How to get estate agents to listen to what I'm asking for

[xylofone]

Feel a bit daft asking for help on this, but I'm struggling.

Soon to engage the services of an estate agent - will get 3 quotes - and want to get the message across to them that I'm not looking for a quick sale, or a swift reduction in price, to get one. I'll hold out, possibly for several months, to get the very best price. Naice house in naice area and no chain. I'm moving to live with family so won't be buying another property.

Have tried getting this message across when phoning round agents but they don't seem to get it and say they'll aim to sell as ASAP even if I need to take a hit. No!!!!

I know they want their commission as soon as possible but I need them to be on board with my approach. I want to get as much as I can for my property and I'm in no rush to sell. Surely that's not too difficult to understand. I'm in a highly sought after location; houses don't hang around for long.

How do I phrase this so they listen and understand where I'm coming from? I'm an intelligent, generally assertive, person capable of stringing sentences together but don't seem able to communicate in a mannar that estate agents are prepared to comprehend.

Please help me to talk in estate agent speak so they grasp where I'm coming from.

You know you may get a good price quickly, I think all you can do is say the price you want it listed at, how long it’s in the market is out of your control.

Are you wanting a price that’s not realistic? Most of the time stuff that’s on the market for months doesn’t sell.

You don’t need to say anything, just over price it. You will get no viewings and no one will buy it as you seem to wish.

They can't force you to accept a lower offer.

I’d have thought in this market, highest possible price and selling quickly are more likely to go hand in hand than not (and I say that as someone selling a house!)

You need to decide what price you are willing to accept and just decline any lower offers. But I agree with the other posters.
If a house has been on the market for months most would assume either there’s something wrong with it or that it’s overpriced.
Also, you’re going to have to accept an offer at some point. How will you know that a better offer isn’t just around the corner? That’s why you need to set a price in your mind and stick to it.

I'll hold out, possibly for several months, to get the very best price

Holding out for several months is likely to get you a far lower eventual price.

Just look at the market and read the news. Refusing to consider realistic offers now will likely get you stuck.

Don't look at recent equivalent sales and expect to match or improve on the price received. Those buyers likely had mortgages locked in before rates flew up - it's not the same market now.

I’d say their advice is probably pretty good, at the moment I’d be looking to price realistically and sell as quickly as possible. Mortgage rates are rising as are bills and inflation and we are likely to spend most of next year in a depression. Some people think that house prices are likely to fall in the medium term, most agree that they’re not going up. Perhaps they are trying to nicely tell you that unless you try to sell reasonably quickly, you might not sell at all? If you’re going to hold out for the last penny it might also be a difficult time to sell for you as I think that most people at the moment will expect to make an offer.

Just say no! Our estate agent obviously wanted a quick sell (house was offered on before it was even advertised). We just said every day that he phoned - let's keep it on the market market for a little while longer. Got 6% more than the original offer.

I also don’t understand why you feel waiting months gets you th4 best price, surely you know it’s the opposite?

if you’re thinking of over pricing and then waiting for the market to catch up with you this is pointless. Houses that linger everyone thinks something is wrong with it or a greedy unrealistic seller.

if you don’t wish to sell then don’t. If you do understand a realistic value and put it on for that.

You don’t sound very realistic. Prices are dropping and will get worse as mortgages now become harder to get. I think the days is pricing and hanging on are gone really. Because you are not buying you may not have noticed how the market is changing. You don’t have to accept any offer but you should be realistic - things have changed from a year ago.

An estate agent only gets paid when a property sells, so why should they have a property on their books (and the costs involved with marketing, carrying out viewings etc) if they think its overpriced and not going to sell? It's a 2-way street.

Who is your target buyer? First time buyer, family with small kids, with older kids, no kids, retired etc? They are likely to have different financial circumstances and if they have a house to sell as well then their timescales may not align with your "sometime later next year" approach? I'm not sure how long it's taking from offer accepted to move date around you - closing a sale for a family member and we are 3 months post offer - hoping to wrap it all up before Xmas but not looking likely

This market is falling quicker than anyone imagined mortgage rates are 3 times what was available 2 years ago. Estate agents have no interest in having overpriced properties on their books that won't sell. Someone taking your approach in 1991 would have waited untill well into the late 90s to get the sale and estate agents don't want properties hanging around that long.

You don’t have to say anything. You price it at offers over x and if you don’t like the price, you don’t sell.

However, I would say the longer a house is on the market, the more likely people are going to think there’s something wrong with it. Especially if it’s a nice house in a nice area. So be realistic in the price you set, given the current climate. Whilst you might think it’s a nice house, people viewing it might see there’s actually £50k of work to be done and put their offer in accordingly. Estates agents should take this into account so you’ll want to be in the region of their estimates.

What makes you think in a falling market that holding out will get a higher price not a lower one? I think they know what you are asking but know it is not a likely outcome at the moment. A year ago it would have been fine but now the sooner you sell the better the likely price.

I agree with PPs your thinking on this is skewed. Waiting months to get the best price isnt the best approach and if you are in an area that isnt hanging around for long who exactly do you think you are waiting for.

Around here - an open weekend usually leads to best and final offers. Yes those looking on any given weekend will change but the offers stay inline with the market.

My advice is to know now exactly what that price is work out what you want and what it is realistically worth and if you get that offer sell it. And then once you have done that let it go because otherwise you are never going to move.

You don't need them to take what you are trying to say on board. Because you get to say whether you accept the offer or not. They are legally obliged to put the offer through to you whatever it is - but you decided whether to accept or not.

Mortgages in short supply, cost of living eating into peoples saving pots that were meant to be a house deposit, uncertainty over jobs.

All these factors will tend to restrict if not shrink the housing market. Price your property realistically and let the estate agents do their job which is to find you a proceedable buyer

I think you are rather unrealistic in your expectations because:

• it is likely that house prices will go down rather than up or at least remain static with the current cost of living/mortgage crisis
• people will not want to pay high asking prices if they are going to pay higher mortgage rates and believe that the housing market is about to take a hit
• if your house stays on the market for months, people will think there is something wrong with it or that the price you are asking is unrealistic
• the agent is not going to work hard to sell your house if they know you are in no hurry to sell and won't accept a slightly lower offer if needed while the market keeps going down.

You might be better off putting your house on sale at a later date, once the economic and political uncertainty has hopefully stabilised a bit.

Obviously you have no desire to sell, poor person who offers on your house, sounds a nightmare.

I’m not sure I really follow because they can’t dictate whether or not you take an offer. Nor can they work miracles because a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And thinking you’ll get more money by sitting on the market for months is wildly unrealistic, unless it’s a very niche property.

Get them out to value, see if it lines up with what you want for it, go from there.

Agree with others that the market is starting to stagnate/fall
You will not get a better price by holding out

If getting a certain price is very important to you perhaps consider renting out the property and selling in 5 years time

But an estate agent won't take on your house if they don't think you actually want to sell. Why would they spend money with advertising, and viewings etc when you don't seem to want to actually sell your house quickly. They don't get paid until it completes.

Holding out won’t get you the best possible price moving quickly will.

you’re clearly not listening to what the estate agents are telling you, they know the market and know the market is going downwards, or backwards or whatever you want to call it! It’s slowing down and unless you sell quick, you will sell for less.