I'm on with a big estate agent. Just spoken to my negotiator who has been trying to get me to drop the price for months now.

I appreciate the market, but I cannot drop the price. It is VERY reasonably priced currently.

They are now saying that they can't keep the property on the market at that price and are speaking to their valuer. I said as the vendor it is up to me what price the property is at.

Any advice? As it stands they want £250 if it doesn't sell. I have said if they want to get rid of me all they need to do is send an invoice for £0.

It is getting to the point where the negotiator is being quite rude and forceful on the phone. Feel like I'm being bullied into dropping the price.

I had prepared to let the property, but thought I would give it one last push to sell particularly with the MyChoiceHomeBuy for first time buyers.

well the EA are speaking to potential purchasors all the time and if the feedback is that it over priced then they are duty bound to inform you.

Admitidly there is no casue for being rude!

There was an estate agent on the news the other morning who said it is somethign they are having to do. When someone puts their house on the market they tell them to find the house they want and then speak to the vendors of that. Basically working up the chain to get everyone to drop the price by a few grand.

You pay a coupel fo grand less for the one you want so can drop your price by a couple of grand so that the house at the bottom of the chain gets to be the most affordable for a first time buyer. Otherwise nothing moves.

That said, whether your EA are doing that or not is no reason for ruseness or pushiness

Thanks for the info.

I keep getting stats given to me - so many people have downloaded this, so many people have enquired etc etc. They are using this as a means to get me to reduce the price. But I've said to them that when my property appears on rightmove or where ever, the price is next to it - why download the info if they think it's too expensive. Any why not put it an offer - I've had no offers at all.

I don't think they care whether they sell it. If they do, even on a lower price, they get a big commission. If they don't sell, they get £250.

Prices are dropping though, that's true. I looked at a flat at the beginning of the year, the price has now gone down by £15k.

As for the £250, didn't you realise at the time of signing up with them, that if you took the house off the market or away from their agency that they'd be wanting to recoup their outlay from you? Presumably it's been photographed, advertised, brochures printed etc. And they'll have made calls on your behalf etc. It all has to be paid for one way or another.

You need to drop the price and drop it fast if you still want to sell the place! We are fast comming into the holiday season when the market stagnates, and then the autum / winter markets when selling is historically difficult anyway. Times are far from normal in the credit world, and you need to act decisively. A properties' 'value' is only a function of supply and demand and at the moment there ain't any demand. Although no fan of EA's myself you need to heed their advice as they are at the sharp end of the market. Some properties I know have have already changed hands for less than 40% of their 2007 values. It's not going to get any better pal!

Unless you're desperate to sell either take it off the market or rent it out until the market improves. The Council of Mortgage Lenders have made a proposal to the government that should increase the supply of mortgage funds, so an improvement may be on its' way.

If you really object to paying the £250 then make a complaint about their manner and see where that gets you.

Unless you're desperate to sell either take it off the market or rent it out until the market improves. The Council of Mortgage Lenders have made a proposal to the government that should increase the supply of mortgage funds, so an improvement may be on its' way.

If you really object to paying the £250 then make a complaint about their manner and see where that gets you.

But we're in a declining market and things are unlikely to improve for several years.

The CML's proposal will only have a tiny effect on what is becomming a global phenomenon as the credit markets unwind

Unless you're desperate to sell either take it off the market or rent it out until the market improves. The Council of Mortgage Lenders have made a proposal to the government that should increase the supply of mortgage funds, so an improvement may be on its' way.



Unusually for me, I agree with BertieBassset, and if you are desperate to sell then you need to reduce your price accordingly.

The EA would not want you to reduce to a really low price if they felt they could acheive a higher price. As you have already said that they will want their commission and therefore will always want to acheive a higher sale price. It is in their best interest - therefore, they will ask you to reduce to become more inline with other properties in the area from viewing feedback and general feedback to acheive a sale. Looking on Rightmove is not the best indicator to value as they havent sold their property therefore you could have 20 vendors saying "there is a property down the road that same as mine at £5k more therefore mine must be worth about that" has it sold at £5k more? No - then its not worth that value yet - a property is only worth as much as a willing buyer is prepared to pay for it. The withdrawal fee would have been in your initial instruction contract.

What you offering and at what price?

The market is dead, people are not buying and prices are dropping rapidly, so it's natural for the agents to start talking about dropping the marketing price. Much as I detest estate agents, if they really feel the marketing price is too high, it's unfair to expect them to put more time and money into marketing it just because you insist the price is right. If you don't want to drop the price, then take it off the market or find a new agent who'll market it at your preferred price (you may not find one though).

If you signed an agency agreement with a £250 withdrawal fee, then you'll have to suck it up and pay; next time look for a no-sale-no-fee agent, or consider someone like housesimple.co.uk. Or sell it privately, that way you can completely dictate the selling price.

TBH, if your house has been on the market for a long time, then obviously you should be dropping the price as in the past few months prices have dropped considerably.

I remember when I bought my house that Blundells seemed to undervalue all their properties in order to get people into a bidding war. Maybe reducing the price on your house will have a similar affect? It could be worth a go and if you still don't get an offer that you want to accept then all you have lost is the original £250 that you may end up having to pay anyway.

I'm on with a big estate agent. Just spoken to my negotiator who has been trying to get me to drop the price for months now.

I appreciate the market, but I cannot drop the price. It is VERY reasonably priced currently.

They are now saying that they can't keep the property on the market at that price and are speaking to their valuer. I said as the vendor it is up to me what price the property is at.

Any advice? As it stands they want £250 if it doesn't sell. I have said if they want to get rid of me all they need to do is send an invoice for £0.

It is getting to the point where the negotiator is being quite rude and forceful on the phone. Feel like I'm being bullied into dropping the price.

I had prepared to let the property, but thought I would give it one last push to sell particularly with the MyChoiceHomeBuy for first time buyers.

Just remember it is your property, and it gets sold at your price not theirs. I had this with a couple of EA's, just show them who the boss is. And remember that a couple of lenders have now reduced the rate on mortgages, re yesterdays Sunday Times. Our property has now sold, buyers are still out there.

Buyers are only out there at the right price.

There is no point marketing a property at a price which is above market value. Any agent worth their salt will be asking you to reduce to achieve a sale.

Just remember it is your property, and it gets sold at your price not theirs. I had this with a couple of EA's, just show them who the boss is.

By the sounds of it, the OP's estate agent is going to withdraw the property from sale if they don't reduce in line with the advice given. So it's not an option to 'show them who's boss' as if they don't do as advised, the agent will drop them from their books and they will still be charged £250 withdrawal fee as it applies regardless of who makes the decision to withdraw from the market.

I'd take their advice or withdraw if you aren't desperate to sell, pay the £250 and leave things until the market has recovered. It's not going to improve any time soon so if you need to sell then do it now, because if you leave it you will probably end up having to reduce even further in a couple of months.

Just to reply to some other postings - houses are still selling - a 3 bed terrace went up on woodseats road with blundells about 3 weeks ago and now has a sold sign on. It was 3 rooms, seperate dinning room, and done out nicely. So good to move stright into for a 1st time buyer thats skint from having a deposit

Must say its not nice being on the receiving end of threats to throw you off the market........We had a similar situation the other year and basically it was "reduce price or we'll withdraw and you pay the £250 fee". Speak to someone higher in the EA and see where it gets you - I reckon its just the EA trying to get a sale but there is some rationale behind reducing the price if you really want to sell it...

If you are convinced that the price is the reason why your house isn't selling then you should reduce it, assuming you definitely want to sell and not rent it out or stick with it for longer.

But, it's important to be sure that the price is the reason. I don't agree with some comments on here that the estate agents wouldn't want you to reduce it if they could sell it at a higher price. Estate agents, like any other business, depend on cashflow, which comes from sales, to survive.

Houses are not selling strongly at the moment, so, the estate agents are more likely to look to increase their turnover by offering properties at reduced prices. This way they keep money coming in to their business. If demand was higher they could afford to stick out for higher prices.

I'd check out what similar properties have sold for recently, if you can find out this kind of information it will give you some guide. If there are lots of similar properties you will be more at risk of needing to reduce the price. If you have a more unique type of property, and especially if you live in an area where demand is still high (due to desirability of the area and possible shortage of supply) then you can hold on.

You can always hope to recoup your reduction by getting a similar reduction on the place you are buying. But, do your homework first on the area you are thinking of moving to. If demand there is still relatively high you might not succeed.

I think it depends on how much you need to sell and move now. If it is essential that you move, I'd say do it quickly, whatever that takes, because it will be 2-3 years of getting worse before it gets better again. In that time the price of your property could fall another 20% or more.

Why don't yo reduce the price and just decline any offers at that price?? You don't HAVE to accept an offer just because it's the asking price??

Might buy you a little more time with the EA....

Could you reduce it but to offers over a certain price? We are trying to sell our house at Woodseats. Some people have reduced theirs to more than £10,000 less than ours but they are still not selling, so at the moment I don't see the point in reducing. If there isn't anyone to buy then (unless we reduce ridiculously low and therefore wouldn't be able to afford the next step up) then even if we reduce we still won't sell.

Could you reduce it but to offers over a certain price? We are trying to sell our house at Woodseats. Some people have reduced theirs to more than £10,000 less than ours but they are still not selling, so at the moment I don't see the point in reducing. If there isn't anyone to buy then (unless we reduce ridiculously low and therefore wouldn't be able to afford the next step up) then even if we reduce we still won't sell.

I think this is good advise. Also offering to pay a 5% deposit or legal fees seems to lure in the remaining buyers.

Ultimately, a house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it - not what the vendor or estate agent think it's worth.

Given you've had no offers on your property at all, that would suggest that your property is overpriced for the current market. Your EA might not be explaining this to you in the most customer-friendly manner, but if your house has been up for more than a couple of months with no offers, it either needs to come down in price, or be better presented to achieve the price you want. Selling property is all about being better than comparable houses that are out there. If you're on the market at say £200K, you need to know exactly what else £200K could get you, and make sure your house has the edge - especially in a buyers market such as the one we're in now.

Ultimately, a house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it - not what the vendor or estate agent think it's worth.

Given you've had no offers on your property at all, that would suggest that your property is overpriced for the current market. Your EA might not be explaining this to you in the most customer-friendly manner, but if your house has been up for more than a couple of months with no offers, it either needs to come down in price, or be better presented to achieve the price you want. Selling property is all about being better than comparable houses that are out there. If you're on the market at say £200K, you need to know exactly what else £200K could get you, and make sure your house has the edge - especially in a buyers market such as the one we're in now.

Agree with most of what you said, but not the first bit. It doesn't suggest that a house is overpriced if it isn't selling, that's what the EA would have you believe, but it's not necessarily the case.

My mother in law has had her semi on the market for 6 months now, 2 or 3 viewings, no-one proceedable, and no offers. She has been under tremendous pressure from the EA to reduce the price - yet, she put it on the market a good £10K below a similar property in the same area which sold around Christmas time last year.

My advice to her was to think very carefully before reducing it. The problem at the moment is that people aren't moving, they are staying put because of the economic uncertainties. In this situation the lack of "buyers" is the reason why she's not getting offers. However, it only takes one serious buyer to change that.

In the past two weeks she's had two new prospective buyers bidding for it!
It was nothing to do with it being overpriced at all - and if she had reduced it then she would have not increased her chances of it selling whatsoever, but would have had less money.

Your point about making comparisons with other properties is spot on. That's what anyone must do before being pressured into thinking the lack of interest is down to the price.

But we're in a declining market and things are unlikely to improve for several years.

The CML's proposal will only have a tiny effect on what is becomming a global phenomenon as the credit markets unwind

You couldn't be more wrong, we have an acute shortage of housing in the UK and are experiencing a correction in prices. There are hardly any houses for sale at the moment, I recently counted the For Sale signs whilst driving 8 miles from the South West of Sheffield up to the Wards Brewery apartments. I even included the streets off Hangingwater Rd, Ruslings Rd and Ecclesall Rd and only spotted 20 signs, three of them were 'sale agreed'.

If someone is selling and buying they will get back the discount they give their buyer by getting a similar one from the seller of their intended purchase.

You can't compare the UK with any other country as we are home owning fanatics, you would never get a German or Spaniard to watch a TV programme about buying property but we love them.

Give it 18 months to 2 years and you will not remember the credit crunch.

I see there are three options
1) you withdraw the property yourself and pay the fee. If its in the contract, then fair plays.
2) you drop the price and see what happens, maybe the agents are right, maybe not, but you don't have to accept any offer at all, but if you need to sell fast.....
3) you do nothing. If the agents want rid of you to cut their losses, then thats their prerogative, and their decision, but I would question the £250, considering its them dumping you, not you withdrawing by choice. Don't let them bully you. In a supposed recession, you'd think a company would want as many clients as it can get its hands on.

Good luck. Houses not selling over in Hull or East Yorkshire either. Mine isn't anyway. My neighbour has sold his though, but will give it time to look on the internet to see how much of a hit he had to take. :-(

If You Feel Uncomfortable At This Stage With Lowering The Valuation Then Its More Likely You Will Pull The Plug Further Down The Line, I Am Finding Potential Buyers Are Offering Below Valuation No Matter What It Is, So You May Reduce The Asking Price And Still Get A Lower Offer.

By the sounds of it, the OP's estate agent is going to withdraw the property from sale if they don't reduce in line with the advice given. So it's not an option to 'show them who's boss' as if they don't do as advised, the agent will drop them from their books and they will still be charged £250 withdrawal fee as it applies regardless of who makes the decision to withdraw from the market.

I'd take their advice or withdraw if you aren't desperate to sell, pay the £250 and leave things until the market has recovered. It's not going to improve any time soon so if you need to sell then do it now, because if you leave it you will probably end up having to reduce even further in a couple of months.

I doubt that the contract says that the agent can unilaterally end the agreement and still charge a £250 no sale fee, if it did they could do that at any time for any reason.
If they want out of the contract, then it has to be on the vendors terms, which would be £0 fee.

You couldn't be more wrong, we have an acute shortage of housing in the UK and are experiencing a correction in prices. There are hardly any houses for sale at the moment, I recently counted the For Sale signs whilst driving 8 miles from the South West of Sheffield up to the Wards Brewery apartments. I even included the streets off Hangingwater Rd, Ruslings Rd and Ecclesall Rd and only spotted 20 signs, three of them were 'sale agreed'.

If someone is selling and buying they will get back the discount they give their buyer by getting a similar one from the seller of their intended purchase.

You can't compare the UK with any other country as we are home owning fanatics, you would never get a German or Spaniard to watch a TV programme about buying property but we love them.

Give it 18 months to 2 years and you will not remember the credit crunch.

Until recently there were more unsold houses on estate agents books than ever before on record.
Which means that the homes are there for sale, but no one is actually getting to the point of completing.

A lack of buyers does affect the price, yes there will still be the odd buyer and the odd anecdote where you get your asking price, but reducing the price will make it more likely to sell.

I doubt that the contract says that the agent can unilaterally end the agreement and still charge a £250 no sale fee, if it did they could do that at any time for any reason.
If they want out of the contract, then it has to be on the vendors terms, which would be £0 fee.

You'd be surprised as to the number of agents that have this as a clause in the contract.

We won't know without viewing the contract, but if it does say that, I doubt it's enforceable as it's not a reasonable clause.

I know this isnt directly UNSW related, but would anyone be able to tell me if Basser have internet in the rooms?

My mate has already dropped the price of his property and his agents are still wanting to bill him for marketing costs because its been on the market for 4+ months. According to the agents they are all finding it tough because 'nothing is selling'.

Problem with selling your house is its an emotional thing as well - it almost feels like a personal insult when someone tries to tell you what its really worth.