How much less than asking house prices will estate agents accept?

Benedict

How much under the asking price will estate agents accept? There are rumours that they will throw a tantrum if you offer too little. But I know of a case where a house was advertised for 900K and an offer of 550K was made. The estate agent threw a tantrum - but the offer was later accepted because it was the only offer and they were under pressure to sell.

johndaman66

I think your question is akin to asking how long is a piece of string Benedict. Ultimately it is the seller who will accept or reject an offer as opposed to the Estate Agent. The Estate Agent is suppose to communicate all offers back to the seller unless there is an arrangement between them to the contrary... the seller may not want to know about offers under X amount for example. Whether or not this happens in reality is another matter.

I have found that Estate Agents are very good at insisting on a certain price and would lead you to believe that there is absolutely no negotiating on this lower most price. Quite a lot will depend on the sellers circumstances, do they want/ need to sell quick, how long the house has being on the market, has it generated much other interest etc. For example some may be in no rush to sell, are testing the market more than anything or have already dropped the price to the current asking price and such is practically the lowest price they will sell at if not their absolute lowest price. Others on the other hand may be finding it difficult to sell with their house not generating a whole lot of interest and are eager to move away for work/ personal/ family reasons. In such instances a much lower price than the asking price may be accepted in some cases.

Jo King

Benedict wrote: »

How much under the asking price will estate agents accept? There are rumours that they will throw a tantrum if you offer too little. But I know of a case where a house was advertised for 900K and an offer of 550K was made. The estate agent threw a tantrum - but the offer was later accepted because it was the only offer and they were under pressure to sell.

So what if they throw a tantrum? That is what estate agents do; sneer at offers, insist the house is worth much more, claim there is another interested party, and generally try and coax a higher offer from the bidder.

spockety

The answer is "11".

ricman

Look on daft.ie , if all the houses on a estate are going for 200k minimum, then id, say you,d have 2 at least offer 170k.ITS UP to the seller,does he have a large mortgage, is there sum1 living in the house.
IF you want a cheap house ,buy an old, house ,or an empty house, eg the owner has died.HOUSE prices have already dropped by 40per cent .
IF you really wanna live on estate x ,well you will need to pay y.
MY friend is selling , he was told by the agent, they house is worth 180, dublin area,
it has a garage, maybe if sum1 really wants it, they might pay say 190.
or maybe theres 2 people bidding on it.
WHEN you buy a house ,you are buying the area, acess to shops,etc
ie dublin is big, you,ll always find a house abit, cheaper .
I KNOW a house ,thats ,empty, the borrower is gone, the bank will have to sell it,they r prbly waiting 4 nama to come into force.
TAKE clonsilla, average price there is 200k, i doubt if you could buy a house there 4 less than
170k, no matter how much you haggle.

ei.sdraob

20%

compare last Daft asking prices to the last IAVI report which is based on actual selling prices

the average difference across the country is 20%

*caveat assuming IAVI are not fudging figures too much

dan_d

The EA will throw a tantrum, but remember he's only the middle man.

A simple answer to his tantrum is to say, "okay, if you refuse to suggest my price to your client, I will contact them myself with this price". You know where they live after all.....

You should find this works. At the end of the day, it's not his decision.

loopyloulou

Im looking at buying myself at the moment. Saw a nice house priced at 279,950 and the advert by the EA said only offers of asking price or above will be considered. I rang up to ask if it was still available and was told it had gone sale agreed. I asked how much was accepted and he said 270k!!!

Jabber2

Offer only what you're willing to pay and hence what you value the house, if house A is priced at 400k and no offers at this price then it's open season.
From reading threads here if you're not embarrassed at your bid its too high.
Sold a house last year and the estate agent put it on the market at our desired price +10% we sold it for our desired price -10%, houses in the area have dropped a further 30% since last year and are still falling. No one knows what real prices are.
The buyer is king bid only what you're willing to pay not what some "Qualified" EA wants you to pay.

henryhenry1

i am looking to buy an apartment in a new development, would offering less than the asking price on a new apartment be possible or would the EA laugh?

Colonel Sanders

Decide how much you are prepared to pay, and do not base it on 'well asking price is x so how low below that can we go'. Take into consideration how much your mortgage payments would be on the sum paid versus how much renting would cost, how much your weekly commute would cost etc etc. If that's not acceptable walk away. There's not exactly a shortage of houses/apartments out there

Treehouse72

henryhenry1 wrote: »

i am looking to buy an apartment in a new development, would offering less than the asking price on a new apartment be possible or would the EA laugh?

No, offer the full amount so the EA doesn't laugh at you.

Good luck with your purchase. It's a really great time to pay full price for a new apartment. After all, there aren't many apartments around, and prices are sure to remain steady given the employment and emigration situation. And falling wages, increasing taxes, tightening credit, rising interest rates and public sentiment are also bound to buttress you against being in instant negative equity.

ricman

I see 1 bed new apartments going for,150k in dublin west .IF its going for 240,offer 210, theres thousands of empty apartments in dublin.lets say you pay 260k, next year it,ll prbly be worth 200 max.THERES a gross oversupply of apartments everywhere, theres blocks that are 80per cent empty.
Look on daft ie, what are houses in the area going for.
I suppose if you wanna live in say howth, you may be willing to pay abit more.
IVE seen some 1beds going down from 260 to 150k in the last year.
THE most risky thing to buy at present is an apartment,and in 3 years time the service charges may go up by 50percent.
if agent says the price is x, say im looking at various developments,ie its a buyers market.
theres no point in offering 220 if its advertised for 300k.
And there s houses going in private estates dublin for 200k.
IF theres only ten people living in a 100 unit block, whos gonna pay for security, maintenance etc.
i know someone who living in a small block ,30 units .She moved out cos investors started renting to rent allowance clients.
She got a good price ,before the market slowed down.

Sisu200

I have just bought my first house in the past month, I have viewed so many houses, I got sick of dealing with some of the auctioneers, houses in rural areas, looking for daft money, some houses not finished, etc.


Anyway
There were a number of houses that we looked at that were incomplete, asking price for example one house unfinished €165,000, put in a bid of €140,000 on the house with the assumption of finishing it to my standard, once the bid was made the auctioneer come back and said, the builder has decided he will finish the house for the new asking price of €220,000, please put in a revised offer, this happened a few times, however the auctioneer we dealt with on the house we bought, was straight up no messing, asking price €240,000, bought for €210,000 finished, deal done in 3 days

You have to play the game

Now I have the auctioneers ringing me saying that the builders will sell the houses as is, ha too late boys!!!!!

henryhenry1

Treehouse72 wrote: »

No, offer the full amount so the EA doesn't laugh at you.

Good luck with your purchase. It's a really great time to pay full price for a new apartment. After all, there aren't many apartments around, and prices are sure to remain steady given the employment and emigration situation. And falling wages, increasing taxes, tightening credit, rising interest rates and public sentiment are also bound to buttress you against being in instant negative equity.

Wasn't looking for sarcasm, i asked a simple question.... obviously too much time on your hands.
Thanks to others for your replys

Duckjob

As another poster said, who cares if the EA has a tantrum.

A tantrum has no more place in property price dealings than it does in any other business negotiation. All it does is expose an EAs complete lack of any real negotiation or sales skills.

Forget 10%, 20%, 30% off asking. Offer what the property is worth to you. The buyer is perfectly entitled to do this, just as the seller is entitled to ask the price that they want for the property.

Treehouse72

henryhenry1 wrote: »

Wasn't looking for sarcasm, i asked a simple question.... obviously too much time on your hands.
Thanks to others for your replys

My post contained both sarcasm and some serious advice.

If you choose to only concentrate on the sarcasm and take offence, fine. But if I were you I'd concentrate on the other part of my post, because doing so will save you a lot of money.

Benedict

If everyone buying a property to live in, stuck by the rules which dictate value, then the prices would come down tomorrow. The fact is, if a property can get a rent of 1K per month, then the realistic value will be circa 180K. If it is 1.5K to rent, then it should be on the market for 270K.
You can rent a very nice 3 bed house in a good area in Dublin for 1.5K - but the owner of the same house would weep at the thought of selling the house for 375K. Three years ago, he/she would have wept at the thought of selling for 700K. 100K is an awful lot of money - and if you're paying it over 20 years, it's still an awful lot of money.

Just recently, we've seen 3 bed apartments in Mullingar going for under 100K. There were queues to buy - yes queues! And why? Becuase buyers saw the value.

House buyers are not being ripped off as seriously as they were 3 years ago - but it's still a rip-off! They are still too dear!

Bring down those prices now and you'll sell.

willhouse

My friends recently bought a house and EBS said people are offering up to 50K less than asking on houses around the 300 mark, and they're getting them. When I see a property I immediately take up between 30-40K off, may not necessarily happen though, every owner may be in a different situation. And once more, most properties are way over priced anyway, an EA admitted that after a viewing on Saturday.

billybigunz

Estate agents don't accept or reject offers.

Taltos

willhouse wrote: »

My friends recently bought a house and EBS said people are offering up to 50K less than asking on houses around the 300 mark, and they're getting them. When I see a property I immediately take up between 30-40K off, may not necessarily happen though, every owner may be in a different situation. And once more, most properties are way over priced anyway, an EA admitted that after a viewing on Saturday.

Had planned to do this also - but another bidder came in with only 30 odd off the price - gits.

Seriously though - go in with a low offer - you cannot go lower - but you will go higher... 50 is not an unreasonable starting point - but if you like the house and the area and you think it is priced correctly for the area then be prepared to pay that amount - but start low....

D3PO

Taltos wrote: »

Had planned to do this also - but another bidder came in with only 30 odd off the price - gits.

Yeah because the EA isnt full of sh*t and that offer really exists :rolleyes::rolleyes:

MRBEAVER

In my experience sellers are factoring in reduction of approx 10% - 20% when setting asking price but are unlikely to go below this.

Dymo

I know of a house that has been for sale for 3 years at €220,000 there is an offer of €170,000 on it and the sellers won't budge an inch on the price even though €170,000 is a good offer. The estate agents think its a good offer but its the sellers decision not the estate agents

Benedict

Re Dymo - Does it not occur to the seller that in 12 months time, he won't even get 170K?
From an article just out in "Property Week", we are told that some sellers actually do not want to sell - they only put it on the market to show the bank they are making an effort - maybe that's why they ask a price even Santy wouldn't pay!

The average house in Dublin is 10 times that annual wages. (Some people think this is brilliant because they used to be 20 times).This is sheer lunacy!

Anyone who buys an average house for more than 3 to 4 times annual wages must love negative equity. Because they will have plety of it to look forward to.

Dymo

Benedict wrote: »

Re Dymo - Does it not occur to the seller that in 12 months time, he won't even get 170K?
From an article just out in "Property Week", we are told that some sellers actually do not want to sell - they only put it on the market to show the bank they are making an effort - maybe that's why they ask a price even Santy wouldn't pay!

No it doesn't occur to them, they think its even worth more! and as their hoping to move back to London they have already lost another 10% in the last 12 months with the euro collapse.

COYW

I am strongly considering jumping into the market now. I am at the 30 yo mark, have a good salary and job and very good savings. There is a developement where I want to buy that has had 3 beds available for some time. The houses are priced at €280,000 and duplexes are €200,000. Im thinking about bidding €230K for a 3 bed as demand obviously isnt high.

MRBEAVER

COYW wrote: »

I am strongly considering jumping into the market now. I am at 30 yo mark, have a good salary and job and very good savings. There is a developement where I want to buy that has had 3 beds available for some time. The houses are priced at €280,000 and duplexes are €200,000. Im thinking about bidding €230K for a 3 bed as demand obviously isnt high.

That's a reasonable offer that would probably be accepted. It might even be worth putting a lower offer first and then increasing if it is rejected.

billybigunz

MRBEAVER wrote: »

That's a reasonable offer that would probably be accepted. It might even be worth putting a lower offer first and then increasing if it is rejected.

Still going to lose 100K in the next 5 years.

COYW

billybigunz wrote: »

Still going to lose 100K in the next 5 years.

Wow, I didnt realise that. Thats some loss. Might put in a bid for €210K in that case.

athtrasna

COYW wrote: »

There is a developement where I want to buy that has had 3 beds available for some time. The houses are priced at €280,000 and duplexes are €200,000. Im thinking about bidding €230K for a 3 bed as demand obviously isnt high.

Sounds like a managed estate and you might have to pay management fees even for a house, bear this in mind!

Benedict

Unless the house is in one of the better areas in South Dublin, the house will almost definitely be worth well under 200K this time next year - possibly 180k. So if you buy for 230k - you could lose 50k in 12 months?

Rather you than me!

ArseBurger

COYW wrote: »

Wow, I didnt realise that. Thats some loss. Might put in a bid for €210K in that case.

Huh???

Step back and think about this for a second.

Losing 100K over five years is 1.66K per month.

Losing 80K (after you drop 20K) over five years is 1.33K per month.

You'll rent a nice property for that 'loss' over five years and you won't be in negative equity.

No surprise why Ireland got to this stage is it?

Benedict

During the boom, Irish people completely lost sight of just how much money 10k is - let alone 100k! Money was thrown around like snuff at a wake and the estate agents and developers laughed all the way to the bank.

Paying 10k or 15k more for a house than what it's worth is an absolute scandal - but some Irish people still think nothing of offering 100k or even 200k more for a house than it will be worth in 12-24 months time.

Forget the asking price - it's irrelevant! Just go to the vendor and say "I'm offering you X amount. Do you want it or don't you?" Then go home and wait for a week or two, and your phone will ring.