How To Get The Vendor To Accept A Low Offer

Morality is notoriously an attribute held loosely by estate agents; so loosely that many say they would stab their Nan for a fiver. Hey, a fiver’s a fiver at the end of the day. What can I say? But what about the actual buyers, how immoral can they be when buying? I think can of a trick or two that can put delusional ideas into a vendor’s head, causing them to lower the asking price. But is it moral?

Morality is a strange one, because more often than not it’s based on personal perception, meaning anyone can pretty much grab onto any branch from the moral tree and personally consider it a “moral” stance; while others disagree. I guess I’ve already made it clear that this article borders on the moral/immoral lining; it just depends on which way you want to look at it.

Making the vendor believe that his/her property is actually worth less than it’s being marketed for is a powerful concept. Ultimately, a property is only worth as much as a punter is willing to pay- sometimes that can be a bitter pill to swallow for a vendor. No matter how many estate agents mutually agree on a price, the figure is useless until someone is actually willing to dig deep and cough up the doe.

What am I actually saying? I’m saying that making a vendor think twice about the asking price can work in the buyer’s favour. In a struggling market there aren’t many viewings or offers flying around, so it’s the perfect climate to be a little bit sneaky. Without going into too much detail and remaining completely anonymous in regards to my peers, I will say that I know of people that have conjured up an Ocean’s Eleven scene and deceivingly staged a performance- a performance that saved them about 15k.

Picture the scene

You find a dream property that you’re almost willing to do anything for. Unfortunately, it’s about 10k out of your reach. Well, that’s sod law, isn’t it? So, you hustle up a group of reliables, and you strategically sequence them to enquire/view the property. You get them to individually make bogus, but believable offers- offers that are too low to accept, but high enough to make the vendor think twice. I mean, this might not work, and in all cases it won’t, but I would bet my bottom dollar on the fact that seeds have been planted in the mind of the vendor, which has made him contemplate whether the property has been priced realistically. Now, that’s when you slide in like a slimly snake and make an offer that is competitively better and slightly more tolerable than the previous offers made by your trusty reliables.

I know people who have done this, and it has worked. As stated, not everyone bites, but in the current climate, it’s a working practise.

Is it Moral?

The big question is, is it moral, immoral, or neither here nor there? I personally think it’s neither here nor there. I can see why it can be considered immoral because there’s definitely a hustling vibe about the practise, but at the same time I can come to terms with it being perfectly fine. I mean, it’s not in the same league as Gazundering, that shit is straight out immoral and fucked up, but it’s not as moral as a good old fashioned honest offer. But ultimately, you’re not forcing anyone to accept an offer, you’re just manipulating the perception of the market. But hey, isn’t that business?

The advantages for a buyer

The rewards of being a little shit pretty much speaks for itself. Someone once told me:

No one made their first million by being honest.

Right, has anyone done anything like this, or considered doing it? I’d love to hear your cruel little stories. Perhaps it’s worth a try…

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F.L wrote, on Jun 19th, 2008

	I think if its purely about money then yeh you kind of expect that from that kind of person … but I think for the normal person just wanting abit of a bargain … its not really on. Not only does it really waste the house sellers time… taking several pointless viewings, but it really is tricking them into believing there house it worth less.
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The Property Amateur wrote, on Jun 19th, 2008

	Yeah, I know exactly what you’re saying. But I still stand a bit unsure whether how immoral it is. But I can definately appreciate the cruelty in wasting the vendors time.
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