The house we are after was advertised at $270 or above.........we offer them $270(cash ready and waiting)....bearing in mind it has been on the market for a while now...over a month to our knowledge with no interest or offers put forward....
They turn round and say $290 ??????? are they taking the p!ss or what.????

Any suggestions please from you Sarah Beanie's out there...


CORKER

Let em sweat, walk away and make sure they have your contact details for when they change their minds. :)

We've had the same thing! Its on for offers above and they were looking for around $35k above this!! Why not just put it on at that price? Apparently though they have a 10% thing with their prices. If its on for $100k and above the house can't be sold for more than $110k.

sound like they are taking the p*ss
dont hurry to pay the asking price, prices seem to be dropping, two houses we were interested in both dropped significantly in price, around $25,000.

I totally agree, walk away, maybe they need to sweat it out for a few days and realise that a cash offer is an offer they shouldn't refuse. If it was offers over $270K and they had people fighting over the place then yes you'd need to go a bit higher. But if they wanted $290K then they should have put it up for that shouldn't they. Don't let them play mind games with you.

My sister is in this situation in the UK as we speak. After weeks of offering a bit more and a bit more she is now only £950 off the asking price and has walked away. The guy has somewhere he wants to move to and each month he has to make yet another mortgage payment, he just can't see whats going on, what an idiot some people just want it all their way.

Deb

You'll find that over here Corker, 'offers over' always means at least 10% on top. :D

We lost three house in great locations because we thought they were taking the mick, but several other people obviously didn't and made offers well in excess of the asking price!

Don't expect the agent to come back to you because invariably they won't and if you're looking in a sought after area, you'll just see the sold sign go up.

And with so many Poms coming in there are a lot of people making cash offers......


Julia :)

Three years ago, when there was a lot of competition to buy, the asking price on our house was $240K plus and it had been on the market for a few months (it was light pink everywhere inside). We offered $235K for a cash sale completion within a month and they took it, as they had already bought elsewhere.
So it all depends on their circumstances, your circumstances and how much you really want the house. Is it exactly what you have been looking for and are you prepared to lose it?
The market is slowing now until spring at least. If you are sure there is no other interest, sit and wait. Make sure you go to other opens in the area with the same firm, or keep in touch.
You will never know whether you could have got it cheaper unless you take the risk of losing it.

another house will turn up if you lose it.
use your head not your heart.
houses are over priced, and prices are definitely not rising any more.

My cousin recently purchased and offered below the asking, it was rejected, they knew the circumstances that the owners had already bought elsewhere and were paying a bridging loan, so they offered a bit more. Next day they rang the real estate agent and said, look, just to let you know, my offer stands until the end of the day only. - they got it.

Guess I am trying to say, try to find out the circumstances, see if they can be to your advantage. Maybe put a slightly higher offer, but with the qualifier it is only until end of business day. Put the pressure on, and be prepared to walk away.

As sean says, something else will come up.

do like in the godfather

A house we were interested in last year was up for £270 - 340,000. We put in an offer for £290,000 which was turned down so upped it to £300,000 but that was turned down as well with the agent saying they were looking for nearer the 340 mark. It needed a lot of work doing on it so we walked away. What gets me is why don't they just put the house up for sale at £340,000 if that's what they want?

The house we ended up buying was up for £340 - 380,000 and our offer of £340,000 was accepted, ie the lower end of what they were asking. It still needs some work doing but nowhere near as much as the other one.

Guess what 8 months later that first house is still for sale.

My advice is stick to your guns - there's other houses out there.

Jo

What put a dead horses head in their bed ?????? :68:

make them an offer they can't refuse

Yes, the system of house buying is definitley different over here.... simpler and better in many ways but this 'offers over and above' and '$270+' is confusing...you really don't know where you stand! I wish it was a simple thing of being on for $270K or $260K etc...

We saw a house on sunday and it was up for 'overs over $255'....we knew it would be popular, in the end there were 5 offers...we offered $260...we were the middle offer of the 5...the agent phoned me the next day to say we were unsuccessful and there were 2 offers over ours...and the offer accepted was $280ish....

So if the 10% is right then that would fit in.

I also think that prices are stable if not dropping a bit...

and if this is the quieter period then hopefully we will pick something up...

lorraine

I'd say it's been pitched at that level to increase interest and get more potential buyers in to see it. If it was advertised at the higher end - how many people would have been put off going to see it?

It's quite amusing reading all this - especially the tactics of putting pressure on the vendors, letting 'em stew, walking away etc etc.

Isn't this just the kind of stuff that really p**s us all off a load when we're trying to sell our house? ;)

The way I see it is it's a buyers market - it's the vendor's prerogative to turn offers down but it's the buyer's prerogative to walk away and not be prepared to offer any more than they think the house is worth.

There's always plenty more houses out there for the buyer. Whether there's plenty more buyers out there for the vendor is another question. 8 months after we put in a reasonable offer on a house it is still up for sale - that tells me that the house is over priced and the vendors aren't being realistic. I don't think it's putting pressure on the vendor if you walk away - it's saying I'm not prepared to pay what you want for your house. It works both ways as they are saying I'm not prepared to accept what you think my house is worth. The buyer walks away and purchases another house - the vendor is stuck trying to find another buyer.

When I sold my house back in UK I was prepared to be flexible and accepted a lower offer even though I wasn't in any rush and could have stuck it out.

Jo

My house is up for sale in UK and I'd be prepared to accept 5%-7% or so below the asking price, not hold out for 10% above... :doh:

Suppose it's just a different way of doing things we need to get our heads around - but it does seem to be a bit more hit & miss :ph43r:

Surely not???
We went to an open last weekend, priced at $435+. Talking to the agent, they were expecting offers anything up to $480 or more on it. Also it was sealed bids - everyone just puts in their single best offer, and the highest one gets it. Can't see how that benefits the seller if you're not allowing your buyers to bid against each other, myself...

Anyway, it needed FAR too much done to it for us to be interested at even the minimal price.

I obviously haven't seen the advertising, but I doubt that it was $270 OR above. Most likely would have been above $270 or $270+ etc. As Marco said, the estate agents often put the price less than the vendors want, in order to get a lot more people to come and look at it. Depending on the market at the time, it can work for or against the vendor.

Back in the late 70's, when I bought my first home, there would be a definite price advertised, and usually you would try to go lower, but if not, if you offered the advertised price you would get it. However, prices were often set at more than you expect to get, then you would be bargained down.

As time went on, auctions became more popular, but agents would often 'dummy bid' to get the price up. There have now been laws made to make that illegal.

We have in recent years gone through a housing boom, where prices have increased dramatically and that is where the 'price plus' became more popular, and the person with the highest bid gets the property. Auctions became a bit less popular when the new rules came in.

Of course, the things you don't like as a buyer, you will like (maybe) when you come to sell. I have never really been happy either buying or selling property, and I have yet to deal with an agent that I have been really happy with.

As people say, however, you offer as much as you are willing to pay, and the vendor has the right to accept or reject it. Some are happy to wait for a better price, whereas others urgently need to sell, and may accept a lower price.

Also, it's not only the Brits coming over who are cash buyers. Quite a few people sell their own home first, then have a long settlement time, or can come up with the cash (with the help of a bank) without having to sell their own home first. It is obviously an advantage to not have to sell a home first, but don't believe that everyone else has a house to sell that must come into the equation.

Good luck to you with your house buying. Remember that next time, you will be on the other side. It is never an easy thing to buy or sell property.

Jen

we've just been looking to sell our property in Modbury North. We wanted at least $310,000 and all the agents we spoke to said put it on at $295,000 to get people through the door then negotiage on the terms.

i find it all a bit of a trial especially when we found out we have to pay for all the advertising and the board out front if we want one. Plus all the agents had different % costs on what they wanted to sell the house. Though I do like the idea of open inspections, In the Uk my agent barely did a thing, they would send people round at 7pm in the evening and expect me to sell the house for them.

In the end we decided to stay for a bit and decorate. Initally we bought the house for its size (5 beds) but Steve is working quite far away so we wanted to move closer to his work. He's got half hour trip in the morning and at least 3/4 hour trip back in the evening depending on what time he leaves. However when this job is finished he could be working in Golden Grove on the next job so if we moved he would still be travelling.

Jo

Yeah was told that last week by 2 different estate agents, but how correct it is I'm not sure???

It's illegal in the Uk too but still goes on. Roy worked in an auction house in the Uk for several years and all the auctioneers took dummy bids. And unless you have a very keen eye it's almost impossible to see that it's happening :blink:

Our house was up for $255+, we offered $256, they wanted $260, finally settled on $258,400!!. All on the day of the first open.

Joanne

Absolutely...this is spot on

The hypocrisy displayed when it comes to selling/buying houses is staggering.

How long before the next thread comes along when someone is calling their prospective buyers 'B******s' or W*****s' for offering lower than the asking price or 'trying it on'? :rolleyes:

G

Yes they are taking the p*ss........... and are trying for the SH*T, the biscuit and cake I would offer them 270 again tell them the money is waiting. There are loads of properties out there & :sign69: remind them it is a buyers market!!!!!!!

Well in the end we played the game their way.....we upped the offer to $280,000
and they have accepted and signed..... :D

We have a house in Australia and we are now pricing up putting a pool in... :yeehah:


Corker

Congratulations

:dance: :dance: :dance:

We'll be expecting an invite to the housewarming :D


Jo