House selling.......well, for sale - bit of advice pls!
Discussion
Good Evening all, not to put too fine a point on the matter, we've had our house up for sale for a while now (since August/September '06) and whilst we've had quite a few people round to view it doesn't seem to be selling. We've even reduced the asking price to below the 2nd stamp duty threshold to try and shift it, despite the fact it's been valued at more by 4 agents! (We've seen a property we really really like!)
The area is OK for a Durham pit village, and the house isn't overlooked (plenty of land etc) doesn't need any work, pretty good commute to Newcastle, Middlesborough, Sunderland etc..........but I'm struggling to see what the problem is? Is the market slow at the minute, do people all want new houses? It's on Rightmove; do people not look on the Internet for houses, do they prefer going into estate agents? We've got a couple of viewings this week (one a second) so hopefully it might sell! What sort of timescale have people in the North East in "average" areas been looking at to sell (from putting the board up) dismissing houses which fly out of the window in areas such as City Centre or Gosforth etc?
Any views on the matter would be appreciated!
Linky to the PH ad - www.pistonheads.com/sales/99505.htm
Oh, and why with a garage as enormous as this one doesn't anyone that's a car enthusiast come and look at it!
The area is OK for a Durham pit village, and the house isn't overlooked (plenty of land etc) doesn't need any work, pretty good commute to Newcastle, Middlesborough, Sunderland etc..........but I'm struggling to see what the problem is? Is the market slow at the minute, do people all want new houses? It's on Rightmove; do people not look on the Internet for houses, do they prefer going into estate agents? We've got a couple of viewings this week (one a second) so hopefully it might sell! What sort of timescale have people in the North East in "average" areas been looking at to sell (from putting the board up) dismissing houses which fly out of the window in areas such as City Centre or Gosforth etc?
Any views on the matter would be appreciated!
Linky to the PH ad - www.pistonheads.com/sales/99505.htm
Oh, and why with a garage as enormous as this one doesn't anyone that's a car enthusiast come and look at it!
There's too much uncertainty in the stability of house prices at present. Buyers won't commit for fear of negative equity. In the end your house is not valued at the price an estate agent suggests. They need you to sell for as much as possible because they work for a percentage. You need to judge what people will pay. Mark it down 10% and see if you get a bite. You don't have to accept offers from this but it will allow you to find the real value of the house.
The value of anything is a number between the maximum someone values it at and the minimum that the owner will sell for. It sounds like your minimum may be higher than the buyers maximum, hence no offers. I know that sounds simplistic but it is also true.
The value of anything is a number between the maximum someone values it at and the minimum that the owner will sell for. It sounds like your minimum may be higher than the buyers maximum, hence no offers. I know that sounds simplistic but it is also true.
Bob,
We've already come to that conclusion, hence why we have reduced it by 10% last week - I'd also agree with the negative equity, but all of the propoganda on the news talks of house prices rising........but I'd love to know where! And I don't quite know how the HIP's are going to effect the market as less people may put houses up for sale "on the off chance of a sale" as it will cost them money, but it also means fewer will be looking!
We've already come to that conclusion, hence why we have reduced it by 10% last week - I'd also agree with the negative equity, but all of the propoganda on the news talks of house prices rising........but I'd love to know where! And I don't quite know how the HIP's are going to effect the market as less people may put houses up for sale "on the off chance of a sale" as it will cost them money, but it also means fewer will be looking!
If I was in the market to buy a house, I would be seriously interested in yours - It looks lovely.
Without meeting you, it's hard to say why it's not selling, prehaps it's the way your selling it
What is the interior decor like - unfortunately, there are some people who are idiots and actually judge the house based on your furniture.
Finally, I think some people can be put off by something being too cheap, it's as if there is something wrong with it. I would certainly be expecting a price of around £300k based on the photo's.
Without meeting you, it's hard to say why it's not selling, prehaps it's the way your selling it
What is the interior decor like - unfortunately, there are some people who are idiots and actually judge the house based on your furniture.
Finally, I think some people can be put off by something being too cheap, it's as if there is something wrong with it. I would certainly be expecting a price of around £300k based on the photo's.
byff said:
If I was in the market to buy a house, I would be seriously interested in yours - It looks lovely.
Without meeting you, it's hard to say why it's not selling, prehaps it's the way your selling it
What is the interior decor like - unfortunately, there are some people who are idiots and actually judge the house based on your furniture.
Finally, I think some people can be put off by something being too cheap, it's as if there is something wrong with it. I would certainly be expecting a price of around £300k based on the photo's.
Without meeting you, it's hard to say why it's not selling, prehaps it's the way your selling it
What is the interior decor like - unfortunately, there are some people who are idiots and actually judge the house based on your furniture.
Finally, I think some people can be put off by something being too cheap, it's as if there is something wrong with it. I would certainly be expecting a price of around £300k based on the photo's.
Why thankyou Byff! No, the house is lovely.......decor's good (neutral) with period furniture and the missus is doing the selling - I'm ok at oily bits, leave the people bits to her! Think if it was in Gosforth/Low Fell it would be circa 500K, but it is what it is.......a Durham village, I too am a little confused....
Reducing by 10 percent, whilst seeming like a lot, may not be enough. Despite the estate agents' 'valuations'. If they are not a qualified surveyor, what they actually give you is a market appraisal, ie what they 'think' they can sell it for: there is no science to it, its just an educated guess based on what else they have locally, what has sold recently (and the mimimum they dare tell you, but still expect you to put it on the market with them). you need no qualifications (or even necessarily training) to do this, and most of them will know what they are going to 'value' the house at before they leave the office based on what you tell them when you book the valuation. A valuers job is a sales job and their real job is to get you to sig the contract.
Its sad to say that the true value of a propety is what someone is willing to pay for it at any one given time, and unfortunately at the moment its quite a buyers market which keeps prices down. If there is not the demand for your type of property, then the 'value' will be low. Its horrible to say, but every house has a selling price - If you had to sell come life or death in the next month, then it would be possible, but not neccesarily for as much as you would hope. If you need a quick sale, consider an auction. Auction prices are not always lower than free market, but because you put a guid price (starting much lower than reserve) it attracts lots of interest and can get lots of viewings... and viewings = sales.
I used to work in estate agency, so I'm pretty confident I know how it works, and we often had vendors with overpriced houses wondering why they don't sell. I'm not saying this to be nasty, but you 'could' sell, but not necessarily at a price acceptable to you. If not, hold out till demand rises again.
Good luck with it,
Gez
Its sad to say that the true value of a propety is what someone is willing to pay for it at any one given time, and unfortunately at the moment its quite a buyers market which keeps prices down. If there is not the demand for your type of property, then the 'value' will be low. Its horrible to say, but every house has a selling price - If you had to sell come life or death in the next month, then it would be possible, but not neccesarily for as much as you would hope. If you need a quick sale, consider an auction. Auction prices are not always lower than free market, but because you put a guid price (starting much lower than reserve) it attracts lots of interest and can get lots of viewings... and viewings = sales.
I used to work in estate agency, so I'm pretty confident I know how it works, and we often had vendors with overpriced houses wondering why they don't sell. I'm not saying this to be nasty, but you 'could' sell, but not necessarily at a price acceptable to you. If not, hold out till demand rises again.
Good luck with it,
Gez
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