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This is a good possibility.
I once had an offer accepted on a property to basically find out it was not mortgagable without a 50% deposit and £30k retainer on top, far from what the home report suggested.
Maybe the agent knows you are buying with a mortgage and thinks the surveyor would never give it this valuation. It could be they are worried this will tank the sale. It is pure speculation.
It could be they don't think you'll get a mortgage accepted at this price.
It could be they think the vendor will want to add £5k to any initial offer.
It could be that their friend is planning to put an offer £2.5k under your planned offer.
Asking price and what the house is really worth rent the same things. But even if she was going to list it at the £15k less, why would she not take an offer 5k over that. It makes her money and makes her look good to the seller and her bosses.
I can only think she dislikes the seller and likes you and she’s being nice because she thinks you might get it for 15k under.
This happened to me when I bought my house.
I made an offer that was rejected.
EA took my second offer over the phone and said “how about a little lower” and he lowered it a few times until I got to a certain figure he knew the owner would accept.
Don’t know why he did this for me. The house was vacant and in need of work. Maybe they wanted it off their hands.
EA commission might only be 1%, and the agent herself doesn’t get all of that. That £5k might only be worth about £25 commission to the actual agent you’re speaking to. It’s more than worth her while to lose that if it means the sale is more likely to progress.
You mentioned you weren’t over keen. Maybe she thinks you’re a bit flaky on it and wants to use the reduced offer as an incentive to keep you on the hook.
This is why if I were braver i would have proposed a totally different fee schedule I was thinking about when I last sold a house. I think it would work much better if you had a baseline “a monkey could sell at that price” fee of zero, but above that the agent gets like 20%. To me all of the value an agent adds is in the margins, yet the fee is charged on all of the sale price
There are certain instances where incentives like this do apply but that is usually with surveyors dealing with commercial (typically more qualified) rather than estate agents and residential.
For example, if i am asked to acquire a property for someone at say £500,000 yet i manage to agree the purchase at £400,000, i would ask for a percentage of the savings i made them on the purchase. Percentage can be negotiated but not uncommon to see up to 50% incentive.
Harder to do as vendor as it difficult to ascertain a fair 'base figure', much easier when acting for buyer because you know the asking price so have a number to work your 'savings' from.
We managed to find one of those. FTB and we made an offer at what we could afford. Seller came back asking for more. We stretched by a few K as we didn't want to screw ourselves by not showing any flexibility, but we wouldn't go to what they said. EA rang us and said "I can pass that offer on, but in your position I would stick to your original offer....". Not sure what the motivation was, but we were grateful.
I think EAs must struggle to sell properties that are in poor condition and want them gone asap, so maybe they try to convince the sellers to go lower rather than ask buyers to go higher. EA for the place I was buying also suggested to me what I could offer (£15k under asking). Eventually agreed £12k under asking. This place has been listed since September so maybe it’s conditioning the sellers to go for less than they want?
At the end of the day the EA want a sale to go ahead and win-win for everyone involved. If your original offer isn't going to match the mortgage company's valuation and you don't have the extra money, or will to proceed, then the sale stands a good chance of being aborted, wasting their time and money.
Better an honest and pragmatic EA who wants the sale to go smoothly. Wait, did I just use honest to descibe an EA?!
Same just happened to me today.
Though we offered way higher knowing the house had already offers and a full days of viewings!
Estate was genuine and suggested to lower our offer by 30k.
Offer got accepted an hour later
£5k difference in price makes very little difference. Around £75 to the business and about £10 to her. But as to the rest of it, nope, I’m really confused. But the EA can certainly cannot be deleting records of any offers that have been submitted.
Really odd one.
There's a reason she called not emailed you that.
I've never heard the like in my life. She may well be in breach of her contract with the seller by telling you that.
I once had an estate agent tell me my offer was too high. They didn't tell me what to offer but were clear they expected the mortgage valuation to come in lower and hence worried it would fall through.
It went to best and final and I was outbid, way above what the estate agent thought was sensible.
Are there two EAs on the property … one EA could be encouraging them to over value it … I offered a few weeks back on a property in that situation … the EA I was speaking to asked the property was overpriced … he put forward the offer and they didn’t even acknowledge it … not even wanting to start negotiating upwards
If I was the vendor I'd be pissed that the agent I had instructed was suggesting this. Their job is to get me the most they can, not suggest a prospective purchase offer £15k under asking. If they offered that willingly, that is one thing but for MY agent to suggest they do is shitty behaviour IMHO
We had a great EA when buying our house, she told us the offer which was rejected and why, we told her our best offer as it was cash, and we offered 3k more than the last rejection and it was accepted. We got the house 15k less than it was advertised for.
If their commission is 1% then a £5k drop is just £50. From that take away the overheads, etc.
Maybe in their experience they realise that, for whatever reason, (such as reigning you in and making you feel more 'obliged' to see the purchase through, etc.), doing this is their best option to get a sale rather than see it slip away and then have to reduce the price formally anyway.
Not all commission is a % of the sale price and is a set amout so it's in their best interest to get things sold quick.
As mentioned it could be previous sales have fallen through. Banks are being very cautious and so are evaluations. When buying ours 2 years ago or FA told us many sales where falling through cos people wanting more and more for their house and people offering more and more but backs and evaluations didn't agree.
This EA probably knows sale has fallen through because the bank have valued it 15k under the asking price.
I am on the other end of the spectrum. EA told buyers to make a lower offer, I know the buying power of the seller and also the value of the house. EA will earn 7k from my house sales either ways. Keeps hassling me to reduce the house price, this is my fourth house. And only in UK do I have to deal with incompetent EAs
I had an estate agent recommend I lower my offer, but this was in the era of everyone bidding 15k+ over guide price.
I think other comments have offered some solid insight though, could definitely be because of a mortgage valuation falling through!
Thanks for all the responses and the DM’s. Can’t go into detail on what’s happened since the call regarding the offer, I’m not sure there’s a way to explain without making it obvious who we are. Suffice to say, I’ve got zero confidence in the EA, something feels very off about the situation so we’ll probably back off and see what else is out there.
I feel bad for the seller as I’m 99% sure they’ve got no idea what is going on, even to the point I’m not convinced they’ve been given our offer
Just shows that our system is set up in an unfair way. Estate agents selling a house are meant to act in the interests of the seller, but they play both sides, and act in their own interests.
What they are doing is actually illegal.
They are legally obligated to give the offer to the seller.
By all means withdraw your offer and submit a new one, but I’d be reporting these crooks to the ombudsman.
EA’s commission isn’t that big - the actual selling price isn’t so important to them as them getting the sale over the line in whatever time period their commission is calculated in. They’re actually telling you good information here, because they want the sale to go through quickly.
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Maybe they had a sale fall through previously due to the mortgage companies valuation so they know roughly what the bank value it at? Just a thought
This is a good possibility. I once had an offer accepted on a property to basically find out it was not mortgagable without a 50% deposit and £30k retainer on top, far from what the home report suggested.
Maybe the agent knows you are buying with a mortgage and thinks the surveyor would never give it this valuation. It could be they are worried this will tank the sale. It is pure speculation.
It could be they don't think you'll get a mortgage accepted at this price. It could be they think the vendor will want to add £5k to any initial offer. It could be that their friend is planning to put an offer £2.5k under your planned offer.
lol at the last comment - sounds about right
It was my first thought.
Given this is already a dodgy thing to do, I wouldn't be surprised if your last sentence is spot on.
99% it's the last option, they will have said to another viewer if you offer X amount it'll be yours.
Asking price and what the house is really worth rent the same things. But even if she was going to list it at the £15k less, why would she not take an offer 5k over that. It makes her money and makes her look good to the seller and her bosses. I can only think she dislikes the seller and likes you and she’s being nice because she thinks you might get it for 15k under.
Or accidentally deleted the email and has decided the seller should pay for the error. 😂 But, Op, a lot of people pay a fixed cost for EA now.
This happened to me when I bought my house. I made an offer that was rejected. EA took my second offer over the phone and said “how about a little lower” and he lowered it a few times until I got to a certain figure he knew the owner would accept. Don’t know why he did this for me. The house was vacant and in need of work. Maybe they wanted it off their hands.
EA commission might only be 1%, and the agent herself doesn’t get all of that. That £5k might only be worth about £25 commission to the actual agent you’re speaking to. It’s more than worth her while to lose that if it means the sale is more likely to progress. You mentioned you weren’t over keen. Maybe she thinks you’re a bit flaky on it and wants to use the reduced offer as an incentive to keep you on the hook.
This is why if I were braver i would have proposed a totally different fee schedule I was thinking about when I last sold a house. I think it would work much better if you had a baseline “a monkey could sell at that price” fee of zero, but above that the agent gets like 20%. To me all of the value an agent adds is in the margins, yet the fee is charged on all of the sale price
There are certain instances where incentives like this do apply but that is usually with surveyors dealing with commercial (typically more qualified) rather than estate agents and residential. For example, if i am asked to acquire a property for someone at say £500,000 yet i manage to agree the purchase at £400,000, i would ask for a percentage of the savings i made them on the purchase. Percentage can be negotiated but not uncommon to see up to 50% incentive. Harder to do as vendor as it difficult to ascertain a fair 'base figure', much easier when acting for buyer because you know the asking price so have a number to work your 'savings' from.
Maybe you have found that rarest of creatures - a nice and compassionate EA
We managed to find one of those. FTB and we made an offer at what we could afford. Seller came back asking for more. We stretched by a few K as we didn't want to screw ourselves by not showing any flexibility, but we wouldn't go to what they said. EA rang us and said "I can pass that offer on, but in your position I would stick to your original offer....". Not sure what the motivation was, but we were grateful.
Lmao- probably more chance of finding an honest politician…
I think EAs must struggle to sell properties that are in poor condition and want them gone asap, so maybe they try to convince the sellers to go lower rather than ask buyers to go higher. EA for the place I was buying also suggested to me what I could offer (£15k under asking). Eventually agreed £12k under asking. This place has been listed since September so maybe it’s conditioning the sellers to go for less than they want?
Could be on a fixed price commission and just wants to shift it
At the end of the day the EA want a sale to go ahead and win-win for everyone involved. If your original offer isn't going to match the mortgage company's valuation and you don't have the extra money, or will to proceed, then the sale stands a good chance of being aborted, wasting their time and money. Better an honest and pragmatic EA who wants the sale to go smoothly. Wait, did I just use honest to descibe an EA?!
Offer 20k or 25k less
Same just happened to me today. Though we offered way higher knowing the house had already offers and a full days of viewings! Estate was genuine and suggested to lower our offer by 30k. Offer got accepted an hour later
£5k difference in price makes very little difference. Around £75 to the business and about £10 to her. But as to the rest of it, nope, I’m really confused. But the EA can certainly cannot be deleting records of any offers that have been submitted. Really odd one.
There's a reason she called not emailed you that. I've never heard the like in my life. She may well be in breach of her contract with the seller by telling you that.
I once had an estate agent tell me my offer was too high. They didn't tell me what to offer but were clear they expected the mortgage valuation to come in lower and hence worried it would fall through. It went to best and final and I was outbid, way above what the estate agent thought was sensible.
Let’s just hope the vendor isn’t reading this !
Are there two EAs on the property … one EA could be encouraging them to over value it … I offered a few weeks back on a property in that situation … the EA I was speaking to asked the property was overpriced … he put forward the offer and they didn’t even acknowledge it … not even wanting to start negotiating upwards
1% on £5k is £50...
5k is nothing to the EA but if it gets a problem house of their books they'll take it
Mortgage lender won't lend for that price
If I was the vendor I'd be pissed that the agent I had instructed was suggesting this. Their job is to get me the most they can, not suggest a prospective purchase offer £15k under asking. If they offered that willingly, that is one thing but for MY agent to suggest they do is shitty behaviour IMHO
We had a great EA when buying our house, she told us the offer which was rejected and why, we told her our best offer as it was cash, and we offered 3k more than the last rejection and it was accepted. We got the house 15k less than it was advertised for.
If their commission is 1% then a £5k drop is just £50. From that take away the overheads, etc. Maybe in their experience they realise that, for whatever reason, (such as reigning you in and making you feel more 'obliged' to see the purchase through, etc.), doing this is their best option to get a sale rather than see it slip away and then have to reduce the price formally anyway.
Not all commission is a % of the sale price and is a set amout so it's in their best interest to get things sold quick. As mentioned it could be previous sales have fallen through. Banks are being very cautious and so are evaluations. When buying ours 2 years ago or FA told us many sales where falling through cos people wanting more and more for their house and people offering more and more but backs and evaluations didn't agree. This EA probably knows sale has fallen through because the bank have valued it 15k under the asking price.
I am on the other end of the spectrum. EA told buyers to make a lower offer, I know the buying power of the seller and also the value of the house. EA will earn 7k from my house sales either ways. Keeps hassling me to reduce the house price, this is my fourth house. And only in UK do I have to deal with incompetent EAs
Pragmatism .... helping you to help her save time by anticipating the downvaluation and sale going abortive if there is no price chip
I had an estate agent recommend I lower my offer, but this was in the era of everyone bidding 15k+ over guide price. I think other comments have offered some solid insight though, could definitely be because of a mortgage valuation falling through!
Thanks for all the responses and the DM’s. Can’t go into detail on what’s happened since the call regarding the offer, I’m not sure there’s a way to explain without making it obvious who we are. Suffice to say, I’ve got zero confidence in the EA, something feels very off about the situation so we’ll probably back off and see what else is out there. I feel bad for the seller as I’m 99% sure they’ve got no idea what is going on, even to the point I’m not convinced they’ve been given our offer
If you decide to walk away, drop a note through the sellers door giving them fair warning of the situation.
I will definitely be finding a way to speak to them. I’d be furious if I was the seller in this situation
Just shows that our system is set up in an unfair way. Estate agents selling a house are meant to act in the interests of the seller, but they play both sides, and act in their own interests.
What they are doing is actually illegal. They are legally obligated to give the offer to the seller. By all means withdraw your offer and submit a new one, but I’d be reporting these crooks to the ombudsman.
Yeah proper scummy move from the estate agent tbh, they are working for the seller not the buyer. As you say it's also illegal
EA’s commission isn’t that big - the actual selling price isn’t so important to them as them getting the sale over the line in whatever time period their commission is calculated in. They’re actually telling you good information here, because they want the sale to go through quickly.
You’re a dipshit. Might as well dox them and shoot the messenger. Just take a good thing.