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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To share the price I want with viewers?

66 replies

Hana89 · 09/09/2023 16:55

I am selling my house and have already found a property that I love and had an offer accepted. Initially I accepted an offer from a cash buyer that was quite a bit over my asking price of £220k. For personal reasons the cash buyer pulled out and my house is back on the market. I don't want to be greedy, but I do need my asking price which is a little below market average for a speedy sale.
At two viewings today with first time buyers who really loved the house, I told each of them outright that I want to get £220k and when they asked if there was room for negotiation, I said that honestly there really isn't because I can't afford to drop below my asking price and also with all the work I've done here, selling for less isn't really worth my while.
The estate agent seemed really annoyed with me about being so open about the price I want/need.
Was I being unreasonable? I didn't see the point in letting people try to make a low offer I know I won't accept and I don't need anyone to offer too much and stretch themselves too thin. It seems to me that if house sales were more transparent everyone could have a less stressful time but I've never sold a house before so I might be being naive or have made a blunder.

OP posts:
Adreno · 09/09/2023 16:57

Why are you speaking to viewers? Surely the agent is managing those?

Original poster
Hana89 · 09/09/2023 17:05

Because I was here and they wanted to ask some extra questions that the agent couldn't answer. I'm very happy to speak to viewers and give them whatever extra info they'd like about the property.

OP posts:
MariePaperRoses · 09/09/2023 17:07

I agree with you op that people should know where they stand.

However, when booking them in the estate agent should have told them in advance that there won't be room for negotiation.

HirplesWithHaggis · 09/09/2023 17:07

In Scotland we have Offers Over, Offers In The Region Of, and Fixed Price. You've just chosen the last, seems sensible to me.

Montydin · 09/09/2023 17:07

What is the asking price on the property listing? If it’s £220k yanbu although it might take you longer to sell (if it does sell). If it’s lower then YABU. At the end of the day the house is only worth what someone will pay for it though so if you can’t get £220k you might need to rethink.

imnotthatkindofmum · 09/09/2023 17:21

MariePaperRoses · 09/09/2023 17:07

I agree with you op that people should know where they stand.

However, when booking them in the estate agent should have told them in advance that there won't be room for negotiation.

This. When we bought our first house one of the vendors of a house we viewed said this. It was over our budget but the EA had told us they'd accept a lower offer.

Once he'd said that we just left.

Drews · 09/09/2023 17:24

It doesn't matter what you want or need. It's only going to sell if someone thinks that it's worth that.

Original poster
Hana89 · 09/09/2023 17:28

@imnotthatkindofmum I'm sorry you had that experience. Maybe that is why the agent looked a so miffed today. Ugh. I hope that isn't the case because I'd be really cross if the EA is getting people's hopes up prior to viewings.

OP posts:
Original poster
Hana89 · 09/09/2023 17:30

@Drews it absolutely does matter what I want and need! It's my house and I'll only sell it if I'm comfortable with the price. £220k is lower than market average. The previous offer was over asking price. I've got no worries about getting the sum I would like for it, I just wondered if being so open about what I'll accept at the viewing stage was a blunder. From other replies, I don't think it was.

OP posts:
Original poster
Hana89 · 09/09/2023 17:31

Thanks @MariePaperRoses @HirplesWithHaggis and @Montydin my gut feeling was that transparency was okay but I started to doubt myself.

OP posts:
Kyokyo · 09/09/2023 17:32

EA might be annoyed because if both viewers were interested, he could have played them against each other to get a higher price. The more it sells for, the more commission he gets.

I don’t think YABU to be upfront with them though. If they know there’s no room for negotiation and that’s the price you want, then you’d know they are a serious buyer if they then made an offer on that basis

Merryoldgoat · 09/09/2023 17:33

@Hana89

I agree entirely and did similar. The EA kept telling me an offer was ‘good’ and I said that my onward move doesn’t work if I don’t get £335k, so if it’s overpriced let’s stop now.

They stopped pissing about after that and we got our offer fairly soon afterwards.

Womblegreen · 09/09/2023 17:43

You can tell viewers what you want, but the agent is working for you and it’s their job to get the best price.

readsalotgirl63 · 09/09/2023 17:50

I would say that you shouldn't give too much info away to possible buyers. As pp said if you get 2 or 3 who are interested then you could go to sealed bids and you might do better.
The agent is there to get the best price for you - yes the higher the price the more commission he'll get but if he could have played 2 buyers off against each other and got you 225 then that's a win for you.

IMustDoMoreExercise · 09/09/2023 17:57

Well, if you definitely wouldn't accept £219k if that was the only offer you got, then what you said was ok.

Calmdown14 · 09/09/2023 18:02

Why did you put it on below market value out of interest?

I think that with talk of house price falls current buyers are wary of paying top whack.

What was it valued at? If 225k I'd have been tempted to put it on at that and then accept the lower offer. That way the buyer feels they negotiated.

Cosyblankets · 09/09/2023 18:09

Pointless wasting people's time just tell them

Bluevelvetsofa · 09/09/2023 18:17

It depends how keen you are to sell. If you won’t go below £220k and the offers are below that, you won’t be selling. If you’re prepared to accept a few k less than that, there’s room for negotiation.

If you’re telling viewers you won’t accept less than £220k, anyone who can’t quite meet that will walk away and the potential buyers will be restricted.

Original poster
Hana89 · 09/09/2023 18:27

@Bluevelvetsofa that's exactly right. I won't accept a few k less because it would mean I couldn't afford my onward purchase, so I wouldn't be moving anyway! Anyone who can't afford the price (or just doesn't want to pay the price) would be wasting their time putting in a markedly lower offer so it seemed fair to be upfront about that.

OP posts:
Original poster
Hana89 · 09/09/2023 18:39

@Calmdown14 just for a speedy sale really. And also, I didn't want to be greedy. I know that sounds really silly, but I was a first time buyer a couple of years ago and I know how bloody hard it can be to get on the ladder. I've been lucky enough to find something of a bargain on my onward purchase so I was happy to pay that forward. It has only been on the market a couple of weeks. The first viewing resulted in a generous offer immediately. Now it is back up and we've had 3 viewings in two days so I know the interest is there and I don't think I've made a bad choice, I just wonder if I'm approaching the whole thing a bit to idealistically.

OP posts:
DixonD · 09/09/2023 18:41

If it’s on the market for more than £220k then the estate agent will be annoyed because it lowers their commission.

Montydin · 09/09/2023 18:42

@Hana89 you haven’t said what the asking price is, but a lot of people will be expecting to haggle down the asking price in the current market so pricing slightly higher might have worked as well.

Uterusbegone · 09/09/2023 18:45

Drews · 09/09/2023 17:24

It doesn't matter what you want or need. It's only going to sell if someone thinks that it's worth that.

Of course it matters! Yes it'll only sell if someone will pay that, but equally OP isn't obliged to sell it for less than she needs

fiddlesticksandotherwords · 09/09/2023 18:47

I think it is often the case that estate agents will show properties to prospective purchasers which are slightly over their maximum budget in the hope that either the purchaser falls in love with it so much they make the extra stretch, or that the vendor will come down a little bit. Either way, the agent makes a sale, and at the end of the day, that is all they care about.

Ohmylovejune · 09/09/2023 18:52

You probably shouldn't have said this because if they came back with 215 maximum you could speak to your chain and try and pull a deal together with everyone taking a hit.

This is an unusual market. Prices dropped by 2 percent in one month last month. No one really currently knows what their house is worth. I get that you need to keep your chain together but if prices are falling, they all are. A drop could potentially be shared. You never know.