List of pathetic selling techniques by estate agents

ewiz9

I have been looking at buying a used house in Dublin. Mainly seen houses sold through estate agents like Sherry Fitzgerald, DNG, and a few other major ones. So thought of making this thread to make the public aware of the cheap techniques used by estate agents to increase the prices. Please list down the techniques you have seen in this thread for public awareness. Also include suggestions on how to counter them.

List

1. Viewing arranged together with several other buyers and claim it to be an open viewing. I had several times, agents call and made an appointment, and when I reached the property, there were 20 others there at the same time. The SF/DNG/realtor agent tells me something on the lines, "It's a hot property, with many enquiries, we are expecting offers of 10-20% above the asking price". Altogether there may be 50 view requests for the house.. And squeezing all of them within 30 min window to turn up the hype. Also, if somebody is expecting 20% above the asking price, shouldn't that be the advertised price in the first place?
2. Turns the heater on, keeps it on at max temp for min 1 hour before the viewing, and during viewing lies to the viewers. "The house is very energy efficient, See even in this cold climate you feel warm inside the house". All triple glazed, blah blah insulated walls, SO you will spend very low $$ for electricity in this house. I have seen 2 Dxx agents/1 SF agent do exactly this. Told a bunch of us viewing the house, that inside it's warm because of good insulation. I went straight away and touched the radiator, and it was hot as hell. Turning up the heater and lying to viewers about housing insulation effectiveness.
3. This house was on the market three months before and was sold at (X+30% price). The sale fell through at the last minute because the buyer moved to another country due to an emergency. The seller will sell only if a comparable price to the last time is offered. X is the current advertised asking price. Ok, then maybe the dude should advertise X+30% in the first place. Instead of advertising X to lure the viewers (whose time has no value perhaps?) into the house and asking X+30%, during viewing.
4. Get an offer from one person, contact another person who is considering the property who offered a lower amount before about the new bid, and potentially trigger a bidding war among the desperate houseless public. One agent tried this on a friend. He increased his bid quite a bit in turns of 10K, until he figured that the other person bidding was an acquaintance. Both dropped the bid in the end.
5. Do a public auction on some websites like bidX/Auctionera and make fake bids internally to demonstrate the demand for the property.
6. ..
7. ..
8. ..
9. .. PLEASE post your experiences in this thread.

Suggestion

1. Check the property price register to see the sale price of properties near the house you are seeing. Don't approach this process emotionally and don't engage in bidding wars.

I am not denying the high demand and low supply of houses along with an impotent administration that is MIA except for tax collection is the main cause of this mess. In any case, watch out for tricks by estate agents.

ewiz9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118928536#Comment_118928536

reserved for compiling a full list

tscul32

Whilst I don't agree that the fake bids in no. 5 should ever be made, aren't 1-4 just an agent doing their job?

No. 4 in particular, letting someone know they've been outbid is somehow a pathetic selling tactic?? Would your friend have rathered the house was just sold to the other bidder without being given the opportunity to increase their own bid?

I would argue that the buyer should be aware of such tactics, and not rush into things. Not that the agent is doing something immoral, except in case 5.

But some responsibility lays with the buyer to not be a gullible idiot.

Leg End Reject

No. 4 is perfectly normal and would be expected by the vendor, otherwise you are effectively ruling out underbidders and the vendor gets less for their house.

Brego888

Sold a property recently and if my agent didn't do number 4 I'd have been fuming. You live in a fantasy world OP

Btw in Ireland they're known as estate agents

LasersGoPewPew

There's a family estate agent (3 sisters) based in Dublin 14 that falsely overreports the sqm of most of their listings for sale on daft, myhome, and their website. Funny how they never underreport the correct sqm. They get away with it as there's no legislative governing body to be accountable to. They must think people are thick as muck. Regarding #4 OP, don't you understand this is a basic function of an estate agent?

DubCount

Its not the Estate Agent's fault that there is insufficient supply, prices are nuts, and every available property is a "hot property" with lots of other interested buyers.

Most estate agents I have come across are pretty straight. They are there to get the best price for the seller, but I've never come across any proof that any of them create false bids, hire a crowd for viewings etc. Its just an urban myth.

snowcat

I think you are overestimating the acumen of estate agents. They are fairly simple creatures really. Its not rocket science to sell a property in a hot market. Stick an ad on daft and do a few viewings. The bids come in. Accept the highest one and let the solicitor do the rest. In this country they are more or less all the same and there is little need or incentive for them to actually do much selling. I would personally never use them to sell such high value assets. Its much easier and more satisfying to do it yourself and save thousands also knowing you have achieved the best price.

Dav010

1. Considering the demand out there, this makes sense. 4. If the EA didn’t do that, I’d sack them

5. Have you ever bid online? You have to register and pay a deposit in order to bid. What makes you sure the bidders are employed by the auction house?

When I employ an EA to sell a property, like every other seller I am looking for the top price someone is willing to pay, not for the EA to help you buy it for less. When I buy a property, I know the EA is not working for my benefit, he/she is working for the seller to get me to pay as much as I can. It’s a love/hate scenario, op some day you will be glad an EA got interested buyers to outbid each other and push up the price YOU get. But if you want to tell the EA not to encourage bids on the property you are selling, or, instruct the EA you will sell at the price advertised even if someone is willing to pay 30% more, I tip my hat to you sir, you are not much of a business man but you will make a buyer very very happy that they got a bargain.

olestoepoke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118929656#Comment_118929656

Absolutely deluded, wasn't there a special with hidden cameras exposing them a few years ago. Most of them have the morals of a swamp rat.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118929708#Comment_118929708

Really? I work with a few and they're fairly honest. What's the name of the exposure "special" you've seen?

JDigweed

The only gripe I have is the incorrect address trick. I see it quite a lot and I'm not sure if it's the estate agent or an honest mistake. Mainly in Dublin especially southside e.g Terenure when the house is clearly in Perrystown/Kimmage, recently saw one in Allenwood and they had it as Naas when it is clearly nowhere near Naas.

mikemac2

Number 4 is them doing their job

Sleeper12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058241742/list-of-pathetic-selling-techniques-by-estate-agents

Some of your points are nonsensical and the rest are not tactics. The EA has a job to do. If he has a higher bid then his job is to inform you of it. Things like turning the heating on are to show the home at its best. If you went into a house that hasn't been heated for weeks then you might get the false impression that it's a cold damp home.

sheepondrugs

no fan of EAs but no.1 is common practice for donkeys years- its an open viewing not a new tactic.

They are not going to schedule 20+ appointments for the same house, especially if the house is lived in.

Buddy Bubs

When buyers start paying the estate agent, they will act on the buyers behalf and interests. Until then, they'll act on the instruction and interests of the people that hire them.

Baybay

As a seller, No.1 makes sense.

You clean everywhere, tidy away all the toys, cut grass, farm out the children / dog / resident nana & head out with the car eagerly awaiting feedback. There’s only so many Saturdays or hours in any day that this is a sustainable way to live.

JimmyVik

All your issues OP are easily solved.

Just bid what you think the house is worth to you and walk away if thats not enough to buy the house.

whippet

you'd swear the Estate Agent should be working in the interest of the buyer !! it's called Sales ... like with anything the seller wants to get the best price and the buyer wants to get it at the lowest price.

If you don't feel confident in how you can negotiate / bid on a property maybe get someone to do it for you - like your mammy or a solicitor or even a big brother.

It is usually the biggest purchase in someone's lifetime .... so choosing to spend quarter of a million because it felt warm when you walked in is just stupid. That is what surveys are for.

ted1

Take bids from people who you wouldn’t sell to as they are in a chain and not sake agreed. But use their bids to drive up others

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118951107#Comment_118951107

What’s your issue there? A bid was made, but not accepted because the bidder has to sell a property. The bid was considered, and may still be the highest bid not accepted.

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118951204#Comment_118951204

No, they accept the bid. With no intention of selling it to them. It’s only accepted to force a counter bid.

no issue if they don’t accept the bid

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118951269#Comment_118951269

Eh, sellers don’t intend to sell until they get the bid they want. When you bid 200k and for whatever reason the seller doesn’t accept, your bid of 200k is still the highest bid received but not accepted.

By the way, using “accepted” is kinda odd in relation to bidding, accepting a bid usually means going sale agreed. Perhaps “received” may make it simpler to understand the bidding process, the seller will tell bidders what the highest bid received to date is.

ted1

No, they accept the bid.

Bill is selling a house for 200k

Tom a cash buyer says , I’ll give you 200k

Mary says I’ll give you 205k. But need to sell my house.

Bill says to himself : I’m not selling to Mary as I don’t want to wait.

Bill says to Tom, Mary offered 205k, you need to go higher.

See what happens

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118951733#Comment_118951733

I think most people can, a bid of 205 was received but Bill will not sell to Mary, Bill tells Tom that bid of 205 was received and he will not sell, so Tom has to bid more if he wants the house. Ted, vendors often sell to cash buyers for less than the highest bid received, so it isn’t just about being the highest bidder.

ted1

It’s about accepting a big from a person solely to drive up the price for another person.

they need to reject the bid if they won’t sell it to a person. Rather than taking it just ti push up prices

tscul32

But the vendor may decide to sell to Mary in the end. Maybe Tom will drop out because he found a different house he preferred. The seller would be silly to just reject Mary until the house is sale agreed to Tom. There's also a chance that Mary could just say, I'll give you 20k extra if you let me have it. Then it might be worth it to the seller to take the chain buyer. Anyway, it's the seller who decides who they will/won't sell to, and whether to accept/reject a bid, not the EA.

MrMusician18

The wide angle lens is a long standing bugbear of mine.

Uninformed EE is another. Once went to a cottage up in the Dublin mountains. Huge site, great view and would have great potential as a family home if it could've been extended up and out. EE waxed lyrical about this. Thought it too good to be true, went home and looked it up and lo and behold the vista was protected. There was no way, no chance, PP would be granted for a two story extension.

Dav010

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118952224#Comment_118952224

I think you are either naive or looking through rose tinted glasses. The vendor doesn’t need to do anything except decide on who they want to sell to. The EA could just as easily tell Tom that he won’t sell below €205k as he did not go sell agreed at this price.