puff the dragon

Hi

we have been to look at a few properties today and liked 3 in all.All 3 were advertised as offers above $500

Later a different estate agent told us that many estate agents put that in the price,when in fact the vendor wouldnt accept below $520k.Its used to get more people to view

That all seems highly unfair to me,anyone else come across it?

Tramps_mate

That's how it's done, like a silent auction. Same as Scotland..

They will have a date for offers to be in by then they accept the highest. Stops people getting in to bidding wars.

For a 500k house someone could bid 510 while another might offer 580..

Dorothy

We saw a house here we liked. The advertisement said offers above $500k so we offered $475k. The vendor came back with a counter of $520k so we countered with $495 and they said the lowest they would go was $510k. We thanked the RE agent and walked away. Our budget was for $500k, so if the sellers weren't willing to sell for $500 then their loss. There are plenty of other houses available out there.

It was on here that I read the best bit of RE advice. "If you're not embarrased by your first offer, you're offering too much". I'm not sure what it's like in Qld, but here in WA the agent has to present any offer to the sellers. And really, the worst that can happen is that they say no, right?

ozzieeagle

All Auctions and All "Set Sales" expect to pay above the asking price. All "Private Sales" with the price displayed, pay below.

Only time you see "Private Sales" in Melbourne is in hard to sell areas or poor condition houses.

.

roaringmouse

Tend to get a mix in my area of Melbourne, and not for the reasons you suggest.

coldbeer

I heard that a great many, maybe even most houses in Melbourne are "hard to sell" these days...

As for Offers Above - ignore these words!

gumtree

The townhouse advertised below has been put on private sale for over 200 days. The price was first quoted for $530K, then $519, $509, $499, $489 and now $479K.

http://www.domain.com.au/Property/Fo...did=2008966150

EinsteinJ

Anybody knows how to check the sold price history for particular residential property in Melbourne with small fee or free? Thanks.

SKIPPI79

on domain, theres a SOLD link, click that and add fill everything out. You get the houses that have sold and the price it was going for, whether that it was sold ofr that price,; you'll never know.
Although I have somewhere come across a website that has the sold market on it and how much it was sold for, I don't think it was free though.

good luck

KJCherokee

Try the Land Registry - though what details are available will depend on the State you are looking in. Queensland will provide a list of the most recent sale prices of all the properties in an area for around $45.

PunkDebutante

onthehouse.com.au is another great site for checking sold prices.

killerhales

We just sold our house in Sydney, "by negotiation".

Potential buyers were informed we were seeking greater than "x" dollars.

The eventual buyers offered "x" plus $35K

They were informed that "x" plus $95K would be immediately accepted.

Deal done at "x" plus $45K.

We thought this was a fair process. Obviously it all depends if your "x" is realistic in your local market.

We wanted to avoid the stress of an auction, both for ourselves and potential buyers. We once bid at an auction where the eventual winning bid was some $300K over the value of the property at that time, and I would bet that a divorce was the eventual result!

In Exile

having experienced both, to be honest I'm not sure which is worse. The auction adds an element of pressure and I can see how its easy to get caught up. Its also a horrible way to buy a house, due to the lack of cooling off period and the need to perform due dilligence prior to attending. Waste of money.
However a private sale is very frustrating because as soon as the RE agent has hung up the phone with your 'accepted offer', he's immediately calling any other buyers to apply pressure and effectively starting a phone auction anyway.

spartacus

Try www.onthehouse.com.au

Red_V_Roger

It frustrated us like hell when we were trying to buy, because you knew the agent way just talking bull when he said they had offers $70K over the 'from' price.

To me it is just like a long auction when people do this - its people that often don't really need/want to move who just want to test out what the house is worth or listen to the bull from greasy agents.