20180830 (Thu)
When you negotiate with the buyer, can you increase the price?
Let us say, you advertise the house for sale at RM350,000 and this buyer is very unreasonable. He wants to delay payment and he has all the requests of cleaning up the house, painting the house, etc. Can you then say… sir, the price is now RM375,000 and no more RM350,000!?
It must be emphasized that the negotiation is on its way, nothing certain about buying yet. So, there was no booking fee. There was no certainty. So, it was only “hearsay”. The agent can negotiate up the price if he thinks that the deals is no more favourable to the seller. It is just a nature of negotiation.
In fact, the buyer can just walk off when he does not like this price. He can walk off just because he does not like the face of this agent or the air con of the house he is viewing. Buyers have all the rights, and emotion to like or dislike the property or the agent. You cannot expect everything to be nice and flawless.
And, agents who represent their principals have all the reasons to increase or decrease the price when negotiating for the deals. Usually there is some decrease of price, but not necessarily so. The reasons can be told or CANNOT to be told. It is the rights of the seller (via the agent). E.g. a seller told the agent that he does not prefer further expenditure in the house. The agent did not know until the buyer disclose the matter during viewing. In such case, the agent can increase the price. He is just doing his job!
On the issue of inflating the price, it is usually the seller who complains the price being inflated because irresponsible agent makes secret money, NOT the buyer. Even the buyer who bought an inflated property in good faith, it is nothing wrong with the deal. The issue in law is upon the seller discovering this secret money, the agent gets into trouble. However, as long as the agent comes back to the seller and ratify the price difference, it is still up to the seller to honour that higher price. Nothing wrong with it!