lucyb

OK...our house is on the market at £239,950. ( a humble 4 bed new build in West Sussex, Im afraid!) We had an offer today from someone I am aquainted with through my church, she has nothing to sell as her boyfriend dumped her on Xmas day (classy). She initially offered 233,and we laughed. She then came back with 235 and we giggled. I said we wouldn't even think about taking less than 238. One of the main reasons Im thinking of declining is she came to see us when we were joint sole agency (ie 2%) but we have since sacked on eagent and are now on with only 1 for a flat fee of £2,500. If we accepted her offer, we would be down not only the £2k from the asking price but also another 2+k because of the higher fees we would have to pay as she initially viewed the house when we were on with 2 agents. (I hope this makes sense!) As we are still fairly young we have a massive mortgage and some debts to clear before we leave (I am a major shop-o-holic) so at full asking price, we would only have about £30k to take with us. What should we do?

All advice gratefully received!

ljj

You can't seriously be thinking of turning it down for 2k can you? We have a 3 bed semi valued at 169,950 (oop north)we haven't put it on the market but were offered 135,000 by our tenents ... now we laughed that off but for the sake of 2k-5k I'd say yes.

Look at all the threads on this site about people knocking 10% off their houses cos they can't sell and they are stuck. A bird in the hand and all that.

Louise

lucyb

But it's more like 4-4.5 k when you take into account the extortionate agents fees...and that's assuming she pays £238. We have already reduced it from £247! This is a nightmare!

robos

probably gonna be shot down in flames here but heh!

i have spoken to my wife about this and i firmly believe you should hold out for the maximum price that you can get. its ok people saying that you should take the money and sell rather than being stuck with an unsold house on your hands, but whats the problem? in our position we are in need of every penny we can get. also people think that they have you over a barrel in so much that they know that you are migrating and so think that you will take whatever they throw at you. stick with your gut feeling on this one, after all the extra money could finance your first couple of months when you move, when you are most vulnerable and most need it!!! thats what we will be doing, right or wrong, after all we plan so thoroughly all the way through the whole process, why panic and cave in on something as important as this. good luck gary & jan xxx

lucyb

So I guess my next question should be...'are we buggered if we arrive in Adelaide with only £25k!?'

Wol

.

paulf

Take the offer, imo

Australia_bound?

That £30,000 will go quite far in Aus. Take the offer don't be sat there in 6 months time moaning about not being able to seel your house and having to drop £10,000. Strike while the irons hot.

brisnick

lol, i arrived in brisbane with AU$3000, so i wouldn't worry too much! £25k is still more than i have now, and that's four years later!!

Mrs JFW

I'd take the offer if it was me, but it depends how desperate you are to sell.
good luck.

willybear

Hi

Take the offer. You don't know what's around the corner.

You admit you're a shop-a-holic try to cut back on spending. The great thing I have found about Oz is that you can sit outside, have a BBQ or picnic with friends and it costs you.......NOWT(or very little). Not like in UK where you get seen off at every opportunity!!

will

AnitaB

Hi Lucy

I think you need to look at other houses in your area similar to yours and consider whether your house is realistically priced.
Most people like to think they are getting a bargain when they buy hence the offers way below your asking price.
If 2 agents have been unable to secure your original asking price and even now it is reduced you have had no other offers then you probably need to seriously consider accepting the offer on the table.
Only you can decide this but delaying the move for a while for the sake of an extra 2 or 3 grand may cause you more grief than you need at the moment.

Try looking on www.nethouseprices.com to see how much houses are selling for in your area (data is about 6 months out of date!)

Maybe look at other ways you could make up the difference by selling your furniture seperately and thereby reducing your shipping costs etc....

Ask Rooksie who has had over 70 viewers!

Good luck in whatever you decide though!

AnitaB

spottydog

Personally I would take it. £2k off the asking price is really close and given the way the UK market is at the moment I wonder whether you will actually get full asking price (I think its very rare to get it in a market that is not rising sharply unless the property is well undervalued in the first place which I assume yours isn't).

Could you try negotiating with the agent and agree to a smaller fee than the 2% since it will save them further time and money if this sale goes through.

jad n rich

[QUOTE=lucyb]OK...our house is on the market at £239,950. ( a humble 4 bed new build in West Sussex, Im afraid!) We had an offer today from someone I am aquainted with through my church, she has nothing to sell as her boyfriend dumped her on Xmas day (classy). She initially offered 233,and we laughed. She then came back with 235 and we giggled. I said we wouldn't even think about taking less than 238. One of the main reasons Im thinking of declining is she came to see us when we were joint sole agency (ie 2%) but we have since sacked on eagent and are now on with only 1 for a flat fee of £2,500. If we accepted her offer, we would be down not only the £2k from the asking price but also another 2+k because of the higher fees we would have to pay as she initially viewed the house when we were on with 2 agents. (I hope this makes sense!) As we are still fairly young we have a massive mortgage and some debts to clear before we leave (I am a major shop-o-holic) so at full asking price, we would only have about £30k to take with us. What should we do?

Are you serious , are there any similar properties to yours in the UK who in the current market would snatch the womans hand off to get just 2k below the asking price. I suppose the other question to ask is how much longer do you think in the current UK market you would wait for another buyer, let alone one so near the asking price.

flip

Just a quick check. Did she make the viewing through one of the agents?

If she didn't have any contact with either (ie. if you organised the viewing with her direct) then you may have scope in your contract to not pay the agency fees.

If you are committed to the payment, well you knew this when you put the house on the market with them and so should have already deducted what you will owe them from what your asking price was. People nowadays expect to get a discount and you may struggle to get this close to asking price again.

In May last year we were offered £70k less than asking price. We, hopefully, will complete in February for £60k less than that asking price and in the meantime have lost a fortune in tenancy agents fees, in mortgage shortfall from the rental, etc. and we're now grateful that we've sold at all - the stress is not good.

If you think you can persuade her to pay more do your best or give yourselves a week/fortnight/month to get a better offer. Otherwise in your position I'd take the money and run.

Good luck.

Flip