"offers in the region of ..." what do you think of this in sales?

[HangerLaneGyratorySystem]

Estate agent has recommended advertising using the phrase "offers in the region of £450k to £475k". If I saw that as a buyer, I'd say the house is actually on the market for £450k. Market here is fairly slow, although the last house he sold in the next road almost identical went for £460k a couple of months ago, after he used the same phrase (although that one was previously on at £475k first).

Thing is, we need £460k - if we got £450k it would be very difficult to move on (divorcing) as we won't get enough equity. What do people think of this kind of estate agent "phrasing"?

It would confuse me but I haven't been int he market to buy a house for over a decade - maybe this is the current phrasing? I would assume they were open to competing bids on a property and that would make me anxious.

Confusing and if I had a budget of 460 I'd be put off thinking either you want 475 or if I didn't get it for 450 I'd over paid.

Put 475k asking price. Estate agents are fools

The market is whole world away from where it was a couple of months ago, so I wouldn't use that as your yardstick.

People are going to play hardball in negotiations right now, so anything you advertise it as then expect offers below. People will also do their homework and see the £460k house that sold recently and use that as the 'top of the market' point. Chances are offers will be signifcantly below that.

Sorry not what you want to hear but think you need to temper your expectations. It's going to get bumpy for house prices in 2023.

If you absolutely need 460 then don’t advertise at 450.

Put onto the market as offers in region of 475. That gives people an option of coming in at 470/465/460

You can reduce to oiro 465 if needed, if you absolutely need to sell asap then offers above 460.

I would go offers in excess of 460, everyone knows where they stand then.

Hate it!

In your situation I'd just put the price at £470, with none of the waffle & be prepared to negotiate down to £460.

You’ll soon find out. Any buyer will expect some sort of discount. I’d go with 475 and let the estate agent know you’ll accept 460.
That said, if you get 440, that’s only a 10k drop each. Sometimes a bird in the hand etc.

Offers in excess of/offers over is really annoying and a lot of people skip ads with that on. Especially right now.

A £15k range isn’t a thing on RM.

I’d price at £470k as PP have suggested.

Broadly speaking I ignore the specific wording and don't care whether it says 'above' or 'in the region of' or whether there's just a price stated - I'd still offer whatever I planned to offer, if I was interested in the property, and not be deterred by the specifics. That said, I do find adverts that give a range really irritating, because it's pretty apparent that the vendor doesn't actually want the amount at the bottom of the range, and isn't likely to accept it, but has gone ahead and advertised it for that anyway.

Is there a practical reason for including the bottom of the range? When I last sold a house (not UK), we did the equivalent as our version of Rightmove then included it in two price categories, meaning more viewers. We eventually sold at £38 k above the top of that price range. (Very different market, obviously.)

I'd go with 475k.

As a buyer I find 'offers over' really annoying.

I'd think the bottom of the range is the least the vendor would take if no one else offers more. So if you need 460k, then that's what you should tell the estate agent you'd accept.

So, offers in excess of 460k or offers in the range of 460k - 475k; or simply out 470k.

I'd assume your floor price was £450k but you were hoping for more.

I don't like it because it's woolly.

If you need 460k I would put it on at 475k. No guarantees of course, people will still be hoping for a bigger discount in 2023 I imagine but better than OIRO 450-457k

At that price point right move goes in 25k increments so if you put it on 450-475 you will get people seeing if who want to spend 450k but could stretch to 460k to get it.

Ive just put mine up. I need a certain amount and so put it up for 15% more than that as im expecting offers and want to leave room to negotiate. If i get what i need im made up, any more will be a bonus.

I don't agree about putting it up at 450-475 in order to show it to more people. If anyone is interested at 450 they will also put in to see properties up to 475 on right move so I would put it up for that . If they can't afford a little wiggle room from their 450 then the op doesn't want to sell to them anyway as she needs 460

The property websites need a number in the field which is used for filtering, searching and sorting. "Offers in the region of £450k-£475k" makes that number 450,000 which means that property appears in more searches where the person filtered by price. Or it appears higher in the listings where people have sorted by "price lowest first". The same property listing with £475k price would be excluded from many searches and would appear much lower down the listings. Big difference.

The other reason is called anchoring. Simply by displaying the numerals "475" makes people feel that someone might be willing to offer as much as that. Been proven time and again in behavioural economics studies.

But remember ... all that matters is what the place is worth to you. If that number is £460k, you should signal that clearly to the EA. Doesn't have to be advertised via the listing, of course ... marketing is all about creating the illusion of greater demand ... but the EA can advise people who enquire but who wouldn't be able to offer you the £460 that is your minimum sales price not to waste their time with a viewing.

It's surprising how being told 'no you can't afford this' can make a house seem more desirable and encourage a potential buyer find ways to come up with an extra £10k though ... I'd trust the Estate Agent and follow their advice. It's their job.