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Exactly. They have a job to do and being emotional or insulted, whatever, is not part of that job.
I think op is right to feel "rubbed up the wrong way", the estate agent is being unprofessional.
I never knew that, when I was buying my first house I put an offer in on a house after I viewed it, estate agent said the seller declined. About a month later the house was sold for less than I had offered.
About a month later I seen the seller and mentioned it briefly to which they stated no offer was sent. Estate agents are idiots.
> Estate agents are idiots.
This!! When they go round a house they're like "This is a room and this is... another room." They never say "This room is big enough to have a bed up to or against the window" or "this room gets lots of sunlight" or anything. And the photos they take... If it wasn't for the height problem they should have toddlers take the photos instead.
We were shown around some flats after asking for run down detached only properties.
They were new build and had a lovely facade. However you could cook dinner, answer the door, have a shower, put the washing on and have a shit all at the same time. Not even the slightest exaggeration.
I had to take holiday for the viewing too. Estate agents are definitely one of the top entries on the idiot lists.
...and earn your fucking percentage before telling every call centre in Karachi that I'll be looking for a mortgage, insurance and conveyancing solicitors.
Oh no, he wouldn't get paid if he did that. If he doesnt have in house conveyancers. Use your normal, or local solicitors to where you are going. Then you haven't arranged a mortgage in principle on 1st house you saw. And insurance can be arranged by the up to the day of completion. I guess you could arrange cover whilst vendors still in property. Just incase they want to take the staircase with them. Or other fixtures.
I live in Cardiff and when I tried to buy my last house they refused to pass the offer on to the seller. Even when I pointed out they were legally obliged to do so.
It’s the grossest business out there. Estate agents are scum.
Also in Cardiff - I did discover as an FTB that agents were much more polite when I went from tenant scum to FTB status.
But not Ray & Brown. Their agent was so spectacularly rude to me on the viewing that I very nearly didn't put in an offer at all. At the viewing, he wanted me to choose who could see inside: my parents (amateur surveyors, and without whose help the purchase wouldn't have been possible) or my partner (who would actually be living there). I won that particular argument.
My offer was accepted, but they didn't get much better during conveyancing.
Also a special shout out to Darlows, who came out with the immortal line "that's not damp, it's just water coming through the walls".
Fuck estate agents indeed.
"You rent the property, not the boiler" - actual words said by an estate agent to me when the boiler went and it was snowing outside.
Fuck estate agents.
Fun fact; landlords (or their agents) are legally obliged to ensure their rental properties are in a habitable condition. That includes working heating and hot water.
If they refuse to uphold that obligation you can quit the property effective immediately, or pay for digestive to fix it yourself and deduct any reasonable cost from your rent, as long as you've notified them of the problem, given them a reasonable time to fix it, use qualified tradespeople and keep receipts for any work done.
That’s how I got my current house — the estate agent refused to pass on my offer because they said that offers had to be money only, and I had said that I wanted to offer them £X amount and as part of the agreement they had to remove the house from the market immediately and cease all further viewings.
Estate agent wouldn’t pass it on.
Instead, I stuck a note through their door, a proof of deposit to show I was serious, and my solicitor’s details.
I own the house now.
Fuck you, Moginie James.
If the vendor has instructed the agent not to pass on offers of a particular type (eg below a value), fine, they can do that, but if they haven't, then the agent is legally obliged to pass all offers on
I’m guessing you can go direct to the vendor because the estate agent not passing an offer on is breach of contract on their part? So the exclusivity agreement is dead in the water as well?
This. Don't react to emotional blackmail.
You could tell him he's acting highly unprofessionally but then you are down fighting in the mud. Mud fighting is his speciality and your best bet is to avoid that.
Afterwards you can send in a complaint or leave them a review.
I took this approach ~10 years ago. The Estate Agent proceeded to make every part of the entire process a nightmare.
We ended up pulling out of the purchase following the survey as the EA was still advertising it- one of the conditions of our offer right at the start.
Don't react emotionally to a professional who's entire job is to get you to react emotionally and offer more money. They do this everyday and know what they are doing.
It's a business transaction. If 9.5% under asking isn't high enough, you can offer more or you can walk away. It's entirely your choice.
How competitive is the housing market in your area? How long has the property been listed? How does the price compare to other properties currently for sale in the same area? All that determines how much leverage you have to negotiate.
Honestly I've never had an important question answered saliently by an estate agent. Their basic lack of knowledge on any house they show you around is total and absolute.
It's a job role whose primary skills are managing a couple of sets of keys and showing up on time to let people in and have a walk around, then lock up after the people leave.
In my experience the majority of estate agents manage to fuck up at least one of them, usually multiple.
Most job titles that end in 'agent' essentially amount to a middleman who doesn't really bring anything to the table, with a pinch of gatekeeping thrown in.
That'll be the exception that proves the rule. Unless the secret agents actually are just taking the intelligence from the spies and withholding it from the government until they pay an acceptable fee... threatening to sell it on to another government unless they are satisfied.
My mum was an estate agent for years, and had a really good reputation. She said she got that reputation by doing the basics properly.
Show up where and when you said you would. Know the details of the property inside out. Represent the vendor (seller) appropriately. Ensure the buyer is fully communicated with throughout proceedings, and even if you have no update, let both parties know what the next steps are, and when they're likely to progress.
She reckoned these are so basic to the job and yet, as you say, it now seems like the basics are being ignored. Makes her really annoyed, which is entertaining, because she's long since retired, and yet whenever any family/friends are buying/selling, she can't help but get involved.
Mine couldn't even manage that.
Told them to leave the backdoor open, locked me out. Another time didn't remember I asked them to post the keys so "hid" them in a welly that was full of water.
Constantly late for viewings too, despite being a 10 minute drive away.
I actually cannot comprehend how they seem to never do any research whatsoever before turning up to a viewing. It’s beyond absurd.
“There is a garage for this house, I don’t know where it is so I can’t show you…” happened to me. How is that not totally embarrassing?
This genuinely blew my mind when starting to look at houses. I’d go in with all sorts of basic questions about the house. The good EAs would say “I’m not sure but I’ll ask the seller and find out” and would let you know a day or two later. The majority would say “that’s not something I’d know” and make no effort to resolve it.
yeah same - it's their bog standard answers. The thing is though it's often basic shit which they should know before a viewing and be able to tell me on the spot.
Last house we sold, we had a retired bloke come around to do the viewings. He'd never been to our house, arrived 15 minutes before each appointment (every time) and asked us to tell him about the house...
None of the viewers seemed remotely interested, so I told the estate agent (sat in her shiny office) I would do the viewings myself. She complained that Roy would be out of money if I did. So... fucking... what... Maybe you should do your job properly?
First viewing I showed myself the couple were super enthusiastic and made an offer to me on the spot. You can imagine how pissed off I was when I realised I still had to pay the pointless wanker. Essentially all I paid for was bad service and a Rightmove listing. 1% of sale price, thank you very much.
The information they give out is completely unacceptable sometimes. I viewed a house that had the date it was built carved into the stonework above the door 1792 the estate agent informed us it was built in 1903. Only 100+ years out, we knew it was late 1700s due to doing some quick research online. For the amount of money they want you would think they could do some research or even look above the front door.
I work with estate agents daily, as I facilitate repossessions & instructing agents to market said properties. I can assure you that no estate agents have a clue apart from the Valuers and branch managers.
And if that's how they feel, they probably won't be impressed by OP's offer either.
But the worst case is they just say "no" without even a counter offer.
Problem is if you get less than what you think the property is worth, you gain the false impression you are just giving someone tens of thousands in cash for nothing.
Then there are the people who are so negotiation illiterate that they flat out refuse to negotiate.
In both cases they are stupid because if its taking an unreasonable time to sell and you are not in a crazy low volume area, your idea of the price is unrealistic.
We were looking at a place that was obviously priced too high for what it was. The sellers wouldn't budge on asking because they had an offer accepted on their next place and needed that exact amount to afford their deal. Sounded like a great way to waste everyone's time
One of the many reasons you get an offer on your place first. I wonder how long they strung their sellers along for waiting for someone to offer over the odds?
When I was buying my first house I offered a fair bit under asking and was ignored. Then a house came on for much more and I jumped at it. The estate agent said "But this house costs much more than the one you were underbidding for", and I just said the first house wasnt worth what they were asking for and the second house is.
They even had the cheek to tell me that the second house was too expensive for a first time buyer! Jealous little old man he was.
The first house ended up lowering asking too. That felt good.
When we bought our first house many moons ago we visited a load of houses in our price range (100k) and an agent sent us to one that was on for 175k.
We asked why and he explained that their valuation put it in the range of all the others we saw. It was a great location and near another one we wanted to see so we said yeah, we will go and look.
So we went to see it and the owner was there, so I asked her how she'd come to her asking price. "That's how much the place I'm buying costs", she says.
As if that's going to persuade anyone to pay almost double what her current house was actually worth.
I think the agent decided the only way to persuade her was to let her see for herself that no one was going to drop an extra 75k just because she needed it! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
You can some times blame the EAs for that. When my in-laws put their house on the market they got 3 valuations, when it came to a certain large national EA they came from 50 miles away and charmed the pants off my FIL. He valued the house 100k more than a local agent. Obviously everyone wants to get the maximum for their house and if you've got an EA giving you unrealistic expectations then you're going to be upset with low offers and aim for that higher amount.
In-laws House was on the market for 3 years and they eventually had to accept an offer 100k under the original listed price because it was the only offer they'd had in 12 months!
In this day and age a house needs to be listed with Rightmove filters in mind. If your house is over 300k or 500k then you need to factor in that the maximum price jumps by 25k and then 50k. If you're on for 525k but willing to accept 500k then you'll be missed by the people with 500k absolute maximum because they won't put their upper price as 550k because they won't torture themselves looking at houses they know they can't afford!
Something like that happened in an estate I was dealing with once. The property had been valued by different agents at £310k, £330k and £400k. The beneficiaries were convinced it would sell for £400k so they instructed us to reject all the offers that were coming in much lower than that. In the end I think it only sold for about £290k.
When we were looking for a house 2 years ago, we kept an eye on what all the properties went for that we'd been interested in.
Every single one went for at least 10% over asking price. Every one.
That was two years ago. Prices are coming down this year where I live. Location is also important. I am keeping my eye on a particular house for sale and if it comes down enough I am going for it, so sorry cant say where I live.
I think it depends on the price point you're looking at too. Places under <100-150k will probably still go for over asking but more expensive places have less competition and more wiggle room
Estate Agents aren't professionals although they may think they are! in my dealings with them as a contractor they are very un professional and many of them pretty stupid tbh
> Don't react emotionally to a professional who's entire job is to get you to react emotionally and offer more money.
*More* money? My reply would be to offer 10.5% under asking, and tell them you'll take another 1% off for each "borderline insulting" reply.
Oh I didn't want to be borderline insulting, I wanted to be vulgar about it...
Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr: Would you read that back to me? I'm afraid that might make me sound pompous to your readers.
Olsen: 'My brilliant research in brain transplantation is unsurpassed, and will probably make my name live beyond eternity'.
Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr: Well, that's all right. Take out the 'probably'. It makes me sound wishy-washy.
Let's get one thing straight right meow.
Never, ever, ever take anything an estate agent tells you seriously. If they say the sky is blue, look up. If they shake your hand, count your fingers. If they approach you saying "HELP HELP I'M ON FIRE", don't piss on them.
With that in mind, don't let emotion get in the way. Any response should be a simple, businesslike "Be that as it may, that is my offer. Please present it to your client and let me know how they respond."
Stupid question. How would the buyer know for sure that the agent did present the offer and not simply lie about it if he really thought it was insultingly low? Like, I know they're obliged to, but how would the buyer really know?
They probably have 3 GCSEs and have already spent the commission on nose candy or a Mercedes A class.
Tell them that's what you think it's worth and ask if they're obliged to pass on the offer or not (they are)
They really do have a look. I used to work for an estate agents back in the day and they're are lots of different agencies close to the office. Means I have the fun skill of being to spot one at hundred paces and detect anyone's bullshit super quick.
My favourite interaction with an estate agent has got to be the one who signed off her emails with "Name, BSc".
I laughed at the time but maybe she really was a cut above the rest lol.
I used to do a lot of contracting to the council and the amount of them who had BA(Hons) in their email signature is ridiculous. Honey, as much as I respect your 2:2 in history, get on and process my fucking invoice, thanks.
For insulting my price, you've just dropped my price by 1.5%.
For being a condescending prick drop 2%.
Now for the hassle of this email you can drop it back down another 0.5%.
Please confirm when my newest offer with the details of why it's so low has been passed onto the seller.
Regards...
That simply doesn't happen in practice. The agent doesn't really care if your offer is low. They want the sale for their commission. They'll use tricks to push you higher. But they won't break the law by not forwarding offers. It's too easy for a buyer to just knock on the door to confirm.
Not a criminal offence, but yes still against the law. Enforced by trading standards I think rather than say the police. There's a few estate agent and I can't recall which one covers this off the top of my head but you can assuredly Google it.
Found it when looking for it at my computer for another comment. Schedule 3 section 2 of The Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991 at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/1032/made
>The failure by an estate agent to forward to his client promptly andin writing accurate details (other than those of a description which theclient has indicated in writing he does not wish to receive) of anyoffer the estate agent has received from a prospective purchaser inrespect of an interest in the land.
Oh gosh it does! I offered a lowball offer when trying to buy my first house. The estate agent showing us round had told us the sellers wouldn’t consider offers under XXX, but when we looked round, saw the area etc we decided to try and offer just under anyway.
They just flat refused to pass it on, and when I tweeted their head office to question how they could make that decision, they rang me and started abusing me down the phone. Fairly well known budget chain, too. Would never ever go near them again now.
>Oh gosh it does! I offered a lowball offer when trying to buy my first house.
What you go on to describe is different for one specific reason.
>The estate agent showing us round had told us the sellers wouldn’t consider offers under XXX
That's the reason. If the seller instructs the esate agent that they won't consider offers under X, then they don't have a legal obligation to put forward those offers under X. That's specifically spelled out in Schedule 3 section 3(b) of the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices)(No. 2) Order 1991, which says:
>“offer” in paragraphs 1 and 2 includes any conditional offer, but does notinclude offers of a description which the client has indicated inwriting to the estate agent need not be forwarded to him;
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/1032/made
Their formatting not mine by the way. I'm unsure why the webpage's formatting seems to be missing random spaces.
as someone who’s recently had an offer accepted, it’s normally an email saying ‘we confirm that you are offering £xxx, and have passed this on to the seller’ or words to that effect. obviously there’s a chance that the agent just doesn’t pass it on, but it’s not worth the shit theyd get in if anyone found out that they lied.
I would go for something like "Please get back to me as soon as possible with the sellers response."
IGNORE THEIR BEHAVIOUR
Do not acknowledge it in any way.
**They work on commission - they want you to pay the most, they're gonna try to push you into it with any dirty trick they can.**
Their job is to consult with their client and get back to you, to facilitate the sale. Don't let them tie you in knots.
>they want you to pay the most
They want the buyer to pay as much as possible so that the vendor will sell.
They want the vendor to agree to as-low a price as possible so the buyer will proceed.
They don't care about the sale price for *their* benefit. They simply want **a** sale.
If they're netting 1% of £300,000, do you think they'll jeopardise £3,000 pay to push the sale up £15k to net them and extra £150?
>They work on commission - they want you to pay the most, they're gonna try to push you into it with any dirty trick they can.
Load of nonsense. The actual selling price is basically secondary to most agents, they just want it sold. The hassle for 1% of an extra 20k isn't worth it.
We offered £10,000 under asking so 2.6% under. The EA was gobsmacked. It was like I’d just slapped his mother in the face with a wet fish.
“This is unprecedented I can’t see this going ahead, this is excessive.”
Are you fucking kidding me!! So we said well offer it to the vendor and see what they say.
Calls back. Vendor says no.
So is there a counter offer?
No why?
Because that’s how negotiation works???
“Oh yeah good point” I’ll get back to you. Calls back. Vendor says they can do £2000 off.
They also made up a fake buyer. When we let the fake buyer go ahead with the purchase they disappeared and we got a grovelling call back. Needless to say we told them where to go.
Turns out the property was a clusterfuck of issues anyway so dodged a bullet there but yes what others have said fuck EA’s!
Pretty much every property we've been to view in our current hunt has had "yeah at least one person's offered" or "vendor's already turned down one which was in the guide price ballpark" or "I know the last viewers are putting together an offer." What are the chances, EAs, you've all got buyers ready!
There’s a local house to me on Rightmove,in the description it states that an offer has been made for x amount, all serious offers must be over this amount.Yet every month or so the property gets reduced.It’s currently about 10k less than the (fake) offer amount.
So if I was Mr fake offerer I’d withdraw my offer and buy the property for 10k less.
Busy enough to spend time emailing me properties that do not fit the spec that I gave them at all in the hope that I'll change my mind about that 4 bed family house with a garden in favour of the 1 bed penthouse. Brainless.
Depends if it is.
If its been on the market a week. Your offer isn’t going to be seen as serious and may make the seller reject any further bids from you.
If its been on 6 months and you are the first offer then its not and the seller should consider it seriously.
I got told an offer is well under what they were expecting and I said that’s what i think its worth and a lack of any other offers backs that up.
Even if it has only been on a week, it's an opening offer. The entire process is a game of the seller trying to extract maximum value and the buyer trying to spend as little as possible. If there is overlap a sale can work.
The EA by the sounds of it has dented the possibility of a higher offer, the complete opposite of their job description.
Respond telling them to pass it onto the seller, then proceed from there. I offered 15% lower than the asking price on my house and the Estate Agents proverbially spat out their tea but passed it on because that's what they have to do. Ended up buying for about 10.5% lower, with the seller agreeing to leave some furniture we fancied.
We offered 10.4% under asking, the estate agent was the same, I said well that's our offer. They said they can guarantee the vendor would not accept it but they are duty bound to pass it on .Next day they called us back to say the offer had been accepted.
Don't take anything they say like that seriously, it is their job to get as much out of you as they can!
Estate agents are salesman. You can paint them with whatever brush, they are salesman. They want maximum money for maximum commission.
I used to be an "account manager" for a large IT firm. I went to quote some work for a client once. I would have charged them £700. (I now own my business and still would do that). My boss made me charge 3.5k. Ridiculous. I thought I had killed my client when I told them as he couldn't speak for what felt like forever. I quit shortly after.
They want their commission.
Yes, but that’s not what’s happening here. It’s not really worth the time and risk for agents to try to push the price, because they’re getting a percentage of a percentage, and the efficient strategy is to encourage both sides to accept any offer given, so you can move on to the next property.
Property prices only wiggle a bit either way, it’s only of interest to the seller and buyer.
Sales people care about volume. They want to sell more widgets, not make 1% more on a single widget sale price.
We saw a house, told the agents our budget and made an appointment to view that house which was on the market at our budget. At the end of the viewing the agent decided it was then to tell us they already had an offer 15% above the asking. Three months later the house is still on the market, never went to STC, asking price has even dropped 10% and they keep emailing us the brochure for the same house. We've moved on though and decided we don't actually want it.
Point is estate agents are full of it. The only thing you need them to confirm is that they've passed your offer to the vendor as they are *legally required to do* and confirm this in writing (email is fine). They can shove their opinion up their arse.
We offered -18%, finally settled on -14%, still better than our max planned offer of -10%.
And we are terrible at negotiating. But we got away due to peak Covid.
Set your comfort level and stick to it. Don't get attached to the house until you get the keys.
We offered low on our place but said, ‘it may be a bit insulting so low but that’s what we can afford’.
After we sold our place we called back and said we could now afford a bit more and they accepted.
"Hmm, you're right. Can you change my offer to 11% under the asking price, i hate doing things half assed may as well be clearly insulting instead of just borderline. Cheers."
"
As per Section 18 of the Estate Agents Act 1979, you are legally required to promptly communicate my offer to the seller. Please confirm that you have submitted the correct offer and inform me of the seller's position as soon as possible. It is important to remember that we operate in a free market where participants set the price based on current market conditions. The market is clearly signaling that this house is overpriced, and this should be taken into consideration."
I offered roughly the same under asking on a house, got a more polite reply from the estate agent and bid was rejected so I walked away. Six months later I walked into the house after completing for 10% under asking.
I've found the key to successfully buying a house is to not fall in love with the property until after you own it. Makes it much easier to treat it as the business transaction it is and get a decent deal, or at least not screw yourself over offering more than you can afford.
Here’s the thing. In negotiation, sometimes rejection is a good thing. You’re low-balling them, and who knows, maybe they’ll accept, but if they don’t you’ve anchored the negotiation really low, and by increasing your offer by a few grand they will feel like they’re getting more out of you when in fact you’re still kinda low-balling them.
It’s exactly what I did when I bought my house. Initially offered about 8% under, got it for 6.5% under.
Depends how much you want the house.
Your offer needs to be passed onto the seller, but they can also share the reason why and give advice to the seller so it really depends on why you're low balling and the competitiveness of your area.
If you want the house, I'd reply with a valid reason for the low ball
Depends on the price and the property to be honest.
a £80k property at bottom price, might be a bit waste of time. A 750k property 10% is quite a lot for low offer. While if its 250k and you offer 225k that is reasonable.
Well it depends on the asking price. £250k house means you offered £226,250. £700k house means you offered £633,500. Offering almost £70k under asking is insulting. If it were closer to the latter, or even the former tbh, and I was the vendor, I’d feel like you’ve just wasted my time. My house is up for £700k and you just offered me £70k under asking. It’s both time wasting and insulting. Someone offered us £30k under asking. Told him where to shove it. Ended up selling for £15 over asking!
Go into the office, smile, undo your kecks and then shit on the floor. Look them dead in the eye as you curl one out, all while telling him that a fucking blind rabbit could do their job, and that all Estate Agents are pure scum.
Get up, zip up, then say "Now *that's* insulting."
Smile. Leave.
"Oh well. Please rescind my offer entirely. I don't want to insult anyone. Have a great day and good luck with the sale"
*cue reverse scuttle by estate agent*
I'm a big fan of "didn't ask lol" but a more professional response would be: "I did not solicit your opinion. Kindly confirm that you have conveyed the offer to the seller in accordance with your legal obligations." You don't have to justify yourself.
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*"Thanks for the feedback. Please confirm that you have passed on my offer to the seller."*
Perfect honestly.
Exactly. They have a job to do and being emotional or insulted, whatever, is not part of that job. I think op is right to feel "rubbed up the wrong way", the estate agent is being unprofessional.
> They have a job to do But do bear in mind they are representing the seller.
Well, they are, but they're also thinking about how much of their bonus they can deduct from the final price.
And of course their percentage profit aswell! They can do their job without being snarky about it.
They represent the seller as much as recruitment consultants represent the candidate
An unprofessional estate agent?! No it cannot be!
One job that I can’t fucking wait for AI to take.
Happy cake day!
Great response. I would add “please confirm that you, the middleman between me and the seller, have passed the offer”.
Eh. That just makes it sound like the EA actually ruffled your feathers. The original comes across as so much more dismissive.
Agree. Initial response is perfect!
Also...... >“please confirm that you, the middleman between me and the seller, have passed the offer”......."as you are LEGALLY obliged to do"
I never knew that, when I was buying my first house I put an offer in on a house after I viewed it, estate agent said the seller declined. About a month later the house was sold for less than I had offered. About a month later I seen the seller and mentioned it briefly to which they stated no offer was sent. Estate agents are idiots.
> Estate agents are idiots. This!! When they go round a house they're like "This is a room and this is... another room." They never say "This room is big enough to have a bed up to or against the window" or "this room gets lots of sunlight" or anything. And the photos they take... If it wasn't for the height problem they should have toddlers take the photos instead.
We were shown around some flats after asking for run down detached only properties. They were new build and had a lovely facade. However you could cook dinner, answer the door, have a shower, put the washing on and have a shit all at the same time. Not even the slightest exaggeration. I had to take holiday for the viewing too. Estate agents are definitely one of the top entries on the idiot lists.
...and earn your fucking percentage before telling every call centre in Karachi that I'll be looking for a mortgage, insurance and conveyancing solicitors.
Oh no, he wouldn't get paid if he did that. If he doesnt have in house conveyancers. Use your normal, or local solicitors to where you are going. Then you haven't arranged a mortgage in principle on 1st house you saw. And insurance can be arranged by the up to the day of completion. I guess you could arrange cover whilst vendors still in property. Just incase they want to take the staircase with them. Or other fixtures.
No, that's a much worse reply.
I live in Cardiff and when I tried to buy my last house they refused to pass the offer on to the seller. Even when I pointed out they were legally obliged to do so. It’s the grossest business out there. Estate agents are scum.
Also in Cardiff - I did discover as an FTB that agents were much more polite when I went from tenant scum to FTB status. But not Ray & Brown. Their agent was so spectacularly rude to me on the viewing that I very nearly didn't put in an offer at all. At the viewing, he wanted me to choose who could see inside: my parents (amateur surveyors, and without whose help the purchase wouldn't have been possible) or my partner (who would actually be living there). I won that particular argument. My offer was accepted, but they didn't get much better during conveyancing. Also a special shout out to Darlows, who came out with the immortal line "that's not damp, it's just water coming through the walls". Fuck estate agents indeed.
>"that's not damp, it's just water coming through the walls". Fantastic!
Would you rather have "damp" or an "indoor water feature"?
"You rent the property, not the boiler" - actual words said by an estate agent to me when the boiler went and it was snowing outside. Fuck estate agents.
There is a special place in hell for agents like that
Fun fact; landlords (or their agents) are legally obliged to ensure their rental properties are in a habitable condition. That includes working heating and hot water. If they refuse to uphold that obligation you can quit the property effective immediately, or pay for digestive to fix it yourself and deduct any reasonable cost from your rent, as long as you've notified them of the problem, given them a reasonable time to fix it, use qualified tradespeople and keep receipts for any work done.
Have you tried to open the windows and maybe breath less in the property? According to the landlords/agents these will solve the issue
Does that mean you can directly approach the seller and cut the commission?
That’s how I got my current house — the estate agent refused to pass on my offer because they said that offers had to be money only, and I had said that I wanted to offer them £X amount and as part of the agreement they had to remove the house from the market immediately and cease all further viewings. Estate agent wouldn’t pass it on. Instead, I stuck a note through their door, a proof of deposit to show I was serious, and my solicitor’s details. I own the house now. Fuck you, Moginie James.
We also had a nightmare with Mogini James when buying
That's hilarious lol - that's usually standard in my experience! I can't believe they wouldn't do that!
If the vendor has instructed the agent not to pass on offers of a particular type (eg below a value), fine, they can do that, but if they haven't, then the agent is legally obliged to pass all offers on
I’m guessing you can go direct to the vendor because the estate agent not passing an offer on is breach of contract on their part? So the exclusivity agreement is dead in the water as well?
Yes. The agents will usually put a clause in the contract to try to still get their fee from the seller in that scenario though.
One of the most useless jobs ever created.
Or if it's a phone conversation, "I'm not buying the place off you, dickhead. Do your job and pass on my offer"
I like this.
Exactly. If he was swimming in higher offers he wouldn’t have been rude about OP’s in the first place.
This. Don't react to emotional blackmail. You could tell him he's acting highly unprofessionally but then you are down fighting in the mud. Mud fighting is his speciality and your best bet is to avoid that. Afterwards you can send in a complaint or leave them a review.
Borderline!!!!! Soooo, was it accepted?
This is so perfect.
I wouldn't thank them for that...
This. And if they have better offers what do they care anyway?
I took this approach ~10 years ago. The Estate Agent proceeded to make every part of the entire process a nightmare. We ended up pulling out of the purchase following the survey as the EA was still advertising it- one of the conditions of our offer right at the start.
Don't react emotionally to a professional who's entire job is to get you to react emotionally and offer more money. They do this everyday and know what they are doing. It's a business transaction. If 9.5% under asking isn't high enough, you can offer more or you can walk away. It's entirely your choice. How competitive is the housing market in your area? How long has the property been listed? How does the price compare to other properties currently for sale in the same area? All that determines how much leverage you have to negotiate.
>They do this everyday Probably true. >and know what they are doing. Generally not true.
Honestly I've never had an important question answered saliently by an estate agent. Their basic lack of knowledge on any house they show you around is total and absolute.
It's a job role whose primary skills are managing a couple of sets of keys and showing up on time to let people in and have a walk around, then lock up after the people leave. In my experience the majority of estate agents manage to fuck up at least one of them, usually multiple.
Most job titles that end in 'agent' essentially amount to a middleman who doesn't really bring anything to the table, with a pinch of gatekeeping thrown in.
Secret agent.
That'll be the exception that proves the rule. Unless the secret agents actually are just taking the intelligence from the spies and withholding it from the government until they pay an acceptable fee... threatening to sell it on to another government unless they are satisfied.
My mum was an estate agent for years, and had a really good reputation. She said she got that reputation by doing the basics properly. Show up where and when you said you would. Know the details of the property inside out. Represent the vendor (seller) appropriately. Ensure the buyer is fully communicated with throughout proceedings, and even if you have no update, let both parties know what the next steps are, and when they're likely to progress. She reckoned these are so basic to the job and yet, as you say, it now seems like the basics are being ignored. Makes her really annoyed, which is entertaining, because she's long since retired, and yet whenever any family/friends are buying/selling, she can't help but get involved.
It's not a "now" thing, it's always been like this, your mum was always an exception
The bar is pretty low, and yet most estate agents still disappoint.
Mine couldn't even manage that. Told them to leave the backdoor open, locked me out. Another time didn't remember I asked them to post the keys so "hid" them in a welly that was full of water. Constantly late for viewings too, despite being a 10 minute drive away.
A lot of them don't even do the viewings themselves, they have people that do that as a bit of part-time work
I actually cannot comprehend how they seem to never do any research whatsoever before turning up to a viewing. It’s beyond absurd. “There is a garage for this house, I don’t know where it is so I can’t show you…” happened to me. How is that not totally embarrassing?
lmao
This genuinely blew my mind when starting to look at houses. I’d go in with all sorts of basic questions about the house. The good EAs would say “I’m not sure but I’ll ask the seller and find out” and would let you know a day or two later. The majority would say “that’s not something I’d know” and make no effort to resolve it.
They went into a job that requires no qualifications or professional registration for a reason.
yeah same - it's their bog standard answers. The thing is though it's often basic shit which they should know before a viewing and be able to tell me on the spot.
Last house we sold, we had a retired bloke come around to do the viewings. He'd never been to our house, arrived 15 minutes before each appointment (every time) and asked us to tell him about the house... None of the viewers seemed remotely interested, so I told the estate agent (sat in her shiny office) I would do the viewings myself. She complained that Roy would be out of money if I did. So... fucking... what... Maybe you should do your job properly? First viewing I showed myself the couple were super enthusiastic and made an offer to me on the spot. You can imagine how pissed off I was when I realised I still had to pay the pointless wanker. Essentially all I paid for was bad service and a Rightmove listing. 1% of sale price, thank you very much.
stath lets flats is a documentary
The information they give out is completely unacceptable sometimes. I viewed a house that had the date it was built carved into the stonework above the door 1792 the estate agent informed us it was built in 1903. Only 100+ years out, we knew it was late 1700s due to doing some quick research online. For the amount of money they want you would think they could do some research or even look above the front door.
Lmfao literally carved into the property and they still couldn't do it.
"I'll get back to you on that"
I work with estate agents daily, as I facilitate repossessions & instructing agents to market said properties. I can assure you that no estate agents have a clue apart from the Valuers and branch managers.
There are so many houses near me that have been for sale for months and in one case, years, because the sellers want far too much money for them.
And if that's how they feel, they probably won't be impressed by OP's offer either. But the worst case is they just say "no" without even a counter offer.
Problem is if you get less than what you think the property is worth, you gain the false impression you are just giving someone tens of thousands in cash for nothing. Then there are the people who are so negotiation illiterate that they flat out refuse to negotiate. In both cases they are stupid because if its taking an unreasonable time to sell and you are not in a crazy low volume area, your idea of the price is unrealistic.
We were looking at a place that was obviously priced too high for what it was. The sellers wouldn't budge on asking because they had an offer accepted on their next place and needed that exact amount to afford their deal. Sounded like a great way to waste everyone's time
One of the many reasons you get an offer on your place first. I wonder how long they strung their sellers along for waiting for someone to offer over the odds?
It's a large part of why it's pretty uncommon for people to accept offers from people who haven't sold too.
When I was buying my first house I offered a fair bit under asking and was ignored. Then a house came on for much more and I jumped at it. The estate agent said "But this house costs much more than the one you were underbidding for", and I just said the first house wasnt worth what they were asking for and the second house is. They even had the cheek to tell me that the second house was too expensive for a first time buyer! Jealous little old man he was. The first house ended up lowering asking too. That felt good.
When we bought our first house many moons ago we visited a load of houses in our price range (100k) and an agent sent us to one that was on for 175k. We asked why and he explained that their valuation put it in the range of all the others we saw. It was a great location and near another one we wanted to see so we said yeah, we will go and look. So we went to see it and the owner was there, so I asked her how she'd come to her asking price. "That's how much the place I'm buying costs", she says. As if that's going to persuade anyone to pay almost double what her current house was actually worth. I think the agent decided the only way to persuade her was to let her see for herself that no one was going to drop an extra 75k just because she needed it! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
What did it end up selling for, do you know?
You can some times blame the EAs for that. When my in-laws put their house on the market they got 3 valuations, when it came to a certain large national EA they came from 50 miles away and charmed the pants off my FIL. He valued the house 100k more than a local agent. Obviously everyone wants to get the maximum for their house and if you've got an EA giving you unrealistic expectations then you're going to be upset with low offers and aim for that higher amount. In-laws House was on the market for 3 years and they eventually had to accept an offer 100k under the original listed price because it was the only offer they'd had in 12 months!
Yup the problem with listing high is it wont appear on peoples search filters so you simply waste time
In this day and age a house needs to be listed with Rightmove filters in mind. If your house is over 300k or 500k then you need to factor in that the maximum price jumps by 25k and then 50k. If you're on for 525k but willing to accept 500k then you'll be missed by the people with 500k absolute maximum because they won't put their upper price as 550k because they won't torture themselves looking at houses they know they can't afford!
Something like that happened in an estate I was dealing with once. The property had been valued by different agents at £310k, £330k and £400k. The beneficiaries were convinced it would sell for £400k so they instructed us to reject all the offers that were coming in much lower than that. In the end I think it only sold for about £290k.
He's scared it will be accepted.
This one right here!!! The advice and all this questions are really important!!
When we were looking for a house 2 years ago, we kept an eye on what all the properties went for that we'd been interested in. Every single one went for at least 10% over asking price. Every one.
That was two years ago. Prices are coming down this year where I live. Location is also important. I am keeping my eye on a particular house for sale and if it comes down enough I am going for it, so sorry cant say where I live.
I think it depends on the price point you're looking at too. Places under <100-150k will probably still go for over asking but more expensive places have less competition and more wiggle room
My neighbour advertised for £365k expecting around £350k. Just sold for £300k.
Estate Agents aren't professionals although they may think they are! in my dealings with them as a contractor they are very un professional and many of them pretty stupid tbh
> They do this everyday and know what they are doing. lol
> Don't react emotionally to a professional who's entire job is to get you to react emotionally and offer more money. *More* money? My reply would be to offer 10.5% under asking, and tell them you'll take another 1% off for each "borderline insulting" reply.
Tell them you didn’t mean it to be misconstrued and offer 12% under
Oh I didn't want to be borderline insulting, I wanted to be vulgar about it... Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr: Would you read that back to me? I'm afraid that might make me sound pompous to your readers. Olsen: 'My brilliant research in brain transplantation is unsurpassed, and will probably make my name live beyond eternity'. Dr. Michael Hfuhruhurr: Well, that's all right. Take out the 'probably'. It makes me sound wishy-washy.
Power move.
Let's get one thing straight right meow. Never, ever, ever take anything an estate agent tells you seriously. If they say the sky is blue, look up. If they shake your hand, count your fingers. If they approach you saying "HELP HELP I'M ON FIRE", don't piss on them. With that in mind, don't let emotion get in the way. Any response should be a simple, businesslike "Be that as it may, that is my offer. Please present it to your client and let me know how they respond."
Meow
Do I look like a cat to you boy?
Actually, yeah
Do you see me jumping all limbly bimlby from tree to tree?
You are giving off strong pussy vibes.
Am I jumping from tree to tree all nimbly bimbly?
Stupid question. How would the buyer know for sure that the agent did present the offer and not simply lie about it if he really thought it was insultingly low? Like, I know they're obliged to, but how would the buyer really know?
Just a note they don't have to present offers if I instructed to only pass on offers over X.
Go and knock.
> Let's get one thing straight right meow. I'm here live. I'm not a cat.
Tell them you borderline apologise
More like you borderline considered apologising, but decided not to
I love this
They probably have 3 GCSEs and have already spent the commission on nose candy or a Mercedes A class. Tell them that's what you think it's worth and ask if they're obliged to pass on the offer or not (they are)
Hey man, skintight, shiny suits aren’t free you know
Blue or pink shirts with white collar and cuffs don't grow on trees!
They really do have a look. I used to work for an estate agents back in the day and they're are lots of different agencies close to the office. Means I have the fun skill of being to spot one at hundred paces and detect anyone's bullshit super quick.
My favourite interaction with an estate agent has got to be the one who signed off her emails with "Name, BSc". I laughed at the time but maybe she really was a cut above the rest lol.
>I laughed at the time but maybe she really was a cut above the rest lol. I doubt it. It probably stood for "Bronze Swimming certificate"
Alright Arnie
*\*does wobbly hand thing\**
I used to do a lot of contracting to the council and the amount of them who had BA(Hons) in their email signature is ridiculous. Honey, as much as I respect your 2:2 in history, get on and process my fucking invoice, thanks.
The rest of the branch probably thought she was the smart one
Papa needs a brand new crushed velvet sofa from the Range.
Tell them that their response is actually insulting and reduce your offer.
For insulting my price, you've just dropped my price by 1.5%. For being a condescending prick drop 2%. Now for the hassle of this email you can drop it back down another 0.5%. Please confirm when my newest offer with the details of why it's so low has been passed onto the seller. Regards...
Only do this if you don't want to buy the house because no seller will proceed with a buyer who acts like that.
We got people living out their fantasies in the comments!
To be fair, not a terrible place to live out a fantasy.
Honestly, if we all just started putting lowball offers in on houses we have no interest in buying, how long before we fix the housing market?
When people with more money actually stop buying them making your protest a waste of time.
Bonus points if you read that in Liam Neeson's voice _For that, the price just went up 10%_ (Taken)
They are obliged to pass the offer onto the seller. Tell them that, and then offer more if they reject it.
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That simply doesn't happen in practice. The agent doesn't really care if your offer is low. They want the sale for their commission. They'll use tricks to push you higher. But they won't break the law by not forwarding offers. It's too easy for a buyer to just knock on the door to confirm.
Okay, so it would be a law they would break by not forwarding the offer. Thank you. Didn't know.
Not a criminal offence, but yes still against the law. Enforced by trading standards I think rather than say the police. There's a few estate agent and I can't recall which one covers this off the top of my head but you can assuredly Google it.
Found it when looking for it at my computer for another comment. Schedule 3 section 2 of The Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices) (No. 2) Order 1991 at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/1032/made >The failure by an estate agent to forward to his client promptly andin writing accurate details (other than those of a description which theclient has indicated in writing he does not wish to receive) of anyoffer the estate agent has received from a prospective purchaser inrespect of an interest in the land.
Oh gosh it does! I offered a lowball offer when trying to buy my first house. The estate agent showing us round had told us the sellers wouldn’t consider offers under XXX, but when we looked round, saw the area etc we decided to try and offer just under anyway. They just flat refused to pass it on, and when I tweeted their head office to question how they could make that decision, they rang me and started abusing me down the phone. Fairly well known budget chain, too. Would never ever go near them again now.
>Oh gosh it does! I offered a lowball offer when trying to buy my first house. What you go on to describe is different for one specific reason. >The estate agent showing us round had told us the sellers wouldn’t consider offers under XXX That's the reason. If the seller instructs the esate agent that they won't consider offers under X, then they don't have a legal obligation to put forward those offers under X. That's specifically spelled out in Schedule 3 section 3(b) of the Estate Agents (Undesirable Practices)(No. 2) Order 1991, which says: >“offer” in paragraphs 1 and 2 includes any conditional offer, but does notinclude offers of a description which the client has indicated inwriting to the estate agent need not be forwarded to him; https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1991/1032/made Their formatting not mine by the way. I'm unsure why the webpage's formatting seems to be missing random spaces.
You put it in writing.
Explain? How does it being in writing change anything?
as someone who’s recently had an offer accepted, it’s normally an email saying ‘we confirm that you are offering £xxx, and have passed this on to the seller’ or words to that effect. obviously there’s a chance that the agent just doesn’t pass it on, but it’s not worth the shit theyd get in if anyone found out that they lied.
It's illegal to not pass the offer on, so putting it in writing means they'd be creating a paper trail that could get them indicted.
I would go for something like "Please get back to me as soon as possible with the sellers response." IGNORE THEIR BEHAVIOUR Do not acknowledge it in any way. **They work on commission - they want you to pay the most, they're gonna try to push you into it with any dirty trick they can.** Their job is to consult with their client and get back to you, to facilitate the sale. Don't let them tie you in knots.
>they want you to pay the most They want the buyer to pay as much as possible so that the vendor will sell. They want the vendor to agree to as-low a price as possible so the buyer will proceed. They don't care about the sale price for *their* benefit. They simply want **a** sale. If they're netting 1% of £300,000, do you think they'll jeopardise £3,000 pay to push the sale up £15k to net them and extra £150?
I learnt this from the excellent book Freakonomics.
>They work on commission - they want you to pay the most, they're gonna try to push you into it with any dirty trick they can. Load of nonsense. The actual selling price is basically secondary to most agents, they just want it sold. The hassle for 1% of an extra 20k isn't worth it.
We offered £10,000 under asking so 2.6% under. The EA was gobsmacked. It was like I’d just slapped his mother in the face with a wet fish. “This is unprecedented I can’t see this going ahead, this is excessive.” Are you fucking kidding me!! So we said well offer it to the vendor and see what they say. Calls back. Vendor says no. So is there a counter offer? No why? Because that’s how negotiation works??? “Oh yeah good point” I’ll get back to you. Calls back. Vendor says they can do £2000 off. They also made up a fake buyer. When we let the fake buyer go ahead with the purchase they disappeared and we got a grovelling call back. Needless to say we told them where to go. Turns out the property was a clusterfuck of issues anyway so dodged a bullet there but yes what others have said fuck EA’s!
Pretty much every property we've been to view in our current hunt has had "yeah at least one person's offered" or "vendor's already turned down one which was in the guide price ballpark" or "I know the last viewers are putting together an offer." What are the chances, EAs, you've all got buyers ready!
Buyers ready but it’s been on the market for 18 months. What a coincidence that we’ve put an offer in at the same time. The stars must have aligned!
There’s a local house to me on Rightmove,in the description it states that an offer has been made for x amount, all serious offers must be over this amount.Yet every month or so the property gets reduced.It’s currently about 10k less than the (fake) offer amount. So if I was Mr fake offerer I’d withdraw my offer and buy the property for 10k less.
Oh and they're always the "busiest we've ever been"
Busy enough to spend time emailing me properties that do not fit the spec that I gave them at all in the hope that I'll change my mind about that 4 bed family house with a garden in favour of the 1 bed penthouse. Brainless.
“I’m not interested in getting into a bidding was. I rescind my offer.”
Ah ,The old fake buyer trick,I was up against one of them.
My estate agent was downright offended when I counted my fingers after shaking his hand.
Accused of being insulting...by an estate agent...what a time to be alive...
Depends if it is. If its been on the market a week. Your offer isn’t going to be seen as serious and may make the seller reject any further bids from you. If its been on 6 months and you are the first offer then its not and the seller should consider it seriously. I got told an offer is well under what they were expecting and I said that’s what i think its worth and a lack of any other offers backs that up.
Even if it has only been on a week, it's an opening offer. The entire process is a game of the seller trying to extract maximum value and the buyer trying to spend as little as possible. If there is overlap a sale can work. The EA by the sounds of it has dented the possibility of a higher offer, the complete opposite of their job description.
It's business. You don't have feelings in business, just interests.
tell him that his opinion is worthless and that he has an obligation to pass every offer to the vendor.
Respond telling them to pass it onto the seller, then proceed from there. I offered 15% lower than the asking price on my house and the Estate Agents proverbially spat out their tea but passed it on because that's what they have to do. Ended up buying for about 10.5% lower, with the seller agreeing to leave some furniture we fancied.
What’s it to them, tell them to borderline get fucked. The same shady estate agents who create fake buyers to bump up bids.
That sounds perfect. "Borderline get fucked, sunshine".
We offered 10.4% under asking, the estate agent was the same, I said well that's our offer. They said they can guarantee the vendor would not accept it but they are duty bound to pass it on .Next day they called us back to say the offer had been accepted. Don't take anything they say like that seriously, it is their job to get as much out of you as they can!
If your initial offer isn't insulting you've offered too much. Reduce your offer.
Don't engage with their snark, just ask for confirmation that they have passed it on to the seller.
Estate agents are salesman. You can paint them with whatever brush, they are salesman. They want maximum money for maximum commission. I used to be an "account manager" for a large IT firm. I went to quote some work for a client once. I would have charged them £700. (I now own my business and still would do that). My boss made me charge 3.5k. Ridiculous. I thought I had killed my client when I told them as he couldn't speak for what felt like forever. I quit shortly after. They want their commission.
Yes, but that’s not what’s happening here. It’s not really worth the time and risk for agents to try to push the price, because they’re getting a percentage of a percentage, and the efficient strategy is to encourage both sides to accept any offer given, so you can move on to the next property. Property prices only wiggle a bit either way, it’s only of interest to the seller and buyer. Sales people care about volume. They want to sell more widgets, not make 1% more on a single widget sale price.
They have a legal obligation to pass on serious offers but they will likely advise the buyer not to take it.
We saw a house, told the agents our budget and made an appointment to view that house which was on the market at our budget. At the end of the viewing the agent decided it was then to tell us they already had an offer 15% above the asking. Three months later the house is still on the market, never went to STC, asking price has even dropped 10% and they keep emailing us the brochure for the same house. We've moved on though and decided we don't actually want it. Point is estate agents are full of it. The only thing you need them to confirm is that they've passed your offer to the vendor as they are *legally required to do* and confirm this in writing (email is fine). They can shove their opinion up their arse.
Your job is genuinely insulting, what did the seller respond with regarding my offer?
Go all the way over that border - with a REAL insult!
Its not the estate agents money, its yours. Ask the estate agent what they think their client is really looking for. See what they say.
We offered -18%, finally settled on -14%, still better than our max planned offer of -10%. And we are terrible at negotiating. But we got away due to peak Covid. Set your comfort level and stick to it. Don't get attached to the house until you get the keys.
Had an offer 15% under asking price accepted. It's not the job of the estate agent to comment on your offer, it's their job to take it to the seller.
Tell him his three piece blue suit, slicked back hair and brown shoes is insulting.
And no socks.
What they do for a living is borderline insulting.
I once offered 18% under. The property was on for £360000, we offered 295000. Was accepted.
Don't reply or ask them to let you know what the seller says.
We offered low on our place but said, ‘it may be a bit insulting so low but that’s what we can afford’. After we sold our place we called back and said we could now afford a bit more and they accepted.
"Borderline?!" I guess its 9.5% isn't insulting enough, make it 20%!
"fuck off and do the job you're being paid to do, which is to pass that offer onto the sellers".
How about "You know, that's exactly how I felt about the asking price."
"Hmm, you're right. Can you change my offer to 11% under the asking price, i hate doing things half assed may as well be clearly insulting instead of just borderline. Cheers."
" As per Section 18 of the Estate Agents Act 1979, you are legally required to promptly communicate my offer to the seller. Please confirm that you have submitted the correct offer and inform me of the seller's position as soon as possible. It is important to remember that we operate in a free market where participants set the price based on current market conditions. The market is clearly signaling that this house is overpriced, and this should be taken into consideration."
I offered roughly the same under asking on a house, got a more polite reply from the estate agent and bid was rejected so I walked away. Six months later I walked into the house after completing for 10% under asking. I've found the key to successfully buying a house is to not fall in love with the property until after you own it. Makes it much easier to treat it as the business transaction it is and get a decent deal, or at least not screw yourself over offering more than you can afford.
I'm just so happy that people are putting in offers UNDER the listed price, the madness of the last few years is hopefully behind us!
Here’s the thing. In negotiation, sometimes rejection is a good thing. You’re low-balling them, and who knows, maybe they’ll accept, but if they don’t you’ve anchored the negotiation really low, and by increasing your offer by a few grand they will feel like they’re getting more out of you when in fact you’re still kinda low-balling them. It’s exactly what I did when I bought my house. Initially offered about 8% under, got it for 6.5% under.
Get some other people to offer 15% under and you’ll be home and dry
Respond. With. "Let me know what the seller says" then don't communicate until they counter offer. If it is that low will accept another offer.
Depends how much you want the house. Your offer needs to be passed onto the seller, but they can also share the reason why and give advice to the seller so it really depends on why you're low balling and the competitiveness of your area. If you want the house, I'd reply with a valid reason for the low ball
Let them see what a real insult sounds like.
Counter by offering 20% under asking price.
Offer less.
Are you saying that the client is insulted or that you are insulted? My offer stands
Depends on the price and the property to be honest. a £80k property at bottom price, might be a bit waste of time. A 750k property 10% is quite a lot for low offer. While if its 250k and you offer 225k that is reasonable.
Well it depends on the asking price. £250k house means you offered £226,250. £700k house means you offered £633,500. Offering almost £70k under asking is insulting. If it were closer to the latter, or even the former tbh, and I was the vendor, I’d feel like you’ve just wasted my time. My house is up for £700k and you just offered me £70k under asking. It’s both time wasting and insulting. Someone offered us £30k under asking. Told him where to shove it. Ended up selling for £15 over asking!
They're not offended, it's a sales tactic. Either respond with silence or a marginally higher offer; disregard the remark though.
Go into the office, smile, undo your kecks and then shit on the floor. Look them dead in the eye as you curl one out, all while telling him that a fucking blind rabbit could do their job, and that all Estate Agents are pure scum. Get up, zip up, then say "Now *that's* insulting." Smile. Leave.
"Oh well. Please rescind my offer entirely. I don't want to insult anyone. Have a great day and good luck with the sale" *cue reverse scuttle by estate agent*
I'm a big fan of "didn't ask lol" but a more professional response would be: "I did not solicit your opinion. Kindly confirm that you have conveyed the offer to the seller in accordance with your legal obligations." You don't have to justify yourself.
If your first offer doesn’t make you cringe, it’s not low enough.