A wise man once said people know the price of everything but the value of nothing ..

This has never been more true than in our convenience society of today. How many of us have ordered a new phone “because it’s only another £3 per month” when there’s nothing wrong with the old phone and the new model has an extra gimmick? Likewise, cars are changed every 3 years “because we can” and not because we should. We rarely question the “worth or value” of such purchases and are persuaded mainly by the price.

But are we more savvy when we buy a house, the single largest purchase most of us make in a lifetime? To be fair in this case the system lets buyers down. Most houses on the market are priced by the seller with the help of an estate agent. In many cases buyers simply accept the asking price is accurate and make an offer. However, the asking price is merely a guess albeit an educated one by the agent but in some cases it’s just a figure the seller “wants”. It’s not a coincidence that 1 in 3 houses are overpriced (or wrongly priced) and in the East of England that means buyers overpay by, on average, £18,900!

There are many reasons for this. Buyers are not seasoned negotiators but selling agents are. Buyers don’t have knowledge of other similar sales to make comparisons or have a survey carried out at the point of making an offer. Moreover most buyers will have fallen in love with the house before making an offer so their emotion takes over and the heart rules the head. Estate agents do a wonderful job, but only for the seller who is their client. Agents are incentivised to get the highest price to maximise sales commission and please the seller.

A survey is usually conducted after the sale is agreed to check for defects and validate the agreed sale price. But, has the horse not bolted by then? Surely it makes more sense to have a survey or valuation before making an offer?

At Savvy Property Buyer our sole aim is to support house buyers at every stage of the home buying process. We visit and carry out extensive due diligence on the property you’ve fallen in love with to establish its true “value”. We then negotiate on your behalf with the selling agent to secure it at the absolute lowest price. We remain by your side all the way to exchange and completion.

Representation for both a house seller and buyer is far fairer and actually normal in many other countries. At Savvy Property Buyer, we believe the asking price of a house is an arbitrary number but it’s true value is what we look to determine for our clients.