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Original poster

Would you reduce price at EA suggestion after 4 weeks if you'd had an offer accepted

47 replies

Honey1975 · 13/03/2017 19:24

We had an offer accepted on a house before we'd sold ours. They have given us until the end of March to sell ours before they put theirs back on market.

We've had 7 viewings and 2 more for this weekend, no offers. The estate agent has just been round to say he feels we should lower the price from 365k to 350k. He said none of the viewings have come through rightmove which he said suggests the price is too high. By lowering to 350k we will fall into the top of that rightmove price band which we may be missing out on.

We were hoping to get 355k and this is what we based our offer on for our new house.

Really don't know what to do. Partly feel the EA is panicking as the deadline's approaching for our new house but at the same time we don't want to lose it but we are pretty stretched already.

OP posts:

Lilmisskittykat · 13/03/2017 23:21

Hard to know really what to advise...

On one hand you are getting viewings which suggests it's priced right for people, and the right person will come... the difficulty is your timeframe to get an offer is really tight.

So if you absolutely need the house you are moving to with the timeframe you have of needing an offer in two weeks a reduction might be your best chance.

What's the feedback been from viewers?

Original poster

Honey1975 · 14/03/2017 06:58

The feedback has been good on the whole but just certain things not being right for that person ie wants more downstairs space, bigger kitchen etc.

The thing is not one of the viewers had phoned up and requested a viewing, they had all been contacted by the EA and talked into viewing. To me that suggests they can't have been that interested.
I'm amazed that not one person has requested a viewing through Rightmove as there stats show so I can only think it's because it's priced slightly too high.

Had a good look on RM last night and there are several properties similar in size & layout to ours which are priced at 350k so I guess ours is getting overlooked as it's on at 365k.
We only put it on at 365k at the advice of the EA and now 3 weeks later they're telling us it's overpriced!

OP posts:

meladeso · 14/03/2017 07:01

I'm afraid I would agree with the EA in that case, you're going to have to lower it OP

If houses are priced right, they sell, it's as simple as that usually

Hope it doesn't throw a spanner in the works with your onwards purchase!

NapQueen · 14/03/2017 07:02

Yeah Id reduce it too. If you want you can link to here and people could maybe offer some feedback on how its presented?

Lilmisskittykat · 14/03/2017 07:03

I think in that case then they are right, sounds likes your in agreement having looked into it.

Original poster

Honey1975 · 14/03/2017 07:11

Yes I think we're going to lower it. We really can't take less than 350k though if we're to still afford our nee house.
The EA said he would make sure that anyone who views can afford the 350k so we're not wasting time with viewers who cant afford it.
But surely most people won't pay the asking price will they?
We're wondering if we should do 'offers in excess of' to make it clear that 350k is the lowest we can go.

OP posts:

00100001 · 14/03/2017 07:17

You'll probably find that more people will look at it with the lower price. And you never know they might offer over asking price.

However there will be people that know it's been up for 4 weeks and that you have dropped the price.

Original poster

Honey1975 · 14/03/2017 07:18

Yes 001 does that mesn people are more likely to offer less as they'll think we're desperate to sell?

OP posts:

NapQueen · 14/03/2017 07:21

Would the EA allow it to be advertised as 350k Fixed Price?

Original poster

Honey1975 · 14/03/2017 07:29

NapQueen I don't know, we could ask thanks for the idea.
Does anyone actually pay the asking price these days? It seems to me that people expect not to.

OP posts:

Shadowboy · 14/03/2017 07:34

We've looked at a house advertised at £336,995 and we offered £320,000 but they flatly said absolutely no offers so we offered the asking price which was accepted.

KarmaNoMore · 14/03/2017 07:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FinallyHere · 14/03/2017 07:43

This is n argument in favour of having an offer accepted on the house you are selling before making an offer on the next house, which is a recipe for a fragile chain. I wonder that your offer was accepted, in those circumstances. I would not be surprised if they put the one you are trying to buy back on the market. How could you stop them?

planetclom · 14/03/2017 07:44

I have been looking for a new house for 3 weeks and I am starting to think estate agents price houses thinking the market will rise to accommodate at, in reality the last 3 weeks every house we have seen has just been reduced by £25000 or was reduced following, except 1 the one we offered on 😆 typical, but that seemed under priced tbf.
Every single house we have viewed we have been asked after what we think it should be marketed for, which has never ever happened when I have viewed before, and one has been reduced based entirely on my estimation according the estate agent who phoned me, that was £40,000 of the asking price of 375,000. (I am not an estate agent !)
And the clincher for me that the market is dead at the moment, I started looking on a Thursday phoned round a few agents got 4 viewings that Saturday never in all my years of house hunting have I managed to get viewing with an agent on a Saturday even 2 weeks in advance let alone 2 days. I am getting upwards of 6 calls a day and I have only so far registered with 3 agents because they have overwhelmed me with suitable properties have done 4 viewing every Saturday with my short list plus a few in the week.
Drop your price, check the market where you are buying and check you are not paying over the odds for the house you have offered on if you think you are drop your offer to them and keep looking. I am in the south east

TipTop333 · 14/03/2017 08:10

Sounds like your EA was way off the mark with their initial valuation and they are back-pedalling. The stats are the stats though and their suggestion is correct. It sounds like it was wrongly marketed in the first place unfortunately.
This happened to us too. An agent told us we could get loads, we reduced it 3 times in all and eventually got an offer that was the same as what another EA had told us it was worth but the agent we went with had scoffed at. Embarrassing.
Sounds like you may also need to reconsider the property you are buying.

namechangedtoday15 · 14/03/2017 08:42

I agree it sounds like you need to drop the price. Have to say though you may not get the asking price. Houses which go for asking price are (in my experience) the houses where there's a stampede of viewings and people offer immediately after viewing, and people are so desperate to secure it that they offer the asking price or indeed over the asking price.

If you've been on the market for 4 weeks with no offers I'd say there's something more to it - certainly most people looking to pay £350k would anticipate making an offer so would search for properties up to £375k so the EAs justification for dropping doesn't make sense. I don't think anyone says I want a house for £350k and so will only look at houses listed at £350k and below.

Is the house unique in any way which is limiting your market?

Lilmisskittykat · 14/03/2017 10:25

I think thanks to Kirsty and Phil no one ever starts at asking price any more (maybe bar London?) I'm based northwest and it's certainly the case here 5/10% off is standard part of the dance

namechangedtoday15 · 14/03/2017 11:05

I definitely think it depends on area - lots going over asking price here but its a really popular area due to schools and good family homes are like gold dust (NW too).

Tobuyornot99 · 14/03/2017 11:13

You really should drop the price. I've been to what I consider to be overpriced houses, expecting them to have some sort of USP or wow factor, so getting people through the door at the higher price then not having what they want doesn't make your house worth the higher price iyswim. EAs are swines for pricing to flatter the vendor, on the off chance it may sell but knowing it probably won't.
I'm suprised your offer was accepted without you having sold, it's funny how different parts of the country work, around here you can't even view a house until yours is under offer (and they check on Rightmove too!).

Original poster

Honey1975 · 14/03/2017 12:51

The reason our offer was accepted is likely because the elderly couple we are buying from had had it on the market for almost a year. It needs a lot of modernising. They need to move to a bungalow for mobility reasons and think they were relieved to get an offer at last!
It's only round the corner from our current house and we proved we had a mortgage lined up. Also the same agent is selling both houses so double incentive for them!
They were able to negotiate with them to give us until the end of March to sell ours.

My husband has just phoned agent to say we want to go ahead and reduce to o.i.e.o £350k but the agent says using o.i.e.o is against their policy!! What to do now?!

OP posts:

Oogle · 14/03/2017 13:03

I HATE o.i.e.o to be honest.

We went on at £375k, had a few viewings but didn't exactly set the world alight. After 4 weeks we dropped to £350k. We received an offer of £315k which we turned down then an offer of £330k. We agreed with the agent that we'd accept £335k, but before he'd phoned the buyer, another offer came in at £340k. Ended up getting the £350k asking price. This was 7 weeks after we first went on the market so it can happen. You need too be firm and make sure the agent is aware you won't accept offers below £350k.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 14/03/2017 13:09

I think so long as the agent is only booking viewings for prospective buyers who can afford to pay the £350k, you have done the right thing.

I agree that people with £350k to spend would probably just do a Rightmove search for houses "up to £350k" rather than any higher. These searchers will now see your listing and (hopefully) want to come and have a look.

Best of luck.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 14/03/2017 13:11

Also, if you don't mind the possibility of being identified in RL, feel free to post a link to your house. Some posters are excellent at identifying any other potential reason people might be being put off viewing.

And some of us are just nosey.

Original poster

Honey1975 · 14/03/2017 13:14

Thank you both, I'm feeling quite positive now.
Out of interest what is it that people dislike about o.i.e.o ?

OP posts:

SoMuchWaiting · 14/03/2017 13:28

We went to market with 'offers over' and had to go to 'best and final' within a week as there were many offers. Lots do offers oieo around here, it's great as a vendor but not great for buyers as you have to just go in with the top amount. We bought and sold both with the 'offers over'. Our agent said that the main reason is the Rightmove search brackets and getting more people to see the advert. I'm in the NW and can't see what's wrong with oieo. As a buyer if a house was on for £350k I'd instantly be wondering if you'd accept £340k but if it's £350 or over then I'd not offer less than £355k if I wanted it. We went over the offers over price by almost 15k and it turns out that there were no other offers! At least we got the house we want

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