Browse Forums Real Estate 1 May 18, 2009 11:24 pm There is a house on the market that I am interested in. There is no fixed asking price, just a "price guide above $..." I have been keeping an eye out on the houses in the area for some months. I have not seen any houses that sell for much more than the "price guide". But in this instance, (unless I am mistaken) the house (well, the land) is worth more than the price guide set, how do I figure out how much to offer? I am not sure if they deliberately set a lower price to get more attention. Obviously as a buyer, I don't want to pay more than I have to, so I don't want to offer a high amount, just in case the property is not worth that much. Do I just go low and see what happens? Do I go a bit higher than the price guide? There are many faults with the house, do I point out the obvious to lower the price? Or does that not make a difference? Is there a "safe" figure to offer? In my limited experiences with buying/selling houses, I have ALWAYS been stressed out by the whole thing, often by the agents. Last time I bought this house and made an offer (of the exact asking price), I was told it "might" be sold, so I offered another $50 and was told 2 hours later that someone else beat me to it. The next day, the agent rang to say that the buyer rescinded and offered it to me at $50 more than asking price. I bought it anyway. In hindsight, I think there was never another buyer, they just "played" me. I don't want to be "played" again. Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 2May 19, 2009 7:28 am Often in this case, the agent will do this to test the waters & then go to auction with a certain expectation, based on the offers made. Sorry no help to you, except to say that if you've done your homework, you already know what it's worth & what you're prepared to pay.. Then you offer a little less to give yourself negotiating space. Good luck. Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 3May 19, 2009 8:16 pm Thanks for the reply. I missed the first open house, but made an appointment to see it that afternoon. The agent told me that they had over 20 ppl seeing the property at the open house and 8 of those asked for the contract (which was not available as yet). I drove past the house today and saw a potential buyer outside the house. Anyway, it's a really old house that would most likely be knocked down to rebuild, so it's really just a land value. Everyone is attracted by the low'ish price guide. I didn't request the contract, if the don't call me soon, when should I ring them to see if the contract is available? At the same time, I don't want to seem overly keen. Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 4May 19, 2009 8:55 pm Cheeky The agent told me that they had over 20 ppl seeing the property at the open house and 8 of those asked for the contract Don't listen to anything agent's tell you. They are full of BS all the time. Just play the game and put in an offer you'll be happy with. If you win, good...if not move on. Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 5May 19, 2009 9:15 pm d@n Cheeky The agent told me that they had over 20 ppl seeing the property at the open house and 8 of those asked for the contract Don't listen to anything agent's tell you. They are full of BS all the time. Just play the game and put in an offer you'll be happy with. If you win, good...if not move on. I agree totally with d@n. Know what you're prepared to pay. If it doesn't work out, walk away. Don't become one of the sheep who fall for the ploys of the real estate wolves. They are not working for you & will generally not tell you the whole truth. There will be plenty of other properties. Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 6May 20, 2009 8:36 am Southies d@n Cheeky The agent told me that they had over 20 ppl seeing the property at the open house and 8 of those asked for the contract Don't listen to anything agent's tell you. They are full of BS all the time. Just play the game and put in an offer you'll be happy with. If you win, good...if not move on. I agree totally with d@n. Know what you're prepared to pay. If it doesn't work out, walk away. Don't become one of the sheep who fall for the ploys of the real estate wolves. They are not working for you & will generally not tell you the whole truth. There will be plenty of other properties. Yep, as Dan said. Demolition August 2009, Construction Started September 2009, Completed December 2010 Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 7May 20, 2009 11:56 pm Thanks for the advice. The agent wasn't able to tell me the dimensions of the land because the contract wasn't ready. Would it be fair to say that one would generally get a copy of the contract if they are interested in the property? For my previous purchases, I'd never looked at the contracts until we'd exchanged contracts to sign. So, is it a common practice to look through the contract before making an offer? The other thing might be that ppl are asking for the contract for this property because they are only wanting the land to rebuild, so they want to make sure there is no obvious issues?? Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 8May 21, 2009 7:15 am You NEVER EVER make an offer on a property UNTIL you've 1st looked at the contract & THEN had your solicitor check it out !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No matter even if you are interested in the land only. There might be items in there which would adversely affect you eg easements, & only your solicitor would be able to clearly pick these out for you. He is working for YOU! Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 9May 27, 2009 5:52 pm Isn't it illegal to offer a property up for sale until the sale contract is drawn up and made available? My impression was that this was how it is in NSW The Office of Fair Trading website has this on the topic: A residential property cannot be advertised for sale until a Contract of Sale has been prepared. The contract must contain a copy of the title documents, drainage diagram and the Zoning Certificate (s 149) issued by the local council. Property exclusions must also be included and a statement of the buyer’s rights under the cooling-off period must be attached. The draft contract must be available for inspection at the agent’s office. So as others have said, take the R/E's statements with the fistful of salt they deserve First home buyer Jan 2009 Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 10May 27, 2009 7:27 pm Just reporting back about the outcome of this property. As previously posted, at its first open house, the contract was not available (agent claimed that the 149 certificate was not ready), then at its second open house, the contract was ready, it accompanied a letter on how high the interest was and they decided to put it to tender on the following Tuesday. The highest bid would win, without a cooling off period! People were really only interested in the land. It was sold almost $100K above that price guide!! Crazy. Re: What to offer when it says "price guide above $..."? 11Mar 19, 2010 10:47 pm Dont come to Qld. they way things are done in other states, makes Qld look like the wild west when it comes to property deals! the whole system needs a boot up the ar5e, including banning agnts from preparing contracts (like most other states) Was the offer also on their website? If so, you could check the Wayback Machine. 1 1045 Have look at your house plans and you will probably find that brick articulation joint has been missed. Maximum allowable spacing is 6M or 5.5M for a wall with window… 17 20671 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 11929 |