terese677

thank you for that link, looks good, will try with our cars when we go

glenn wilson

Going to try the open house thingy bit..hope it generates some interest from somewhere......

shahzadandkelly

HI NSPaul

That someone is me.

There are lots of reasons why the property has not yet sold and I agree that price is certainly one of them.

Of the 4 evaluations carried out on the property, the middle one was chosen (which was actually 285k initially and has been reduced once already)

The current 270k has already been reduced to 250k for a mega quick sale however this means that we will not cover purchase price plus renovation costs. We will in fact have "lost" in the region of 12k if it sells at 250k however I too agree, properties are worth what someone will pay and it is important to sell ASAP.

Reference Doh! The immediate conclusion you have come to regarding the perceived value for money for "a 1 bed flat" is another of the major issues that we are facing. In some properties, you have to go there to believe it and "1 bed flat" is far from an accurate description of the property, genuinely, it is a unique detached property with much larger than average accommodation over two floors.

Your reaction however is the exact reason why marketing is needed.

It is all of course relevant to the market - this is amongst the cheapest properties in the area, and cheapest by far in the street. It compares extreme favorably to a 1 bed, box flat, high rise in the city centre with standard "fixures & fittings", limited parking, loads of neighbours etc for 275k.

I note that on several of the threads, individuals have in fact reduced the price as a first course of action and are discussing other options in order to help the process along as much as possible, rather than as you have suggested. Despite price reductions on various types of properties though, sales have not been increasing over recent months.

Houses not selling may, in part, be due to stupidity on some sellers' behalf however I can assure you, I am fully aware of the various factors at play.

Kelly

jenna

Our house went up for sale in september, we have had three viewings, the last couple came back for second veiwing, put in an offer 7000 below asking price we said yes to the offer and they said they had also had put an offer on another house which was accepted and they were going for the other house. Not fair really, the emotions you run through, keeping you waiting for a day or two before getting back to you.

Paul Wildy

Hi Kelly

I realise I singled you out and it was probably a little unfair since the problem is certainly not unique to you - the vast majority of houses are overpriced. In fact at least you are prepared to consider realistic price cuts which is more than most are willing to do (if I was a buyer I'm afraid a 5k disount would not motivate me!). I think you are taking totally the right approach to accept a drop in price ans we did the same when we sold. Of course it didn't feel good at the time but its much more sensible than getting stuck in a market where prices start spiraling downwards and then your dream is dead completely.

The other problem of course is everyone is justifying the value of their house based on what else they see advertised for sale and at what price. And yet none of these other houses have sold either so they are probably all overpriced. Prices do have to come down to attract buyers back into the market otherwise people will just stay put.

glenn wilson

Took some advice and had an open house for the day..had 2 couples round,second couple have put an offer in and we have accepted.5k less but its the most positive we have had in 8 months...our journey is coming to an end methinks...................

RodRos&Co.

Fingers crossed for you, we also have a buyer from our open house.
We had reduced by 5k, but our buyer has made us an offer that is only 3k under our initial asking price. Maybe our initial price was realistic.

manghams

Good luck, hope all completes well for you.
Just a note of caution, out buyers pulled out the day before we were set to sign, so we are back as square one.
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MarkG

You know how, in the movies, you see stock brokers shouting 'Buy! Buy! Buy!' into their phones, and then suddenly there's bad news and they start shouting 'Sell! Sell! Sell!'? Well, it appears that's what's just happened to the British housing market.

Banks and the people who fund them seem to have realised that lending lots of money to people who can't afford to pay it back is not a smart business plan. With Northern Rock and Paragon in big trouble, 'buy to let' is going to drop off dramatically; since that's what's been propping up the housing market for several years now as few FTBs can afford to buy anywhere, you're going to find far fewer people bidding to buy properties at the low end, and far more chains for higher end properties falling apart because the person at the bottom can't sell.

Worse than that, people who were rushing out to buy 'second homes' as 'investments' because the price of houses was increasing 2,000 pounds a month are going to start thinking that maybe they don't want to hang onto an 'investment' whose price is dropping by 2,000 pounds a month. So as well as less demand, you're likely to see much more supply.

Worse than that, if prices are dropping 2,000 pounds a month, banks are going to expect a large deposit to ensure they aren't stuck with a negative equity mortgage if they have to repossess. When prices are going up, they don't much care because they can lend you 200,000 pounds and repossess a house that's worth 224,000 next year. But once they start to drop, banks don't want to lend 200,000 pounds on a house that will be worth 176,000 next year. So there'll be even less people getting mortgages.

Worse than that, if people see that the price of a house is rising 2,000 pounds a month, they have to buy as soon as possible or risk never being able to afford somewhere. But if they see that the price is dropping 2,000 pounds a month, they'll be better off waiting. Which means demand will drop even further among those who can still afford to buy and can still get a mortgage, as there will no longer be any rush.

Personally if I had a house to sell I'd do whatever I had to in order to get rid of it... which basically means knocking down the price until someone is willing and able to buy. Maybe Gordon Brown will start up a new government department devoted to lending taxpayers' money to people who can't afford it to buy overpriced houses in order to keep prices high, but I can't see even him doing that myself.

Alison33

Anyone here actually advertised their place in the Classified Section of BE? Did you get any viewings or offers from it?
Would love to here a nice success story for a change.

I've had my personal rant today with my own agent who I feel has gone to sleep. Not had one single viewing from them in 6 weeks! To top the frustration off a house over the road from me went on the market today (has been empty for over 12 months and been on and off the market in that time). It appears sometime this afternoon when their sign went up my sign went walkabout (or is not there now).

I went in to see the agent to inform them that the sign was no longer there and he asked me if I wanted to start scheduling my open viewings for sometime in Jan. My chin almost hit the floor and I asked him if he was going mad (he knows our current position). Told him that with the massice price drop weve made recently I expected him to pull something out the bag before then and if not, I was going to cancel my contract with them and as they had not fufilled their part of the contract (ie. no contact from them to me ever!, It's always me chasing them and making suggestions about what our home should be priced at to attract a buyer, even then he said price was good as it was and I had to push it, plus the fact that they had not managed to get 1 single viewing). If I decide to go with another agent and break the contract theres not a damn thing they can do about it. Told him I'd give him a week to make some positive developemts.

Whilst there I asked him how many people he had on his books that fitted our criteria that were in a positive position to offer/buy and he told me 250. I asked him where the hell are they then and what are you doing to get them in the door. Think he was a bit shocked. In my view, despite the crap housing market and all the scare mongering, the only buyers around xmas are usually serious and not the usual carpet kickers and that if a house is priced well (cheap) then whats the problem. God, they needed a good boot up the ass.

Now feeling a wee bit better. Rant over I promise for now. Wish me luck. OH employers are gonna start pushing for a start date as job was offered in Aug. I can symphasise entirely with everyone in same position.

Paul Wildy

You're right actually about Christmas. Less people looking but those that are are genuine. Plus there is nothing like some really nice Chrimbo decks everywhere to make your house look like a great family home.

How much was your "massive price drop" though? What might be a massive cut to you might not necessarily be a massive incentive to buyers

terese677

Crossing fingers for you both, have reduced our house and taken new photos still waiting

glenn wilson

Timing for us is everything.After nearly 8 months on the market,reduced price numerous times,not many viewings then had an open house viewing and now we have sold subject to status.We hope that it all completes after Christmas so then we can plan on our move(already had medicals)With all the flooding during summer in our area all the rental properties are used up. Keep the faith all of you wanting to sell, we were getting very fed up but it can all of a sudden turn around.

RodRos&Co.

Thanks, so far all is well their surveyor will be here on Wednesday. We have some progress though they can't exchange until the middle of January.

So we'll enjoy Christmas here with the family and friends and head to NS at the end of January.

Hope it goes well with your house, its like somebody said at least they're shouldn't be any carpet kickers only serious buyers for the next couple of months.

Rosie

Alison33

We dropped by £21K although agents were unsure about this move. Assured us price we had was perfectly achievable and below other similar properties. We have a 5 Bed, 3 Recep, Double Integral Garage and double drive for 4 cars - it is in a village location just on the outskirts of a large town. I spent yesterday afternoon starting to pack up all non essential ornaments and depersonalising.

My rant with agent must have worked as had a call for a viewing this morning. Seemed to go pretty well and they need to move fairly quickly (yup, they have sold there place). Fingers crossed. They had driven a hour or so to get here but said that they had about 9 other houses to view today. Heres hoping our hit the mark.

Has anyone put any xmas decs up yet?