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

Yes, I think they were trying to take advantage of you

Estate agents remain in the Wild West. I never hear of any complaints being upheld against those fuckers.

What about trying one of the national online agents like Purple Bricks etc?

They’re much less common since banks tightened up mortgage pre-lending checks but scams of the type your describe used to be very very common. Except it was getting chains of friends to buy properties several times and then by the end you have a bank that’s loaned loads more than the house is worth then surprise surprise the mortgage gets defaulted on.

What you’re describing could be an attempt to artificially lower the price in order to rip off the seller (as opposed to inflating the price to rip off the lender). I don’t think you’re being paranoid. Ask all the agents how they arrived at the valuation. They should be working off the same data (previous sales plus zoopla algorithm etc).

You really couldn’t make it up

Thing is, you don't need to make it up; it happens so often that, if you're selling a do-er upper in a decent area, it's practically expected

Of course there are exceptions, but the overall reputation of the industry - while richly deserved - is sadly what you get when largely unregulated staff are allowed to handle transactions in the hundreds of thousands

Try calling a few more and hope that, on the law of averages, you'll find other decent ones

Sounds like the first two agreed a low price and plan to sell it on for much more and split the difference between them.

It makes me suspicious of the 3rd because one of the first 2 actually mentioned his name (quite a rare name) as another of their friends.

When a house buying company, even with a last minute deduction is out bidding a local estate agent you know something isn’t right

Have you worked out the basic pound per square foot price for the different quotes you’ve been given plus compared to assorted price per square foot for a range of locally recently sold properties...

There are also some websites that will value your property based on algorithms rather than estate agents in cahoots. They then refer you to ea rather than try to sell it themselves - so no pressure - but will give more ideas on prices.

Based purely on square footage comparing it to the terrace house (which is actually up for more than this place got valued at)

It puts it at £440,000 more than the terrace.

Interested to know how I would search for the property based algorithms

£440000 more than the first 2 valuations.

When we sold, we had no idea what figure to expect. Our house was extended and as a result wasn’t the standard type of estate house on the estate therefore all the estate agents came to look and said they would get back to us with a figure. Two estate agents came in with a similar figure and the third came in at an extra £100K. We thought they had made a mistake but when questioned they made complete sense and had done their homework to get to this figure. They compared other recently sold properties with ours, a house in the country, a new build etc maybe bigger gardens, bigger houses. My point being that you should look at other 4 bed properties around the area and see where you think yours comes in compared to them. Ours sold on the first viewing for just under the asking price. It certainly made me think how the other two agents came to their figures! I have also posted before about a work colleague who told me he bought his house at a bargain price when his estate agent friend withheld viewings on the house.

There is very few 4 beds on the market ever.
There is very few that come to the market

(4 houses since the late 90s one of which is ours)

There are only really 3 roads in a very small village (we have a pub)

Atm there is 1 x 5 bed house for sale which is sticking because of it’s position. Beautifully presented but that is up for around £900,000 more than the 2 arching lower valuations. It also has a really small garden

And a 4 bedder that is next door to the 5 bed one (again same view) also beautifully presented which is up for £300000 less (£600,000 more than the lower valuation)

2 years ago the only one that came up for sale. It needed complete renovation and was next door but 2 to us sold for £350000 more than the lower valuations.

I don’t think I am being unreasonable in expecting a certain amount.

Was expecting a very low valuation for a quick sale but never thought it could be so low that we couldn’t afford even a 2 bed terrace house with no garden

Then the original valuations sound way out.

I'd try a more distant estate agent, even a national/international one like Savills, if your house falls within their price range.

cats, your colleague's experience bears out our suspicions about the bargain house we weren't allowed to view.

Could you just say what the amounts are, it's hard to track your 400000 less than, and 6000000 over

Can’t really put the exact figures because it would be very outing.

Terrace houses usually go for around the £500000 mark (one is up for much more
We are within a few minutes drive of a tube station.
The other EA agent valued it at £775000

Our valuation we thought would be between £775000 and £850000

The only house that has come up for sale in recent times (2 years ago) in our road went for mid £800s
In the road that backs onto ours a much smaller house, smaller garden, smaller driveway which needed an awful lot of work went for late £600s last year

If you google Zoopla, they have a way of working out what your house is worth today based on what has sold in your area over decades, and its purchase price I think.

They don't take the condition of your house into consideration so you'll get an average figure.

So far zoopla have been pretty accurate.

If you are worried I would research what the area is worth. You could take it to auction with a secure reserve price on it.

I wouldn't be trusting the first pair with your sale.

Definitely no where near what the estate agents said.