Browse Forums General Discussion 1 May 19, 2010 4:52 pm Hi guys We are in the final stages of getting our house on the market for sale. We are selling via private sale. We spoke to two agents last week who both quoted the exact same price range of $520-$570. One agent suggested marketing it as such, the other said she would put it on the market at $550k plus. We are thinking of going with the latter agent (for a variation of reasons). But my question is, if we do market it at $550k+ will this only attract offers UP TO $550k and most buyers would be reluctant to offer more? Or is it the opposite, that offers would start at $550k so with any luck we could even get more?? I know it helps if maybe two people are fighting it out and push the offers up, but let's just say we deal with individual offers - I'm wondering what the psyche is for offers on a house with this quoted price. I tried to pin the agent on it, but she is saying that marketing it at $550k+ indicates to buyers that we are interested in offers between $550 and $620 - but I'm not sure if she is just trying to dazzle us and that in reality people would offer low $500's (say $520-$530k) and then the agent try and talk us into accepting with the usual "market is flat" and "not many people looking" jargon. After all, us selling for $30k might mean they only get $750 instead of $1000 comission (or whatever we negotiate) but in the end, that few hundred doesn't matter to them - they just want the sale and the turnover. We would like to get $550k. We do have room to accept less but we would be thrilled with $550k (Or more naturally) so we just want to make sure we market it appropriately in the first place. Does anyone have any experience or input on to how you would interpret a selling price of $550 plus?? Thanks heaps.... Ceebs Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 2May 19, 2010 7:33 pm In my opinion offering it as "offers from $550K" gives a clear message to the buyer that $550K is the minimum you would accept. You may still get punters offering less, but that's life. With any luck you'll have a few above that figure. I think advertising a range, is better for a property being auctioned. We ended up buying a property advertised as "from $500K". We offered below that... and our offer was turned down. Three months later we offered $500K and it was accepted. Good luck with the sale! Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 3May 19, 2010 8:51 pm hi ceebs, if i saw that in an ad I would interpret it as offers above $550k only considered. I would think the vendor would be happy to sell at $600k and consider things below that. You will always get people that will start off offering a low amount but that's your agents job to get them to offer more closely to what you want. good luck. Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 4May 19, 2010 8:52 pm My personal pet hate. Offers over and giving a price range. If I see a range, then I take the lowest figure as my starting point and work down. Same with "offers over" - thats my starting point and I work down from there. Put it on at $570k - let people lowball the price and negotiate it down, dont do it for them. You will get initial interest because it is new to the market, but if you are struggling to maintain interest or field offer(s) after a month or two, then it may pay to revise your price. just my thoughts. Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 5May 19, 2010 9:24 pm Huggy_B My personal pet hate. Offers over and giving a price range. If I see a range, then I take the lowest figure as my starting point and work down. Same with "offers over" - thats my starting point and I work down from there. Put it on at $570k - let people lowball the price and negotiate it down, dont do it for them. You will get initial interest because it is new to the market, but if you are struggling to maintain interest or field offer(s) after a month or two, then it may pay to revise your price. just my thoughts. I agree with Huggy B, Always put it on at a higher price and then when/if they offer lower and it is accepted they think they got a good deal when in fact you did. People always offer lower, so be one step ahead and add on the "Buffer" as I call it. Just my opinion and hope it helps. McQueen Mansion in Progress Proud owner of dirt Plans Completed Currently trying to sell our current house Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 7May 20, 2010 12:20 am Thanks guys for all your input. We wouldn't be marketing it with a range - it would be a price of $550k + (that's how she said she would do it). I hear you about putting it on for $570k but not sure I have the guts as I don't want to limit buyers who may think we wouldn't take less or it might even deter some buyers from even looking as it tips past the $550k mark which could be their limit? I have pushed the agent a bit more as they would know full well what we could probably expect at that marketed price so will see what she comes back with. All food for thought though - thanks again. Ceebs Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 8May 20, 2010 1:38 am In my opinion, you have to make up your mind on a price you are happy to sell it at. It is a bit unlikly that you list it at 550k and a punter offers 600k first up. How much of a hurry are you in to sell? Whats the bottom you will take? Every offer a punter makes must be told to you, even the low ball offers. To me the "from 550k" would not stop me making a cash 30 day offer of 520k and it would not stop others making a similar offer. Its then up to you to counter offer or just say NO. There is always room to move on the price, its just a matter of how much. Who list their property at what they want for it, the agent will in most cases tell you to list it higher any way. You can allways come down in price. Only my opinion all the best with the sale. Regards KW................ “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 9May 20, 2010 9:17 am I'd go against the trend of what most are saying from my point of view as someone who spent two years trying to buy a knock down property in three different suburbs. Of the six properties that we missed out on (some up to three years ago so this info may not be relevant for todays market) most of them went for 10 to 20% above the top of the range or the $price+ info. By the time we bought our place if we saw $500k to $550k we just knew that this meant that the only way we could get it was if we offered over $610k. This was also not during a hugely buoyant market as well. Another thing on agents trying to sell your place. I read a very interesting book on property investment which described the sales process that agents go through. First, in order to get you to go through them they convince you that they can sell your place for more than the next agent. They give you higher expectations and build up your hope of what you can get. As soon as you have signed with them they then spend all of their effort convincing you that the market is dropping, the price won't be as good, buyers aren't interested in your sort of property etc. This is all to get you off their books through a quicker sale so that they can move onto the next commission. Having not sold recently I can't comment on this first hand, however I have a feeling that this may be true. Having said all of the above, things may be completely different in your area and I am sure that you are aware of what similar properties have been receiving and what they have been advertised for. Good Luck. View our blog at: http://room4acubby.blogspot.com/ Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 10May 20, 2010 10:35 am Continued thanks for your responses. King Willy, if we marketed if for $550k+ we certainly would not be expecting offers of $600k straight up (although it would be nice ). We would be happy to accept $550k - that is what we ideally would like (although we could accept lower and still cover our costs of moving). So I just want to make sure that by marketing it at $550k+ we could (depending on the market) reasonably expect to get $550k. Anything over is just cream for us so we are not aiming to get $600k by any means. Room4acubby - I totally agree. Agents talk the price up to get you in (which is what I am trying to establish with the agent we are in discussion with) and then lower offers come in and they talk you into accepting with all sorts of excuses - I pointed out the exact same thing in my opening post - they just want the 'sold' sign on their board and if it means a couple of hundred bucks less commission - it's chicken feed to them. Ceebs Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 11May 20, 2010 11:09 am As you’ve noticed a lot of agents do try to list your property by saying they will get a higher price for it than other agents would. But spare a thought for the agent who’s come in and told you something different (ie, the agent who suggested the lower price range). He’s gone out on a limb because he would know he wasn’t going to be telling you the highest price, but he may be telling you the most honest price. He’s not going to be trying to get you to accept lower offers, because he’s already prepared you for what offers you may receive. Going with the agent who promises the highest selling price is not always going to get you the best offers. Also if you would be happy to get $550k, then don’t go marketing it at $570k. By doing that you’re going to be competing against other houses that are actually worth $570k. The people looking at houses at that range will look at yours and see that it doesn’t have this or that or whatever it is that makes your house worth $550 not $570 and it will sit stagnant on the market for a while. If, as your agent suggested, you market it at $550 plus you may still get interest from people looking in the $570 range, but you’ll also get interest from people looking in the $530-$540 range. These are the people that are more likely to buy your house, they may decide that they can stretch themselves an extra $10,000 to buy your house which has this and that and whatever else it is that makes your home worth $550 rather than $530 or $540. Re: Private Sale - advertised price vs actual sale price 12May 20, 2010 12:26 pm My husband and I recently went through this with selling our unit. We had a figure in mind that we wanted ($287,000), had seen people in our same complex get to that figure after having their property on at around the $290,000 to $295,000, sit on the market for up to 12 months waiting for the right buyer. Our agent suggested that we market our property all offers over $280,000. We ending up selling within 10 days for $288,000 to a couple that really only had a budget of $285,000, only looked at our place because they saw that it was under their budget and just loved it. We ended up having another couple interested which helped get the price higher too. Initially, it is about getting people in the door and looking at your place, the more people you can get in, the more chance you will get a buyer. There are people out there who do not like "offers over" marketing, but for us is worked really well. Like you have a figure in mind what you want to get for your home you also have a figure in mind that you would take. It is the same for a buyer, a buyer will have a figure in mind what you want to spend, but they always have an upper limit, and if someone loves a home, they will pay to get it. Good luck! Painting finished, time to tile! HANDOVER - THURSDAY 3RD MARCH 2011 Hi everyone, Looking for some advise. We are about to build an above ground pool in our backyard. There is a private sewer line running under the pool at 1.6m… 0 11753 If you already have a contract, is the inspection cost stated in there? 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