Someone Offering to Buy My House Which Is Not on The Market

Lmommu on 14/02/2018 - 00:42

We had a garage sale last weekend where a lady was complimenting on how good our house was. She was generally more interested in our house than the stuff we were selling. We did not think much of it, fast forward today i get a mail from an agent informing me that someone drove around my neighbourhood on the weekend and wanted to buy my house. Apparently he helped them sell their house on another suburb and asked me if i'm interested in selling my house.

I only bought the house last July and is my main residence. I had no intention of selling the house anytime soon but curious to find out how much i can get for it. (Everything has a price right?) Assuming its genuine interest and not some sales tactic

How much extra i can quote for the house?

Will there be CGT if I sell within a year?

Is there anything else i should consider?

Thanks in advance.

Financial Agent Property Real Estate

Comments

  • grog on 14/02/2018 - 00:52
    +18

    "Is there anything else i should consider?"

    Yes…This is probably a trick by a real estate agent to get you to sign up with them.

    I have seen this locally, shifty methods used by agents to get signatures on contracts.

    Smells fishy i reckon

    • AdamFury on 14/02/2018 - 01:00
      +1

      Agree. Seems almost too convenient! Stay vigilant!

    • mommu on 14/02/2018 - 01:01

      Thanks for the reply. I wouldn't mind selling it if i can get a premium price for it :) I just want to know, assuming its genuine, how much extra i can ask for it? and will there be capital gains tax?

      • abb on 14/02/2018 - 09:33

        You can ask whatever you want, it's your damn house.

        No CGT if you have been living there.

    • ThithLord on 14/02/2018 - 08:52

      Do you mean there's no buyer - just an agent who wants to sell the house for the $$$?

  • retiredfeline on 14/02/2018 - 01:10
    +1

    Agents are paid by commission so they are always trying to make a sale. It's not unknown for them to get requests by a buyer to find a house. But it doesn't mean the buyer will give any price you ask for, this is just an opening. If you have no intention of selling, don't waste your or anybody elses time.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/02/2018 - 02:31
    +5

    Generally the buyer will low ball you, and by low ball I mean really low ball you.

    • mommu on 14/02/2018 - 03:06
      +1

      Would've thought it wouldn't make much sense for someone to low ball me considering i never intended to sell it in the first place.

      • original15 on 14/02/2018 - 08:24
        +4

        Of course it makes sense to low ball. A buyer’s best interest is to get the best price possible, they DGAS if it was listed or not. They’d expect to get it cheaper since they would see it as an easy sale for you, without going through too much work, prepping it, listing it etc

        But that’s assuming the real estate agent is legit..

  • Steptoe on 14/02/2018 - 05:42
    +6

    This is generally a sign that agents have dwindling stock listed. Used to get these all the time.

    Just tell them it’s $X, or don’t bother me offering any less. Can’t imagine you’d make much after paying more stamp duty and relocation costs

  • chumlee on 14/02/2018 - 06:55
    +9

    Throw out a ridiculous figure and start there. Remember you will need to pay stamp duty again on a new house plus relocation costs plus finding somethimg by settlement date.

    She has shown her hand by approaching you so just let her know if she wants it she needs to pay up.

    Also tell the agent you are not signing up with him, just going straight through a conveyancer/lawyer

  • EightImmortals on 14/02/2018 - 07:07

    "How much extra I can quote for the house?"

    It's YOUR property, you can ask whatever you like. If she really wants it that badly then she pay up. But factor in capital gains and stamp duty tax theft as well as real estate agent commission.

    (Though to avoid capital gains tell her to come back after July if she agrees to your price.)

  • barbarella on 14/02/2018 - 07:42

    Relax…forget it…its just a sales tactic…

  • geek001 on 14/02/2018 - 08:46
    +1

    Yea, I get that in the mail all the time. If I was the buyer who came by last weekend, why not just approach you directly and cut out the agent? Could save at least $20k in the price.

  • AngusD on 14/02/2018 - 08:53
    +4

    As others have said, this is a sales tactic / scam by real estate agents. Really, stop and think about it for a minute - real estate agents SELL property, they don't buy it. If somebody wants to make a direct approach to a homeowner about buying their property, they're not going to get a real estate agent to do it, they'll do it in person or get a lawyer to handle it.

    Of course, if you really want to test them, you could go back to them and say "I won't consider less than $X, and any agent fees / commissions will be paid by your buyer, not me". I doubt you'll hear from them again.

  • oscargamer on 14/02/2018 - 08:57
    +1

    This happened to our neighbour.

    Seller asked for a price from agent. They got a reasonable offer. They said no thanks and replied with a considerably higher price with the comment 'This is the sale price. It's not negotiable. Take it or leave it." The buyer paid it !!!

    • carwashhair on 14/02/2018 - 09:27

      the considerably higher price was still too low then…

  • GG57 on 14/02/2018 - 09:03

    Certainly be cautious, but if you feel you can handle the agent's ongoing calls etc., no problem in nominating a (high) sale price, factoring in stamp duty etc as other have said.
    As you say, everything has a price, but you would know better than most (from recent experience) how disruptive selling / buying / moving can be.

  • mick123 on 14/02/2018 - 09:15

    How do you know this agent is "representing" this same lady. Most likely just sales tactic.

    First rule is never trust anything a real estate agent says.
    And since you only bought about 6 months ago and the market hasn't jumped in any capital cities that I know of in that time, you would be out as you would have to pay agents commission, stamp duty etc unless she is willing to pay well above market rate (and why would she??)

  • Quantumcat on 14/02/2018 - 09:20
    +1

    How much do you love your house? I bought my house because I love it, it would probably take at least $100,000 extra to part with mine (so if I have to give it up at least I could get a bigger place). Not to mention how annoying the settlement is, and moving (took about 5 months from offer to moving day for me)…. now that I think about it, it would probably take at least $150,000-$200,000 to make me be willing to move. I probably wouldn't even bother to reply to this supposed buyer. Or at least reply with an off-the-wall ridiculous amount of $. You can add the comment that you only moved recently, buying and then moving is a massive inconvenience, and that inconvenience is factored into the price.

  • Homr on 14/02/2018 - 09:20
    +1

    CGT will be exempt since it is your main residence

    https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Capital-gains-tax/Your-home-a…

  • Elppa8 on 14/02/2018 - 10:02

    Maybe the lady might work for the agency and used the garage sale to con you into believing there was a buyer.

  • MrHyde on 14/02/2018 - 12:33

    This happened to us last year. A person had bought the adjoining property and they wanted ours as well so that they could combine it. We gave a high price, which they baulked at. We said take it or leave it as we didn't need to sell. Eventually they paid that price.

  • mommu on 14/02/2018 - 15:04

    Thanks for all the reply guys. Just an update, I've send an email to the agent telling me i have no intention of selling it unless the buyer makes an offer i cant refuse :)

    My wife and I decided it is not worth the hassle unless we get at least 200k over the market. I'm pretty sure i will not hear back from him.

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