Finding info on properties for sale

J

JMR

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Is there any way to determine for sure how long a property has been on the market and what the asking price originally was?
Obviously outside of asking the estate agent.
Also, I have read people here advising that when looking at a property you should do a bit of research on what similar properties in the area sold for. How is this best achieved?
Will an estate agent provide this information or is it confidential?
Would an estate agent be willing to tell you, for example that a house only achieved 50K less than the asking price when he has a similar one for sale down the road??

Thanks
 
finding an Estate Agent to tell you the truth !!! You'll be lucky. There is a specialist service for Chartered Surveyors (I don't know the name) but its a subscription service for the 'trade'. Easiest way is to work out the prices per square foot and compare with other proeprties in the area. Remember we are still in a buyers market.
 
Don't forget that every sale is a differnet scenario ie 'A' needs to sell quickly so takes first reasonable offer, where as 'B' needs to sell for a certain price and will wait until it gets as close as possible to that price. The best thing to do is view some homes in the same area and you'll quickly get a feel for what you get for your money.
 
Mr.Man -

I believe that the lack of transparent selling price information here (akin to what is readily available in the UK) was partly responsible for inflating the Irish house price bubble. Punters had (and still have) no accurate & objective sales price info to work with when bidding on a property.

I further believe that public access to such a register at this stage (info sits with the land registry) might introduce some credibility to a market clearly trying to find its bottom. I believe this info could provide a reality check to buyers and sellers alike which may get market transactions moving again.

Would you concur?

Mrs.B
 
I think it had more to do with available money and a lemming like rush towards the edge.

At auction, the price is verifiable - its what one person is willing to pay on the day. For private treaty sales it was a simple as if you did not want to pay what was being asked, you could opt out and see if the house did sell. If it did, it was at a higher price than you were willing to pay.

The market has completely turned - as markets do. It is undoubtedly a buyers market now.

Mr.Man is quite right. Different circumstances for different people may mean different prices.

mf
 
Don't disagree with you mf1 but would you not agree that public access to a national sales price register could only be of benefit to buyers & sellers alike?

This info is being collected but is not publicly available (unlike almost everywhere else in the world). Why should punters be operating in an information vacuum when it comes to making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives?
 
With regard to the veracity of info provided by estate agents, I find it interesting that the Irish Times property supplement now finds it necessary to put in a caution with their weekly Sales Results section. It states that 'while the IT has endeavoured to ensure the accuracy of the sales results, it cannot accept responsibility if this information, provided by estate agents is inacurate'. Not only has the 'calibre' of house sale reported in this section changed, the sales results may be inaccurate.
 
Hi,

www.irishpropertywatch.com publish asking prices from daft on a bi-weekly basis. The also publish a consolidated spreadsheet that show total days on market, price drops and how many drops. I found it invaluable in negotiating a sale. The EA tried to tell me a property had been on the market for 3 weeks. I told him that it had been on for 98 days and the price had been reduced by 30k. He went red and told me the vendor was desperate!! We went sale agreed below our original estimate on learning this.

Knowledge is power in todays market!!
 
Don't disagree with you mf1 but would you not agree that public access to a national sales price register could only be of benefit to buyers & sellers alike?
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There may be more resistance to this from the public than from auctioneers. Many people wont want the value of their largest asset published or even let their sons and daughters know how much ready cash they have etc We still like our secrecy.
On a personal level it wouldn't bother me, I dont see the point of with holding info. If we were to overhaul how things were done we should go one further and address the whole sale agreed process and eliminate the wasters that so often post their knowledge here with nuggets like 'bid low and bid often'. We would be in a better position if bids had to be backed up as it would focus peoples minds and cut out a lot of the messing which is a common problem today.
 
MrMan, For once I would agree with you. The bidding of a property should be like a tender process - bids accepted with a deposit payment of 5% of the bid price, lodged with solicitors,with 5 days to accept by vendor and 5 days to withdraw by bidder.
 
MrMan said:
If we were to overhaul how things were done we should go one further and address the whole sale agreed process and eliminate the wasters that so often post their knowledge here with nuggets like 'bid low and bid often'. .
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You MUST be an agent. Those nasty little buyers, don't they know their place?? :rolleyes:

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Bid low and bid often
 
camry, AFAIK the Poster mentioned is an agent. It's a sad day when those in the business won'e accept and admit that the problems commenced with the inability of the profession to work in an honest and diligent manner. It really is a pity that the EAs don't know their place. Supply and demand are the two things which determine the market.
 
You MUST be an agent. Those nasty little buyers, don't they know their place??

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++

Bid low and bid often
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The problem isn't with buters its with those who use each property as a pawn. People take the high ground and say agents are gangsters blah blah blah but then give advice on how to get the best deal which usually entails bidding on numerous houses. Do you think thats fair? Surely if one is interested in a house they should enter negotiations with integrity. And yes I am an auctioneer.

It's a sad day when those in the business won'e accept and admit that the problems commenced with the inability of the profession to work in an honest and diligent manner.
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I'll admit my own failings and they don't come under the banner of dishonesty. I have stated before that there are agents who should not be in business as I have also stated that every profession has is bad apples.

It really is a pity that the EAs don't know their place. Supply and demand are the two things which determine the market.
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What is 'our place'? You seem to constantly refer to our profession with barbed comments, but little else, any advice contains a little piece on how unworthy we are of the tag 'professional'. from what lofty perch do you judge?
 
Your "place" is as an agent. There seems to be a fundamental ignorance in Ireland of what that term means.

In practice that means, you just convey the information between principles. You offer objective advice to your client where appropriate. You stand emotionally and professionally to the side of the transaction.

If you find yourself making advocacy statements that I am seeing increasingly attributed to agents in Ireland; things like "making realistic offers" (how about realistic asking prices:rolleyes:), or the type of statement you made above, you are crossing that line. These types of things only make you appear as pushy VIs.

If you want to reacapture any respect from the public as professional agents, you (not you, I mean as a profession) need ot do some collective soul searching and change your behaviour.
 
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