EA suggesting selling quietly

D

DubsB

Registered User
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Our EA viewed our house and has suggested quietly putting the house on the market and mentioning it to people who view the other house for sale on the road that he is also selling. If we put up a for sale sign he pointed out there'll be 3 houses on the road for sale. He said that we could wait and see how other houses in the area sell as ours 'should' be worth more as it's in better condition. He also said there may be other houses on the road coming up for sale - so we could hold off but then there may be other houses for sale. Any idea what the benefit of quietly selling is? Anyone have any advice?
 
I think that the advantage is not really in your favour, the way I see it, he doesnt have the added expense of advertising your house and the other houses on the road have nothing to compare their prices to (ie. your house). So the other sellers on your road may get a better price than they would if your house goes on the market, and then they would probably think again....
 
We're not all leeches out to do our clients, it sounds like his giving you his advice, but you have the final say. It would be better to hold off rather than go quietly. He probably feels that if he has 2 properties on the go at same time, neither will fulfill their potential. If yours is that much better go ahead and put it on the market, but in a competitive situation you may not achieve as high a price as you might expect.
 
there'll be 3 houses on the road for sale.
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What is the concern about that? That it will be harder for you to sell your house, or that it will be harder for him to sell any of them? I'm presuming that he will be the agent for the houses going on sale soon which he mentioned, maybe he already is the EA for the houses there already on sale.
 
I can not see any advantage to the OP following the EAs advice in this case. Maybe he senses that you are not in a great rush to sell and is acting accordingly?
 
Thanks for the replies - I'm not very experienced when it comes to the world of property so your replies are really helping me to figure out what the EA is suggesting and to mull it over.

Just to clarify - I don't think our EA is a leech or out to do us over, I do like him, but I just didn't understand the logic of selling quietly (we aren't in a major rush so maybe that's exactly where it came from).
 
Isn't it the case that if a buyer arrives in an area and sees a whole row of 'for sale' lollipops they will recognise the truth of the situation..........that lots of people want to sell, that s(he) is a buyer, and s(he) can get a very good deal.

I don't understand the comment you report the E.A. to have made. You could check with him what he meant. Others can only speculate at second-hand.

If I rolled up in a street wanting to buy a property and found a large number for sale it would start off a train of thought............that the area might soon be full of people renting rather than owning their properties, that there were 'far-off hills' which were greener and to which the locals were shifting, perhaps I shouldn't buy here, that if I hold off buying for another year competition between folks desperate to offload before the slowdown becomes a halt will mean I will get a bargain.

Those are just some of the considerations, from the purchaser's side of the transaction.
 
Suppose I am a buyer and I drive down the road. I see a house for sale, I knock on the door straight away, the owner shows me around, I am impressed, I ask him what price he will really accept, I then ring the EA to put in an offer around that price.

Do you think the EA will advise me that there is another house I should look at first or will he try and wrap up the deal before I spot a house on the next road with a different EA that I might get for a bit less?
 
I really do not understand your EA advice. Your EA has said that your house is in slightly better condition - so in current market - you may have a slight advantage. Why would you not want as many people as possible to know that your house was on the market? Is your EA going to quietly tell people to ignore the house they are viewing because there is a better condition house across the road? I doubt it - and I am sure that would fly in the face of the EAs duty to that client. In a sense your EA is slightly conflicted, and his advice seems to support this view. It appears that he is trying to avoid your house competing with the existing house for fewer buyers or am I missing something?
 
I would say that he is trying to tell you that he would like to sell your house but not right now, but doesn't want to lose it to a competitor. If yours is (marginally) better than the others it wont get a better price it will be the first to sell, if there are few to sell yours may achieve a higher price. The choice is really for the OP to make, but I would say either hold off completely or put it on now, possible with another agent.
 
It sound to me like the EA is acting in your best interests and using his expertise...we've seen cowboys doing terrible things and making fortunes for years but this guy seems to be boxing clever on your behalf which is what one should expect really. There's such a thing as being too cynical.
 
danFTB said:
I think that the advantage is not really in your favour, the way I see it, he doesnt have the added expense of advertising your house
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This doesn't make sense. When an auctioneer advertises a property for sale, the costs are billed directly to the vendor, whether or not it sells. It is the vendor who is saving money if the property is not advertised.
 
a fair point, but I presumed that the fee would be the same regardless of what methods were used to advertise the property, ie. a standard fee for being on the estate agents books.
 
a fair point, but I presumed that the fee would be the same regardless of what methods were used to advertise the property, ie. a standard fee for being on the estate agents books.
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The fee would be pending the sale of the property and the adverytising costs would be incurred sale or no sale.
 
If I was a buyer and I saw 1 for sale sign in a street I'd think "looks like a popular area, people happy to remain put". If I saw 3 or 4 signs I might thnk "people can't get out of here fast enough". The EA must look at it from both sides to remain in the game I suppose. If he thinks he can sell the other ones quickly and then yours, maybe he's acting in your (and his) best interests. The 'loser' is the buyer who loses the ability to play the sellers off against each other.
 
The 'loser' is the buyer who loses the ability to play the sellers off against each other.
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Buyers are in a strong position now anyways so maybe it could be looked on a s more evening the playing field.
 
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