Negotiating tactic, advice appreciated

[Tillie]

Thanks for everyone who offered the help and hints with the negotiations on the forum and also privately. Highly appreciated.

A little bit update.

We spoke with the other agent in the area, who knows the house and gave the owner price valuation prior them to putting it for sale. He recons that the property is worth $1.3 - $1.4m, but the owners wants $2m for it. Naturally he did not get the listing

We sent our friend to open inspection yesterday and he delivered the message to the agent that the property is not worth the price inside the price range. It seems to be that all other people have delivered the same message. We spoke to REA last night and he told us that the owners are stubborn and wants the price upper end of their price range. He also mentioned that because the owners are not prepared to meet the market, REA might give listing away. He mentioned that no point to try to market the property when market clearly rejects the vendor's price. Never heard that before

So we decided to move on and let the property sit on the market. If vendors change their mind later and price comes down to 'the normal level' and if we are still on the market, we'll give it another consideration. But for now we are looking for all other opportunities.

Positive news for this week is that we received the valuation for our house and it exceeded our expectations.

 

[cu@thetop]

I'm in the market for a new house- probably PPR.
Your only real defence against agent or seller shenanigans is not to invest too much time in any one deal but look at lots of them- if you miss one there will be others. Pointless wasting any time with unrealistic sellers- you have to invest a lot of engery getting them to a market price- energy you can be spending looking for other deals.

There is a saying- "the deal of a lifetime comes around once a month". This is true. Since August I have seen (and missed) two such bargains- both auctions.

Just keep looking.

And don't go for any "letter of intent" crapola. Either put an offer in (with legal advice 1st) or don't.

 

[Tillie]

There is a saying- "the deal of a lifetime comes around once a month". This is true. Since August I have seen (and missed) two such bargains- both auctions.

Just keep looking.

This is so true. We decided to move on and now looking for the next deal of a lifetime.

 

[westminster]

Congrats on being able to remove yourself from the lure of it.
I know you really liked it and could have easily gone silly and just paid that price.

Big kudos to you for doing lots of due diligence and listening to your head.

Here's to the next one

 

[PrimeProperty]

The best thing you could do is engage a licensed valuer (approx $500 to $600) to value the property on your behalf. Valuations will usually be below what a buyer would actually pay (given that they are done with no emotional attachment to the property).

If you would be happy to buy the property at the valuation price then give a copy of the valuation to the agent and I am sure the agent will use it to demonstrate to the seller what their home is really worth. Remember, at prices over $1 mill the banks will need the valuation to stack up to ensure finance and you can use this to your advantage.

I had a client last month use this strategy and not only bought the home that they loved but saved $200 k in the process.