I am trying to sell my apartment in Gold Coast area, and have listed a few months ago. An agent recently brought a potential buyer who is interested.
My asking price is around 5% higher than bank valuation, and I am willing to negotiate a little bit, even though when I came up with the list price, I decided to go with a lean price without 10-20% room for negotiation. I had made this clear with the agent.
The agent got back to me with an offer that is quite a bit lower than my asking price on condition that they will pay in full upfront. However, it is a price that I am not willing to accept (it is quite close to the bank valuation). The paying upfront thing bears no difference to me.
She called me back to tell me that the buyer has given her a check to help with the transaction, and she is to make this offer once more (same offer) to two properties (including mine) to see who will take it.
I felt very offended by this action; to me, it is quite obvious that either the agent or the buyer is playing games with me. Obviously, I declined the offer (again!). She said she would talk to the other property to see what their reaction is. Whatever...
She called back a day later saying that the buyer has decided to leave things as is for now.
It almost feels like they think that I will call them back in a couple of days to let them know I will take the crap offer. The walk-away tactic.
Is it just me? Or is this really an obviously tactic they are playing? I am quite frustrated with the games they are playing.
Any advice? My husband says we should raise the price for future buyers, so that there's more room for negotiation.
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AYip
17 yrs ago
These tactics occur everywhere in the world - just some people do it more tactfully than others. You're perfectly entitled to play them at their game too - go get 'em!
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Thanks everyone for your input. I had told the agent that I will be leaving HK for a week in a few days, so I will wait and see if she calls back. If she doesn't, hmmm.... not sure what to do.... just leave it and consider this a no deal, or call back to try negotiating again. Any advice on this?
Adfundum, I think that even in Gold Coast, there are certain areas that are more popular than others. My apartment is just across the street from the mall, which makes it more attractive. I believe Aqua Blue is slightly more out of the way, and thus, the slow sale??
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Buying and selling property can be quite fraught but don't worry it's all normal. The problem you have is that people in the know will not pay over the odds for property, I certainly do not. When I buy property I always take into account the bank valuation as that is what the property is worth, not what the buyer says it is worth. I've often made bids based on the valuation and will walk away if not taken. That's just how it is all over the world. It's certainly not playing games, but it's also not just buying a can of baked beans either.
Gold Coast I have looked at recently for investment, but have pulled away due to some high prices being asked which cannot be realised in the secondary market and surely will not bring a decent yield for renting. Actually mentioning Aqua Blue above, this is a desirable property due to the facilities on site, regular shuttle buses and club house but they are slow to sell. Being close to the mall wont help as much as you may think. Transportation boosts prices, not malls!
If you really must hold out for your price then do so but be prepared to wait for a sale. It may take a few months or over a year. I know a few properties that have been on the market for 24 months as the owners will not release for a decent price. This is just how the market is, do not take it personally.
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walkup,
Comparing the offer with the bank valuation the agent told me, they are in line with each other (offer is actually a wee bit higher). The market here has become more active than usual, but it is not comparable to the city. We do want to sell, due to our expanding family. Having said that, we can also manage where we are for another year or two. But if we wait, we will have to go through all of this all over again, which is quite draining....
evildeeds,
Yes, I do understand that property buying/selling procedure can be fraught. I would probably do whatever I can to get the best price possible as a buyer as well. It is just that we have had bad experience with this particular agency (the company, not the particular individual) in the past, and we have a perception that all these guys do is play games to get what they want. When buying this property years ago, we actually had to switch to another agency to close the deal, as we could not stand the way they were doing things. As luck would have it, it has to be this agency that brings a potential buyer to us....
And interesting what you mentioned about your views on Gold Coast....
Thank you both for your valuable input. We will take a couple of days to think about our next step. I will keep u guys posted...
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Boof
17 yrs ago
In my opinion, the agent just wants the unit sold, so as to pocket their commission. An agent selling a property will favour the buyer, as the difference in commission from their offer price to your asking is minimal. The market is strong at the moment - if you hold onto your unit for a couple of years, you might not only be losing the percentage extra you want for it, but a whole lot more in market value.
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Boof,
yes, i agree that agents just wants to close a deal regardless of the difference in price. The agent's supervisor even called me and tried to make me take the offer.
Anyways, the update is that the sale did not happen. I think that in the midst of our negotiations, the buyer found another place they liked and lead us on to use us as their bargaining tool. They never got back to us. I guess it wasn't meant to be.
Hopefully, we will have others interested in our property soon.
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Marlboro,
I disagree. Aegean Coast's developer is Sun Hung Kai who has a reputation for their quality. Whirlpool, Mitsubishi appliances and Grohe fittings in bathrooms. Not sure what kind of windows these are, but also good quality. I have not been to Aqua Blue, so cannot make a comparison, but it is wrong to say that Aegean Coast has used cheap material.
When we moved in, we did do some interior design work, but left all the appliances and fittings in place, as we were happy with the quality.
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I'll come in here on both sides! Sun Hung Kai do have a good reputation among the locals. Quality though depends who they have subcontracted to, something you can see throughout their various developments in HK. Some good, some not so good and some just plain awful.
The problem with the GC area is oversupply in the secondary sale market with many flats overpriced. Aegean Coast, Aqua Blue, Hillgrove are all full of empty flats. Many owners are trying to release now at inflated prices which they just cannot realise. So GC is more of a buyers market than a sellers. It's not a place for investment and it's not the most desirable area to live. This is true in other areas of HK as well. Take a look at recent transaction records which will be a much more reliable source of values and volumes of sales.
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Marlboro,
Perhaps experiences differ from individual to individual. We have had no problems with the quality of material so far. Maybe we are just careful users. We are not wanting to leave because of cheap material, but rather due to my husband's erratic working hours and expanding family.
evildeeds,
Our recent experience with the potential buyer does bring us to the reality that around here, it IS perhaps a buyer's market. We will keep this in mind with our future negotiations. The way i see it, the desirability of an area depends on one's requirements, and for the years we have lived here, it has been desirable for us. However, circumstances change and it is time for us t make a move.
We keep a close eye out on the recent transaction records, and we feel that the price we are asking for for our place is reasonable. We just need the right buyer to come along... and hopefully, it won't be too long!
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frenchfries, I understand what you are saying and I agree the GC is a nice area to live in and is unique. However most people do find it inconvenient and the majority rules in HK.
The market in HK has gone crazy as a few people are speculating and buying for short term profits only. This distorts the market somewhat as this frenzied activity is translated into "everyone is going mad for buying" when in fact it's only a few people. This pushes a few of the unwary to make a panic buy, and I have certainly seen this in the past few weeks.
Where you are the main type of buyer would "normally" (and I say that in the broadest sense of the word - this is HK of course!) be someone who is looking to buy to live. These people are actually quite scarce in the market right now, BUT they are out there. You just need the person who is looking where you are selling. Sounds simple really........!!
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The inconvenience makes GC nice and quiet.. ;-)
I agree with you on the fact that the main type of buyer would be someone looking to live in the flat. There is a potential buyer who came for a visit past weekend who is showing interest. Hopefully, negotiation will go smoothly this time.
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Just an update...
We had decided to move out of our flat due to timing issues, and we felt that it may help to have the flat empty for it to sell quicker. We moved out past Saturday, and the day after, we got 2 offers! We ended up selling the flat at the middle mark between our initial target price and our adjusted (lowered) target price. We could not have asked for more..
The timing of things just amaze me.....
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