Rude estate agent made me mad!!

[blisscake]

Was an offer 15% below the asking price ridiculous in this climate? We are in a good position - nothing to sell, but he said he it was too low and wouldn't even put it to the vendor. Apparently he has done but who knows...Was I out of order making a low offer? We can up it but are reluctant now as he's been so rude.

or is I rang up and offered £1 for the house next door?
(I'm sure we could scrape it together somehow )

Under the Estate Agents Act 1979 - they have a duty to report all offers. There is a possibility of them having a unilateral agreement (in writing) in place with the vendors whereby they agree not to report offers under a certain amount for a certain period of time but not many people bother tbh

Agree with the others - pop a note directly through the door if you're not confident he is reporting the offer

We had something similar last summer. We accepted an offer on late-MIL's house, not realising the agent had not bothered to tell us someone else had put in a lower offer. They obviously thought we'd refuse on grounds that we were about to accept higher. Our point was (made in numerous frank and robust conversations with them about it afterwards) was that if we'd known there was someone else in the frame, we'd have held on to see whether the lower offer was upped (which subsequently happened, via a note through the door) They took away that decision from us, and blamed it on a "breakdown in communication!"

We have had offers at that level rejected twice in the last few months Both houses are still for sale and both agents came back to us to see if our offer still stood but we refused and are waiting as the reductions haven't even started yet.

He does have an obligation to pass your offer onto the vendor - but I do think 15% is bloody cheeky, not just ridiculous.

Why is 15% cheeky when the IMF and the Bank of england say property is 30% overpriced and has been fuelled by cheap credit which has now dried up? Better 15 this year than 30 next

I don't think 15% is cheeky - the house could be over priced by 15% in which case it is realistic.

Back to the OP - I would definitely pop a note through the door and explain the situation with your offer and the agent.

Ooh yes I think houses are overvalued by 40%, I've been saying so and now people seem to be agreeing 30% over valued.

Because it is an awful lot of money. Although there are some who try to sell their houses at over-inflated prices, most vendors sell them at their market value. 15% is a big price reduction and the vendors have no security in accepting the offer, what happens if they accepted and then the buyer pulled out at the last minute - they still have all the bills to pay for the sale that almost went through as well as having to go through all the rigmarole again. Surely if you can't afford the price - you shouldn't even be wasting the vendors time by viewing in the first place.

But what is market value?There is no regulation and basically estate agents pluck a figure from the air according to what sold at the peak and work from that.I can't believe that it is not obvious Prices have gone up 300% in 10 yrs why can't they come down 30?

A house is only worth what someone (anyone) WILL pay for it. Not what it was worth 10 years ago + 300%, not what the house next door sold for, not a made up number but what someone will pay for it.

Valuation is an art, not a science. Estate agents base their valuations on what comparable properties have sold for so in a continuously falling market, properties are likely to be overvalued. 15% is not cheeky. Frankly, in the current market, I think offering anything more than 10-15% below asking would be stupid.

thanks tilly and www its not just me then!Most of my friends are starting to ealise what is going on now,They thought I was mad when I sold up to rent but it was my living doing up houses so I wouldn't have done that without a certain sense that I was right I would much prefer to still be developing and making money but ther is none to be made!

And how many times has Sarah Beeney warned property developers not to assume all the profits made on their houses are down to their improvements when it is often the rising market which has baled them out of an overspend Good old Sarah, I love her, me.

One of the local agents calls me the brighton beeney because he says i am bossy woth big knockers!

Have you got multi-coloured hair too?

no I stop at the hair and the ill fitting jackets otherwise I love her!

Agree with joash. We'd be happy to flex on price, but it's our fear that at present there are plenty of delusional vendors who won't, which could leave us 15% down and high and dry so to speak.

In danger of hi-jacking here, but isn't it funny how many of these supposedly entrepreneurial developers refuse to consider her advice. How does she manage to restrain herself from going "ner,ner,na,ner,ner" when it all goes wrong?

She often tells them they would have made nothing if it wasn't for a rising market.I always prefer to make the money on the changes I'bve made although a couple of times the rise in the market has been incredible and not sustainable.I think we will see the first signs of serious falls in May when the school holidays are over and the spring bounce hasn't materialised.There only needs to be one house in a road drop for the rest to follow pretty swiftly esp if it sells.

I heart Sarah Beeny and yes, all the people who don't take her advice are mad. It's free, good advice from someone who knows what they're talking about, mad not to take it.

Joash we can afford to pay more for the house but it seems pricey for what it is. There is one on the market round the corner - less charachter but similar proportions for 50k less. We are not looking for houses beyond our means or purchasing power.

SO why not buy the one around the corner?

Well, maybe I will.

Noddy, you sound convinced the prices are about to fall. I hope you are right. We made a low offer because the market is so shaky at the moment, guess time will tell.