The Rightmove House Price Index has seen an increase in average asking prices every October for the past 10 years, so it was perhaps not surprising to see a 3.1% rise over the past month. However given the economic backdrop of near-record stock levels and deteriorating mortgage finance it may be the case that sellers will need to drop those initial asking prices over the coming months if they are to entice buyers.
Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, comments: “Every year, vendors coming to market after the summer holidays hope to take advantage of any positive price impetus from buyers who are keen to be in a new home before Christmas. Between 2007 and 2009, October sellers tried higher prices in spite of the ‘credit crunched’ housing market, and it’s a habit that is proving hard to kick in the ‘spending review’ market of October 2010. It’s not likely to be a successful tactic, though it is a sign that many sellers are not experiencing high levels of financial stress but can’t afford to accept a lower price if they are to make their sums stack up for the next move”.
A key question for sellers will be whether they will be missing out on early buyer interest by dropping prices once their property is on the market. Research from Rightmove this month shows how the number of webpage views a property receives in the first week of coming to market is double that of the second and third weeks combined.
Miles Shipside explains: “The entry of a property to the market always has the potential to create a buzz among watching buyers as they are on the look-out for anything new that suits their needs better than what is currently on the market. When a property is launched to market the seller’s objective is to create a sense of urgency to view amongst buyers and a feeling of fear that by not viewing they will miss out on their dream home. This strategy is enhanced if it is keenly priced as buyers will act fast to get a possible bargain. If a newly marketed property fails to initially impress and find a buyer then it can quickly go stale and get written off even though its price may subsequently be substantially reduced. A high launch price can damage your chances of securing a sale and in recession-hit markets you often end up chasing prices down and achieving less in the end.”
The government Comprehensive Spending Review also looks likely to have a negative effect on housing market sentiment and consequently challenge sellers to price more realistically in order to meet buyers at a more realistic pricing level for the finance that is available. Shipside adds: “Buyers and sellers are staring each other out, and it’s a question of who will blink first. Even if they wanted to, buyers cannot blink unless lenders release more funds for mortgages. As that’s not going to happen, there are likely to be some blinking sellers this winter!”.
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October 21st, 2010 at 7:01 pm
It is empty nesters who want to move to a smaller house who are suffering anxiety in this market. Get the selling price wrong and not be able to buy the next property, one would lose one’s capital renting.
Moving down was easier when prices were going up!
October 21st, 2010 at 8:38 pm
That is such a rubbish!! How can you say that the market and asking prices are higher?
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:54 am
Absolutely spot on. Your article sums up our experience of the current market perfectly.
Mike, Bath, (cash buyer, no chain, ready to move – we need to buy a family home before Christmas but we are just about resigned to renting for another 6 months until vendors wake up and realize what is happening to the value of their properties).
October 22nd, 2010 at 8:38 am
It’s very difficult to price your property especially if, like us you have no comparisons; you tend to price high because you envisage your property being on the market for a year or more. As prices are still increasing you fear that in a year’s time your property will then be underpriced – but last year’s stock. Also we are finding that property we are interested in is priced at a much higher price than we thought we would have to pay. Some smaller but much more expensive than ours, we are nearing retirement & want to be mortgage-free but the fear is that down-sizing means down-grading. We need to sell sooner rather than later but the fear is that if we lower the price it immediately de-values your home so you still don’t sell it but lose your bargaining tool. The advice I would give to anyone buying is to make a much lower offer, they just might accept – we would & if we are lucky enough to sell we will be looking for a bargain.
October 22nd, 2010 at 9:14 am
the market in my eyes has been level since june
the only problem is vendors with over inflated prices,brought on by agents desperate to have the biiger stock share in a area
however whats the point of having 100 properties that 90 of thyen arnt going to sell,untill they drop back down ten to fifteen per cent
thanks
October 22nd, 2010 at 9:31 am
Like Mike from Bath, we are also chain free buyers, ready to move with our mortgage agreed and ready to go but at the moment there appears to be nothing new coming on the market within our budget. Although we would liek to be in by Christmas we’re in no hurry and can afford to wait out those sellers who insist on unreasonably pricing their properties. In fact, we’re even viewing houses that are between £5-10k over our max budget in the hope that Sellers might see sense and reduce for a guaranteed quick sale. Don’t forget, Those sellers will probably also want to be in by Christmas too (or have cash to spend if they’re not moving on). Buyers, hold your nerve.
October 22nd, 2010 at 9:37 am
I am a cash buyer,looking for a modest property,(not urgently!),for retirement purposes.I find the intractability of sellers,on price,(I’m not prepared to partially fund your next move!),almost laughable,considering today’s market conditions.I am not going to bother to look,until Feb/March next-let’s see how seller’s fare,in the light of the Spending Review!!Happy Christmas
October 22nd, 2010 at 9:49 am
Mike is correct. I am a cash buyer, I had offer accepted for a 1935 house only to find house needed circa £30k+ remediation, electric & gas in particular were a life hazard, plus damp, modernisation etc. Agent opined RICS surveyor can be wrong, but forgot he was their suggestion!. In my opinion I generously agreed -£14.25k, I nearly walked away, this took 3 months & no chain.
I do not look at others once I make an offer & it is accepted, though I did say to another agent on one that caught my eye priced £375k, my price would be £350k cash, they were not interested 1 month ago, the agent came back yesterday & it is!.
Both vendor & in some instances Agent need a check on reality.
October 22nd, 2010 at 10:02 am
It is apparent that in some areas the vendors (aided & abetted by their agents) have over-inflated expectations of property values. One example of this is in Christchurch/Highcliffe in Dorset.
When house-hunting 18 months ago in that area I was shown bungalows whch needed considerable work to make them habitable, (in some cases they required completely stripping-out), and a house with cracks in the external walls, yet the vendors were still asking prices comparable to those in Surrey. In the end I bought elsewhere, but I realised that many agents are at fault for not being realistic with their clients.
I’ve noted that some of those properties are still on the market at their original prices so it seems that some vendors are still too greedy, and would rather hold on to a depreciating property than accept a realistic offer.
October 22nd, 2010 at 10:26 am
My partner and I are first time buyers, chain free and ready to go. We
started looking at the housing market in August and have quite a good feel for the market and its prices now. However, we still have not made any offers as we find it astonishing that houses of exactly the same size, in similar roads/areas are priced 20, 30 even sometimes 40k over what they should be and estate agents seem to think that this is acceptable?! As the article mentions, we are on the look out all the time for new houses coming on to the market but find that these again are all coming on at riduclously high prices, even when there are already houses in the same road which have been up for sale for 6 months or more which arent moving. As first time buyers we took our time to research past selling prices and arm ourselves with as much information as possible yet it seems that sellers arent willing to do the same. Holding our nerve seems to be the only option at the moment!
October 22nd, 2010 at 10:36 am
Our house has been up for sale since June. Only had one viewing and they offered us £20,000 less than asking price. As we are downsizing ready for retirement next year, by accepting it would have seriously effected what we could have looked for and so we had to decline. We just couldnt afford to go so low (you also have consider the cost of moving estate agents, solicitors, removal van etc.) It was sad to say no, particularly as they were interested in it being Edwardian and would have looked after it well I think (yes I know you shouldnt get attached to houses!!) Their reasoning was, they could reduce their house by 10,000 and sell it quicker and also have 10,000 to further update our house. On reflection, maybe we should have just gone for it?
p.s. – Allan Bowden – have i have just the modest home for you!! Thought about living in Bolton?
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:12 am
Who is advising the sellers? The Estate Agents of course. Why are these ‘professionals’ not giving realistic advice to their clients regarding price. Anyone can see house prices are too high and economic outlook is bleak. A buyer is not going to pay an inflated price in current conditions – it’s obvious. However, many Estate Agents are still giving high quotes to potential sellers to grab business for themselves. When several Estate Agents quote high it puts pressure on the others in the area to do the same. It is inevitable that the majority of these prices will have to be dropped at a later stage. Do us all a favour Estate Agents – be sensible upfront with your pricing.It’s fairer on both buyers and sellers and you might even see your sales improve.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:17 am
We have a lovely 4 bed detached home in a lovely area, we want to downsize as my husband has been very poorly and I cannot cope with everything. It has been on nearly 3 months at a very realistic price which is negotiable but unfortunately we have not had one viewer. What can we do?
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:33 am
Matching sellers and buyers using a ‘Rent with Option to Buy’ (Lease Option) can provide a good way of giving both parties what they are looking for in terms of price.
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:39 am
You are so right about Estate Agents hyping up prices! Our house went on the market 18 months ago- all Agents saying you will easily get £315,000! We have gradually dropped the price (against Agents advice) and have now sold at £225,00- the only other offer we received in that time was for £195,000!!!!!!!!!! Huge difference! Moral for sellers- you will only sell if your price is right- if you don’t want to lower your price take it off the market- it wont sell.It’s the old story of a house only being worth what someone will pay for it.Lucky purchasers now have a large 4 bedroomed house with 2 en-suites at a “bargain” price-but they have had to lose out on their sale price so its swings and roundabouts. C’est la vie!
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:43 am
sellers are not being realistic about values of their property they think people can get mortgages easily to pay off these ridiculous prices. I suspect greed is the reason. I don’t mind paying a fair price for a property but some of the Home Report values I have seen just show how far off the mark they are.
I can’t believe that people are still asking over the odds for their house, I have bid for two at what I would say are realistic and been turned down. One house has been on the market for 18 months, I wonder why ?
October 22nd, 2010 at 11:57 am
On reading the comments, it is very difficult to judge ’sensible’ housing prices. I have just put my house on the market and have gone with the figure that my estate agent recommended. I can afford to reduce the price, but there is no certain way to judge current market prices, or, whether the estate agents has set a realistic price. Only time will tell.
October 22nd, 2010 at 12:00 pm
As my father has always said, ’something is worth what someone is prepared to pay’. Stick a pin in the ground and begin the negotiations, regardless of the market or agent rhetoric.
Be courageous, the outcome may surprise both of you, buyer and seller.
October 22nd, 2010 at 1:12 pm
I think there may well be in some cases a discrepancy between an estate agent’s pricing advice to a client on a property and that client’s cherished idea of what his/her property is worth including what has been spent on its maintenance and improvement, what return they would like to make on it and what they are prepared to pay for another property.
I can imagine a scenario where an estate agent will not wish to turn his client away so if the client is adamant on price the estate agent may agree to market the property at that price or near it with a review at a later date if there is little or no interest.
So I think it is always worthwhile to keep an eye on a property you like (or to make an offer) and to keep in touch with the agent.
I think in the fairly recent past we have all become used to property prices increasing year by year, so to experience values diminishing is quite hard to accept and people have come to look on their own home as an investment. Inevitably acceptance will come (sooner or later) but some sellers may hang on too long and lose a good buyer. A lot will turn on the urgency of the buyer and seller’s need to move.
It seems to me that in my area (West Sussex) larger houses (4 beds+) are still quite highly priced but the middle range (3 beds, semi or det) are more realistic in relation to the current market conditions.
My house is in the latter category so I know I will have to bite the bullet when the time comes!
October 22nd, 2010 at 2:00 pm
all house prices are currently over-inflated prices, as a result ,1st time buyers cant get on the ladder and are forced to rent , paying “mortgage” prices. if the whole market took a step down by 10-15% it would begin to revive, as usual greed is the stifling factor both by sellers and their agents !
October 22nd, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Its been magic reading all the above. How did Rightmove know that I was driving 150 miles and back again to find a house. Most of the property I found suitable are recently let out – that very day in some circumstances. I went to look at a cottage that had changed agents a few months ago – reduced from £310K all year to £299K – no sale. Now on the market by a posher agent at £325K – so far not sold; do these people want to move?
Another along the road – almost identical except that it has a 30Ft Super deluxe kitchen, a 10 ft sitting room, a good sized bedroom and another in the loft that has limited head room, a thin pretty garden and wall to wall carpeting in the shed!!
I am viewing a house soon that the agent tells me the vendor insists she will not accept less than £320K but has had the property on the market for ONE year at £325K whilst others have failed all around and are rented out.
Years ago I took the view that if there is a housing slump, if your house loses value then the one you are buying will too. The agent for the £375K “kitchen” (I was so stunned by its magnificence) told me that another couple said they were going home to put their house on the market straight away and would come back and buy this house asap. I bet they will but by the time they sell, get a mortgage and get back there IT WILL BE LET OUT or sold for £250K. and the vendor will have taken the kitchen with them.
October 22nd, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Pricing of any house is difficult but when three of the same houses are on the Market at the same time, then you need to keep them all simular prices or else you are just devaluing the properties. Some agents work for their
Money others prefer the easy sell by selling cheap. In our situation I know the people viewing my neighbourghs house are not viewing mine and I know that is down to the agent not working for us at all! We are happy to accept an offer so we can do a deal for our forward move to happen yet we are impeded by a lazy agent. Changing agents could knock our price down but this would mean doing less of a deal to make the move happen. So would you prefer high asking price and bigger deals or lower asking prices and paying asking price? What do buyers think?
October 22nd, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Want to move to near Truro for family reasons but have had 3 bed bungalow in Scottish Borders on market for 4 months and no viewings!!
Priced at £10k less than valuation so don’t think we are being greedy.
We feel we are at the mercy of the estate agents as we do not know how to further advertise our property. We thought that was what we were paying them to do. Any ideas? Anybody out there wanting to move to the lovely Scottish Borders?
We had also thought that perhaps buyers were waiting to see what was contained in the Spending Review before making any decisions – we shall see.
October 22nd, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Reading the comments it is obvious that there are two differing school of thought, buyers who want cheap houses and vendors that want good prices. Guess what, it has always been the same!! I have fifteen years expericence in the housing market and I can honestly say the “agent” is not normally the culprit. Yes you get the odd local independent agent that has no idea as their background is in retail or bricklaying and suddenly they are an expert in Estate Agency (but thats another story)but normally it is the vendor who drives the prices up. I work for a large corporate agency and we have walked away from properties where the vendor has unrealistic ideas on value but we are still selling correctly priced properties within 6 weeks of instruction. My recommendation is to Vendors: Make sure the agent provides comparable evidence of properties they have sold in the last 6 months and accept the value they quote.
Purchasers: Do not believe all you read in the newspaper about the doom and gloom……it really isnt all that bad and you could be walking away from your drean home just because you think it is too expensive when it is at market value.
October 23rd, 2010 at 6:16 am
we put our house on the market in may,at an agent advised price of 205k and judging by the prices that other similar properties had sold for in the area,this allowed for a certain amount of movement on the sale price.The agent set a fixed fee for their commission of £4000+vat at the house selling for 195k ,all they have done since putting the house on the market is tell us to reduce,its currently on the market for 185k but guess what they have not reduced their commission.Sellers beware of fixed commission.Our contract finishes in November and we have 3 other agents waiting to sell the house at 1% commission and at 1% commission this would give us a greater flexibility with the selling price ,all the agent has done with their Greed and inflexibility has made us dig our heels in at the higher price.
October 23rd, 2010 at 8:21 am
Hmmmm, historically low interest rates, prices that are at best static, sellers who are desperate because they’ve been on the market for a long time.
Sounds like the opportunity of a generation!!!!
Coalition housing changes that remove lifetime occupancy, reduce spending on social housing, increase rents to near market level – seems to me they’ve just increased the demand for housing, whilst simultaneously removing the ability of housing associations to meet that demand. Big rush to buy at the low end over the next two years for rental or ownership!!!
Let’s be honest the issue in the housing market is the failure of the mortgage companies to lend at the bottom of the market. They’ve cut the chain off at the bottom, perhaps they’re manipulating prices lower by doing this, but it’s more to do with re-building their balance sheets than lending sensibly. If the first time buyers returned, and if they did they’d find some bargains, prices will stabilise pretty quickly.
In fact I wish I had some spare cash to invest in a few buy to let opportunities!
October 23rd, 2010 at 9:04 am
I have thought since the HIPS issuethat buying and selling should be approached differently.
All serious buyers should come into the field with a mortgage ‘in principle’agreed before a viewing.
All vendors should be required to have the mortgage value of their house agreed by a national reputable lender such a list made available.
Before marketing begins the agent if used should give a market valuation in the light of mortgage value.
There will always be cash buyers who are useful but will look for a bargain to attract these people for these a clear asking price should be given followed by offers in the region of will be seriously consider
October 23rd, 2010 at 6:52 pm
i agree with all the above, i think that estate agents tell the property owners exactly what they want to hear just so they get the commision, were cash buyes and are looking for a house up to 550,000, we have seen this great house thats up for 585,000 we know the poeple and we also know how much these poeple originally bought the house for, the house has been on the market for nearly 3 years, its wayyy over priced..we put an offer on for 500,000 they refused it, but we know they bought it for 480,000 i would take it and run, 3 years on the market and not one offer,,,what does that tell you???? there still making a profit.. im guessing there not really wanting to move as they would of taken the offer…estate agents put a price on these houses and are dreaming, thats why us of property owners have to keep reducing the price over time and finally end up selling where as what took 1 year to sell could of been 1 month if the house had been priced better in the beginning and the funny thing is the price we got was the price we thought of at the start…So i think us of property owners who are really serious about selling, we know what our house is worth…..i dont think we need to pay someone to give us an obscene price and not sell for a year do you?
October 24th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Ian is correct. The housing market is still the same as it always has been. I have noticed moving from West London to Stafford that the markets are different however. I noticed that houses in west London would normally sell reasonably quickly and the sellor would often bring the price down to get a sale. In Stafford however, it seems a bit of a trend to put your house on the market and if it doesn’t sell – just hold on with the same price for 2-3 years! The Agents in Stafford are not very hungry for sales and any estate agent looking to set up – Stafford is a good place to get started as the other agents are very slack.
Note to those selling a house – Get several valuations of your property. If you do not get interest in 6-8 weeks, check your price and it is well worth changing agent or using 2 agents as it get them selling hard! Make sure the agent market your property on the net as this is a valuable tool for the housing market and sadly to say there are still agents not using Rightmove.
Note to those buying a house – looking for a bargain? Yes, as always but beware the house that the price is reduced because they cannot sell as you will probably have the same problem when you come to sell. Buy a saleable house and you will benefit next time you sell. Avoid excessively unusal houses i.e. no garden, no sideway, no off steet parking etc. You might have to pay 10 – 20K over what you hoped to get the house for but if it worth the money and is highly saleable – you are a winner. The housing market has its ups and downs but overall it still goes up.
Keep calm – moving can be stressful!
October 24th, 2010 at 9:04 am
My home is up for sale. I am paying over £8k stamp duty for the purchaser I have reduced the price from £285k to £281K it is in a ” much sought” after location in a village 2 miles from trains 1 hr from Stans Airp ,30 mins from M11, 50 mins from Cambridge, 20 mins Peterborough and A1 motorway exceptionally spacious 4 beds solid oak floors throughout ,built 2003, detached, 2 onsuite bathrooms ,plus i large bathroom,,the extras inc are unbelievable Hot Tub Jaccuzzi in Swiss Cabin, New diswasher, Tumble Dryer, Washing Machine, all wardrobes,Lawnmower, Fully Equipped Office, Conservatory inc Leather suite, Blinds and Curtains throughout. Fantastic location and superb neighbours and in 10 weeks 1 viewer . If I were an estate agent I would love a property like this on my books. If my house isnt attracting possible purchasers either the agents are poor or there really is a recession !!!!!!!
October 24th, 2010 at 10:57 am
Agents often have to overprice a property to get it on their books – if they don’t, someone else will!
And once the vendor has signed up for a sole agency, it can take up to three months, sometimes longer, before they can go elsewhere.
October 24th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Property has always been difficult to sell, and it is a stressful job, there are so many factors at play. Estate agents can be as useful and energetic as they can be useless and lazy. They can be hopeless and give no confidence especially when there is a property to sell that is out of the ordinary. Yes, as many have said unrealistic valuations are given at the outset only to be reduced as the months pass. All this difficulty is added to at the present time by the property market being flooded with properties, therefore great choice. Buyers being unrealistic in expecting ‘ten out of ten’ something that is not possible, and expecting to buy cheaply, infact something for nothing.
There are also the non proceedable viewers, those who have not accepted an offer on their property or not even put their house on the market. Added to this we have the economic situation that in turn sadly and greatly affects the property market. Perhaps it is not the time to sell or buy a property !
October 24th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
I took a loss on my house after being ill advised on its value by a v.poor agent (part of a chain), and have since effectively been emotionally blackmailed into having to put in a higher offer than the house I hope to move to is actually worth (considering its size, comparing others in the area etc, and they will also be making a VAST profit on the bargain basement price they managed to buy it for!!). Plus, even though I did in order to keep my sale, they won’t even consider leaving and to go rent either! Even if the survey says it’s over-priced can’t see them negotiating on price! Even in the year 2010, vulnerable people without a man in a household can very easily be taken advantage of in these circumstances!
The stress and anxiety of it all is naturally incredibly high. It has inevitably led to the hemorraging of cash renting (being in total limbo land is emotional torment too). Though people I know that are not selling/buying keep saying – “it’s a buyers market”, it’s not them who are having to stuggle, and it’s certainly very tough indeed out there for many buyers!!
I agree with the above comment that prices should drop so that young people to have a chance to get on the ladder, and how many buy-to-lets a person can own should also be very curtailed.
October 25th, 2010 at 11:16 am
We have put our house on the market recently and relied on our estate agents, the so called property experts, to guide us on the value of our house. We didn’t choose the estate agent who gave us the highest valuation, but the one that valued it closest to the prices they had shown us as examples of properties recently sold, believing this to therefore be a realistic valuation. They also made a big deal out of saying theirs probably wouldn’t be the highest valuation (it wasn’t)but that they gave realistic valuation’s to sell the house not overpriced valuation’s which would then need to be reduced. Following signing a contract with the agent and now having an obvious interest in the competition we looked at the local papers property sections, on property websites etc. This led to us believe the valuation we were given was too high. We voiced our concern that our property appeared £17,000 overpriced compared to similar properties and only then did they suggest we should perhaps drop the price, by this amount. This only 1 week after we signed the contract, but thankfully before the property had been put up on websites, having only been in the local paper at this point. A couple of weeks later on asking for the reports from the website activity, that we were promised would be provided, we were then recommended to drop our house price another £10,000 if we were realistically going to sell. We are not greedy sellers, we are also not property experts. We therefore have relied on the estate agents advice on the valuation of our property, believing niavely and wrongly that being industry experts they are best-placed to know what a fair and sensible valuation is.
We feel wholeheartedly let down, angry and frustrated by our estate agents behaviour. All valuations we were given were clearly unrealistic, so the conclusion we have come to is that all 3 of the agents lied, providing us unrealistic valuations to get our business. As they know once you have signed on the dotted line there is no going back, at least beyond the tie-in period and by then your property has been on the market a long time. Now we have to make the decision whether we market our house at a reduced price. Something which we have read in several places is not the best approach and has a negative effect on selling your home. We could have avoided this if we were an given honest valuation to start with.We simply want a fair price for our house, which isn’t going to leave us in a negative situation on our next purchase.
Any sellers about to put their house on the market, scour your local papers and website’s for asking prices before you even have a conversation with an estate to ensure you are armed with knowledge about what asking prices are in your area. If you can find any sources of ’sold’ information these are even better.
Talking of Sold prices, does anyone know a good website which has recent ’sold’ prices of property by postcode, those I have looked at appear to be very out of date making it difficult to use them as a guide to help us set a realistic valuation.
October 25th, 2010 at 11:26 am
Hi ‘Annoyed’,
To find sold house prices by postcode, have a look at our ‘House Prices’ section: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices.html.
This should provide you with all of the recent house sales in the area.
Rightmove
October 25th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
It has been most interesting to read comments from buyers and sellers.
I am a cash buyer and have made 2 recent realistic offers that have not been accepted. Knowing how much was paid for the houses and how property is selling in the area I am convinced that sellers have unrealistic expectations of the value of their property.I also get the impression that some Estate Agents over value houses, setting up these unrealistic expectations in sellers minds. My tactic will be to hang on in there as I am not prepared to pay an unrealistic price for a property.
April 26th, 2011 at 8:57 am
I am just about to move into a flat that was over priced by £10,000 and the stress it has caused to get the Vendor half way to meet me has been dreadful. I blame the estate agents for not marketing it at the right price in the first place (they had the knowledge as one was sold next door with exactly the same i.e. 1 bed etc). I feel that some sort of legislation should be put in place, maybe if the place is priced right firstly, the estate agents get the full commission, if it has to drop then so does their fee automatically (i.e. 1% down to .5% depending on the amount having to drop by).
I am also having to sell a family home which has recently been dropped by £20,000 – 3 estate agents valued it at £275,000. Is this the market or the estate agents fault for not valuing correctly, in a climate that according to them is very busy.