bit ridiculous, akin to cutting off your nose to spite your face. Surely its better to knock 10% off asking now, and get it, rather than hang around and wait for property to fall another 10% in 6-7 months time (as its North Dublin I will make an assumption that its already a little over 20% off its peak 2006 price).

Be realistic, and be similarly realistic with the house you are moving into, and be prepared to negotiate with possible buyers.

Jo King · 09-04-2008 9:26am

I would not bring in a second estate agent. I would sack the first one and get another if not satisfied with the first. If the market is dead no agent can animate it. Any potential buyer will check for all available properties with each agent in an area. The main thing is that your property is marketed properly. Get some people to ring the agents anonymously and see if they are returning calls and making appointments etc. Some agents are more willing than others to show property at times which suit the buyer.
If there are a lot of viewings and no offers it may indicate a lack of negotiating skills. Some agents have only got experience of a rising market and do not know how to negotiate in a falling market.
The wily old fox type of estate agent was eclipsed by the yuppy type in the past twelve years. It is now time to turn to that type of agent again.

El Stuntman · 09-04-2008 10:11am

Jo, he said they've had 1 viewing and no offer. This hardly means that the EA's negotiation skills have been put to the test

your property is more than likely overpriced, knock 15% off your asking and you may see some interest

beeno67 · 09-04-2008 10:19am

tonymahoney wrote: »

I am in no hurry to move because where I want to move to - trading inland rather than trading up - is not moving either so I won't be offering anything until I am sure my house is sold.

Are you putting off potential buyers. You seem to be saying that you will not offer on another house untill you have an offer on yours and contracts completed. Why should a buyer wait for you when there are so many properties out there to buy?

jetski · 09-04-2008 10:36am

I have to agree with the previous posts.....

If you imagine the fact that what made your property valuable, is now gone.... so basically the thing that will sell the property is value for money and not alot of anything else....

If a house was on the market for €400,000.00 two years ago it was priced well above what it was originally bought for and the reason was that so many people wanted to buy.... so now those buyers arent there its not worth €400,000.00

tonymahoney · 09-04-2008 9:47pm

Folks, thank you all for your comments. To clarify a few points - I advertised my house in line with prices guided by the EA and have checked with similiar properties in the area and therefore believe it is correctly advertised. I am fully aware of the necessity to be "realistc" and drop the price if necessary, so I am not being silly or greedy in any way by "holding out for a better offer" or anything like that. After 6 weeks on the market, I have had only one viewing that came to nothing. If I got a realistic offer then I would probably have no hesitation in accepting the offer given the current market conditions. The problem is getting the EA agent to line up the viewers for me -it is completely DEAD - proabably because where I am is awash with property. Anyway, I am not worried if I don't sell as the key reason for moving is to reduce commutiin time to work. I bought in 1999 so no matter what happens capital gain is on my side, cheap mortgage etc.
Beeno67 I think I confused you - I am not expecting anyone to hang around and wait for me to get mine sold. I will ensure that my sale is done and dusted and at this stage possibly rent so I become a cash buyer then and be firmly in the driving seat when moving on. Thanks for all your responses - anyone wanna buy a house in North Co. Dublin

The_Conductor · 10-04-2008 8:57am

Is it on daft or myhome?
If you post a link here we may be able to give you a few helpful suggestions.

S.

aquascrotum · 13-04-2008 9:15am

I've been looking around N. Dublin to buy and tbh I think agents are trying to play silly buggers with buyers and sellers.

Agents can't be seen to have properties with plummeting asking prices as it would cause mass hysteria, so they're still telling sellers to put on unrealistic asking prices to give an impression of a stable-ish market. Yet when he meets a serious interested buyer (ie me), he'll tell me that the asking is min. 10-15% overpriced and that any offer I make (up to 20% under asking!) would be recommended to the seller. This has happened with more than one agent.

I have money to spend but at this present moment in time I wouldn't touch the property market with a bargepole. Theres still a drop to come and until agents get real I'll be viewing everything I'm told with a pinch of salt.

Akrasia · 13-04-2008 11:38am

tonymahoney wrote: »

Folks, thank you all for your comments. To clarify a few points - I advertised my house in line with prices guided by the EA and have checked with similiar properties in the area and therefore believe it is correctly advertised.

Pricing your house at the same level as other over priced houses isn't a very good idea IMO. You're better off biting the bullet and undercutting the competition. It might seem like a drastic step, but the longer your house is on the market in a period of falling prices, the less it's going to be worth.

The_Conductor · 13-04-2008 12:40pm

Akrasia wrote: »

Pricing your house at the same level as other over priced houses isn't a very good idea IMO. You're better off biting the bullet and undercutting the competition. It might seem like a drastic step, but the longer your house is on the market in a period of falling prices, the less it's going to be worth.

Most estate agents (in a very anticompetitive move) dump any properties from their book who take this approach- on the basis that its chasing the market down. We really need to regulate the industry- urgently. Gah.....

jetski · 13-04-2008 2:18pm

wonder can you back that up?

AARRRGH · 13-04-2008 3:16pm

If you bought your house in 1999, it's likely the price you're trying to sell it for now is three or four hundred thousand euros more than you paid for it, right?

Would you consider "only" taking a profit of something like 250 thousand? That'll let you reduce your price by 50k and make a quick sale.

^-- adjust those figures for your situation, but hopefully you get the idea

The_Conductor · 13-04-2008 4:29pm

jetski wrote:

wonder can you back that up?

Have a look on this forum- there have been at least 2 people relying this information on this forum alone in the last month. While that may only be anecdotal evidence- I very much doubt that the Estate Agents are going to shout about it.

The trials and tribulations of selling property in the current property market

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