What to offer in our current situation

mercman said:

With every respect to you Mr.Man are you implying that the OP should speak with an Estate Agent ? The EA trade only relented to a falling market after all and sundry knew and realised what was going on. Throughout the length and breath of the country properties have remained on the market at crazy prices as the EAs tell vendors not to advertise at a lower price. If they want to get the market moving again they will act honestly and advise their clients on the actual state of the market which just might get things moving eventually. Oh, the joys of using the services of entities working on a commission basis !

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Mercman i understand your disdain for EA's and I accept it but not everythin I say is a direct aim at keeping the market inflated. I don't see it as a them and us argument, my advice was that they should speak to someone who has knowledge of that market and knows the property, preferably someone that they personally know and it need not be an EA. I also have told plenty of vendors that their valuation of the property is way out, one recent case was 200k out from my valuation but 'lets try it at the higher price and see how it goes' or ' I can't afford to sell it for that valuation' or usually ' you must be joking' followed by a fall out and loss of business and invariably some bad mouthing about my valuation abilities and competence. The vendor is king in this instance and the ones who actually take on board the advice are the ones who generally make sales. There are still agents offering the higher value to secure the business but as more and more of us are joinging the dole queue there well be less will ing to pander to the egos of unrealistic vendors

€2.9m!
Fantastic amount of money. I wish I was in your position, and I wish you luck with your purchase.
Firstly, I'd get a viewing of the house, and leave it for a week or two. Then ask for a second viewing, and at the end of that viewing, tell the EA (or whoever) that you like the house, you've done your homework, that you believe that the going rate for that property is €1.5m, and make that offer. Definitely mention that you're not in a Sell-to-buy position, and that you're willing to close immediately. Give them a few days to think about it, but don't leave it as an "open ended" offer. TBH, I don't think it's gonna sell in the next week or two!

Having said all that, if I was spending that kinda money, I'd rather buy a plot of land and built my own place. Probably harder to do that up in Dublin, but might be something worth looking into.

Best of luck again, and if you fancy throwing 10% of asking price my way.....

mf1 said:

"Throughout the length and breath of the country properties have remained on the market at crazy prices as the EAs tell vendors not to advertise at a lower price. If they want to get the market moving again they will act honestly and advise their clients on the actual state of the market which just might get things moving eventually."


I wholeheartedly dispute this version of reality. I have said it before and I will say it again, VENDORS - yes the people selling!- are the ones who make the decisions about the sale price.Could we please stop peddling the notion that clients take no decisions, have no responsibilities and are led by the nose by all their advisers! Its as if everyone else is always responsible - never the individual.

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I have to agree with mf. In my personal experience (take from it what you will) bidding for a house in the last year was that the EA was a lot more realistic about the price that the house could achieve. The EA is hamstrung a bit in that she can't exactly agree with me when I tell her that the vendor is delusional in expecting the asking price she has put on the house.

The house I was looking at was listed at €750k over a year ago. Vendor dropped the price in or around April '08 to €720k. I bid €610k in July. Bid was rejected and I was told that the vendor would probably take €650k. I said no and went on my merry way. I emailed the EA 3 months later (October) and asked if there was any movement. No movement on the house and I was asked if I wanted to re-instate my €610k bid (no actual promise that same would be accepted). I said no and said that I wouldn't pay more than €580k at that stage. Bid rejected and I again went on my merry way. Now the house has been reduced to €680k and is still on the market, over a year later. [And before people start talking about the vendor not wanting to sell below what they paid, the vendor has lived there for a gazillion years and I doubt if there's any mortgage at all on it so, basically, the vendor is financially free to sell for whatever price she wants].

If you look at the numbers there, note that the current asking price is *still* €30k over what the vendor would have accepted back in July '08 (€650k). Again, while the EA can't say anything to me about the unrealistic expectations of the vendor, I can certainly read the EA's frustration between the lines. Btw, the EA has always been pleasant, helpful and responsive in any of my dealings with her. I actually feel for her because she's still working to sell at a price where it simply won't shift.

Sprite