How do I negotiate a house purchase in Ireland?

Norman Wisdom

I am retiring to Ireland in 2018 and want to buy a house, however I am not familiar with the 'auctioneer bids above X' method and need some help please.
I'm used to an 'asking price' being the MOST a seller hopes to get - and expects to get offers well below: not vice versa. I showed interest in a house with a 'guide price' of 158,000 and on inquiry I was told the buyer wants 180,000. I walked away thinking this was a shonky agent / illegal practice, but now I learn it is common practice in Ireland real estate selling and buying. 
So if I accept this method and I see a 'guide price' of 158,000 and am then told the buyer wants 180,000, what should I offer? Should I split the difference and add half? In this case 22,000 / 2 = 11,000 > offer 169,000? Would this be acceptable? Too much? Cause offense? Will I get a counter-offer if my first offer is too low?  Or will I just get told 'offer not accepted' until I reach the number the seller (or agent) wants?
Obviously I don't want to pay more than I need and the buyer is hoping for the most, so how is an 'agreed price' usually negotiated in Ireland?
Sincere thanks in advance!
Norman ;-)

Peatys

Ask what's the latest offer, see if that's still in your budget. If you're happy to bid a couple of k over that, bid.

If you want a fixed price, you could think about a new build.

Norman Wisdom

I did that and was told 158,000 .... 'but they want 170,000'. So that rather stopped me in my tracks. If I now offer (say 162,000 am I going to get the same reply - 'they want 170,000'?
As I said this if very odd to me. I'm used to an offer being met with a counter offer and then we fairy quickly meet in the (more or less) middle.

LirW

Depending on where you wanna buy you might bid in a zone of high demand. If you're in an Urban area, there is most likely at least one other party that is interested and the common practice is that the interested parties are being informed if there is a new highest bid and it's up to them to go higher or drop out.

Sometimes the vendor is hoping for a higher price and won't be selling under it, which seems to be the case here. Lots of vendors think that their houses are worth more than the estate agent suggests. In the end the vendor has the final word. If the vendor won't budge on his 170k then they are not in a rush to sell and are willing to wait for a matching bid, not much you can do really. If you're a cash buyer it's worth to tell the agent because you can usually close a bit faster, which is useful if they're in a chain. You can leave your highest bid on the table and they might come back to it.

Other than that, keep looking.

Peatys

The seller might need the 170 to finance a new house, so has no choice but to hold out or stay where they are

kala85

I've seen two houses that are still not sold after a year and that the vendor wanted a certain price.

A year later they are still there and there is no bids on them apparently.

I've gone back into the auctioneer and the money they want in order to look be able to sell is gone up 5 to 8k despite having no bids for the year on them.

Sometimes I wonder if these houses are really for sale at all or is it up for show.

Metric Tensor

I wouldn't worry about what the auctioneer says the vendor "wants". If you think the house is worth it then offer 5k ish more than the current highest offer.

Don't take being fobbed off by the EA - just say that's what you think it's worth so that's what you are offering. They're obliged to tell their client as far as I know. Then the bidder who you have just outbid will have to decide if they want to go higher than you.

This is dependant on there being another bidder and a current offer. If you are the only one bidding the process is very different!

kala85

If you are increasing your offer, based on what the vendor wants, and there is no one bidding against you, then you are bidding against yourself really.

Sometimes I wonder if you bid what the vendor wanted, would they actually sell the house.

Peatys

kala85 wrote: »

I've seen two houses that are still not sold after a year and that the vendor wanted a certain price.

A year later they are still there and there is no bids on them apparently.

I've gone back into the auctioneer and the money they want in order to look be able to sell is gone up 5 to 8k despite having no bids for the year on them.

Sometimes I wonder if these houses are really for sale at all or is it up for show.

I'm sure there's a scam there somewhere...

https://www.daft.ie/154982

kala85

Peatys wrote: »

I'm sure there's a scam there somewhere...

https://www.daft.ie/154982

??? Please explain..

TheShow

its a total sham to be honest, fuelled by greed.

cml387

I'm not sure you are aware of it, but there is a Property Price Register which will give you an idea of house prices in the area you are interested in.

kala85

cml387 wrote: »

I'm not sure you are aware of it, but there is a Property Price Register which will give you an idea of house prices in the area you are interested in.

The register is great but some a good bit of messing around here as well with some cash under the table in certain cases.

Peatys

kala85 wrote: »

??? Please explain..

*Whispers in husky voice* Have a look at the price changes

kala85

Peatys wrote: »

*Whispers in husky voice* Have a look at the price changes

Where can I see the price changes on daft or track the changes.

LirW

Daftdrop.

server down

Peatys wrote: »

*Whispers in husky voice* Have a look at the price changes

But that goes back to 2006. They don’t seem desperate to sell, right enough. Even increased recently.

Peatys

kala85 wrote: »

Where can I see the price changes on daft or track the changes.

Scroll down to the bottom of the listing in the daft app

riclad

In urban area,s ,dublin, where theres high demand, there will be bids over the asking price.
eg house for sale for 200k , will probably go for at least 20-30 per cent more .
The government is bringing in a bill to record all bids on a house for sale, so people will know they were not bidding against some made up phantom
bidder.
In the sunday times Move property section ,theres lots of advice
info about buying houses .and info on changing house prices.
in many area,s theres high demand and a low no of houses for sale.
we need at least 20 thousand houses to be built every year,
theres maybe a few thousand house being built at the moment.
Or the seller may need to get 170k to pay off the loan,
he cant afford to sell for 140 k.
And he can afford to stay and pay the mortgage.
A agent who asks more than the asking price is just saying
we have other bids that exceed the stated price.
Is this not the same in any country where theres a low supply of houses for sale.

Askthe EA

kala85 wrote: »

I've seen two houses that are still not sold after a year and that the vendor wanted a certain price.



Sometimes I wonder if these houses are really for sale at all or is it up for show.

Possibly. If the bank is forcing the sale and the owner wants to hold on to them.

riclad

Say i have a loan on house x, loan is 240k.
house is on sale for 220k.
i may need to get 220k,
if i get offered 195k i cant afford to sell it.
Even if its only worth 195k .
Hence theres some houses on sale for years .
My friend sold a house ,it took about a year to sell it,
as the bank wanted to get at least 98 per cent of the loan value.
it was an investment property .
There was only 1 or 2 bids on it .
it was outside dublin, 7 years ago .
The bank may ask for a sale, but it will expect to get x amount before it allows the sale to proceed .
Buying a house in ireland is pretty much the same as buying one in the uk.
You make a bid, your bid may be accepted or you might be told someone has made a higher bid than you.

super_furry

Basically in the current market, houses are routinely going for 10% to 15% above their asking prices.

mountai

Just remember that you should NEVER believe anything an E/A tells you. "Professional" , stretches the bounds of credibility beyond breaking point .

Askthe EA

mountai wrote: »

Just remember that you should NEVER believe anything an E/A tells you. "Professional" , stretches the bounds of credibility beyond breaking point .

Dont worry, I wont take offense.

mountai

Askthe EA wrote: »

Dont worry, I wont take offense.

Good.