Haggling on House prices

[Mike and Connie]

Hi Victoria
Can anyone tell me whether it is the done thing to "haggle" over asking prices for houses in Victoria,or will you get shown the door?
A book I read recently on buying houses in OZ said never to offer the full asking price but to start your offer at 10-15% below the asking price and work up.
Has anyone had any experience of this and did it work?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Mike and Connie :wink:

[randpm]

Hi Guys.... we have been on 6th trip to Aus. and are now waiting for our visa. Whilst on the last two trips we have ben looking at the house market in depth. There is a lot to consider and don't forget the tax on buying a house here is 6%.
As for haggling they often use the wording "Price $******* plus" the plus means on average they expect 10% more than the suggested asking price! This is a way of getting buyers to compete in making offers and sometimes sellers get a lot more than expected thanks to the very articulate agents!!!
Have a good look at the websites on Australian property and some have lots of info. on buying proceedures. The main issue we have found is going to be good research and don't rush or be rushed by the agents. Every proerty here is different and its very hard to get a fix on the right price to pay.

Then there is the whole process of auction.....you need to visit a few they are quite an experience.....!
hope this helps a little...take care"Buyer beware"

[The Jenners]

Hi (o:

There are two main ways to buy here - private sale (prices marked PS, usually) and by auction (prices marked $k plus).

You can haggle on the private sale prices, but the auction prices (obviously) are set by the auction bidders.... beware though, you need to be aware that the price of a property can sell for $100k above the advertised price at auction and sometimes higher - it's a ploy the real estate agents use to get buyers to the auctions. Annoying but true...

[newnico]

Originally Posted by The Jenners

Hi (o:

There are two main ways to buy here - private sale (prices marked PS, usually) and by auction (prices marked $k plus).

You can haggle on the private sale prices, but the auction prices (obviously) are set by the auction bidders.... beware though, you need to be aware that the price of a property can sell for $100k above the advertised price at auction and sometimes higher - it's a ploy the real estate agents use to get buyers to the auctions. Annoying but true...

I was just going to post a warning on Melbourne house prices, after coming back last week from a trip in which I looked at various flats and houses. I'm now checking out what they actually sold for at auction, and the first one I looked at went for 30% more than the initial quoted price. So be warned!!

[hammfam]

Hi, We have just bought a house and move in in two weeks! The above threads are quite true in that there are houses offered for sale at auctions where the price is set by the auctioneer and the vendor. I went to one auction where the house was valued at $350,000 in the paper and sold for $520,000! Bit of a difference. Some auctions don't even reach the initial price and are then taken off the market and the auction is held again later.

Some agents put a price range, this means that you offer more than the lowest price but less than the highest. If there are other people interested you almost have a private auction where the agents will go between the interested parties and raise the value up and up! I asked why they put the lowest price if that was never going to be accepted and the agent simply shrugged his shoulders but it's obvioulsy just to get people through the door.

There are some agents who will price it at what is expected to fetch, you may be able to haggle down on those, but my experience is that they only haggle upwards of the advertised price. Quite different to the UK and it took us quite some getting used to. We offered on three houses and had learnt by the third what we needed to do.

Once the offer is agreed you then sign a contract binding you and the vendor to the sale, you have three days to change your mind. You can find out what houses sold for in the area if you are concerned that you have overpaid and pull out of the agreement as long as you are quick!

All in all, this house purchase here has been the least stressful I have ever had as we knew once the offered was agreed that we wouldn't be gezumped! The other thing to bear in mind is that when you agree the offer you also agree a moving in date. We had to wait four months (120 days). It can be as little as four weeks but the more I hear the more common it is that its about four months.

Hope this helps.
Jo

[Russfamily]

We just bought in Adelaide at an auction, the house was on aussiehomes.com.au for $780 plus so we put a pre auction offer in of $750k not knowing the way the aussie housing market works we heard nothing so we got intouch with the real estate agent. she said $780k is the starting rate but they are hoping for high $800/low $900. so it went to auction and started at 780K within 2minutes it was at 910K and we secured it at $915K even thought it was more than we wanted to pay we feel it was still a great buy, as it is on the esplanade with sea views galore. You wouldnt get much change out of $2 million if it were in perth or sydney