Sellers are being warned not to risk over-pricing during the autumn market, following new research from Rightmove which finds that 62% of home-hunters simply won’t view a property they consider to be over-priced, even if it ticks all the boxes on their wish-list.
Rightmove’s research finds that only 38% of home-movers would actually go and view a property they consider to be over-priced before deciding whether to put in a lower offer.
Rightmove director Miles Shipside said: “It can be tempting for sellers to price high on the assumption that they are giving themselves room for negotiation.
“However, our findings indicate that this can be a risky business and is likely to deter some six in ten potential buyers who might otherwise have visited the property without hesitation.
“Price is obviously a critical issue for both buyers and sellers in the current market, but it’s much harder for a potential buyer to fall in love with a property if the asking price deters them from even setting foot through the front door.”
Among the 62% of respondents who would not go and view a property they felt was over-priced, only one-third (20%) would ask the estate agent if the vendor would accept offers under.
Rightmove carried out the research as part of its ‘Market Intelligence’ campaign aimed at providing sellers and landlords with the right market intelligence for their local market, including local price data.
The Market Intelligence campaign takes users on an interactive tour of their local area, using a feed from Google Street View and the latest property market trends, data and prices.
Now entering its third and final month, the campaign has had over 350,000 visits to the campaign homepage.
However, there remains no getting away from the fact that there is a huge price gap between sales prices and asking prices.
Rightmove’s current average asking price for a property new to the market is £234,858. The latest national house price survey, from Halifax, puts the average sales price in September at £159,486.
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Comments
Viewing RM in my local post code tells a story...all houses on the first page and beyond have been on the market for around six months. My ideal home is one of them and a little internet research tells me its overpriced by £45000. In an effort to test the water we invited the agent marketing the property to value our home and expressed our interest...turns out the valuer lives on the same street as the property we're interested in! I suggested the vendors were being unrealistic
and my research suggested the property was being marketed at 2007 prices! "Nonsense" said the vendors neighbour "the house is marketed at a value in line with similar properties in the area"...all of which have been on the
market for 6 months plus I pointed out.
I wonder how many Estate Agencies
will go out of business in 2013 as a result of this mess?
'SoTaJ'
I will refrain from making any juvenile bastardisations of your screen name - I leave that sort of thing to complete eejits...
"Arrogant plum"? Been called far worse, by far better and way more intelligent people than you - so I'll not even get a sweat on over that little shotlet either.
"Just this week I had to explain to a vendor that a 355 offer on a 380 priced property was in keeping with current trends (93% of asking price achieved, on average). However, they were still worried so, using RM plus I demonstrated to them the huge discrepancy between asking and selling prices in relation to their ongoing purchase."
No. What you REALLY mean is " Just this week (assuming that I AM actually an Estate Agent and not someone trying to pretend to be one - which is far more likely taking into account what I said above...) I had to convince an angry vendor that when I spun him an overoptimistic price to gain the instruction that in fact I'd done him a favour as he is now being offered what the house is REALLY worth (give or take a few grand but as long as I get a fee that's not my problem) - so I drew his attention to some dodgy statistics on RM that make his offer look like it should be snapped up, and that I am the corgi's cojones for actually achieving it in the first place."
So - you hit the 'magic' 93% of asking then cave in? Some negotiator you are! The kind that finds it easier to get the vendor to come down than the buyer to go up any more. I used to train people like you in better methods - you probably were still at school then.
Pity that you didn't have the courage of your convictions - or skill - both in the initial appraisal stage to actually tell the vendor what his property would achieve; and secondly to be able to justify the offer to the vendor yourself and not having to sit them in front of a computer screen in order to do so...
Indicates to me that you conduct ALL your business this way - unfortunately for your poor vendors. It's people like you that give Peter Hendry's rantings some credence.
If you see the above as 'arrogant plumness' - then I guess you'll feel justified and that you got me right in the first place.
I don't care.
@ Hbird
Firstly, why are you even engaging with PeeBrain? Arrogant plum as far as I can tell.
Secondly, don't despair. Believing that advertised prices are a true reflection of property values is no different to believing you'll be chased down the street by scantily clad women if you use Lynx deodorant.
I'm an EA and my advice is don't be put off by asking prices. Just this week I had to explain to a vendor that a 355 offer on a 380 priced property was in keeping with current trends (93% of asking price achieved, on average). However, they were still worried so, using RM plus I demonstrated to them the huge discrepancy between asking and selling prices in relation to their ongoing purchase.
Once they realised that asking prices are, in many cases, far from realistic they were confident enough to continue with their sale/purchase.
@Happy Chappy.
Do you know what I should bin it shouldn’t I? – thing is it’s a relatively small DD every month and ive been on it since it came out and the main reason I think I stay on it is that years ago Berkeley Homes were going to give me 6 big nudgers to sell and said they only worked with agents that were on it (it was new and spangly back then) and that’s stuck with me.
As an established EAT reader / contributor have you noticed the passion RM articles stir up and how many EAs say the leads are thin on the ground, the cost is a bit rumpy and how they crave an alternative, now RM point out that if the property is over priced no one clicks on it.
For everyone on here that says prices are too high there is a vendor that disagrees and thinks their house is worth more than it is – a world where RM lets the public set their price and list it for 40p a week or whatever the forecasted cost is would be full of more over priced tot than it is now. Sort of a polar opposite of HPC but just as ineffective.
The day RM go direct to the public is the day someone will make a multi million pound carbon copy of the old version – imagine the board meeting at RM;
SHIPSIDE
‘Right, hows the direct to Joe Public thing been in the first month then chaps?’
REST OF THEM
‘Not great boss, we are collecting little dollops of dough from all sorts of people and all the EAs have sodded off to Zoopla and cancelled the millions of pounds of subscriptions we were taking, our 94% profit margin has vanished to sod all and a bloke called Tony wants you to call him because he’s had no enquiries’
………………any way I like Rightmove Plus – its good for touting
Jonnie
@ Jonnie
Believe what you like – but you can only go on telling your potential customers that they are wrong for so long.
And what do footballers know about selling tickets to matches..? I’ve never claimed to be a builder.
Hi Jonnie, Are you the only EA in the village ;0)
So you admit you are on RM,
Why dont you stop using it without telling your clients?
It will save you a few bob and they wont mind will they
I banned my agent from putting my property on RM and Zoopla I explained I wanted him to Sell my property not just stick it on the internet.
Low and behold 4 days later, Houston we have identified a buyer!
Was he nervous about his chances? yep. How is he feeling this morning? Pretty good and muttering something about saving himself over £10 a year in RM subs!
£2290 for 5phone calls and an EPC. I am happy, he is happy, buyer is happy.
@Another TZ
I have a feeling you and I wouldn’t get on and you wouldn’t use me in the first place or id quote a low price and a high fee to make sure you didn’t. You are definitely not my sort of punter and im definitely out of your league.
My vendors use us because of many reasons, mainly my lack of ambition meaning ive been living and working in the same town for so long that I have a reputation and know everyone, talking to a vendor yesterday and we worked out that I have now been dealing with her extended family on and off for 17 years and sold houses to or for all her sisters and her mum and brother in law
Anyway, to the point…………..im blitering – my customers don’t use me because I am on RM, they also trust me and my judgement and if I said I was moving them off RM because it had become jammed full of private ads and wasn’t what it once was then id have no problem
@Tony Marshall
Thanks for answering, Mack & Hot Box are still right – you are ill informed and you are not a serious buyer – Claiming that 25 years owning a house and 7 years looking for one proves you are not proves you are.
What’s your view on football? I drink with a group of blokes that like to think they know more about the game than the professionals because they have watched and followed it for so long with an exhausting amount of passion, I assume you are one of these aswell?
Jonnie
The reason I ask for a breakpoint in RM's share of the market is that there are areas in the UK where it doesn't have all of the listings.
If, as has happened in these areas, the local agents have their own portals, with properties local to their area, people will look at these local portals in preference to national ones. I know the number of properties in my area that are on RM, and it's barely a quarter of the total that are available. Nobody looks there, so there's no reason to put listings on there.
Most folks move locally, it's said. Most folks know where they want to move to, and don't actually NEED a portal that shows them properties at the other end of the country; just one that shows their target area, which will likely be the area they're already in.
Miles mate one of your monkeys is out again!
Jonnie, if i had instructed you to be my agent and you and you withdrew my property from RM. I would say that is a breach of contract. You are supposed to be acting in the best interest of your clients. I would then go to an agent that did use RM the same day!
You EA's never act together dont make me laugh hahahaha
@ Jonnie’ questions
1) Of course not, but who will be the first to come off RM to test the hypothesis?
2) As someone who spent many years trying (and failing) to stop changes in my own profession, I don’t, with respect, feel that those within your profession are the ones who drive – or can prevent – change. The market will drive change. So despite what may or may not have been written in the past, the future is where we all need to look, not the past.
As I say, RM have built up a strong following, they have organised the online presentation of properties and they will use your input all the while it suits them – until it doesn’t suit them any more. I bought a boat through a broker that charged the vendor around 10% of the price – when I sold it, I put a free one-line ad in a boating web-site, which contained a link to a web-page I’d paid about £25 for, to which I’d uploaded my own photos and sales information. You can’t avoid the power of new technology.
@ Mack
It takes a lot of nerve to sell your home after owning one for over 25 years – you find yourself reading everything and anything about the property market, especially when it continues to rise for a year or so after you thought it had stopped. So please don’t call me ‘ill informed’.
@ Hot Box
I agree that many agents want an easy life and are not keen to deal with discerning buyers, but it would be a mistake to think that I’m not serious: I shall have to buy one day, but I’m one of the 62% who don’t waste my time – or the agent’s – enquiring about over-priced properties.
@w
Why speculate on the point at which buyers would give up on RM? That’s like someone dreaming of what they’d do with the money if they won the lottery.
@ breakpoint
Wishful thinking, I’m afraid – young people live their lives through their i-phones these days and the rest of us are slowly catching up – you should too. And as for doubting my ability to buy – another mistake.
Of course, if none of you are interested in what potential buyers are thinking, then I’ll shut up, but I would hope that some are interested in the feedback.
the very instant someone glances at a newspaper overhears a conversation, spots a tweet or a board on a property that looks right or has 'that' feeling.
The question is never "oooow must get to a pc must check it out on Rightmove" " which Agent?" is ALWAYS the first question a buyer will ask.
Rightmove is the homepage of the lookers, the sort of people one spots looking in the window week in week out. the sort of people who trigger an offer to make the whole office a cup of tea if they even lean towards the door. People like Mr Marshall and the entire HPC army who have the ready, have the willing but are lacking in the able department.
The suggestion seems to be that Rightmove is at the centre of everything, whereas that's not universally true for all of the UK.
At what point would those who only look at RM at the moment look somewhere else? When RM had only 60% of the total properties for sale? 50%? 30%?
C'mon, seriously, what's the break point?
The thing is he has actually got a point, most agents are happy for applicants to ring up once they have found a place on the interweb.
Most Agents will think that Hot Box is Freeview channel that comes on late at night. and in most cases just like the chaps that watch those channels wouldn't know what to do if they got hold of one.
Agency has a decision to make, listen to Mr Marshal and get on with the job you are paid to do, get rid of your premises and staffnd become and PI online agent of just get out of the game altogether.
1.5% was fine when you chaps put some effort in, it is fine for those that still are but really 1.5% for listing on and delgating your job to RM- get real
Tony Marshall,
With respect if you have been looking for 7 years then its best you dont deal in person until you are ready to buy. You would have struggled to be seen as serious if you had been talking to the same estate agents all that time.
Id like to see your response to the questions Johnny has asked you though, although not very polite Mack has a point
@tony Marshall. ill informed sweeping statements dont do you any favours.
he asked 2 questions, youve ducked the pair of them pal, gone on, answer them, dont run away
Hbird
Thank you for your response, which I read with genuine interest.
As I have often said, in order to be able to deal effectively in the current market at any time, one needs to be able to at least try to understand the mindset of those you are dealing with. That is why I always ask people like yourself, HPCers etc to give a bit more.
Of course, there are always two halves to every situation. The buyer sees THEIR half only; the seller only theirs. It is the Agent's job to try to see BOTH, and to then try to bring them together in some degree or form of commonality.
So - anything that they can glean from discussions like this is grist to the mill in my opinion.
Not everybody sees it this way though...
@ Jonnie
You put the details on RM because that's where people (like me) are looking. RM will maintain the status quo until there's no going back - then there's ... no going back.
Tony, welcome to the site, I trust you enjoyed your lecture by the Trushy Jonnie, he's always irritating like that. Agents will never w/d their property content so RM will remain strong anyway, the agents the fools made them so.
@Tony Marshall,
Welcome to EAT, im assuming you are new to this blog?
Your view is one that is shared by many but answer a couple of questions for me would you?
1) If you went on there (RM) today and there was nothing listed as all properties had been withdrawn by the agents (something we can all do with the click of a mouse) then would you think that it’s THE source of property details then?
2) As It’s the property the EAs upload that make it such a useful place for you to have spent the last 7 years browsing, and it’s a multi million pound business with huge profits equivalent to god knows how many of the most profitable EA businesses put together do you imagine that the board of RM would meet one day and decide to deal direct with the public and move away from EAs?...............before answering this do look at the archive stories on here, you will get a feel of the sentiment within the EA industry now along with how few leads RM generates in the real world and how little it would take to convince EAs to switch off (note one click of a mouse comment above) and migrate in huge numbers, in a short time to a website that serves only agents, decimating RM in about a week, possibly less.
Websites are what they are because of the content, without content they are empty shells with nothing about them of interest and the world is full of dull little private seller sites that no one visits, im not convinced RM wants to become one of them?
Jonnie
In the 7 years since we sold to rent, Rightmove have become THE source of property details. No longer do we go round the agent's windows, or note the name and number on a For Sale board and phone up - we just go to Rightmove's mobile site and look for property in 'my location'. Who needs estate agents..? How long before vendors feel confident enough to sell directly through Rightmove? I most certainly would.
You guys need to examine your role in the process and cut your costs (and your charges) dramatically, if you are to survive at all.
@PeeBee
Firstly...noted the retraction - much appreciated!
Secondly...As previously mentioned, I too was in your position. I'll be honest with you, I didn't want to feel that U was being ripped off either. However, in 2008 my goal was to move. The only factor that placed any urgency was seeing another property of interest. I did the usual - three valuations etc I placed my property on the market at £10k lower than other prospective properties in the area and received three offers on first day of viewing. It became a bidding war and then I was out of there!
As a buyer now, mortgage debt is enormous, there is limited finances available, Job security is a risk, and who knows what is going to happen with the Euro/global economy!
Any house has to show it's worth, and at the moment where I live, sellers at 350K and above are dreaming that their house is worth 2006/2007 prices.
Completely off topic but the some of the audience might be desperate for a solution.
It seems that in the shake up at DPG someone has forgotten that about 1500 agents were using the Findaproperty Editor to power Agents websites, subsequently with Editor being switched off the individual Agents websites are apparently re-directing to the Zoopla Homepage!
If anyone is having a problem my new best mate Trafford has got an immediate solution for getting Estate Agents own websites switched back on for the buying public to view.
Perhaps this wasn't an oversight but a whoops to Force all traffic through Zoopla! It would certainly get their page hits up. Applicants looking to log onto a bookmarked their favourite agents site it seem now have no choice than to view through Zoopla.
If your site is offline because of this get in touch with Trafford, he is an agent and cares about the profession and he has got some serious technology behind him and some very powerful support from some powerful Old School Agents. His email address is tlmallory40@gmail.com he will on pass any enquiry to someone who can help.
Hmmm... I may not be rattled - but someone else clearly is!
wtf?
Peebee - please get over yourself.
Peebee - please get over yourself.
Peebee - please get over yourself.
When one of your suppliers starts saying the things you say to your customers it is a very clear warning that they are trying to do; horn in on your business.
Rightmove are now starting the next phase of their long term plan.
Get the applicants reliant on the portal while convincing Agents they just have to be on there. Then become the realtor with Agents as subserviant listers.
The investors ar American, so why wouldn't they be trying to introduce the American model over here?
Time to remember who wins the instructions advertised on Rightmove. If you lot don't act now, you will end up working for Rightmove, Google or Tescos. Working just as hard just as long but with your profits going straight to one of 3 companies. The negs and managers will be OK but it is the Directors, Principals and Partners who are going to suffer. Unlike the Pru, Black Horse and Halifax this lot won't be selling your business back to you for a quid! and they won't be paying you Millions for it in the first place, they are simply stealing it away!
Hbird (or hbird...) -
Firstly, I note and accept your staement that the incorrect name was a genuine mistake. Fair do's - then you will hopefully note and accept my retraction of the first part of the last post.
Unfortunately this site does not allow for checking what you say before it goes live - or editing it afterwards...
Secondly, I can assure you that your opinion has not rattled me in the least. Puzzled me, yes - but definitely not rattled.
Perhaps you would like to expand on why you fail to understand homeowners' reluctance to reduce their expectations just so that you can walk into a bigger, better house than you can currently afford?
After all - you state you were one yourself, therefore have previously taken money from a buyer who would have much preferred no doubt to have paid you far less than they did...
I need to get my head round this thought process, and can't do it without your explanation, I'm afraid.
A house is only worth what someone is willing to pay ,and when the economy is screwed people aren't willing to pay these over inflated prices.
People are fully aware that houses are overpriced.The game is up !
@Peebee...
Firstly, my apologies for the mis spelling of your name, genuine mistake - but agree with others still funny!
Secondly, clearly you've been rattled by my opinion - I'm not alone in that either - so live with it!
@PeeBee
"1. You're not clever enough to be original. Peewee has been tried before so many times that regular readers don't even yawn at it anymore..."
It still made me chuckle ;o)
Jonnie
Yes that is exacly what happens....car traders charge higher prices than private sellers. (I admit I have bought and sold many more cars than you)
Why because the traders have higher costs to cover and and offer warranties hence the higher price.
Yet your friend has made good living as a trader despite competing with lower prices from private sellers, it does not bother him so why should a similar model not be good for housing industry.
@Happy
Funny that public perception and what people in the trade say is different? - based on what the public say here you'd think every property in the UK is overpriced and not selling.
Im not that experienced in the motor trade, I only buy a car every 5/6 years and the last 2 were from the same garage but my pal is pretty well off on the back of his dealings and if he has managed that whilst competing against private sellers at lower prices then what an industry to be in, one where the professionals can charge more than the amateurs.
Jonnie
Jonnie... Interesting my experience of Autotrader is that trader prices are nearly always above private sales. In fact the car buying guides advise this is the norm.
'hbird'
1. You're not clever enough to be original. Peewee has been tried before so many times that regular readers don't even yawn at it anymore...
2. If, as you say, you have been a vendor yourself, then you either have a short memory of the experience - or a bad one. You CERTAINLY don't appear to have any understyanding whatsoever of the process.
So - don't do it again is my advice. Stay in rented. It obviously seemed a good idea at the time - why would you want to change it now or in the future?
The moccassins don't seem to fit your feet.
...Or am I being presumptuous again?
You got to beat the competition and offer the best selling price and then get them to lower it when nothing happens.
If they get arsey with you chuck a brick through their window.
Peewee...wow are you always so presuming? Sold up and in rented, so have some experience of the other side of the fence.
No shit, Sherlock. But on the bright side, winning the instruction keeps the window busy!
hbird - "...I don't understand sellers..."
Of course you don't - you're not one of them.
Just like you don't understand the workings of the mind of your opposite sex.
Or why someone wants THAT price for what you perceive to be a heap of scrap when you are looking for a new car.
Until you have walked in the moccassins, then you will never understand.
I'm a prospective buyer with young family, deposit, nothing to sell and both my partner and I are working (thankfully). our view is... for us to take the next step on the ladder, we will have to take on a mortgage of at least 150k - 180k and even then won't meet our families long term needs. I don't understand sellers, there are plenty of properties over 350k sitting on the market for a long time. However, instead of reducing the asking price they just sign up with a second EA? Give me strength!!
Substantial deposit waiting to buy something - haven't looked for 4 years as prices are too high.
Nothing new in getting the price right but as someone pointed out a buyer came to the office to ‘register’ and you could talk to them and encourage them to view ones where you knew the asking price was a bit rumpy but a deal was possible
……………..anyway, neatly to the private sales being on the net, imagine a world full of vendors setting their own price without an advisor guiding them and thinking that getting it on the web is all that’s needed but not knowing that people are dinging it off on the back of the price.
Also, mate of mine is a car dealer (we deserve each other), I asked him about Autotrader and how he likes advertising alongside private sellers and he likes it, im told the private market usually flies a kite on the price and makes his stock look good value – could it go the same with houses?
Jonnie
There's also a lot more information out there available in regard to previous sold prices and dates, even on Rightmove. A quick search of properties can reveal a vendor today who bought in say late 2007. The chances of many of them being willing to negotiate on prices would be pretty low in my opinion, compared to someone who bought in 2000. This data also highlights the kitefliers pretty quickly, asking 35% more in today's market than they bought the property for in 2006. I often wonder if vendors know that this much detail is available to anyone who can click a few buttons on Rightmove? And then there's Property Bee...
and yet many agents still act as they did pre 2007 and still over price, "Lets test the market etc " telling a vendor what they think to want to hear is plain rubbish in 2012.
Actually, this is probably a bigger problem than most of us poor agents realise.
Looking at the stats from the back of Rightmove it is obvious that there are thousands of people sitting at home looking at property details.
I will admit that loads of these will just be browsing, but the problem is the serious buyers who think "No, I won't call because..." and fill in the reason you like.
Way back when it was my and my applicant box, the only way anyone ever bought through an agent was to register.
Now Rightmove is so quick and so good at presenting properties to prospective buyers that a lot don't bother.
Especially when most think "No rush, the market's a bit rubbish anyway."
Ticking the 'boxes' is and always has been the most important thing. If they are ticked the property will be viewed - obviously there is a limit but what is 'over priced'
What is considered by Rightmove to be 'over priced' - 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30% or more? These statements mean nothing unless there is detail on how they are obtained, what questions are asked, etc..
For once a sensible article from Rightmove.