Negotiation!

I am all for negotiation.
I am involved in it every day, working and non-working.
Without the possibility of negotiation, upwards or downwards, us agents would be out of a job.
We all negotiate in most aspects of our lives.
With our spouses.
With our children.
With nearly everyone we meet.
And in these times, almost every time we have to part with money.
At our recent First-time-buyer seminar, I stressed that the bidder should not be put off by the asking price.
I said they should research the market.
View homes similar to the one they liked.
compare prices.
They should make an offer they thought reasonable.
If it was rejected, ask for the logic behind the rejection.
If none is forthcoming, move on.
Make an offer on another property.
Repeat the process, it will work.
If you do it often enough, you will buy a home.
But principally, research the market.
No point in making an offer that is not at least nearly reasonable.
You need to get the seller thinking about your offer.
To do this it must be at least nearly reasonable.
The seller must think there is a chance of doing a deal, otherwise they will not engage.
No-one will make progress.
Nothing will be sold...or bought!

Yesterday, I showed a home to a couple, listed at €350,000.
It is a 4-bed detached.
They liked it and asked about making an offer.
I explained the process.
I suggested they research the market and make an offer.
I gave them details of similar properties.
They live in a 3-bed semi.
I suggested the value of their home was around €200,000, based on recent sales.
They said €200,000 would be the lower end of their expectations.
This morning, they rang me and made an offer...of €200,000!
I thought I had misheard and asked did they mean €300,000?
No, they meant €200,000.
They essentially want to swop a 3-bed semi for a 4-bed detached at no cost.
Clearly, this is going nowhere.
Negotiation is part of life.
But both sides need to feel that they have benefited.
Research, research, research.
www.pfq.ie

Still Alive!

St Peter & Pauls Church, Gladstone St.


We are still selling houses, despite all predictions of doom for the Irish housing market. Plenty of viewings are taking place, offers being made and properties being sold. The comparative monthly statistics for viewings and offers at our Clonmel office are as follows:

Jan 2008: Viewings 84 Offers 32
Jan 2009: Viewings 94 Offers 26

A reflection of the market is that more viewings resulted in less offers. In better times, there were many bidders for each house. Now, the bidders are more widely spread, with one or two bidders per house.
Activity is mainly restricted to the typical 3-bed semi, a first-time buyer’s house. Prices here range from around €185-215k, depending on condition and location.
First-time buyers seem to be the only ones who can get finance at present. Most banks are keen to lend to them and are cutting good deals. Some vendors are also keen to sell, for many reasons, and these two facts have ensured that the lower end of the market is still alive. With lower interest rates and lower prices, it is now cheaper to buy a home than at any time in the last 5 years. It is also cheaper to buy than to rent!
This has led to a shortage of suitable houses, as the supply of houses coming to the market over the last few months is traditionally slow. So despite media reports that housing is not selling, we are facing a shortage of well-priced, well-located starter homes.
I speak to other agents around the country on a weekly basis. Very few of them are having the same results as us. Those that are having the same results are following the same formula as us. It is the way we always did things.
Market knowledge means pricing houses correctly, not misleading vendors with inflated valuations. In better times, many agents played a game of over-valuing houses to get the instruction. They then sat on the property for 3-4 months, waiting for the market to catch up, or for the vendor to reduce in price, so they could get a sale. In a falling market, such as we now have, it is impossible to sell a house that is over-priced. To sell, you must match or undercut the current market. As the market falls, the longer a house stays on the market, the lower will be the eventual sale price, so the owner will lose money by an agent taking this approach.
Being available and facilitating to buyers... at all times. Our competitors have drastically reduced their opening hours. We have the longest opening hours of all. If someone wants to view a property, we will show it to them.
Being able to talk to and empathise with buyers is equally important. When we meet with prospective buyers, we build a relationship with them. They will be sellers (and therefore clients) one day. Many buyers tell stories of the bad attitude of agents from other firms. It’s easy to be nice!
http://www.pfq.ie/