Is this allowed? Or am I being sceptical?

[Poiuytrewq01]

Property listed on RM for £700k.

Sold within 24hrs (which was expected as it was a great price) and the listing was immediately amended to Under Offer (also as expected)

Completion has taken place.

The following day, the property is listed on RM at an increased price of £750k as Under Offer.

My spidey senses tell me that the agent has increased the figure now because:-

A)The property next door is more square footage but has been ‘developed’ VERY badly. It has been for sale for 6 months and already price-dropped twice and is now on at £775k.

B)The higher ‘false’ price of the sold property makes the unsold one look now more reasonably priced.

Is there any legit reason for the agent to do this & is it permitted?

The price the house actually sold for is public information so anyone putting in an offer will be able to find that out, think it maybe takes a little while to be listed

And a house is worth what someone will pay for it, if someone offers more it’s their business, everyone knows EA will try and get a higher price, if someone wants to pay it it’s their business - it’s unethical but I doubt it can be illegal

But that’s not the price the house sold at though is it? It’s the asking price.

Strange.

I can only assume it’s your option B

Completion only happened yesterday.

The amended higher price is on RM’s listing as of today. From going to market up to completion, the figure was always the lower one (the genuine one!) of £700k.

If it's completed you'll be able to see the sale price so know if it's price. It makes no sense if it's completed and under offer again th next day for more.

It may have sold for 750 and they just didn't amend it.

I can't really see any reason for the guide price to be amended on RM after the house has gone under offer. Eventually you will be able to find out the actual sold price but it takes a while for this to be available online.

Sold one could well have gone for £750k if it went to sealed bids/bidding war. Quite often agents underprice things in order to attract lots of buyers and start a bidding war. And it may have been already shown to registered buyers before it was listed on RM so sealed bids not impossible in 24h.

If it didn't - then that does seem misleading by the agent as in that case £750k is neither the asking nor the sale price.

The price showing on RM is only ever the asking price/price the place was advertised at. The actual sold price takes a while to come through - usually about three months from the Land Registry registering the transaction.

EAs don't update listings with the agreed sale price for all sorts of reasons - until exchange the price can change.

Sneaky! It would be very dubious practice, but you're right, there is definitely an incentive for an agent to list on RM to make it look like a property 'sold' for more than it actually did.

Whilst the actual sold price does indeed enter the public domain, it can often take many months to do so. Placing 'artificial' sold listings on RM could have 3 effects i see..

1. It skews the view of the market for potential buyers of other properties who might be lead to believe that things are selling for more than they actually are.
2. It skews the view of the property market in general as EA's often use 'comparable' listings when valuing
3. It makes the agent look like they are potentially getting more for their properties than the competition.

Genius! Although I suspect there is actually a much more benign explanation

Wowfudge - Normally your first sentence is factually correct however In this case, it isn’t which is why I am sceptical.

Random - I can’t think of a truly legitimate reason either

Minipie - It categorically sold for £650k which is why I suspect misleading info

Parkview - I can’t think of a more benign reason hence being suspicious

No point in my asking the agent is there???

You could complain to their governing body though. All residential estate agents belong to one of two/three ombudsmen who have codes of conduct they're meant to follow. Trading standards also enforce the Estate Agents Act which can lead to dodgy agents being banned. At a push it could even be fraud.

Feeling like a drama queen for suggesting this, but could it be some sort of money laundering? With the new seller being the crook and the estate agent turning a blind eye as they get two lots of commission.

I’ll get me coat. Feel a fool but it honestly was my first thought.

Why does it bother you? I assume you’re not selling property 2, or buying it?

It sounds dodgy, but does it affect anything? Any potential buyer of property 2 should check out sold prices, not listings prices. If they don’t do due diligence then it’s buyer beware, as the information is freely available.

You're not totally loopy @FrogFairy - estate agents are one of the professions subject to the Money Laundering Regulations exactly because they're in a position that lends itself to dodginess. HMRC are the ones who regulate them for this.

I would also assume two actual sales.