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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not play the estate agent game and just give them my best offer straight away?

64 replies

saturdaycoffee · 18/03/2019 12:22

Buying a property.

I put in an offer last Thursday, which was turned down as it was too low.

The agent suggested the vendors would accept an offer half way between my offer, and the asking price.

AIBU to just put in an offer at that price (which is the highest price I would pay for the property because I don't think it's worth more than that), given that if they turn it down, I can't put in a higher offer?

Family have suggested putting in another offer but lower than the halfway offer, and then at least I can increase it to my "final" offer if they turn that down.

I hate all this game playing.

OP posts:

londonrach · 18/03/2019 13:28

Up to you if you want the house or not. In my area to offer asking and if you lucky you might get house. Market is so active houses are selling the day they advertised if priced right. My neighbour just sold theres. There wasnt even time for board to be put up. If you dont offer the price are you prepared to walk away and is there something else in the area. If so dont increase your offer!

Spiritinabody · 18/03/2019 13:29

NutSuchASmugMarriedNow1

I wouldn't waste the agent or seller's time putting in an offer of 90% yet alone 80%. I can't believe someone could be such a CF!
If you can't afford the house then you need to look at lower priced houses.

All those in my road have been listed as 'offers over' and have achieved that. I suppose it depends on where you live and whether the house is priced to sell.

I had 3 valuations done on my property to ensure the selling price is realistic. I wouldn't both counter-offering if I was offerered 80% or 90% of the SP. I'd just tell my agent not to waste my time with ridiculous offers.

Tinkobell · 18/03/2019 13:31

Find out the gross internal area in sq metres from the agent. Take the asking price and divide to find out £ / sq metre. Consider the plot size and aspect also. Then look at house registry for similar sold properties and see if the asking price is similar to other sold properties nearby. You do also have to consider the quality and age of the internal fittings. I'd take it from there. I do this then go on my instincts if I like the house. If you've a house to sell then you're not as attractive to a seller as someone who may not and also has their mortgage all agreed too.

CaseofEllen · 18/03/2019 13:32

That's what I did. Best, final and only offer on our house (£5000 under asking price) with the condition they took it off market.

twigandgiggleberries · 18/03/2019 13:34

I think standard procedure is to offer 80% of the asking price inititally and then to go up to 90% final offer

We found out this wasn't the case when we put in an offer for a house early this year - we offered 92% of the asking price and the estate agent practically laughed in our faces and didn't even pass the offer on to the buyers!

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 18/03/2019 13:35

"I wouldn't waste the agent or seller's time putting in an offer of 90% yet alone 80%. I can't believe someone could be such a CF!"

You know what Spiritinabody - it's CFs like me who get houses for 90% of the asking price - but you pay full price if you like

twigandgiggleberries · 18/03/2019 13:37

pass the offer on to the Vendors is what I meant to type...

daisyphase · 18/03/2019 13:40

My tip for you is to keep looking while you have this offer out there. Depending on your area and price range there may be new properties coming to market that you could view. Maybe look at some via this particular estate agent to make sure that all parties know you have options. It really helps to keep emotions in check and to stop you getting carried away once you've fallen for a property. When we bought in 2008 (slowing market) we must have viewed 50 additional properties while waiting for our offer to go through and in the 6 months it took to exchange on our house.

Alsohuman · 18/03/2019 13:44

If I was offered 80% I'd not only refuse it, I'd tell the agent the house was no longer available to that buyer. Put in your best and final, OP, and tell the agent that's it.

soulrunner · 18/03/2019 13:45

"I wouldn't waste the agent or seller's time putting in an offer of 90% yet alone 80%. I can't believe someone could be such a CF!"

I live to waste agents' time . Cheating, lying little weasels.

didn't even pass the offer on to the buyers!

I think (s)he's actually legally obliged to do that. See my earlier point

ConstanzaAndSalieri · 18/03/2019 13:48

I bought a house last year. It was on with our estate agent (so I reckoned I knew where it stood in the valuation stakes) and it was exactly what and where we wanted. I offered the asking price (though it had been reduced) in the condition it was taken off the market and we moved quickly. Worked in our favour.

mothertruck3r · 18/03/2019 13:50

A house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Put in the offer you are willing to pay and walk away if they don't accept it.

soulrunner · 18/03/2019 13:53

I think that's the key thing. You just have to decide what your priorities are and if possible understand the vendors. We bought a house a few years ago- friend of a friend knew the vendor. The guy had already made a lot of money on it, was getting divorced, second home, wanted a quick and easy sale. We didn't have a chain (so cash buyer), put in a cheeky offer and he accepted. I wouldn't have paid asking price. He probably wouldn't have sold to someone in a long chain. Had his circumstances been different, he'd maybe have held out. If I'd decided that was the only house for me, I might have paid more.

OhDearGodLookAtThisMess · 18/03/2019 13:54

Don't confuse what you think it's worth with what you can only afford. They are two different things.

Springisallaround · 18/03/2019 13:55

I wouldn't waste the agent or seller's time putting in an offer of 90% yet alone 80%. I can't believe someone could be such a CF!

Surely it all depends on market conditions. Brexit hasn't hit our local market yet, it's v expensive compared to some areas, not as bad as London and immediate SE, but if you tried 80% it would be laughable. I offered 95% recently and was out-bid! Rightly or wrongly, banks are still lending and most sellers are expecting fairly near the asking price unless there's a real drawback with the property. I've seen a few reductions, but of a couple of %, not 20%.

HairyToity · 18/03/2019 13:55

Depends how much you want it and the market. Can you hold tight? Have you put the postcode in mouse price to see what the neighbouring properties have been selling for.

I thinks its standard estate agents speak to split the difference between offer and asking price. They'll be telling the vendors that they will try to get it up a bit. Perhaps just offer an extra 2k, if you are not desperate for this particular house. Then the agent can tell his client he's done his job as a negotiator.

Do your calculations take into account solicitors costs, surveys and stamp duty etc.?

Spiritinabody · 18/03/2019 13:58

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1

If the asking price is realistic then I'm happy to pay it. Like I said it depends on whether it is priced to sell. If it has been priced unrealistically high then I can understand offering below the asking price.
The houses in my area are selling very fast and for approx 4.3% above asking price. Might be totally different in different areas.

One of my valuers did say that if I really wanted a price above their valuation they would advertise it at that price. I wouldn't go with an Estate Agent who made such a stupid suggestion as it would obviously not sell if over priced, hence the reason I had 3 valuations.

Some of us don't want to play games. We want to offer to sell at a realistic price and then not have anyone take the Mickey by not offering that price.

soulrunner · 18/03/2019 13:59

Also, whatever house you buy, the day will come when you hate it (because the garage roof is still leaking or rising damp or whatever) and then it's doubly crap if you feel like you overpaid for it.

WeepingWillowWeepingWino · 18/03/2019 14:01

we put in the asking price as our first offer, which was accepted and I think it worked in our favour as my flat (which was under offer at the time) fell through 3 times and I think the fact that we just gone in at top whack meant they didn't just ditch us.

DappledThings · 18/03/2019 14:03

it would obviously not sell if over priced, hence the reason I had 3 valuations

We had 3 valuations in August 2017 and they all came in within £50 of each other. Accepted an offer in January 2018 at 85% of that. Markets change! Doesn't mean all 3 were wrong at the time.

Spiritinabody · 18/03/2019 14:15

soulrunner

I live to waste agents' time. Cheating lying little weasels.

Rofl. You really made me chuckle soulrunner.

I get where you are coming from but was pleasantly surprised at the attitude of 2/3 agents I saw last week.

The 3rd disappointed me as he told me the house he just sold over the road went for £5k above asking price and had 4 others who really wanted it. I was a CF and asked why he even needs to market my house and suggested he just contact those viewers. No, heavy marketing is apparently what they need to do.

Next day, knowing my 3rd valuer was about to arrive, he telephoned me and offered to drop their fees by £500 . If he can afford to do that, they can afford to set the fees lower in the first place. I guess I've wasted his time then.

Spiritinabody · 18/03/2019 14:25

Dappledthings

ISWYM Unless you left it a while before marketing it, it does look like your 3 valuations, although within £50 of each other, were all unrealistically high.

Ours seem comparable with sold prices in the road and surrounding roads and we were told the finish (e.g. new ceilings and walls throughout, new heating and newly refurbished kitchen and bathroom) are to a higher spec than the others.

Hopefully ours will be priced realistically.

Mildura · 18/03/2019 14:33

@NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1
I think 90% would be my best offer to honest

Talking in percentages in this way is utterly meaningless.

On some occasions paying 80% of asking would still be too much, and on other occasions paying the asking price would still be a good buy.

thedisorganisedmum · 18/03/2019 15:05

wouldn't waste the agent or seller's time putting in an offer of 90% yet alone 80%. I can't believe someone could be such a CF!

you don't know much about property buying, do you.

Know your market and the state of the house, it's ridiculous to pretend that one rule fits all. Some houses around here are still sold within the first week of the sign coming up. In other parts of the county, they stay unsold for months.

Making an offer at what you think is the right price is perfectly acceptable. First offers tend to be on the low side, but that cannot apply to every property

Original poster

saturdaycoffee · 18/03/2019 16:15

I've put in an offer at the price that the agent suggested. I've now got to wait and see what happens...

I didn't tell them it was my highest offer, but I will do if they come back to me and say no. I don't think it's worth more than that, and as much as I like it, I'm going to hold out for what I think it's worth in the current market. I've been on Rightmove every day for about the past 2 years, so I've got a fair idea what it's like in this area.

OP posts:

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