Telling Estate Agent Budget

[JellyBelly78]

My house is currently on the market, not sold yet.

Just pondering about when we do sell, do you tell the estate agent your budget for next property?
I mean you usually join their mailing list so they will ask what your budget is.
If you then view a house cheaper than you’ve previously told them, they will know you can afford more.

I’m probably overthinking this but just interested in whether people disclose their top budget.

yes, better not to give then your max budget - go about 15% lower at least.

I’d just give the agent a bracket.

I also think that it’s common for people to spend less than their max budget (except for first time buyers who need to max out more often). I can’t see how that would make a difference other than not being able to use the ‘££ is all I can afford’ line in negotiations.

Well my thoughts are, say our budget is 700,000 but we tell them it’s 650,000 for example. They probably wouldn’t contact us about new properties they have coming to market priced at 700,000. They’d think it’s out of our budget and we could miss out.

You could sign up for Rightmove alerts. I'd say at about 25K over your real maximum budget in case you could negotiate. There's very few properties not on there nowadays.

I wouldn't be too concerned. There's no reason to spend all of your budget. As a seller I'd actually be worried if someone said this is all that they can afford as it might suggest that there might be problems when they actually try to get a mortgage. I don't think it's unusual to view properties +/-15% and if the agent has a range of properties you're interested in there's no point in pretending that all are the max you can afford.

Well yes, if your budget is 700k, then you could tell them up to 700. Or say 600-700k Or give them a bracket: we’d like 3 bed, 500-700k depending on work needed and size etc (if you’re willing to do work).

If it comes to negotiating, you can always put in your ‘best and final’ depending on what you feel comfortable paying.

Thanks for your replies. Giving a price range seems a sensible idea based on the level of work needed.
Just need to find a buyer for our house now...