Estate agents looking for quick sale?

We had three estate agents value our house today. One gave us a valuation that seemed in line with our expectation of the market, the other two valued our house way below what we were expecting. When pushed they said it was better to get viewers in and generate bidding rather than leaving the house without a bid for a few months.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or is it likely that we just have unrealistic expectations in the current market?

When I saw the title of this I assumed the estate agents were selling for below it's worth to pick up their commission as soon as possible and not trying very hard to get extra bids. Yes, it happens sometimes!

But it's possible they are being realistic and you are not. Are your expectations based on "My neighbour got x so I want x+5% as prices always go up"?

In the current market it could be worth far less than you think it is. So do some research and be realistic. Without knowing the area I doubt you'll get the same price you could of got 12 months ago

I was expecting about 5% less than last year's prices but one of the valuations seemed to be about 20% less.

It's hard to gauge prices from myhome.ie as they vary so widely but even taking the very lower end as indicative of the current market, I was still shocked at the lowest valuation. Maybe I am still being unrealistic but this is a 3 bed Victorian terrace in Phibsboro where houses still seem to sell well. Will probably get another couple of estimates to be on the safe side.

Have a look at the link below to see what the falls in Phibsboro are.
[broken link removed]

A couple of properties on it in Phibsboro but the falls seem to be only in the region of 4-3% so far.

Alfatronic said:

even taking the very lower end as indicative of the current market,

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The lowest asking price being asked for a similar property means nothing if that property hasn't actually sold. And even if it was a situation where you know the asking price of a house that has sold recently you don't know what it actually sold for.

The thing is nobody knows right now what is the top price a property may sell for as so little is actually selling, so you may sell for the price you are hoping for, or it may be a case that even at the lowest valuation your house is priced too high to sell.

If I was selling right now my instinct would be to completely "stage" the house, even moving myself in with friends or family for a little while. I'd put an asking price on the house that was quite a bit lower than the lowest priced similar property. I would market the house as rigourously as possible, even offering a cash incentive to the agent if they find you a buyer who completes by a certain date. I would allow viewings day and night and even arrange open days at weekends.

Hopefully this would generate interest, as as slow as the market is, there are still buyers out there. I would take all offers seriously, because if that level of effort only generated 1 offer the chances are that offer is the best you are going to get. And if I had more than 1 offer I would be completely honest with the potential buyers and tell them I was going to go to sealed bids. As I think that with sealed bids from 2 or more parties you get the best indicator of what people are prepared to pay and you can be confident that you are selling your house at current market value.

That said I live in the UK where sealed bids are very common, it's possible that in Dublin buyers wouldn't be that keen on it.

Best of luck with it anyway.

Thanks for that CN624.

Thanks Iguana - I think if we can't sell for a certain minimum price then we will hold on, although we will do our best to sell in the current market. Luckily we don't absolutely have to sell right now.