She’s our favourite blogger because she writes some home truths in a pithy and witty way.
Tracy Kellett, of buying agents BDI Home Finders, thinks that anyone serious about selling a home and who is made any half-decent offer should accept it fast.
Indeed, she thinks sellers have two weeks to do it.
“Take the blo*dy money,” she says.
More here.
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Comments
Thats a bit excessive! A "V" sign cna be offensive!
Dear Unhappy Chappy,
This is not my last response to you on this issue.
You seem to know everything about me, my business and my client base. I often get a 'fool' as a client due to my style, unfortunately they tend to end up with other agents (so I would very happily have you as a client in any event).
0 exchanges so far this month with another 0 poss 0 exchanges to go before month end. 1 lets so far this month with references pending on 2 others.
What do you think I am doing wrong for my clients?
I'm a fool.
Yours Sincerely Sir.
Fun Boy - you are correct you would not have me as a client. As at this present moment I am not a potential client to any agent. You are an agent and therefore. in theory you have the same potential clients as me. What sort of fool customers do your competing agents have....let me guess... anyone that does not instruct with you.
The sales numbers you so glowingly quote tell a potential customer nothing about your level of service however your posts are far more revealing. I am sure you would agree the very good and the very bad stand out from the crowd.
ignoramus wtf!
Unhappy,
This is my last response to you on this issue.
You know nothing of me, my business or my client base. I seldom get a 'fool' as a client due to my style, they tend to end up with other agents (so I would not have you as a client in any event).
9 exchanges so far this month with another 3 poss 4 exchanges to go before month end. 19 lets so far this month with references pending on 5 others.
What do you think I am doing wrong for my clients?
You are a fool.
Try that hairdryer game Sir.
Yes Anon, opprobrium.
These days you can simply look up words on the t'interweb rather than relying on the decidedly archaic 'dictionary'.
That way you can avoid looking the ignoramus.
opprobrium . . . wtf
If i had signed Fun Boy IF.......which i would not have done!. Yes you have educated me enough your posts which clearly show you do not act in the interests of your clients.....have you ever been to court???
Once again Unhappy you take me entirely out of context. I cannot educate you and have no wish to.
If you had signed with me on your 'hypothetical' ranting you would have owed me £65,000 for 83 years marketing on a monthly payment of £60. And I would sue the nuts off you for the full amount if you ever stopped paying.
Stop being an idiot.
PTW - good analysis and joining of the dots. Zero interest rate policy, forbearance on those behind with mortgage payments etc is really about bank balance sheets being protected. To give it a more moral angle, it's presented as helping overindebted 'homeowners' (aka mortgage payers).
FBA - If you recall you did not say the hypothetical property was overpriced at all. In fact you indicated you believed no vendors properties were ever overpriced. Do you want me to remind everyone of what you actually said.
In fact it opened a good debate with Peebee about what i actually do....I think the fact that you do not know what it is annoys you....but safe to say I try to look after vendors rather better than yourself.
It's number 1a, so if you follow the Street View option to one of the ends of the street and spin the angle, you can still see the former industrial unit it once was. Gives you a good impression of the surrounding area too and I'd reckon not a single person in those other properties paid anywhere near the salary multiple needed to purchase this particular 'innovative development'.
The POA option is made redundant on RM by listing the properties in a postcode search by lowest to highest price. That's probably not news to many here.
There's an online newspaper article praising the design too, which also quotes a higher asking price of £215,000.
Rant - that's a gussied-up tandem-length garage, yes?
I wonder what will happen if a proper house price correction gets underway in London, the South East and South West (where, I guess it's true to say, is where the majority of the money lent into the housing market went)?
The banks will surely then have to lend to sustain their capital position - otherwise the assets against which their loans are secured - marked to market - will destabilise their capital position.
It's an interesting conundrum. They've massively reduced lending without, so far, having much affect on prices. But, if prices do fall significantly, they will either have to lend less - causing prices to fall further - or, somehow, lend more.
The phrase 'rock and a hard place' leaps to mind.
FBA suggested charging one 'overpriced' vendor a monthly fee, that being a fellow calling himself 'Unhappy Chappy'.
I only said that to make him more unhappy.
@wardy
LOL. This is not a detached house. This is a detached corridor. It says 'POA' where does it say £198,000?
And don't forget I have rain dears in the garden and mine's limited for the festive period only!!! ;)
Wont be there because I've already got my eyes on this bargain:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/new-homes/property-35076791.html
At just £198,000, Baxters must have worked really hard to get the vendor to price it realistically.
I am organizing an OPEN HOUSE WEEK limited only for the festive period providing a fantastic opportunity for buyers to obtain the property of their dreams: a charming and deceptively spacious, ex-council 3 bed semi for only £499,999.
The OPEN HOUSE WEEK will be festive themed with rain dears and a decorated plastic Christmas tree in the rear garden and a splendid fireworks show on new years eve in the front garden.
All invited! Refreshments provided (bring your own food and drink) Get ready for a week of fun ! A good time guaranteed !
I am Wonder Vendor. A civil servant. I have worked hard all my life in the Prison Service. I handle serial killers' and re-offenders' files. I have worked hard all my life and made a tremendous contribution to our local community and the country by making a difference to peoples lives. I am not giving away the fruit of my hard work , this unique, character property in this lovely neighbourhood. Buyers, be prepared to pay the asking price and have fun !
This offer is limited for the festive period only when
ooooo EVEN SANTA COMES TO TOWN TO BUY HIS HOUSE ooooo
Well done Billy, you've successfully managed to polarise both EAs & HPCers with that rant.
That's some feat I tell ya.
Back to the article, in fairness, and because i'm feeling generous today, it could be argued that an agent working on behalf of buyers would say that wouldn't they...
Of course though (re: transaction levels) it stands to reason though that anyone serious in selling their prop has a smaller pool of potential buyers so should be more realistic in considering offers.
Sure, there's the anomalies that Gloria well illustrated but there's tons more that I see languishing on RM all year.
FBA on here - tongue in cheek - suggested charging vendors a fee per month to list with them. While most of what he says I don't agree with THAT was a brilliant idwa. More EA revenue and sort out the timewasting vendors - win/win.
@Eric. You read my mind. I can think of more than a few vendors I want to email this too.
@Billy. The whole point of charging a percentage fee is that we get paid on performance and by definition get less as prices go down.
There is a desperate shortage of new stock around here, most of what is for sale is over-priced and has been on the market for too long. Vendors need to decide - do they want to sell or do they want to take their home off the market? If they want to sell, they need to start listening and start reducing. And as for agents setting greedy vendors expectations, I find that greedy vendors expectations are set well in place long before I get there.
@Billy
Obviously you are in for a day of heavy opprobrium being heaped on your head as well deserved by your foolish post. I see Wardy has started the processs.
I am not an estate agent I am involved in specialist lettings only and have been for the past 20+ years. Sso in that sense couldn't care less what happens to vendors, their agents or the market generally other than the fact I am a home owner with luckily a piddly mortgage and lots of equity - and soon to be a State pensioner unless that gets shifted to start at age 70 instead of 65!!
Billy never confuse realism about any subject with pessimism or attempted panic mongering and talking up the chances of a HPC. You have to live in a parallel universe to believe that the housing market is going to be in anything other than very poor health indeed for the rest of this decade. As is anything else related to our economy generally.
Lending continues to bump along, first time buyers are getting scarcer than hen's teeth. Yes interest rates are low - frankly they could be in minus figures but if big deposits are essential and lenders are cherry picking and prefer to rebuild capital bases rather than lend into a very uncertain market....................
The right price for anything - anything at all - is what you can get someone to pay for it if you really want, or need, to sell. Not what you'd like them to pay, what they are willing or able to pay.
Do I need to continue? Or shall I leave others to continue the opprobrium heaping?
Billy- you mention that forced sellers will mean 'a few bargains' will be had.
Surely sales stats set future prices? People can hold out for more if they wish, but why would you go out your way to pay more than the going rate in the area? Is it a given that a surveyor would sanction it for a mortage advance in those circumstances? Looks like a recipe for immediate negative equity.
Billy,
Your post just goes to show what a know nothing p**t you really are. Apart from being hypocritical in the space of two paragraphs you also seem to think that 'the art of selling' is to reduce fee's. So the vendors that need more in the way of marketing, more in the way of effort, more in the way time, and more in the way of money spent by their agents actually receive less because the fee is cut to the bone.
I am yet to see an agent on this site telling the public that the market 'is about to crash'. Where are you getting this stuff from?
Your all wrong, taking this advice will just result in a crash in house prices, and thats not going to happen
The reality is that vendors want the right price for their property and purchasers are being convinced by the likes of you that the market is about to crash, so are either not entering the market or offering silly prices
In reality there is no reason to force vendors to sell, morgage and interest are low, yes ther will be some vendors that need to sell, and that will result in a few bargians.
All you guys are worried abouit is a regular tunover in commision,. Perhaps if you cut your commission % by the same % that you are asking the vendors to cut their price, you might actually start to use the art of selling rather than waiting for propertiers to sell themselves
It angers me that you ridicule the vendors when the vendors price expectations are set by the greedy estate agents who overvalue to property in the first place to ensure thay get the listing.......Perhaps you need to get your own house in order before critisising the customer.
Not my point as such IO - it's all a copy & paste of the entire article. I couldn't find it immediately and when I did thought it was worthwhile making sure that it could be read by all for an interesting debate.
Speaking from my caraven on the local fair ground with no experience and no qualifications, , I think I could add just as much to this discussion
Thanks to TK - Max input. I have emailed to all staff and am resisting the urge to email a few vendors....
Didn't see the original post but it made eminently good sense then and even better sense now.
The right property at the right price(!) in the right location will ALWAYS sell - why - because it ticks all the boxes. I speak as a Bank of Mum and Dad parent who struggled to help his son and partner by a property in February 2010 (!!) this despite an equally good deposit helping hand from his other half's parents. Oh yes, and both being late 20's, sensible couple (if any leneder ever graced them with a personal interview) and very well paid and in terms of employment prospects these days, stable jobs and skills in demand in their industries.
What happened - at £225K maximum price in South Hampshire they got gazumped three times despite being perfect profile buyers, a vendor and estate agent's dream.
So to buyers and the HPC gang my advice is don't mess about.
But back to rantnrave's point - what happens if you don't own the perfect property (despite what you think) and you actually need to sell (the one benefit as I have always maintained of HIPs was that they got rid of tyre kickers and 'property floaters') then look realistically at what other people (and not your estate agent) think of your property.
Sure buyers will always knock at least 5% off a price 'cos we all want a bargain. Or at least we always did in the 70's and 80's. That figure probably increased to 10% in the 1990's thanks largely to all the property progs on daytime TV. This decade I suggest buyers probably knock off 15% - 20% for a whole load of credible reasons, not just the bargain one. Lack of bigger deposit, lender funds and multiples being tight and awareness property is being marketed probably over priced being just three obvious ones.
If the price offered makes life tight for you but you can still manage to move, then take the money. But if you keep getting lower offers ask yourself why - and then do something about it.
Amen!
Full link:
http://thebuyingagent.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/vendors-this-is-your-two-week-warning-take-the-blody-offer/
QUOTE:
I wrote the post below back in February 2011 when frankly I could see the writing on the wall. I could see the emergence of over-inflated asking prices and Vendors who’s price expectations were way and beyond what they should have been. This was partly the fault of Estate Agents, with available listings at the lowest levels for decades the easiest and quickest way to be successful in a pitch to prospective Vendors was to price high. But Vendors are not blameless, inherent greed allowed them to ignore common sense and allow their properties to sit on the market getting no offers, dismiss low offers and ignore suggestions of price reductions. This year both Vendor’s and Estate Agent’s have come un-stuck as a result. Transaction levels are through the floor. Estate Agent’s have not been able to sell their over-priced stock (and each one of these costs them money) and Vendors have often ended up taking a much lower offer 6 months down the line as their property sat around becoming stale and thus unattractive to the market. Vendor’s and Estate Agents, today is the 23rd October 2011- here is your 2 week warning;
If you don’t do something very fast, a price reduction or taking that offer you think is too low, you will be whistling until February at the earliest and I guarantee now that you will be getting a lower price than any offer on the table today….
Dear Vendors,
Working on the premise that you are a Vendor who really needs to sell, as opposed to a ‘let’s see what can I get’ tyre-kicker, here is my blunt advice:
You have put your property on the market and one of two things has happened.
Nothing.
or
An offer straightaway.
Why is nothing happening?
As there is a lack of good quality stock at the moment, chances are your property is over-priced or there is something wrong with it. Either way, it is over-priced.
An offer straightaway? Great, but I bet if it’s not the asking price you don’t take it. And if it is, I bet you’re screaming that the Estate Agent under-valued it.
Firstly for the lucky Vendors with a quick offer. You may think this is the beginning of a huge influx of ever increasing offers and therefore think you will sit back and await more pennies from heaven. Well don’t. From long experience the very first offers you get will almost always be the highest and the best. Buyers, when they are first to view on a good property will very often make excellent offers to stave off other bidders. Fresh to the market properties are sexy. If that property has been hanging around they don’t feel the need to and worry why no one else has bought it. The longer it is on the market, the worse buyers concerns about it being a turkey, will get and so will the offers. Don’t mess around with that offer, squeeze as much as you can quickly but remember it will probably be the best you get.
So your house has been sitting around for 6 weeks now, dribs and drabs of buyers no offers until one day up pops what you call a ‘derisory’ offer. Ask yourself how derisory it really is. Is it only derisory in relation to the over-inflated asking price? If it really is bad then rent the place out for three years. If you can’t do that then you are going to have to consider it, because the fact is, unless your house is in prime London or worthy of RIBA house of the year, your chances of getting more will only get worse as the weeks go by.
I am being so blunt on the basis that the market is surprisingly buoyant at the moment for Vendors but only due to lack of supply and low interest rates. It won’t last. This lack of supply is very likely to change as the year progresses due to un-employment, rising interest rates and general economic woes. When more properties come onto the market and the demand doesn’t rise, the chances of you getting the price you are offered today will decrease faster than a spider down a plughole.
If my house was going on the market tomorrow and I needed to sell this year, I would be pricing it very realistically, perhaps even under-pricing to create interest. (buyers love what they perceive as an under-priced property). If I had no offers after 3 weeks full marketing with a good Agent I would be dropping the price and I would be looking lovingly at any offer from a buyer with cash or a low LTV mortgage.
To heck with price indices and ‘what it’s worth’. A property’s ‘value’ is only ever what someone is willing to pay for it. And shortly, there will be fewer people who want to pay anything and more for them to choose from. So don’t puff out your chest and allow your ego to run negotiations.
Grasp the nettle and take that decent or even half decent offer… indecently fast.
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