How to price? Selling WWYD?

[Kate88kate]

Hi :)
Our estate agent has suggested our house is worth £325k but said the market is crazy and wouldn’t be surprised if it went for more.
There are no other houses of same size/within 60k on market in our village and surrounding villages at the moment. Houses are selling fast, often within a week or so.
How can I maximum our price whilst not putting people off viewing?
Are OIEO/OIRO useful or annoying? WWYD?

Go with your gut. Our agent values ours at £370k. We argued it was worth more and got them to list at £390k. We had 4 viewings day after it was listed and sold at £390k. We could have got more but didn't want a bidding war and they were cash buyers. You can always reduce later.

My gut says scarcity would get us more.

The house we are buying is bigger and we are agreed at £355. I think it’s quite good value for its size.

I don’t want to overprice, if we market too close to the larger one we are buying It might make our seller think she’s underpriced, but equally we want to get the best price possible.

Why would your seller know how much you're selling yours for? Or is it that small a village?

I think go for a higher price. Sometimes agents advise listing at a lower price to encourage a bidding war, but it really depends on having the right buyers at the right time, and the bidding war sometimes doesn't materialise. Go high, and can always reduce later.

I don't think OIRO and other such language means much to people. At least not in London.

It’s a small village and rightmove shows everyone everything 😂

I’d avoid a guide price or OIEO/OIRO. You only have to read one of the numerous threads on here about it to realise there’s no universally accepted understanding of what offer is supposed to be made, that many people dislike it and would avoid a house listed as such, and that some people think it means you’re a difficult seller who disagrees with the valuation they’ve been given.

Several friends have recently sold by listing at the lower end of their valuation and then getting lots of interest, resulting in a range of offers, many far higher than also price. That seems somehow a better tactic than listing high and then potentially having to reduce the price if little interest, which doesn’t look good on the listing, or ending up not showing in people’s searches on Rightmove if you’re in a much higher price bracket.

Given you've found a house you like, you presumably don't want to hang around too long (unless you're fortunate to be able to move without selling)? You also suggest that your current house is worth less than 355k (otherwise others would have offered on your nicer new house).
I'd probably do as the agent suggests and market at 325k. If that's a fair price you'll get offers around 325k and hopefully more - there's no need for OIEO/OIRO

Get another estate agent’s opinion?

Thanks all.
Interesting to think an OIEO type pricing might make you look difficult, that’s one to avoid. I might put it on 335 and see what comes of it. We’d be fairly happy with 325 so anything more is a bonus.

With our last sale we accepted our first offer after one viewing. I regret not giving more time for more viewings so would like to avoid that this time.
How does it usually work- if someone offers but you have other viewings lined up do u just wait a bit before accepting or declining?
Also, when do sealed bid type things happen? Is that unusual ?

You will get buyers offering x with the condition that you cancel all viewings that have been booked in. A seller would normally only agree if the offer is equal to or above asking. Even then, you might want to go ahead with all the viewings anyway, as it could start with a bidding war.

Sealed bids is normally where there's a lot of interest, and it's an efficient way of getting the highest bid.