Estate agent fees advice req'd
Discussion
Im in the fortunate position to be considering a second house purchase as a buy to let investment. A while back my neighbour mentioned that they may be selling up and that i would get first shout over it if interested when the time was right for them to move on.
Im really keen to buy it, as in the long run it may prove useful for parents to live in as they get older so that i can care for them, so buying it would tick a number of boxes. The neighbours recently told me what they thought it was worth, and it happened to be £200k more than i anticipated, but i was not put off. I told them my limit and said they should seek valuations to get a fair value and then i would consider the offer. Today they told me that they had now listed the house through an agent at a price about £100k more than i had valued it.
My question is how i should play this to get the best outcome. Its clear i really want it, but i have my limit. If i approach them directly and simply say that i will beat any offer they recieve via the agent, would they save estate agent fees if they sold to me directly without any agent involved? Would this give me a stronger position, or would the agent always get a slice. Im really tempted to visit the agent to lay my cards down in respect of offers, but this would rule out me having the upper hand of offering the neighbour a daving of agent feès. What do you think i should do?
Im really keen to buy it, as in the long run it may prove useful for parents to live in as they get older so that i can care for them, so buying it would tick a number of boxes. The neighbours recently told me what they thought it was worth, and it happened to be £200k more than i anticipated, but i was not put off. I told them my limit and said they should seek valuations to get a fair value and then i would consider the offer. Today they told me that they had now listed the house through an agent at a price about £100k more than i had valued it.
My question is how i should play this to get the best outcome. Its clear i really want it, but i have my limit. If i approach them directly and simply say that i will beat any offer they recieve via the agent, would they save estate agent fees if they sold to me directly without any agent involved? Would this give me a stronger position, or would the agent always get a slice. Im really tempted to visit the agent to lay my cards down in respect of offers, but this would rule out me having the upper hand of offering the neighbour a daving of agent feès. What do you think i should do?
The return on investment is decent enough. The property prices in my neck of the woods have seen crazy price rises in recent years (East london) so I don't see much risk on that front. The value is also sizeable enough (over 600k) for the valuations to be all over the place.
looked out the window this morning and there was a road block caused by viewings lined up by the agent. I think this will be a bidding war at this rate at which point I may well have to bail out..
looked out the window this morning and there was a road block caused by viewings lined up by the agent. I think this will be a bidding war at this rate at which point I may well have to bail out..
I do have email exchanges with my neighbour going back several months where we have discussed the potential sale to me, so I can evidence this in this way. It would be best avoided though to end up going down such a root as it is not in my comfort zone.I would only consider it if it is clear cut that I am ok to do as I mentioned. The feedback so far suggests that it may be possible but agents may try to get their hands on a slice either way
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