Same house- different agents and different prices?

Hello,
I am looking at property in Galway. After contacting several estate agents, there appears to be conflicting guide prices on the same property.
One house is 280,000 with one and 295,000 on another.
A second house that I have already viewed started at 300,000 and increased to 330,000 with the same agent and 340,000 with another.
This is slightly worrying especially if I put in an offer higher than possibly required.
Any advice on this?
What are your experiences with this?

Hate to be blunt, but offer what you think it is worth.

They will always come back to you, if they get a higher offer. We offered €305 on an agents asking of €335 two weeks ago. They refused, but I can be sure they'll come back if there is (or isn't!) another offer, and if the client still wants to sell. That's what it is worth to us.

I would say it's failry rare these days that a property gets the exact asking price.

Sinewave,
Dunno about Galway but I'd say its rare that a property goes for 10% less than the asking price. Let us know if you get that property for 305K

SmokeyGirl,
Some agents ask low and expect the bids to rise to at least asking price, others start high and expect less bids but still at or abouve the asking price. Look at simialr properties and see what's realistic if there is any realism left in the Irish Property market.

Noobie.

If you feel uncomfortable with the offer, withdraw it and make the lower offer with the other agent. You're not in any binding agreement or contract.

Having been through the process in Galway in the last 6 months, I can verify that estate agents are not above sharp practice.

For example house on the market at a figure for 5 weeks with no offers, asked the agent the story. One employee tells me the vendor has bought (with the same agent at auction), so absolutely needs to sell in next 4 weeks. We put in an offer approx 10% below that, and immediately there magically appears another bidder who offers slightly more. After a increase of a few K, I told the agent we were going no higher, so to consider us out of the bidding process. After a few more pressurising phone calls from the agent he finally gives up.
Lo and behold a week later, agent rings back asking us if we want to increase our offer again. Told him my position hadn't changed since the previous week, and asked where the other mystery bidder who had offered more had gone to.
One week later the property was taken off the market.

The lesson as far as I was concerned is offer what you can afford and think it's worth, and try to avoid playing into the auctioneers hands by getting into a bidding frenzy.
I also found in Galway that going above the stamp duty limit for first time buyers, if you can at all, even with the pain of the 10K cost, was worth it for location.
Alot of houses over 317K seem to stick, and there tends not to be as many chasing them.

SineWave said:

Hate to be blunt, but offer what you think it is worth.

They will always come back to you, if they get a higher offer. We offered €305 on an agents asking of €335 two weeks ago. They refused, but I can be sure they'll come back if there is (or isn't!) another offer, and if the client still wants to sell. That's what it is worth to us.

I would say it's failry rare these days that a property gets the exact asking price.

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Your right about property not going for the exact asking price but in dublin they are going for ridicolus amounts over the asking price. I recently had in an interest in ahouse which was priced at 350, it sold for 385

Your right about property not going for the exact asking price but in dublin they are going for ridicolus amounts over the asking price. I recently had in an interest in ahouse which was priced at 350, it sold for 385

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I know what you mean about guide prices in Dublin... we were interested in one house that was originally guiding at €365,000 it eventualy sold for €550,00. Although tbh I think even the agent was stunned at that!