Estate Agent Lost it

S

Sue

Guest
Would anyone know why an estate agent would undervalue a house for sale. My sister got her house valued this week. It was valued at 260,000. She was gutted and got another valuation done today and it was for 320,000 which is in line with other properties in the area. Is there some scam going on?

Sue
 
Was it a starting price? I wouldn't say it was a scam, maybe just an honest appraisal, aren't all properties overvalued these days anyway :)
 
There is a big difference between a valuation & an estimated realisation price in the eyes of some estate agents.

Valuation = value of the house for the purposes of a lending institution and/or reconstruction.

Estimated Realisation Price = Possible sale figure if the property were offered to the open market for sale.

Not that all do, but some estate agents treat it like that. I'm waving my hand in front of my face & can't see the fingers for the grey fog that is the estate agency business!!!!
 
If it was valued at €260k and, say, myhome.ie says €320k, it looks like it is undervalued, but this is hardly something to feel 'gutted' about.

I don't know if it is reasonable to assume that perhaps the valuation is down to inexperience on part of the agent, or that they feel they will get more interest by setting the 'guide' at well under the stamp duty threshold (i.e. if people search for properties under €317k, they will miss a house valued at €320k), or something more sinister, i.e. they are trying to get their friend/family member a house for under market value.

One thing to remember is that the agent should have little or no incentive to get you less money (all that really matters at the end of the day) as I assume they are paid on commission based on the final sale price.
 
Sue said:
Would anyone know why an estate agent would undervalue a house for sale. My sister got her house valued this week. It was valued at 260,000. She was gutted and got another valuation done today and it was for 320,000 which is in line with other properties in the area. Is there some scam going on?
Sue
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Your sister should forget about what the EA said, and she should decide (realistically, based on recent sales in the area) at what price she will let her house go. It is ultimately her decision to agree on offered prices, not the EA.
 
don't some EAs have a deal where they get a higher commission if they go a certain amount above the valuation? Or am I wrong?
 
EA's just want to sell a property quickly -- The more they sell the more they make. Volume is king to them not generally value.

The commission difference in selling for say 280K and 320K in their Hand is probably 100-200 Euro. EA aren't exactly going to work their ass of for that.
They'll try sell it quick then move onto next house sale that quick.
Its volume they look for. Also they get performance bonus for numbers sold which more than makes up for the 100 -200 lost here and there on quick sales. They have different goals to the vendor

Simply put EA look out for themselves and for some unknown reason seem to have convinced the public that they are doing a great service to the vendor.

Then again people dont like hearing the truth.
 
Read the chapter in "Freakonomics" about the difference between the price and estate agent sells your house for and his/her own house. As the last poster says, a few thousand extra means a lot to you but nothing to the EA in percentage terms. They just want to get their money and move onto the next sale
 
Why anyone "employs" an EA to sell a house for them is beyond me completely. It's not difficult to pay myhome.ie €150 and take a few photos yourself. Arrange all viewings for the evening when you're at home anyway and save yourself thousands. Stupidity beyond belief.

It doesn't matter whether the EA values your house at €10K or €320K as it will be the market who decides the value of your house, not you and definitely not the EA. Actually the lower it's valuation by said muppet EA the better as you will attract more potential buyers who may eventually drive the price higher again!!

Most of the people viewing your house won't have come off the last boat from Mongolia and so will have been viewing houses in the area for a while and will know how much the last one in this area sold for and will then bid accordingly. This is not rocket science.

I could go on but I won't. I get a pain everytime I drive past an EA and see all the houses that fools have asked them to sell for them.
 
Read the chapter in "Freakonomics" about the difference between the price and estate agent sells your house for and his/her own house.
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Beat me to it gearoidmm! That chapter is an eye opener, although it makes perfect sense when you think about it.
 
Ballyman said:
Why anyone "employs" an EA to sell a house for them is beyond me completely. It's not difficult to pay myhome.ie €150 and take a few photos yourself. Arrange all viewings for the evening when you're at home anyway and save yourself thousands. Stupidity beyond belief.

It doesn't matter whether the EA values your house at €10K or €320K as it will be the market who decides the value of your house, not you and definitely not the EA. Actually the lower it's valuation by said muppet EA the better as you will attract more potential buyers who may eventually drive the price higher again!!

Most of the people viewing your house won't have come off the last boat from Mongolia and so will have been viewing houses in the area for a while and will know how much the last one in this area sold for and will then bid accordingly. This is not rocket science.

I could go on but I won't. I get a pain everytime I drive past an EA and see all the houses that fools have asked them to sell for them.
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i agree with dilemma houses find their own value,as for estate agents i would not trust them as far as i could throw them
 
CmTaz said:
Actually it is - you can't sell privately on myhome.ie.
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Presumably because it is owned by estate agents who are protecting their own interests. You could always try daft.ie as an alternative if you wanted to try selling yourself. Looks like its EUR95 for a standard ad so you don't lose much if you later decide to go with an estate agent.
 
RainyDay said:
Is this in breach of any competition legislation?
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Given that myhome.ie is owned by a group of estate agents, I'd imagine that they can restrict access to whoever they want, or at least to 'trade only'?
 
OMG, I didn't realise you couldn't sell privately on myhome.ie

This even makes me angrier, if thats possible, against EA. This whole business is so corrupt and unfair it's actually funny and us the fools that put up with it. Oh dear god.

An EA pulled up to show me a house last week in an '06 5 series beemer. Sweet This post will be deleted if not edited immediately I thihnk I'm gonna be sick.
 
Ballyman said:
OMG, I didn't realise you couldn't sell privately on myhome.ie

This even makes me angrier, if thats possible, against EA. This whole business is so corrupt and unfair it's actually funny and us the fools that put up with it. Oh dear god.

An EA pulled up to show me a house last week in an '06 5 series beemer. Sweet This post will be deleted if not edited immediately I thihnk I'm gonna be sick.
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WHy would it make you angry? A trade website was set up and it is popular.

What tends to make me angry is people talking about things they don't know and saying it is easy to do:)
 
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