House price €275, offer €255

Hate to tell you, but if it's the same London I'm involved in, well Yes it has. The market there is grinding to a halt, North, South and Central, and prices off a minimum of 25%
 
I don't want to jinx it by talking about it before exchange, but it's gone very well so far.

What do you do?
 
235k was a reasobable offer.

According to myhome,ie, asking prices have dropped only 3% on average over the past year, whereas final sale prices have dropped by 15%.

Now these are average figures. But the conclusion you must draw from them is that the average property can be had for about 12.5% below today's asking price.

So it's reasonable to assume that, right now, an average type house with an asking price of 275k can be bought for about 240k. Those are the cold facts of the current market.

So 235 is not an insulting offer - a little low, but not excessively so, and reasonable enough in a downward trending market. The EA is wrong to insult you. Just present the second agent (forget about the first guy, he's trying to intimidate you, and assuming you don't know much about the market) with your offer.

Or wait a little longer and offer less.
 
Could it be a case that if the vendors have asked for 275,000 for the house that they have already reduced it in relation to similar properties in the area?

I only ask because I put my house on the market last month. For 2 weeks prior to this I went around my estate and took note of all the houses that were up for sale. All of the houses are the exact same as mine in terms of layout and size. They are all 3 bed terraced houses (obviously the interior design would be different). I then checked on the net to see what prices were being asked for these houses.

I knocked into some of the houses and explained that I was considering selling my house and if they could recomend the EA they were with. Anyway most people I spoke to were very forthcoming about what the EA was like and how many viewings they had and how long the house was on the market.

Most houses were on the market for 3 months or more with some viewings. Cheapest house asking price was 290,000 with the most expensive going for 320,000.

Now I knew there was no way I was going to get 320,000 for my house if there was already houses with that asking price not selling. When I picked my estate agent I told her I wanted my house to be priced at 275,000. At that price I figured that I was factoring in the % decrease in asking prices that has occured over the last while. In my mind I was being realistic and do you know what??? After 4 days an offer was put in for the full asking price. I am now just wating for the deeds from the bank and then sign the contracts.. I know that until the contracts are signed that the buyers could back out but Im hopeful that they wont as there is no chain (they are first time buyers and I am moving out to another part of Ireland so will be renting for a while)
 
gazzer said:
Could it be a case that if the vendors have asked for 275,000 for the house that they have already reduced it in relation to similar properties in the area?
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If the vendor is on with two agents it sounds like they have been on the market for a while and is not going to achieve what the vendors are hoping for.
 
My goodness YES offer a lower price by all means. We found a pristiene 4 bed 3 bath house 2,100sqft on 2 acres with a garage, over looking stunning 180 degree lake views on the Co MAYO- GALWAY border. The asking price was €270k. We made an offer of €240k it was accepted and will be moving in shortly.....Good luck there are LOTS od really great deals out there.
 
Yep, Sorry about that. All I will say is welcome to the real world where the only important thing is the bit of crack.
 
Neil,
If you feel the EA hasn't put forward your bid, go ahead and put it forward yourself. Drop a note in their letter box, explain your situation (Ready to Go etc) and see their reaction.
When I purchased my current home (4 years ago) at the height of the madness, I couldn't even get viewings arranged, EA weren't willing to do viewings unless they had plenty of people coming.
Dropped a note into house I bought explained to vendor I was very interested yet couldn't seem to arrange a viewing...... lo and behold the EA was on the next day, full of apologies and never had another rude word from them either.
Remember they are working for vendor.
 
gazzer said:
Now I knew there was no way I was going to get 320,000 for my house if there was already houses with that asking price not selling. When I picked my estate agent I told her I wanted my house to be priced at 275,000. At that price I figured that I was factoring in the % decrease in asking prices that has occured over the last while. In my mind I was being realistic and do you know what??? After 4 days an offer was put in for the full asking price.
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Perfect sense. If the price is right (at a level that someone will be interested)then it will sell. However this is a rare attitude amongst vendors. Taking the opinion "why should I drop my asking price?" - To sell it of course.Pretty obvious.
 
Perfect sense. If the price is right (at a level that someone will be interested)then it will sell. However this is a rare attitude amongst vendors. Taking the opinion "why should I drop my asking price?" - To sell it of course.Pretty obvious.
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Its not as rare as you may think, more and more are pricing their homes more competitively to sell. there are some that still expect above market prices but time usually sees them come around.

Iguana, the scenario that you mentioned re: leaving a bid on for a month before it is accepted does not reflect on where I was coming from. When I said that making and offer and reducing it didn't work I meant the following: offer goes in at €250k, vendor refuses stating its €30k under asking, I say well its a buyers market and my new offer is €240k you have 24 hours to accept! This kind of advice is fantastical and doesn't help. Your scenario is a totally different kettle of fish.
 
I have a 'BAD' EA story with a HAPPY ENDING

I looked at a house on the market for €270 reduced from €340k (brand spanking new, 2100 sqft, 4 bed, 3 bath, hardwood floors, German windows, garage, 2 acres, 180 degrees views of lake, 180 degree views of hills, only 1 mile to Shop-Pub-POST combo). Met with EA made offer of €250k.....waited for 5 days no response, contacted EA 'she' explained that the property was being managed by a DUB Solicitor/Executor as owner had died. She was still waiting for response, 7 days later still no response.

After 3-4 calls from me, I got a voice mail from the owner of this EA that an offer had been accepted for €230K 2 months earlier and our offer had been rejected as the Executor wanted to stay with origional offer..(hmmmm???) I called back the EA owner and asked if contracts were signed and deposit paid and if all was as he said WHY WAS THE HOUSE STILL ON THE MARKET? He said it was a mistake and he'd nothing more to say on the matter and abruptly hug up....(??? hmmmm me smells a fish)

I want this house; after nearly two years of looking this was it my dream home (and price). So I went into action.... I called the local PUB and asked about the house history...got an earfull AND a call back from a neighbouring farm family that knows the family of the deceased house owner personally. Got telephone numbers. Drove from Dublin back to house on the Co Mayo/Galway border. Met with Sister of deceased and got the full scoop: Name and number of Executor and that the family of 9 siblings had been waiting for over two years for the house to be sold but were told there were no vieiwings(???)

I by-passed the EA altogether and made my offer direct for €240k... he was amazed at my story. He said they HAD indeed accepted an offer from the EA for €230k but that it had been nearly 6 months with not a penny exchanging hands and as he'd been busy on other matters he hadn't pursued the EA on the status of the offer.

I told him upfront my origional offer had been €250k but in the light of the situation....€240k was all I was offering. He accepted and we sign contracts next week. (yeah perhaps I could've got it for €230k but for €10k I move in within the week)

MORAL OF STORY:
(1) its a buyers market
(2) If it smells like a fish it IS a fish
(3) Go direct if you want the house...or anything for that matter
 
Good on you.

Have another story for you lot.

Mother was buying a house 2 years that was advertised at 440. She put in full asking price offer and was told there was another bidder, they had put in 450. Got into a bidding war until it was up to 560.

All the norm for the market at the time, except... the counter offers were coming back too fast for my liking and I suspected there wasn't another bidder. Mum was getting carried away and also I thought if she could afford 560 then she could afford a nicer house than that one. The house wasn't that great, had a garage but small back garden.

Told her to pull out as thought she was being taken for a ride. She did and guess what...no 'Sale Agreed' went up and house stayed on the market for months after.

If there was another bidder why didn't they buy the house? Cos they didn't exist!

Did a bit of snooping locally and turned out the vendor didn't even know there was an offer on the house, never mind a bidding war with offers 120k over his asking price.

If it smells like a fish indeed.

Mum got a much better house in a nicer area in the end for 500k.
 
Was speaking to a couple last night who went to a particular well known EA and made an offer on a house (4 weeks ago), were told there was a better offer, they upped their offer, were told the other bidder had done same etc.... this went on until my friends said they couldnt go higher and pulled out. Last week For Sale sign re-appeared and house is re-listed on myhome.ie (with same EA) for same price.

Fishy eh?
 
Last week For Sale sign re-appeared and house is re-listed on myhome.ie (with same EA) for same price.

Fishy eh?
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Or, the other party pulled out, I know that doesn't bode well with the 'their always out to screw us brigade' but amazingly it happens, just look at advice thats given here on a regular basis and the questions being asked its often 'will i get my deposit back if I pull out now' or 'bid on as many houses as you like and go for the best deal'.
 
MrMan said:
Or, the other party pulled out, I know that doesn't bode well with the 'their always out to screw us brigade' but amazingly it happens, just look at advice thats given here on a regular basis and the questions being asked its often 'will i get my deposit back if I pull out now' or 'bid on as many houses as you like and go for the best deal'.
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Yes - thats certainly a possibility, the couple in question had the distinct feeling their chains were being pulled at the time of bidding (not that that means anything i suppose).
 
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