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Original poster

OIEO - query

35 replies

SarfEast1cated · 05/04/2016 18:38

Hi all, hope you can help! We are putting our place on the market. We need to get £465k for it, but the EA are adamant that we put it on for OIEO £450k. I don't see the point really. If i went to look at a house for OIEO£450k, i would probably offer £455k. If the EA managed to talk me up to offering £465k I would expect the place to be really amazing.
So we have had loads of viewings and only one offer. They talked him up by £10k and now he has pulled out. I don't know why they don't just put it on for £465k?
I'm a bit bemused by it all really.

OP posts:
wowfudge · 05/04/2016 18:48

Is £465 too ambitious and that was the way the EA tried to deal with it, by suggesting offers over £450? Do what you need to get and what it is worth not actually come together?

Original poster
SarfEast1cated · 05/04/2016 19:01

I don't think so wow it was they and two other estate agents that valued it at £465k. Our place does need a bit of updating - kitchen and bathroom over 10 yrs old - really tarted up places go for £485k.
I have queried it with them quite often, but they are adamant it's the right way to go. I'd rather have a buyer who paid the asking price happily than one that felt pressured into paying £15k over.

OP posts:
wowfudge · 06/04/2016 07:31

Hmm - I can honestly say I don't understand that strategy. Other than in real hotspots the impression I have is that buyers rarely offer asking price, never mind over it.

The problem is that buyers see that work would be needed to get a house done to their tastes and start discounting an already discounted price unless the estate agents actually do their job and properly sell the place. Why did your buyer pull out?

Would you be brave enough to post a link here to canvass opinions?

SoupDragon · 06/04/2016 07:35

really tarted up places go for £485k

I think that wanting only £20k less for yours is a little optimistic then.

The agents may have valued it at £465k but that would be the asking price and you would be unlikely to get that.

bearbehind · 06/04/2016 07:43

If you've had loads of viewings and only 1 offer it is sounding like buyers don't even think it's worth the £450k or someone would have offered either £450k or just over.

If you increase the asking price then you might stop getting viewings altogether.

Outside of Scotland I think OIEO only really works if you have a minimum price in mind but you are fairly confident that they'll be some kind of bidding war for your property so you don't want to limit your price.

I agree with the PP that £20k difference between a done up property and one that needs work, in that price bracket doesn't sound right.

What has the feedback been?

Mummyme87 · 06/04/2016 09:13

We did OIRO £345 and accepted £342. We thought OIRO would be 5k either side

Original poster
SarfEast1cated · 06/04/2016 10:47

God, I don't think I'm strong enough to post a link! We have had 15 viewings in two weeks with two offers, one was withdrawn the next day for being to small, the other withdrawn after a week due to needing too much work. Apparently they have been telling viewers that we want £465k, so maybe that's why we haven't had many offers?

Two points to consider - we are in an area with quite a few new build flats - they are smaller than ours but go for about £480k - maybe the first time buyers with massive deposits that seem to be roaming our area would rather pay more than have any work to do?

Our area in zone 2 London with a train line that links it directly to Hoxton etc - this has made the prices go up a lot. It is often featured in the ES as a 'hidden gem'.

Our flat is a Victorian conversion with garden. The rooms are positioned behind each other, so first room is our living room overlooking the road, behind that is kitchen which is big enough for table and has a back door leading to our side return. down two steps to a white bathroom, next to our our DD's bedroom (box room) and then our bedroom that overlooks the garden. Lots of the done up ones have made first two rooms bedrooms, and then have knocked the back two rooms together to make kitchen/living room overlooking the garden.

Maybe our flat is only worth £450K? if so, why hasn't anyone told us that? I'd rather know and then adjust my expectations accordingly.

OP posts:
bearbehind · 06/04/2016 10:55

Maybe our flat is only worth £450K? if so, why hasn't anyone told us that? I'd rather know and then adjust my expectations accordingly.

It sounds to me that people have told you that though, just maybe not explicitly.

EA's often go with a high valuation to tempt you in but expect to achieve less. The fact they are adamant about overs over £450k rather than putting it on at £465k shows that.

15 viewings in 2 weeks with no proceedable offers also indicates it's not worth that amount to any of those people.

A kitchen and bathroom could easily cost £20k and that's before the hassle of actually doing it so if there are properties that require no work advertised at £485k it sounds like you really do need to adjust your expectations.

New builds are nearly always overpriced in relation to older and often bigger but similar properties- lots of people would prefer a brand new property and are happy to pay for the privilege plus new builds often have incentives which make the actually prices less comparable.

RTKangaMummy · 06/04/2016 10:59

It could be that you need to change EA?

Get lots more valuations and get them to compete for your business then they will try harder to sell your house

We did that and got ours sold for 1% incl vat with 2 EA on a joint sole agency basis they were very competitive against each other to try to get sale

It could also be that people are putting a limit on right move of up to 450

When we were looking I put a limit of 500 even though only wanted to spend approx 425 just so that I didn't miss any houses that were just out of our range

We ended up with a house offers over 399 and paid 404

God luck SmileSmile

RTKangaMummy · 06/04/2016 10:59

*good

SoupDragon · 06/04/2016 11:00

Given the suggested asking price, I think they are telling you it's not worth £465k.

The age old saying that something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it is very true. With respect to the new builds, maybe the fact that there will be no mess and disruption is worth the extra money.

LouisTheBear · 06/04/2016 11:01

Is it more to do with search brackets on right move? Eg if on for 450 you'll come up in the up to 450 bracket and if on for 465 you wouldn't

RTKangaMummy · 06/04/2016 11:01

How much does a garden change value in your area?

Original poster
SarfEast1cated · 06/04/2016 11:16

Yes Louis and Kanga I think it is something to do with search criteria.

It's actually quite difficult to know what difference a garden makes to prices on our road.

I will speak to some other EA and see what they say. the EA we have at the mo is sited in a nearer posher area, so I wonder if their client base are after slightly more. A local EA might be better.

Thanks for your help everyone!

OP posts:
bearbehind · 06/04/2016 11:21

But surely if you are on at OEIO £450k then you are showing up in that bracket already Hmm

15 viewings in 2 weeks also doesn't suggest an EA issue either so I wouldn't look at changing agents yet. Most people find properties on websites so the location of the agent is not massively relevant.

It sounds like the key to this is you need £465k for it. Unfortunately what you need and what you might get don't always agree.

Original poster
SarfEast1cated · 06/04/2016 11:27

Ah just found this is very similar to ours, and close to our area. Our rooms are organised in the same way, but our bathroom is bigger and the 2nd bedroom smaller.
This one has the same kitchen as us and bathroom, and is essentially the same as our flat but the rooms are configured differently.

There seems to be very little logic to it all!

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 06/04/2016 11:30

You're right - I don't think there is any logic to house prices :)

bearbehind · 06/04/2016 11:31

But that second one was on for £485k, quite possible sold for less, and has a new kitchen and bathroom.

It does seem logical on that basis that yours isn't worth £465k.

Original poster
SarfEast1cated · 06/04/2016 11:33

Bear when they valued us at £465 we started looking for house that we could afford using that as a starting point. That house was also being marketed by our agent which is why we ended up with them in the first place. I am very happy to adjust my expectations and look for a cheaper place.

To be clear, I have been a petulant brat about all of this, and stamped my feet and demanded a certain amount. I have asked the EA's advice every step of the way.

OP posts:
bearbehind · 06/04/2016 11:40

Lol at the typo!

I'm not saying you've been a brat but I'm saying it sounds like you've based too much on achieving the price the EA dangled in front of you and now need to listen to what the market is telling you.

The fact that no one is making serious offers even at £450k suggests you might need to be thinking it could go for less than that even. IMO noone really takes any notice of OIRO/OIEO - if anyone was interested in paying within that ball park I'm are they'd offer £450k despite the OIEOif that's what they thought it was worth.

That first flat has a cellar which is a huge plus in terms of storage so could easily command quite a premium. I'd prefer a bigger bedroom to a bigger bathroom and it doesn't look like it needs a lot a work either.

Original poster
SarfEast1cated · 06/04/2016 11:47

What typo bear?

OP posts:
bearbehind · 06/04/2016 11:51

You missed the word 'not' from the last paragraph which rather changed what you were trying to say Grin

Original poster
SarfEast1cated · 06/04/2016 11:56

Ha ha ha! That's the first time I've laughed for a while!

It's all been very emotional . I know you're meant to treat this all as a business transaction, but having lots of people coming to my beloved home and rejecting it has been rather hurtful!

Maybe we should just dig out our cellar and build an extension...

OP posts:
wowfudge · 06/04/2016 12:01

Back to what I stated in the first reply! I remember reading that most estate agents won't tell a client they are wrong when they think their property is worth more than it is actually is. They also compound things by overvaluing to get your business, which just confuses things.

Quite often we only hear the top figure - 'it's worth X' rather than, 'it's possibly worth up to X if someone really falls in love with it/with a fair wind behind it.

bearbehind · 06/04/2016 12:02

Maybe we should just dig out our cellar and build an extension...

God no- did you see that house that subsided when they tried to do that and took out the neighbours as well!

It is a horrible process but you have to accept that they aren't 'rejecting' your home, they just don't want to pay that amount based on other properties around.

likewise, when you move, you might find the price drop doesn't hugely change what you could purchase even if you have to compromise on some things.

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