Offering low to Estate Agents
I speak to a lot of people who want to buy heavily discounted property, but don’t have the courage or belief to make those embarrassingly low offers
So here’s one of our more advanced offering techniques for you. If you’d like to be able to make really low offers and not get (personally) rejected, then “This is Not an Offer, Offer” is for you:
This is Not an Offer, Offer is an advanced offering technique that allows you unconscious permission to offer a VERY low offer without offending or upsetting any agents or vendors, AND have your offer taken seriously or put forward (sometimes unconsciously).
When offering there are likely to be two variable scenarios.
Scenario 1. is where you make the offer to the estate agent.
Scenario 2. is where the estate agent follows up and asks you what to offer you’d like to make.
Scenario 1.
You view the property and tell the estate agent exactly when you’ll follow up and make an offer or give feedback. This should not be longer than 48 hours after the viewing and ideally by the afternoon of the next day.
You call the estate agent and give feedback. Tell them what you liked and what you’d like to see more of, then give specific feedback as to why the property is not for you (too small, a little out of your ideal area) and then you state that you won’t be making an offer because of these reasons.
Then you intentionally pause.
One of two things will happen after this pause:
1. The estate agent will push and ask you for an offer, or ask you what you would offer if you were to offer. If this happens then this is fantastic and you’ve been given permission to make a very low offer
(And probably found a great agent)
You then state that you won’t be making an offer, but if you were, and now that the estate agent is asking, you will offer X
(You can actually offer ‘X’ in a way that softens it even further. I’ll share that later)
If the estate agent baulks, or is a little shocked, simply reply that you thought that might be the case, and that’s why you didn’t want to make the offer. But as you were asked you wanted to be honest
However in many cases this will be the first stage of making your low offer. You now have an open door and a backstop price set in the agents mind.
2. The second thing that may happen after this pause is nothing, and so you will need to push the conversation and use that ‘this is not an offer, offer’ technique.
Simply say “because of these reasons I’m not going to make an offer, but if I were to make an offer my offer would probably be around X,
because I know you (the estate agent) like to get honest feedback.
If the estate agent does seem a little off with your low offer simply state that that’s why you aren’t making the offer.
Scenario 2.
The estate agent calls you first and follows up, asking you if you like to make an offer. In this instance you simply follow step one of scenario 1.
And here’s how to word the “This is Not an Offer, Offer”
Happy offering low.
But don’t expect to get them all. In fact you don’t want them all, you want the very cheapest. ‘Pipelining’ is best for that which I’ll share later…
