Daft.ie, totally unrealistic asking prices

Freiheit

You know some of the prices on that site are absolutely insane,still celtic like. Is it the fault of the auctioneer or the owner or are both still stuck in a timewarp of the year 2006?.

Is there an index of actual sale prices on the way?. I think a lot of sellers are unrealistic and auctioneers appear to be fanning this delusion,good luck to them,there's hardly any money out there. Deep delusion.

monkey tree

I totally agree with you and what's even worse is the actual standard of the accommodation for rent out there.

I attempted moving apartment recently and was so shocked and might I add insulted with some of the places I saw. The asking prices are a joke and are obviously falsely inflated due to rent allowance.

I went into one Estate Agency and could not believe what they had to offer, it was also obvious they were cowboys. There was one place that might have suited me but the estate agent informed me that the landlord had upped his asking price recently by 100euro a month!!! Totally unbelievable stuff considering the economic climate etc.

ArraMusha

take 20-50% off all them prices and your closer to reality...

some of the ads on daft are there since 2008/9 and are now starting to rot, like ould cooking apples left in a cupboard and gone black and hairy.....

in need of a shave.:p

Klinsman

speaking of crazy rents on Daft.ie check out this place http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1109905 in fairness it is a cracking place but mad money.

noxqs

Too many bad apartments up for rent with laughable decor/furniture.

It looks like they took a time machine to the 70es and dumpster dived.

Would it hurt landlords to go splash a few 100 euros in IKEA to make it look modern and inviting ? Come on - if they want those kind of rents they'd need to stand out from the sea of crap that is currently the Dublin rentals.

The schadenfreude I feel watching these amateur 'buy-to-let' fools burn bigger and bigger holes in their pockets is, disturbingly, great. If they want to play the property game they'd better shape up and invest a bucket of paint and say.. 300 euros worth of IKEA furniture. Would make their kips look modern and nice. But these arrogant amateurs believe anyone will just rent their crap ? Oh, I hope they choke in their debt.

Anyways; As even the Allsop auctions are no longer selling as much as they expected, it seems even the auction prices are too high or the few who had cash spent em or are holding on to them. That can only mean lower auction prices, which means the rents will surely go down, and sooner or later someone will start spicing up their apts. And that will make these kips look even more ridiculous - so, it's not all bad. For renters.

The 'old' landlords who paid high prices will suffer greatly at the competition from people who bought the places at 1/3rd of the price they did, they will be better suited to compete for renters when they don't have such high mortages to repay. Irishlandlord.com I laugh at thee.

The_Honeybadger

I recently moved out of a rented house where I had a good relationship with the landlord, he came to return our deposit and mentioned that he was considering putting the place up for sale. When he told me what the EA had said it was worth I had a hard time to hold in the laughter, it was at least double what I would consider it to be worth. The prices on daft do not reflect reality, sellers are going to have to decide whether they actually want to sell or not because the prices on that site are insane. That said even if they lowered them the chances of getting a potential buyer with definate mortgage approval aren't great.

who_ru

I think rent allowance will be cut in December's budget, but by how much is anybody's guess.

the biggest problem renters face, at least in Dublin, is NAMA. It has roughly 10,000 housing units in the greater Dublin area and is not prepared to release them to the market for fear of driving down prices even more, which it would seem is not working anyway given the continued fall in asking prices.

NAMA says it is trying to maximize the return to the taxpayer, but it is also seeking to distort the market by trying to give some silly insurance against negative equity to tempt 1st time buyers in now at higher prices. But essentially NAMA is seeking to bribe taxpayers with their own money here.

rent allowance is a factor in high rents but don't forget NAMA.

mikemac

Plus one to the post on IKEA. Would it kill a landlord to put in decent furniture. This couch I have has some sort of plastic covering. Sat down on it yesterday in shorts and when I went to get up I was almost stuck to it.
Worst couch ever. And now the plastic is cracking from wear and it has sharp uncomfortable edges.

Freiheit wrote: »

Is there an index of actual sale prices on the way?. I think a lot of sellers are unrealistic and auctioneers appear to be fanning this delusion

But why would an estate agent do this?

As often said in here, their fee on an extra twenty thousand is not much at all, not worth delaying for weeks and months

Better for an EA to try to get sold and off their books quickly.

So is it a case that the sellers is checking different EA's and whoever lies the most and promotes the highest price gets the business?

Treehouse72

Freiheit wrote: »

Is there an index of actual sale prices on the way?.

Yes, perhaps before Christmas:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/property/2011/0915/1224304140805.html

Spiritofthekop

ArraMusha wrote: »

take 20-50% off all them prices and your closer to reality...

some of the ads on daft are there since 2008/9 and are now starting to rot, like ould cooking apples left in a cupboard and gone black and hairy.....

in need of a shave.:p

This in a nutshell.

I wonder why do those people pay daft.ie every month/year to have there silly priced house Ad up on daft for the last 2/3 years while everyone laughs at the price???


Have a look in here!!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056346283

rainbowtrout

http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=475810

This takes some beating....

Property Description:
Manhattan, Canary Wharf & Hong Kong pale in comparison to this magnificent one off property located in Carrick-on-Shannon's most sought after waterside developments. c. 2,000 sq.ft. penthouse apt. with private lift access spanning 4/5 beds, 4 baths and 2 balconies providing uninterruped views over the River Shannon, Carrick Town Centre and private crescent shaped marina. Private marina space included in the sale along with top quality fixtures, fittings and furnishings. An opportunity not to be missed!!!

Built on a flood plain no less. The same flood plain that flooded in November 2009. This is that development.

Posy

Well, it does say waterside development... :eek:

srsly78

Penthouse not gonna get flooded :pac:

Duckjob

srsly78 wrote: »

Penthouse not gonna get flooded :pac:

Might be worth it if they throw in a free boat.

average_runner

The prices on daft are reasonable if they are getting tenants.

If they dont get tenants they drop the price.

But people in Ireland expect things for nothing.

irishguy

Rental prices are reasonable and some sale prices too. Most properties in the city centre (that are half decent) go pretty quickly. There are quite a few really badly furnished places, I cant understand why they dont go off to IKEA.

Spiritofthekop

average_runner wrote: »

The prices on daft are reasonable if they are getting tenants.

If they dont get tenants they drop the price.

But people in Ireland expect things for nothing.

I think the OP was talking about house prices & not the rental market.

nacimroc

Been looking at buying for last few months. To be fair, most auctioneers will tell you how they argue with owners to drop prices. We have had auctioneers try push through reasonable offers only for owner to laugh them off. And so, they will sit. For years upon years until either the bank takes them back and sells them at reasonable prices or they come to their senses.

Can't believe that people still value their house based on what they paid for it during the over inflated fake ecomony. People need to accept there was an enormous crash and they way overpaid.

Spiritofthekop

nacimroc wrote: »

Been looking at buying for last few months. To be fair, most auctioneers will tell you how they argue with owners to drop prices. We have had auctioneers try push through reasonable offers only for owner to laugh them off. And so, they will sit. For years upon years until either the bank takes them back and sells them at reasonable prices or they come to their senses.

Can't believe that people still value their house based on what they paid for it during the over inflated fake ecomony. People need to accept there was an enormous crash and they way overpaid.

Yeah agree with all. Although some of auctioneers I've come across are as bad as the owner when it comes to be honest about the reality of the price.

To be honest you would be mad buying right now unless you come across some real value for your euro cause there is so little value still out there in the market especially in Dublin.

MrThrifty

I blame the auctioneers... They are meant to be the professionals in terms of valuing property etc. Instead they are mostly afraid to advertise realistic asking prices for fear it will show how bad things have gotten. Both sellers and buyers in a lot of cases know that asking prices are meaningless, just for show really. These days you see people making reasonable offers 50-100k less than the selling price.

rat_race

My site (www.daftdrop.com) which tracks prices on Daft, has seen a small decline in the number of price drops per month over the last few months...still continueing to drop though (http://www.daftdrop.com/#!graphView) ...pretty consistently.

If/when CSO release actual prices, I plan to try to link them up to houses in my database so people can search through them.

Snakeblood

rat_race wrote: »

My site (www.daftdrop.com) which tracks prices on Daft, has seen a small decline in the number of price drops per month over the last few months...still continueing to drop though (http://www.daftdrop.com/#!graphView)...pretty consistently.

If/when CSO release actual prices, I plan to try to link them up to houses in my database so people can search through them.

This is an excellent site.

rat_race

Snakeblood wrote: »

This is an excellent site.

Thanks Any suggestions, let me know...

Snakeblood

rat_race wrote: »

Thanks Any suggestions, let me know...

The only thing I can think of offhand is if it would be possible to filter by Dublin code, like Dublin 2, etc. It's hard to pick by that metric. I just noticed the charts now. Also cool.

Thanks!

rat_race

Snakeblood wrote: »

The only thing I can think of offhand is if it would be possible to filter by Dublin code, like Dublin 2, etc. It's hard to pick by that metric. I just noticed the charts now. Also cool.

Thanks!

Yep, this is in the pipeline...I'm just very busy at the moment, but I'll add that functionality next. I can see a lot of people searching for "Dublin 4", for e.g., and getting back non-D4 results that contain 'Dublin' and '4' in the address...annoying.

Anyway, I'll stop hijacking the thread now...

nacimroc

rat_race wrote: »

My site (www.daftdrop.com) which tracks prices on Daft, has seen a small decline in the number of price drops per month over the last few months...still continueing to drop though (http://www.daftdrop.com/#!graphView) ...pretty consistently.

Have to agree. Absolutely great site for someone like me, who is looking to buy now.

If you were to try get previous prices pre May '11 off daft, it would make a massive difference I'd say. Can't see why they wouldn't oblige as long as each house for sale linked to their site.

Spiritofthekop

Great website, well done

rat_race

Thanks folks!

Snakeblood, I just rememberd your asked me the same thing on the pin not too long ago

Snakeblood

rat_race wrote: »

Thanks folks!

Snakeblood, I just rememberd your asked me the same thing on the pin not too long ago

Well, I get around :-)

BenEadir

MrThrifty wrote: »

I blame the auctioneers... They are meant to be the professionals in terms of valuing property etc. Instead they are mostly afraid to advertise realistic asking prices for fear it will show how bad things have gotten. Both sellers and buyers in a lot of cases know that asking prices are meaningless, just for show really. These days you see people making reasonable offers 50-100k less than the selling price.

I'm not an auctioneer or estate agent - let me get that out of the way early on!!

Auctioneers/Estate Agents take instructions from their clients - they can advise all they like about what they think a particular property will sell for but if the client wants to try and sell it for a higher price that's their prerogative.

In the good/bad old Celtic Tiger days an Auctioneer/Estate Agent wouldn't waste their time trying to sell for an un-achievable price as there were so many other do-able deals they could profitably spend their time on but nowadays whoever agrees to put the property on the market for the highest price tends to get the business so with so few transactions actually happening Auctioneers/Estate Agents are having to take on everything they can get their hands on just to be seen to have a lot of stock and to to be seen to be getting deals done in the hope that if they take on enough listings some of them will turn into sales.

I wouldn't blame the Auctioneers/Estate Agents too much. If they only took on listings at prices they thought would be achievable they'd probably have nothing to sell!!!

From a buyers perspective who cares what the asking price is? Find a house that meets your criteria in terms of location, size, layout etc, go along to view it and offer what the property is worth to YOU. All they can say is "NO".

Ben

Snakeblood

BenEadir wrote: »

I'm not an auctioneer or estate agent - let me get that out of the way early on!!

Auctioneers/Estate Agents take instructions from their clients - they can advise all they like about what they think a particular property will sell for but if the client wants to try and sell it for a higher price that's their prerogative.

In the good/bad old Celtic Tiger days an Auctioneer/Estate Agent wouldn't waste their time trying to sell for an un-achievable price as there were so many other do-able deals they could profitably spend their time on but nowadays whoever agrees to put the property on the market for the highest price tends to get the business so with so few transactions actually happening Auctioneers/Estate Agents are having to take on everything they can get their hands on just to be seen to have a lot of stock and to to be seen to be getting deals done in the hope that if they take on enough listings some of them will turn into sales.

I wouldn't blame the Auctioneers/Estate Agents too much. If they only took on listings at prices they thought would be achievable they'd probably have nothing to sell!!!

From a buyers perspective who cares what the asking price is? Find a house that meets your criteria in terms of location, size, layout etc, go along to view it and offer what the property is worth to YOU. All they can say is "NO".

Ben

I'd be inclined to agree with this, with the caveat that I think EAs etc. *should* push their clients to drop price. If their job is to sell the house, then they are doing a disservice to their clients if they don't advance the notion.

I went to a few EAs to sell my apartment and most of them told me the place was worth about 200 grand, and only one suggested pushing me towards 150. I went with that guy as he seemed to not be completely deluded about the market.

SligoLady

Snakeblood wrote: »

I'd be inclined to agree with this, with the caveat that I think EAs etc. *should* push their clients to drop price. If their job is to sell the house, then they are doing a disservice to their clients if they don't advance the notion.

I went to a few EAs to sell my apartment and most of them told me the place was worth about 200 grand, and only one suggested pushing me towards 150. I went with that guy as he seemed to not be completely deluded about the market.

I managed an estate agents for the past 4 years, up until a month ago and I can tell you that the majority of over-priced properties on the market are there because;
1.) The owners are completely unrealistic about their price but like Ben said if we didn't take them on we'd have nothing to sell, but we hope that by getting in realistic offers we might be able to persuade the owner into accepting.
2.) Banks are putting pressure onto people, particularly those with investment properties so the owners put the properties on the market to appease the banks somewhat but they don't really want to sell so they advertise them at high asking prices knowing there won't be any interest.
3.) A lot of properties put on the market from 2007 - 2009, missed the boom and owners and estate agents just leave them advertised for the sake of it. (usually at no cost to the owner, daft charge estate agents a fixed monthly fee regardless of amount of properties) It gives the agents listings variety to have more properties on it and as it doesn't cost the owners anything why would they stop advertising, 'just in case' someone decided to pay them twice the amount their property is worth.:P

None of the above are things I agree with as it means we have a hugely clogged up and stagnant market and it makes it even more off-putting (if that's possible) for people who actually want to buy because there's no definitive realistic prices out there anymore.:mad:

Balmed Out

SligoLady wrote: »

2.) Banks are putting pressure onto people, particularly those with investment properties so the owners put the properties on the market to appease the banks somewhat but they don't really want to sell so they advertise them at high asking prices knowing there won't be any interest.

Very good and true post. I know of several examples of the above statement.
Dont agree with the mentality though as surely the finances arent great if their being pressed and they'd be better off selling as prices arent going to be as high as they are now for some time. Im sure there are those with maturing investments or expecting an inheritance windfall who will be able to afford their investment properties eventually but this cant be all of them

dazberry

House #1 The house next door to me is for sale on myhome (not on daft but the same principles apply). I guess the first thing is that the people looking to sell it (former family home) didn't really know how much it was worth, so to try and put a value on it looked at similar houses in the area. All things being equal, setting the price similar to everything else that isn't selling is just going to add to the paralysis.

The estate agent then suggested a slightly higher price for reasons that I just can't fathom, even with 2 subsequent price drops has been for sale (and un-viewed) for the last year. I think the ppl would have been pretty flexible and where expecting market advice from the estate agent who just re-enforced a wrong expectation... (205k now 160k, needs extension knocked (pre-63) and rebuilt €€€)

House #2 I viewed a house recently, and the house has been for sale for a couple of years, and had been somewhat more expensive than other properties in the area. I formed the opinion that this was the estate agency, but after a price drop decided to view it and the agent freely admitted that they were pushing the guy to drop the price for the previous year and wouldn't budge. AFAIR 340k, now 190k (needs foundations underpinned €€€)

House #3 Viewed a fixer upper recently (another agency on myhome and not on daft), and as soon as I walked in the door got told they'd an offer of 125k rejected that was more then I felt it was worth. That turned me off the whole thing immediately, but was told 130k when I was leaving. EA rang me twice afterwards, the second time just after it went sale agreed on the web. Don't know if it is really sale agreed but just couldn't be bothered with that sort of thing. (Original asking 160k).

House #4 We put in a low ball over on one house on daft that was rejected, but the "unofficial" asking price then came back 12% lower then that advertised.

House #5 A house that has been for sale on and off for the last 3 years (2 different agents) I tried to arrange a viewing but no one would ring me back and could never get to talk to the person "looking after" the property. Recently the property has had another price drop, probably because no one wants to view it :rolleyes:. (Originally EA 320k 2? yrs ago, Second EA 220k, 199k now 175k).

So, I wouldn't be holding too much faith in asking prices atm.

D.

Pepe LeFrits

It may be Ballsbridge but this is absurd: http://www.daft.ie/searchrental.daft?id=1118691

€1600 for a 2 bed shoebox with the cheapest furniture they could find.

ronano

out of interest how much should that ballsbridge be going for you reckon?

Spiritofthekop

ronano wrote: »

out of interest how much should that ballsbridge be going for you reckon?

For that place....€1,000 tops.

Pepe LeFrits

hah perhaps they've seen this thread; it's dropped to €1500 now. Still at least €300 too high though. There are places in the same location for €1400 that are waaaay nicer (and don't appear to be getting taken, either).

Icepick

Spiritofthekop wrote: »

For that place....€1,000 tops.

this

There is a one bed apt with electric heating for 1,300 next to it. madness

The_Conductor

Icepick wrote: »

this

There is a one bed apt with electric heating for 1,300 next to it. madness

Ballsbridge is considered to be the 'embassy district' and a lot of the rentals in the area are for embassy staff, many of whom have their rent subvented or covered in its entirety by their equivalent to the Irish Department for Foreign Affairs. Rents in this district do not necessarily follow what would be considered the 'norm' for the Irish rental market- as there are factors wholly unique to the area at play........

Freiheit

Viewed a house last week,advertised on daft.ie,lovely house but what was more astonishing than the asking price was that the auctioneer seemed serious.:rolleyes: Told me that the owner would rent it out if the asking price was not met,well that he might take E15,000 lower (asking price E195k,2 bedroom and 70 years old) but nothing less,which in itself is about E50k more than what I believe this property to be worth. I had difficulty keeping a straight face but the auctioneer seemed totally oblivious to this insane price. Maybe they'l find someone who came down in the last money shower,but I doubt it. Doing a disservice to the owner by acquiescing in this delusion or else the auctioneer was stupid.

Freiheit

2 days on from making the offer (62K below the asking price) I haven't received so much as an acknowledgment from the auctioneer....horrendous service as well as loony asking prices.

BenEadir

Freiheit wrote: »

2 days on from making the offer (62K below the asking price) I haven't received so much as an acknowledgment from the auctioneer....horrendous service as well as loony asking prices.

Freiheit,

I've a couple of comments to make:-

1. The auctioneer should have at least acknowledged receipt of your offer as soon as he received it. Even if he knows his client won't consider it (for whatever reason) he could have responded with something like "thanks for submitting your offer. I will discuss it with my client and revert to you in due course". That is at least a professional response even if privately he thinks your offer is a waste of time because the owners instructions to him are clear (and possibly unrealistic) i.e. he won't accept anything less than €15k below the asking price.

2. If the current owner feels he can get a tenant to cover the remaining mortgage payments on the property and genuinely doesn't want to sell for less than €180k surely that's his prerogative? 99% of buyers may agree with your opinion of value for the house but as he's not a forced seller and is prepared to wait (possibly in vain) for the market to recover somewhat he's entitled to wait until an offer acceptable to him is received however unlikely that may be.

3. You presumably knew the asking price of the house before you viewed it and knew how old it was and it's general condition from the listing or brochure but went along for a viewing in the hope the guy would sell for 32% below what he stated he wants. Unrealistic expectations on both side there I'd say and both the seller and yourself wasting the auctioneers time but then again the auctioneer probably has so few transactions happening he/she has to explore every possible sale regardless of how unlikely it is to happen.

4. It's only been 2-3 days. Give the owner some time to digest the offer, get over the initial temptation to tell you to sling your hook and possibly revert with a counter offer which starts to get you closer to a figure you'll both agree to.

5. Don't waste any more time viewing properties which have asking prices 20% or more above what you'd be prepared to pay assuming the particulars on the listing/brochure are correct. Why not contact the Auctioneer directly tell him that on the assumption the particulars are correct you'd be prepared to conditionally offer €x. If the owner will agree to €x in principle then you'll do a viewing to verify the particulars and confirm your offer.

Just my tuppence worth.

Ben

Freiheit

That's a legitimate point of view Ben,I don't disagree with much of it in principle.

Just to add that it really depends on how badly someone needs to sell and that isn't obvious from the ad. Someone who owes inheritance tax or who can't pay the mortgage or whose marriage has ended would obvious be in greater need of a quick sale.

When I myself sold early this year I had to accept an offer 20% less than the asking price because I owed money and interest was accumulating. Without the debt I could have held on longer and probably gained a slightly,only slightly bigger fee I stress.

Had never before considered making an offer without a visit.

Auctioneer may have been insulted by my valuation,I don't know,doesn't seem like a nice guy.

BenEadir

Freiheit,

Thanks for taking my comments in the spirit in which they were made i.e. to be helpful.

Here's what I suggest you do.

1. Define your purchase criteria as narrowly as you can i.e. general location, type of property (detached, Semi detached or apartment), # of bedrooms, other essential criteria e,g, parking space, front and/or rear garden, car garage etc and most importantly of all what your maximum price range is.

2. Draft a standard email which presents your credentials in a simple but meaningful way i.e. "I am an actively looking to purchase a XXX property with XX bedrooms in YYY with a ZZZ & a BBB. I am fully financed to €X and can complete a transaction quickly"

3. When you see a property which meets or is similar to your criteria email the agent directly to say you are familiar with the house/apartment and are prepared to conditionally offer €x for it which if acceptable to the owner will be confirmed subject to a viewing. By doing this you aren't wasting your time organising and attending viewings where the seller has unrealistic expectations. Equally you mustn't be unrealistic in your offers (i.e. don't bother making an offer if you the price you're prepared to pay is more than 20% less than the asking price. It's just too much for any seller to swallow) or you'll quickly be filed in the "timewasters" section of the estate agents CRM system!!

4. If the Estate Agent responds and indicates the owner will accept your offer subject to you getting a deal done in X timeframe you've hit a home run and all you have to do is view the property, confirm your offer and get the deal done. If, as will likely happen a lot, the agent responds to say the owner won't accept your offer or tries to negotiate you can simply respond to confirm the offer you made is what the property is worth to you and is therefore your "best and final offer". It's important to use that term so there is no ambiguity and the Estate Agent understands you are firm on your offer which in turn should put him under a little pressure to squeeze his client a little harder to see if he really does want to reject your offer.

5. If your bid is unsuccessful you should (within 24 hours) email the agent the script you developed in #2 above. At this stage he will know you are serious, he'll know any offers you make are (in your opinion at least) fair and fully thought through i.e. not low ball offers to kick start some sort of horse trade process and he'll now have your criteria on file so next time he takes on a similar property which meets your criteria he'll be on the phone straight away to you.

6. You should systematically email each agent you sent your criteria to every two weeks to remind them you're still in the market, still fully funded and ready to buy and looking forward to hearing from them when they have something which meets your criteria.

Do all the above and as long as you are in fact fully funded (as least in principle in terms of a mortgage) and able to complete fairly quickly I'd be confident you'll get a deal agreed before Xmas.

Hope that helps.

Ben

Freiheit

Thanks Ben,I'll do just that.

Is it a case that auctioneers will loose face if they recommend a low valuation?...do sellers sometimes choose auctioneers on the basis of how high they value property?.

What are the odds now on getting my money back in a few years if I do want to move on? Is it possible if one buys in the right area that one might be able to break evens in a few years if for example I moved home to look after an ageing parent? something that might or might not happen?.

It's important for me not to overpay. Still no acknowledgment. Very unprofessional.

BenEadir

Freiheit wrote: »

Thanks Ben,I'll do just that.

Is it a case that auctioneers will loose face if they recommend a low valuation?...do sellers sometimes choose auctioneers on the basis of how high they value property?.

They won't just lose face Freiheit they'll lose the client!!! Clients tend to go with the Estate Agent who promises to sell their property for the highest price. It sounds reasonable but leads to unrealistic asking prices. Estate Agents have a choice. 1) Promise to sell the property for what they actually think it will sell for or 2) Promise to sell it for more than any other Estate Agent will promise.

If an Estate Agent goes with #1 he'll soon be out of business as no one signs up with him and with no listings he's out of business. If he goes with #2 he ends up with a pile of listings which are over priced and a bunch of clients with unrealistic expectations.

As a result of the above new listings tend to fall into category #2 and it takes either a number of weeks with no offers and little buyer interest or a couple of low ball offers to 'manage' the sellers expectations. The Estate Agent effectively relies on market participants (potential buyers doing viewings like you) to reduce the sellers expectations and get the price down to a realistic range. The problem is some sellers won't budge and it sounds like you found one of those with your recent offer.

Contact enough Estate Agents, put in enough realistic/fair offers, remain calm and confident, follow the process I outlined above and I'm sure you'll get a result in a reasonable timeframe.

Ben

Freiheit

Thanks Ben. When I sold my property early this year I actually chose the auctioneer who promised me the least,because they were being honest. I could have gone for someone who promised me a lot more,could they have yielded a better price? maybe marginally,maybe but their commission would have ben considerably higher and I don't like bull****. I opted for someone who didn't fill my head with expectations but who would still do their best. I was reasonably happy with the result. I quickly got 80% of the realistic (,but itself hugely deflated) asking price. I was probably in a minority though to choose that path.

Freiheit

3 days on from an offer and it still hasn't been acknowledged. I'm really pissed off with the firm. It may have been a third less than the asking price but to get no response at all is shocking. It may have been an insult but it deserved acknowledgment. Heads in the sand,I wonder have they sold much of late.

BenEadir

Freiheit wrote: »

3 days on from an offer and it still hasn't been acknowledged. I'm really pissed off with the firm. It may have been a third less than the asking price but to get no response at all is shocking. It may have been an insult but it deserved acknowledgment. Heads in the sand,I wonder have they sold much of late.

why not give them a week then name and shame?

Freiheit

By naming and shaming you mean naming them here?