christmasoompa

Hate to say it but £50k off the original asking price is the norm at the mo - I would advise any client of mine to do the same. Obviously, it depends on the price as it wouldn't be that much off a £100k flat, but you know what I mean!

One of my clients just had an offer accepted that was £95k less than the asking price, and £170k less than the original asking price (it had just been dropped by 80k two weeks previously)!

Hope they improve their offer a bit for you, best of luck.

albertabound

Sorry but that is such a sweeping statement when you dont know asking price etc. It is all relative Im sure.
Tina

christmasoompa

That's exactly what I said - I did say it depends on the price! I was just trying to say that an offer of £50k below the asking price is not that ridiculous imo - at least it's an offer albeit a low one!! Of course it's relative though - on a £1M house I'd advise offering £100k less than the asking price, but on a £100k flat I'd advise going in at £20k less than the asking price.

Definitely all relative but nobody is paying the asking price these days, even around here where the market is warmer than most areas.

Best of luck selling yours, hope they come back soon with a much better offer.

Sleeping_Beauty45

Oh I know how you feel, maybe we have the same buyer - every single person putting in an offer has been £50K below asking price (4 so far), couldn't get any of them up, not even by £5K. I think we may just have to suck it. It is my choice to go and I will no doubt do the same to some other poor sod if we decide to buy in Canada if the market is in the same position.

I have reconcilled it that we now have a choice, we either accept and move or we don't, we stay put and see whether the markets improve in a year or two. For me renting was the fall back position so I think I'd rather accept a low offer.

At the end of the day there are hundreds of houses for sale in a two mile radius of here so it is definately a buyers market.

snowshoveller

It's pretty understandable in the current climate, folks are trying to future proof their investment, it's the reality of a buyers market, with an oversupply of property.

fuschiagirl

Most people on BE don't have a million pound house Why offer 10% less on a million pound house and 20% less on a £100,00 flat

MikeUK

maybe because if you own a million pound house you're much less likley to be under the same degree of economic presure the seller of the flat is under...

Life's cruel......

Sleeping_Beauty45

Absolutely. We could have chosen to sit it out and had we not wanted to move to Canada we would have done if the circumstances were different. We didn't actually have the money so imho it isn't as if we have lost anything, we just didn't make money on the house but it gave us somewhere to live for the past 8 years and in reality it is the only place my kids know as home so I can't say it hasn't given us anything, we just didn't make as much money as we would have done had we sold a few years back.

Besides I'm the first to admit the house was way over priced a couple of years ago, there is no way these houses should have reached such a ridiculous level so quickly. The price people are offering is really what the house should have been valued at had everything not sky rocketted in recent years.

The Dean

Sorry to interrupt, but I just popped in from the real world and couldn't help noticing the thread title.............

How realistic are you being in your asking price? You don't mention the price you are hoping to sell for, but I'd be looking to knock much MORE than 50,000 off, say, a 350,000 house.

If you are asking for 150,000, your would-be buyer may be taking the piss, but if you are asking for, say 500,000, then YOU are taking the piss.

Get real - the economy is in meltdown, and houses are a long way from the bottom. Some people have said you should 'ride it out' - brave words.

I absolutely believe that residential property will never again be a 'good' investment. When the many millions who are not yet unemployed, but soon will be, are added to the current jobless, there will be panic selling - distress sellers who simply need the cash for luxuries like feeding their children etc.

I could be smug - I sold mine in May 2007 and have been renting ever since. I might consider dipping my toe in the water again in a couple of years from now, but even then it will have to be a very attractive price to tempt me.

A friend in the North-West (not Cheshire) recently saw a house advertised at 495,000 - he called the agent and put in a bid of 275,000. The seller came right down to 350,000 immediately, and negotiations are continuing. A buyer and a seller who at least seem to have some grasp of the REAL value of houses now...........

Good luck..................

onlycanada

How the hell do you value a house?

Estimate what it was worth at the height (approx. Q3 2007.) Half it. Put it on the market for that value. Then accept offers at a fixed 50K less no matter what. Take away the number first thought of etc..... Its all crap.

Downturn or not my house is not only worth tuppence (or the often quoted what someone is willing to pay.) I can see for myself roughly where it fits in with the market with comparable properties. If we don't sell for a reasonable amount, I will not give it away for the first passing stranger with tuppence in their pocket. If we don't sell, then it will be rented.

To the OP, every sympathy. If you don't get the right price, how about this. If your relation really does want it, then sell it to them at the knockdown price. Or perhaps you could come to a deal where they purchase part of the property (still at a great discount but not a ridiculous one) and they rent the rest from you? That way you both win, and keep it in the family. All through correct legal channels of course, so there is no potential for fall outs later.

Our house is not yet on the market (nor have we had it valued yet) We are doing lots and lots of painting! This will not increase the value but it is making us clear out the clutter and will help if we do want to make it a rental.

All our friends and neighbours know of our plans. It is a village and no doubt word will be out about our situation. I was thinking of the line 'We don't have to sell to move' to prevent silly offers.

So when you get the estate agents round, do you go with the highest valuation or the lowest? How quickly do you drop and how much. It all seems so meaningless.

triumphguy

A "good" for sale is only worth what the market will pay: "intrinsic value" doesn't come into play.

You have to take emotions out of buying and selling, and be willing to walk away, or say "no" to offers you don't like.

2 emotions govern the market - greed and fear.

The market won't always be down, can you afford to wait it out and sleep at night?

If you can't sleep make a deal with your relative (see a previous post).

But never mistake where the market is today for where it will be in a year's time -either going up or going down.

You could wait for the market to rebound in the UK only to have it roar ahead in Canada!

Miss Clinique

We had exactly the same thing happen to us :curse: People seriously take the P we told them what to do as well.

Good luck hope you get a buyer soon - we are still trying

snowshoveller

in retrospect do you think you made the right choice?

dexdaw

50K off sounds like a lot. Until you think that in 6 months time that might be your asking price and your still getting offers 50K less. Its all a gamble, it really depends on where you see house prices heading! At the moment it's only one way.

MarkG

And because the price of flats generally falls much faster than the price of houses; I've seen a number of flats sold or advertised in the UK for a third of what the owners paid or would have asked a couple of years ago, but I haven't seen a single house go that low yet.

Flat prices have exploded in the last few years because people at the bottom end of the market couldn't afford to buy a house; as houses become more affordable, few buyers will even look at flats.