Quick question about EA & selling house - seeing some this afternoon

[busypainting]

Is it normal procedure for an EA to ask how much you paid for your property when you contact them for a valuation? Why would they ask this? I don't think it's relevant but my DH was asked this when booking some appointments yesterday. He didn't want to say anything (as he was at work). Any ideas/suggestions for a good response?

Thanks!

Well they all do it as it helps them gauge prices locally and work out increases decreases etc.The info is available online anyway so it just saves them looking it up!Why don't you want to tell thm?

I assume it is so they can gestimate how much you might be prepared to haggle on a price. If they know you bought it for 50K less than you are selling it for, they may think you have room to manoeuvre if a buyer wants to knock the price down. It may also help them set a realistic price for the property given the market and what your expectations might be.

As Noddy said, this info is freely available (for the most part), although they aren't to know how much you may have added to the property by way of home improvements since you bought it, nor whether you have taken out any equity, and so have a larger mortgage than your original buying price might suggest.

Good luck with selling.

Make sure you shop around for your estate agents and get yourself a good deal. Don't forget to haggle

Forgot to add - it is generally not a great idea to let EA's know the intricicies of your financial position when selling, as they may use it to haggle you down for a lower price if they think you can take the hit. When buying, feel free to tell them what your absolute top price could be!

Having said that, in the current climate, I suspect a sale at any price may be the best to hope for - I don't think this recent price recovery will last. If you get a buyer, I would do your best to hang on to them