AIBU that someone’s trying to scam me

[Someonesscammingme]

We have decided to sell our house.

It has 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms 1 large reception /dining area, small but perfectly equipped kitchen.

It is in a very well to do area but most definitely one of the worst houses on the road.

The bathrooms and kitchens are all good.
Newly fitted a couple of years ago

We also have a 1 bed annexe complete with living room, shower room and kitchen in the garden.
The garden is 1/4 acre
Parking for 6 cars on the driveway.

The house needs painting and decorating and a new driveway and generally a bit of tlc and staging

Nearby there are 2 bed terrace houses, no driveway no garden (back to back type) that are going for a certain amount.

One is for sale that needs renovating

Similar houses that needed renovating have sold on our road went for £3-400000 more.
They come to the market occasionally when the elderly owners die or go onto a nursing home

Those that are very nicely done go for much more.

Just had 3 estate agents round

First 2 (seemed to be friends who knew who was coming round from the others estate agents) valued it at exactly the same price which was less than one of the terraced houses that needs work.

The last one did give us a more reasonable value that was somewhat in line with what we thought was realistic.

Checked out one of those companies who would buy the house for cash within a few days.

They said £160,000 more than the 2 lower price estate agents

Am I being unreasonable to think that if we had not been aware of house prices and only had the first 2 people round that someone close to these 2 friends would have bought the house through a 3rd party and could have easily flipped it for a very nice £160000 profit
Or they were just incompetent at there job and I am being overly cynical.

I am a realist and the 3rd estate agent actually did give a figure that was in line with my thinking.

As the 3rd one said, you have to look at what you could get in the neighbourhood for the valuation we got from the first 2.
We wouldn’t have been able to afford a 2 bed terrace with no driveway and in need of work.

It really didn’t make sense

I'm not sure. The company that buys for cash might reel you in with a good offer and then lower it. You need someone else too I think.

We thought that but even if they did i doubt they would knock £160k off their price and judging by the email we received it looks like it is a genuine offer.

Still plenty of money in it even if they sold immediately

How much higher was the 3rd agent than the first two?

Anything's possible & it sounds dodgy given the prices of the other, lesser, houses. We once saw a house which looked great & seemed undervalued & although it was on the agent's books & they gave us the details, they refused to let us see it! There was definitely something going on there.

Can you get another agent in to value it?

Seems all very odd OP buy not sure I'd suspect a legitimate conspiracy?

Have you given them the feedback that you find that to be very low vs the band valuations (that is a HUGE difference) and ask why that is the case when the going rate is 'x'? I would seek further valuations, you can even have your own survey done on it if you want a deathly accurate valiation based on condition (though I appreciate that is extreme and not the norm)

Ultimately you don't need to put it on the market with an estate agent you don't trust for a price you are not happy with. Not many people selling their house won't know the rough going rate or be able to check online the recent sold prices so as a 'scam' it is hardly likely to work.

I had this many years ago. Reputable agents valued a property I wanted to sell at X. Both were close prices so I thought that was correct.
A third, also reputable agent stepped in and valued it at £150k more.

In the end it sold pretty quickly for that higher price, so I'm glad we selected the final agent.

Have you gone back to the agents and questioned them about why their valuation is so out of line with the local market?

Of they are up to something they are pretty rubbish at it, make sure you speak to the manager not the people who came round.

Remember you have to sell it for what you think it’s worth first of all. There is no point in someone valuing it with what you think it’s worth if nobody buys it.

Get two agents to sell it on a JOINT SOLE AGENCY basis

So first one to sell gets the commission hopefully 1% incl vat (but that depends on your area on how the local area is doing)

Deffo get another few agents in to value it and ask their plans to market it

I have no idea what you’re home is worth or what has actually happened here, but will caution that assuming your house is worth more because it is bigger than another one on sale isn’t always correct.

Some areas will only ever attract a certain value and beyond that value, it doesn’t matter how big or nice the house is, it will have a max value set by the area.

If you took a really shitty area and put a million pound mansion in it, nobody would pay a million for it. It could be that your area has a max value.

It was rumoured (in the 70s and 80s) that shady estate agents used to make hoots of cash from undervalued properties sold by their pals - particularly properties that had potential for development, where a bit of garden could be sold on as a separate plot, and maybe the vendor was not too savvy etc.

The first two agents seem to be friends who valued it at exactly the same price you say

Sometimes, for whatever reason, they don’t want to market your house, so give you a fuck off valuation.

Go with the third or get some others to give you a valuation.

Check on Rightmove to see what the houses are SELLING for
Remember an asking price and selling price are not always the same
If you put the house on the market at a price thats too high it will stick like glue and you will get nowhere fast
Be realistic and you should be fine

The only surprise to me is that the first two let on that they were mates - they're usually more careful than that and get found out some other way

How much higher was the 3rd agent than the first two

£275000 more.

Which having checked Rightmove etc on what is going in our area and what has been sold is within the range we thought it should be around.

I think I’d be tempted to ring the first two agencies and speak to the manager of the branch , it sounds very dodgy but also do they think you are stupid .

We did question on why it was such a low valuation compared to the terrace properties but was told that the terrace houses were in a far better position and were in a different league.

Apparently no one wants bigger houses that need any sort of work as opposed to smaller properties that need work so that made ours so much cheaper.

I did question them about others in my road which are not in pristine condition because they have elderly people who have lived there for decades (brought their children up there) and was told they wouldn’t sell either.

The ones that have gone, apparently they were flukes.

You really couldn’t make it up.

One EA was criticising the fact we had 4 beds and only one reception and said we should make 3 of the bedrooms reception rooms.

It was really bizarre

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable. It sounds really sketchy to me

Perhaps you could get another 1 or 2 agents in and ignore the first estimates. Make sure you get reputable ones that you know have premises in town though.

Were they drunk?😮

A 275k range in valuations is nuts! Unless we're talking houses worth millions?!

House definitely under £1 million

Actually thinking of either going with 3rd agent or selling it ourselves and save the 2% commission.

Even the 3rd agent was taken aback by the previous valuations.

Can you get a 4th valuation to be sure?

Yanbu. My horrible cousin works for Hunter Estate Agents. We had a family property to sell after a death and because a few family members wanted to buy decided to put it with a separate agent for transparency. Within 20 minutes of a relative placing an offer on the property, said cousin had a full description of the purchasers, and some of their financial details. It's the same as any local competitive industry, people move from one to another. In his case, another agency would value it low, sell it to him personally, he would then rent it out through his own agency.

It all sounds very bizarre and complete crap.
Someone is wrong, I'd be tempted to get dome more valuations and then if they all seem to be in line with your 3rd one be reporting the first 2 EA to firstly the manager of the firm and then whoever regulates them.
Think you need more evidence first though

I am very wary of having anyone else in to tell me my house is unsellable

There is only one very small town to pick estate agents from and as they all see to know each other, even the 3rd agent the other 2 deemed to be a friend.
It does make me wary of even the 3rd agent.