Or why value a house at £60k less than what you think it will sell for?!

[showgirlie]

Ive just seen a house online for £300k, on our dream street, near schools, looks perfect. DH rang the agent and he said hes has 30 viewings lined up and it will probably sell for £360k!

The thing is, its in a really popular area and even i was surprised at the price, the max we could go to would be £314k.

I know they cant tell for sure how popular a house would be but surely its their job to price it near to what itll go for?!

Im now gutted, we've sold our house and are chain free and ready to move, we would happily go over the asking price to our max and i really got my hopes up when i seen it online

Did they book you a viewing? I wouldn't believe everything an estate agent tells you. Go see the house and put an offer in if you love it, you sound like you're in a good position and you never know

I think I'd just assume that they were trying to make it seem really desirable to push up the price, it just doesn't seem right that they would market it at 5/6 of the estimated value, it seems too low!

If I was you, I think I would just put in my maximum offer and be ready to walk away if they mess you around, the worst that they can do is say no!

I’d just go along. You can always put your best offer in. If that doesn’t work, then just keep on looking.

They have to price it what it is worth. If it is desirable then that will drive the price up. The price it is sold for will not necessarily be what it is worth but if people have a big deposit then they will be able to afford a higher price to secure it.

Good way to start a bidding war. People get drawn in because it initially looks attainable, then prices go up and they're more likely keep bidding or increase their budget if they can because now they're invested.

Every house by us is going for more than the asking price at the moment - speaking to agents it seems like demand for certain houses is taking even them by surprise. Most houses we've been to see have been first 5-7 potential buyers through the door and you have to offer straight away if you want it. We offered £35k more than the asking for one and there were 2 other bidders offering more.

The agent is someone we know so he was being honest for what he felt it might go for, it's definitely drummed up interest if theres 30 viewings lined up in a day. We took a drive past today and seen people going in to view it.

Its just so frustrating because it's perfect and I thought because of the asking price it was attainable.

We are booked in for a viewing tomorrow so fingers crossed, we've had a disaster selling during covid, we sale agreed last December and only completed in August when i was 37 weeks pregnant! At least we're in a good position being chain free

Our flat was priced at OIEO £300k and we’re selling for £321k after going to best and final offers. Things are so variable atm, lots sitting on the market in our area but our flat has a private garden and went within 5 days of going on the market, agent said they didn’t want to put it on for £325k because it would look disproportionate given the local market, but that he was confident we’d get in that region and tbh he was proved right!

Is it offers over £300k? It's very common to expect a house to sell for way over the offers over price.
Some houses round here have gone for 40% more lately.
It's a completely normal sales technique.

Don’t underestimate how valuable your chain free status is. Many sellers will take a lower offer if the chain is simpler.

I'm just getting ready to put a house on the market and was gobsmacked by the range of valuations we received. It seems to me that the big chains are tending to undervalue a little, because in the current market, when buyers are motivated to crack on before the stamp duty relief ceases, they're hoping to push through as many sales on a little conveyor belt as possible, taking their 1-1.25% off each, rather than trying to push prices up and risk a proportion of those sales collapsing with no gain for them. The effect seems to be for things to go for over the asking price, though, which is a hop and a skip away from the Offers Over system in Scotland without any of its protections. As a seller, I'd rather set a fair price and go with a buyer who went in with their eyes open, rather than watcing things get all overheated with pound signs in my eyes, and then being disappointed when a buyer who feels they may have had to pay over the odds gets cold feet and pulls out. Best and final offers is one thing but nothing good comes of bidding wars imo.

A house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay. If they have buyers lined up that they know will go up to a certain ceiling to get what they want this might be an indicator of what the property might achieve. It may have been priced lower to generate more interest. If you see it as your dream house in such a good location chances are others feel the same about it.

Any commodity can sell for more than it's worth in a volatile market, especially with time limited 'discounts' and buyers that don't need credit and are willing to take a risk.

Financial markets are being more cautious. If you need a mortgage you are likely to find a substantial gap between valuation and asking price. This is less significant if you provide 20% deposit or more because property prices can fall by 20% or more with no risk to the lender.

Surely most of those viewers will be expecting it to be available at close to the asking price, so they may be in the same position as you, regarding what they can afford. Make the offer, especially as you are in a good position.

My friend is selling her house.
3 different estate agent firms pitched for the business and all three suggested a much lower figure than they expected so it would entice people in.

My friend is selling her house.
3 different estate agent firms pitched for the business and all three suggested a much lower figure than they expected so it would entice people in.

Yeah, this. We’re fighting with our agent about it at the moment... he wants to take £20k off and get more people in the door; we feel better advertising it for what we want for it. It seems to be the done thing right now.

I had this happen to me once, it was so disappointing. I saw a house at the top end if my range, just perfect.

Rang the EA to book a viewing who told me the owners were expecting around 50k more than the asking price.

I asked why it was on the market at the current price to be told "to drum up some interest"

I didnt go ahead with the viewing, partially because I couldnt afford it, partially because was annoyed with their tactics. Even if I put a low offer in,it seemed like they might be the type to dick around afterwards...

When we were selling our house last year our agent popped over to take some extra photos and while with us took a phone call from someone enquiring about our house. She told them we had 22 viewings booked (we had 8) and that we’d already had offers (we hadn’t). She was really good at her job!

We did have a lot of interest but we took the third highest offer (5% over asking), they were chain free with a good deposit whereas the highest offer of several thousand more was a lot shakier. We were desperate not to miss out on our ongoing dream house so wanted the most secure buyer for ours.

It’s all a big, stressful game, if you go in with your maximum offer and say you can complete to their timescale then that can be worth more than money. Good luck!

YABU

It doesn't even matter what the house is advertised for, even if it was over-priced but someone offered a lot more than the offer, you'd be disappointed too

You thought you could grab a bargain and pay less than the market price, too bad if local houses sell for what they are worth.

If you are in England, YABU to put your hopes up until you exchange anyway. The system is so rubbish that you can be gazumped at any time until then.

It’s what agents do. Our house was priced at 600k - we paid closer to 700k. They had loads of offers because the initial price was considered low. It’s just a tactic they use.

How can you tell if an estate agent is lying?

Their lips are moving.

It’s probably a deliberate tactic to get more viewings in and start a bidding war. However, that’s not to say it’s not worth going to visit and put your best offer in if you do really love it. We had enquired about a house recently - the estate agent said already had three offers on so and kids more viewings - we didn’t bother to view it as it was at the top of our price range. It didn’t sell and still on the market a couple of months later. You never know.

The agents job is to sell it for the best possible price.

Setting a low price to attract competitive interest is a common tactic.

In the Scottish property market, it's standard practice to sell a property at "Offers over £ xxx" and achieve many thousands more.

I sold a house recently in a desirable area and both agents I spoke to said to put it on at a guide price. The guide price was about £25k less than valuation. The house sold for £40k more, admittedly 3 times over as first two buyers pulled out but not due to the price.

It went to sealed bids.

I worked for an EA in a very pricey posh rural town. My interpretation is that this agent anticipates a bidding war as that sort of property is in high demand. I'd be surprised if someone paid more than £20k over the going rate. People aren't stupid & they can access property websites & twig what's overpriced etc. If the initial appraisal was £360k but they were desperate for a quick sale ,we used to knock £10k off, not go down £60k .