Your property questions answered.

Agent is telling us to drop the price of our house

A house we are selling (on behalf of a relative) has, in the agent's really annoying word, been "sticking" on the market for the past three months and he has now suggested lowering the price from €650,000 to €625,000. Will this not set off alarm bells?

Will buyers not think that there is something wrong with the house? That's certainly what I would think.

Rising interest rates, increasingly reluctant buyers and a glut of houses on the market in certain areas has meant that agents - and sellers - are in many cases having to reassess their asking prices.

It's not happening in every case - you'll see from last week's auction results that some houses withdrawn from the market are now for sale by private treaty at a price higher than the AMV. However, lower price tags are starting to appear and anecdotal evidence would suggest that potential buyers are now getting calls from agents saying that a house they viewed earlier this summer is still on the market but now at a slightly lower price - something virtually unthinkable this time last year. Both the call from the agent and the lower price!

Just to show that your agent's suggestion of lowering the price is not an unusual one, log on to www.housepricefalling.blogspot.ie, a new blog that has appeared this month in cyberspace. The blogger is detailing a list of houses that have fallen in price in recent years and it makes quite a fascinating read.

The surveyor damaged our property - who should pay?

Our house was sale agreed and the buyer wanted a survey. After he had been, we were horrified to discover that some plasterwork was damaged (it is an old house needing renovation admittedly) and floorboards had been lifted and not put back properly.

The buyer pulled out - but who should now pay for the damage?

This is a tricky situation that happens more often than you would think.

Estate agents will tell you that even during open viewings, once people spot a loose bit of wall paper they just can't help giving the corner a bit of a tug, or putting their car key into a cracked piece of plaster to "test" it.

The more experienced agents try to be super vigilent about this sort of thing - often to the point of following the surveyor around from room to room, or instructing that a "visual only" inspection is allowed - which can create its own tensions.

It's further complicated by the variety of people who "survey" the house on the part of a prospective buyer - from a fully qualified chartered surveyor or engineer to a third cousin who does a bit of DIY.

The more professional the person, the more meticulous they tend to be. That all being said, get back to your agent and tell him to chase the person involved in order to put right the damage caused.

You trusted the agent with your keys, they let the guy into your house, so make sure you are not out of pocket for any damage caused.

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Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.