Is there any law to stop an EA advertising a property at an unbelievably low price?

Mers1 · 23 Mar 2009

I have a broad question so bear with me.

Is there any law to stop an estate agent advertising a property at an unbelievably low price?

Other properties in the development are currently on sale at about €50k above what EA are advertising.

A number of people are quite dismayed by it and those selling very upset to say the least, we think it is being done for advertising purposes as the property has been for sale for quite some time now.

Just wondering if anything can be done about it.

MrMan · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

Presumably he is selling for his client and they will have agreed to the advertised sale price, if they are in dire need to sell all of a sudden then thats why the change has happened, 50k isn't a major drop if nothing is happening at current levels.

Bronte · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

Maybe the estate agent has the realistic price and those selling need to reduce theirs.

sadie · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

There is no law stopping estate agents from advertising at unbelieveably high prices, so comparatively low prices can be allowed as well. The property market is a 'free' market and therefore anyone can sell at any price they like. They could sell their house for a tenner if they wanted.

Dreamerb · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

Mers1 said:
I have a broad question so bear with me.....is there any law to stop an estate agent advertising a property at an unbelievably low price?

No. They can offer it for sale at any price the vendor likes.

Mers1 said:
Other properties in the development are currently on sale at about €50k above what EA are advertising.

Are they selling, though? It sounds as though there are a few properties to choose from, and if there's nothing much to differentiate them the only way to get people in is to reduce the price.

Mers1 said:
A number of people are quite dismayed by it and those selling very upset to say the least, we think it is being done for advertising purposes as the property has been for sale for quite some time now.

Well of course it's being done for advertising purposes. It would be an irrational and somewhat odd thing to do if directly comparable properties were selling quickly at the higher prices - but it doesn't sound as though they are.

Does it actually affect the "value" of other properties? No. Is it rational to be dismayed or upset? Well, no. If the other vendors don't want to drop their prices they'll simply have to accept that they may not sell.

Mers1 said:
Just wondering if anything can be done about it.

Nope.

Mpsox · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

It's no different from a developer dropping the value of the remaining houses in an estate to sell them off, which is happening all over the country at the minute

Anna Lee · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

If a vendor actually wants to sell (as opposed to just putting their property on the market for months/years without a sale) then ofcourse Estate Agents can set the price realistically to attract vendors. Just because home owners in the same estate decide on some unofficial 'price fixing' does not mean that their asking prices will be achieved.
Prices are dropping and I think that your neighbour is smart in pricing lower than the competition as this is the only hope of selling in the future.
(There is a thread in this forum called 'are banks lending' or something similar, which I think is informative as it demonstrates that potential buyers are not getting mortgages, so those buyers with finance should be treated like gold dust imho).
I am selling a 2 bed apartment in central dublin at the moment, the sale agreed price is 230k, there is a 1 bed in the same complex asking 240k which has been on the market for 14 months. When are people going to get it?? I told my Estate Agent what price to market it at (and she agreed that this is the highest price I would get) as I genuinely want to sell as despite what some people in property related industries claim, the 'downturn' is not just a blip in the property market imo, sorry mods but it's relevant to my point).
It reinforces my belief that most people choose to believe what suits them best and not the reality of the situation. Sorry for the generalisation but it has to be said.

Anna Lee · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

If a vendor actually wants to sell (as opposed to just putting their property on the market for months/years without a sale) then ofcourse Estate Agents can set the price realistically to attract vendors. Just because home owners in the same estate decide on some unofficial 'price fixing' does not mean that their asking prices will be achieved.
Prices are dropping and I think that your neighbour is smart in pricing lower than the competition as this is the only hope of selling in the future.
(There is a thread in this forum called 'are banks lending' or something similar, which I think is informative as it demonstrates that potential buyers are not getting mortgages, so those buyers with finance should be treated like gold dust imho).
I am selling a 2 bed apartment in central dublin at the moment, the sale agreed price is 230k, there is a 1 bed in the same complex asking 240k which has been on the market for 14 months. When are people going to get it?? I told my Estate Agent what price to market it at (and she agreed that this is the highest price I would get) as I genuinely want to sell as despite what some people in property related industries claim, the 'downturn' is not just a blip in the property market imo, sorry mods but it's relevant to my point).
It reinforces my belief that most people choose to believe what suits them best and not the reality of the situation. Sorry for the generalisation but it has to be said.

Smashbox · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

Mers1 said:
is there any law to stop an estate agent advertising a property at an unbelievably low price? Just wondering if anything can be done about it.

Nope and nope, they can pretty much sell it at anything they like, probably to get rid of it perhaps?

An example of this is a housing estate near me. Houses were sold for x price, but then with the downturn they couldnt shift anymore. They are now offering the houses for about 50-60k less now, and also a rent to buy scheme to get rid of them.

StoppedClock · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

Mers1 said:
I have a broad question so bear with me.....is there any law to stop an estate agent advertising a property at an unbelievably low price? Other properties in the development are currently on sale at about €50k above what EA are advertising. A number of people are quite dismayed by it and those selling very upset to say the least, we think it is being done for advertising purposes as the property has been for sale for quite some time now. Just wondering if anything can be done about it.

50k less then what most people still think their property is worth is not unbelievably low and I would wager when it does sell it will be lower than that again.

Steve D · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Rules governing Estate Agents

Mers1 said:
we think it is being done for advertising purposes as the property has been for sale for quite some time now.

If the property has been for sale for "quite some time" and still hasn't sold, then it means that the price is too high so he should drop the price further to sell it. If this hasn't sold then the other similar properties obviously need to drop their prices below the one that you are complaining about, if they really want to sell.

foghorn · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Is there any law to stop an EA advertising a property at an unbelievably low pric

There's a UK estate agent who writes a blog about his travails at http://agentsdiary.blogspot.com/; today's entry seems apt:

While we’re on the subject of cost,’ continues the reluctant seller, as my heart sinks and I start calculating how much I can trim the commission. ‘I think we’re going to be selling too cheaply.’ And for a moment I think he’s joking, until I clock the serious face.

‘I read that prices are stabilising,’ the man continues breezily. ‘And one nowhere near as nice as mine has just gone on the market up the road for ten thousand more, that can’t be right can it?’

To date, in an overlong career, I’ve yet to meet a seller who thinks their home is actually inferior to a neighbour’s. Despite gardens scattered with spent white goods, interiors humming with drooling canines, and carpets shifting with hungry fleas’. No, theirs is always worth more than the chancers up the road.

markwfitz · 23 Mar 2009

Re: Is there any law to stop an EA advertising a property at an unbelievably low pric

Do you mean that the price is now priced to sell as opposed to the past 10 years when it was priced to fleece! Sorry, deal with it.
Remember 3 times income as the sales price.. coming to a little island on Northwest Europe soon & I am not talking about iceland.
I own my home as well but the prices were really in la la land. The big problem with prices in Ireland is no national database, no post codes.
I have an idea for mapping house prices near an telephone exchange. Most people would recognize their own telephone number & the exchange allocated the 1st 3 digits of this number. So 289 is Foxrock deansgrange
time will tell

Senna · 24 Mar 2009

Re: Is there any law to stop an EA advertising a property at an unbelievably low pric

Do you really want to take legal action against a neighbour that wants (probably needs) to sell their house, as said you cannot. The market sets the price not the owners, an owner can ask for whatever they want, but to actually sell an owner must accept what a buyer is willing to offer. You need to accept the fact that your house and those other houses for sale are not worth their asking prices, the house at 50k less might be closer to the truth, but even at that most offers are coming in at least 10% less than asking, 20% is normal.

Maybe this will be of some help

bacchus · 24 Mar 2009