For sale... but no price

[perthguy]

Call me old fashioned, but if I am selling a house I will have some idea of how much I want for it and list it accordingly. It seems in Perth, there are an increasing number of priceless properties (pardon the pun). By this I mean they are listed for EOI, offers, express sale, set date sale, 30 day sale or even the most ridiculous... "Let's talk". I joke with my co-worker who says: what if I offer them a 28 day sale, do you think they would take it? Or if I offer to talk to them does that mean I get the property? How much would I have to talk to them... etc.

Seriously though, I have had some express sales turn up in the sold for less than I would have paid for them but I missed them in my searches because they didn't have a price. How do you work out what to offer for a house that has no price?

 

[turk]

. How do you work out what to offer for a house that has no price?

How do you work out what to offer for a place that has a price?

 

[perthguy]

How do you work out what to offer for a place that has a price?

I always offer less than the vendor has listed property for. I don't care if it says "offers from" or a price range. I just go under that. By how much depends on the comps.

 

[turk]

I always offer less than the vendor has listed property for. I don't care if it says "offers from" or a price range. I just go under that. By how much depends on the comps.

You've answered your question "depends on the comps"

 

[Bats]

Sometimes I just think the REA are too b...dy lazy and want us to do their work for them.

 

[perthguy]

You've answered your question "depends on the comps"

If there are any recent ones. I find those "priceless" properties are usually listed without a price because there are no recent comps in the locality. To me, the agent and owner are saying... yeah, so, we know the market is hot and we want top dollar but we can't find anything to compare this house to so we have no idea how high it will go, so instead of bothering to set the price we will get you to do all the work... and then say "no" if we don't like your price.

 

[turk]

If there are any recent ones. I find those "priceless" properties are usually listed without a price because there are no recent comps in the locality. To me, the agent and owner are saying... yeah, so, we know the market is hot and we want top dollar but we can't find anything to compare this house to so we have no idea how high it will go, so instead of bothering to set the price we will get you to do all the work... and then say "no" if we don't like your price.

Whether there are comps or not you need to know what value the house has to you.

Why would you offer on a house without knowing this?

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

Sometimes I just think the REA are too b...dy lazy and want us to do their work for them.

More likely they're relying on purchasers to not do their research property and then to allow themselves to be negotiated upwards to pay a premium price for the property.

The pricing advertised on a website is useful for little more than refining your searches of that website.

 

[alexlee]

If there are any recent ones. I find those "priceless" properties are usually listed without a price because there are no recent comps in the locality. To me, the agent and owner are saying... yeah, so, we know the market is hot and we want top dollar but we can't find anything to compare this house to so we have no idea how high it will go, so instead of bothering to set the price we will get you to do all the work... and then say "no" if we don't like your price.

That makes sense, no? A property with no recent comps and in a hot market.... they're better off not putting a price and hope some emotional owner occupier decides they 'have' to buy it, can't find comps and just offers their limit.

The agent works for the seller. What you want as the buyer doesn't matter all that much.

 

[Dazz]

Call me old fashioned, but if I am selling a house I will have some idea of how much I want for it and list it accordingly.

You're old fashioned.

 

[perthguy]

Whether there are comps or not you need to know what value the house has to you.

Why would you offer on a house without knowing this?

Well, I would only put an offer on a house where I knew the value to me. My situation is that I have limited time to do DD on properties (inspect, find comps etc) so I would only start negotiating if I had some idea of where the vendor is in terms of price. I guess what I am trying to say is that it could be a complete waste of time to start negotiating on a property only to find out that myself and the vendor are miles apart in terms of price.

The agent works for the seller. What you want as the buyer doesn't matter all that much.

So, is this strategy working for the vendor? As I stated earlier, I have seen houses pop up in the sold section that went for under what I was prepared to pay but I didn't start negotiating because I thought it would be a waste of my time. In my case, this strategy is not getting the highest price for the vendor.

 

[perthguy]

You're old fashioned.

I am old fashioned.

 

[sanj]

I always offer less than the vendor has listed property for. I don't care if it says "offers from" or a price range. I just go under that. By how much depends on the comps.

what if the property is a screaming bargain and you have competition? you would still insist on offering below asking price? seems an odd approach/blanket rule

 

[thatbum]

Well, I would only put an offer on a house where I knew the value to me. My situation is that I have limited time to do DD on properties (inspect, find comps etc) so I would only start negotiating if I had some idea of where the vendor is in terms of price.

This is your problem.

I think from the feedback you've been getting in this thread you can take that all serious investors would do enough DD so that the asking price means very little.

It certainly shouldn't be used as a starting point in terms of deciding what to offer.

 

[perthguy]

what if the property is a screaming bargain and you have competition? you would still insist on offering below asking price? seems an odd approach/blanket rule

I am about to start negotiations on IP#4, so all I can say is that I guess it has been working for me so far.

I think from the feedback you've been getting in this thread you can take that all serious investors would do enough DD so that the asking price means very little.

It certainly shouldn't be used as a starting point in terms of deciding what to offer.

Having successfully negotiated the purchase of 5 investment properties, all under the asking price, I guess I am a serious investor?

 

[perthguy]

How many posting in this thread have negotiated on a property that listed without a price or price guide? How did you determine a price to offer? Was your offer accepted? Did you eventually purchase the property? I would be interested to hear some actual experiences.

 

[sanj]

I am about to start negotiations on IP#4, so all I can say is that I guess it has been working for me so far.


Having successfully negotiated the purchase of 5 investment properties, all under the asking price, I guess I am a serious investor?

fair enough, we all have our different quirks i guess.

ive quite happily paid both full price and above in the past, in both cases they were still well worth it

 

[sanj]

How many posting in this thread have negotiated on a property that listed without a price or price guide? How did you determine a price to offer? Was your offer accepted? Did you eventually purchase the property? I would be interested to hear some actual experiences.

i purchased a development site off one of the larger commercial agents once that the bank had repossessed. there was a basic IM and that was about it, no real price guide, not much feedback etc.

ended up getting it but it required extensive DD

 

[perthguy]

i purchased a development site off one of the larger commercial agents once that the bank had repossessed. there was a basic IM and that was about it, no real price guide, not much feedback etc.

ended up getting it but it required extensive DD

Good work!

 

[vaughan]

I always offer less than the vendor has listed property for.

I just sold a property and the first offer was $20,000 ABOVE our asking price. The agent succeeded in getting another $5,000 out of them, too. But the market was hot, the buyers really wanted the place settlement before Christmas, and to be honest we had no idea what the property would sell for (very small acreage in a rural area on the CC).

OTOH I just purchased an IP for $35,000 below their asking price. That's because their asking price was delusional, not because I used Jedi mind tricks on them. I'm still working out whether I bought a bargain or a train wreck.