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bagzithat
Posts: 42 Forumite
Not sure really how to start but here goes!!!!
Put the house on the market 4 months ago, first EA said it will definately sell at £475,000, after 8 weeks not a single viewer.
We then took on a joint agency, the second estate agent said the reason for having no viewers is, the house is marketed all wrong, he then reduced the price to £450,000, now 12 weeks has past and we have only had 2 viewings.
Now both EA are saying to reduce the house to £410,000? we really can't understand what is going on?
We are told the house is unusual as it still has all the original features from it was built back in 1902, it is in immaculate condition, detached 7 bedroom new bathrooms and brand new 27ft kitchen, so whats the problem, the EA now say its very hard to sell as it so big.
What we now want to do is auction the house, the dilemma is the EA said putting it on auction will not fetch the asking price, so please what do we do? we are willing to drop the house, but why did they all start at £475,000 then drop it to £450,000 now want to drop it again, all this within 4 months.
Put the house on the market 4 months ago, first EA said it will definately sell at £475,000, after 8 weeks not a single viewer.
We then took on a joint agency, the second estate agent said the reason for having no viewers is, the house is marketed all wrong, he then reduced the price to £450,000, now 12 weeks has past and we have only had 2 viewings.
Now both EA are saying to reduce the house to £410,000? we really can't understand what is going on?
We are told the house is unusual as it still has all the original features from it was built back in 1902, it is in immaculate condition, detached 7 bedroom new bathrooms and brand new 27ft kitchen, so whats the problem, the EA now say its very hard to sell as it so big.
What we now want to do is auction the house, the dilemma is the EA said putting it on auction will not fetch the asking price, so please what do we do? we are willing to drop the house, but why did they all start at £475,000 then drop it to £450,000 now want to drop it again, all this within 4 months.
Nice to save.
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Comments
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Go on https://www.ourproperty.co.uk have have a look at what properties in your neighbourhood are going for.
I don't see how the house being big is a problem, to me that is a bonus! Perhaps you can have it appraised by other agents and see what they say? Your current agents are not bringing in people through the door, I'd switch agent before dropping the price further...0 -
Hi thanks, yes we have looked at other properties in out area Manchester, they are higher than ours, some down the road are selling for over 1 million, yes really 1 million just 5mins away from us.
We had another EA today come and view the house, he said the house was stunning, his words were " it certainly does have the XFACTOR " and could not understand why we had only 2 viewings, but he did say from outside the house does not look like a 7 bedroomed house, it is quite decieving.
He said he would put the house on the market for £459,995, but we really have had enough, I think adding another EA will make the house look bad. The truth is we want to auction the house and would like some advice whether or not to do this.Nice to save.0 -
Auctioning a house is taking a risk. Are you prepared to take much less than you are asking, because reserveprice matters? If you are expectingmarket value, you have to expect to be disappointed. Many auction properties are not selling thru too-high reserves. It costs money to enter a house into an auction, so if you don't sell, you lose money. It costs to enter a property and you will incur solicitors charges. People at auction need cash available to buy a house (it is possible, but with 28 days to complete, very tight for mortgage deals) and considering the value of your home, market is limited.
Apart from the obvious - it being overpriced, is there something else that could make it harder to sell? Are you in a village? Does the design make your house suited to an 'individual' taste? Could it be 'overdeveloped' for the area? Little garden/no parking? Consider the agents you currently have - are they marketing to as many people as possible? ie. wide area coverage, websites etc. Are they high street names or independents? What about using a more 'exclusive' type of agent with wider reach?
With regards to price - is it possible that you may have put words into the agents mouth? They ALWAYS ask what you want before they suggest what it's worth and you can unwittingly set your own price. It does seem a little odd to me that a 7 bedded house in a decent area can't sell under the half million mark in most regions. I'd like to offer advice, but without seeing, it's hard to tell .
By the way, I expect you will receive several blunt replies tomorrow in response to your post; brace yourself.Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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Hi Doozergirl thank you for the advice have now sent you PM, see what you think.Nice to save.0
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Have you actually spoken to auctioneers? - they will give you an opinion on how much it is likely to make!!K eep
I t
S imple
S tupid!!0 -
I know you said you wanted to go to auction but unless you have a need (rather than a want) to sell quickly, I'd take the house off the market, leave it as long as you can but certainly 2/3 weeks minimum and put it back on with an agent you haven't yet tried for over 1/2 £mill if that really is the market rate. As posted earlier in thread you do need to try and be careful you are not looking through rose coloured specs but if you are sure your property is comparable then go for say £550000. The psychology is that everyone wants to believe they are good negotiators and at (say) £550,000 you will get those looking over 1/2 mill and leave room for manoevre. Also, need to get a trusted friend to contact the agent(s) you are with, pretend to be looking at say 6 beds of max £400,000 and see if the agent pushes the to look at yours. The feedback you get should give an idea what the agent is or is not saying to potential buyers. Would do this for you myself if I lived nearer Manchester! Are you north or south of the city? Just remember what suits agents is a quick sale for least work but you want a good sale at max price - not the same thing at all. I wouldn't be too quick to go to auction myself as I think the risks are huge if your house is sound. Best auction properties are in need of work, as they say, not well presented as you say your is. One last thought - have you sloshed neutral colours everywhere? amazing how many buyers can't look beyond a personal colour scheme. Good Luck.0
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Thanks to all of you for the sound advice, yes we have spoke to the auctioneers, they said to expect the worse!!! Yes we really do need to sell quickly thats the reason we have now considered auction. We have both put our heads together and came to a joint decision tonight/morning now can't sleep. We have decided to lower the asking price for the time being, if we do not get any viewers then we will definitely put the house on auction.
The house, has one lounge that is to our own personal taste, thats where the estate agent say it has the wow factor, the rest of the house has all neutrals, we have no wall paper just painted all the walls, all the wood is stripped. Yes we do have good size gardens to both front and rear, we have a driveway for four cars a detached garage, fruit trees, and yes really the house is kept immaculate 24 hours aday, as I never know when we might get a viewing?
As flossy_splodge said get a friend to phone the agents, thats a really good idea we will do that, I think that might tell us something. flossy_splodge we live in south Manchester, the clue is St Bedes college, sorry don't want to put exactly where I am as people might think I'm advertising, I'm not I just need really good sound advice, and where better to get it from than MSE, again thanks to all of you, I will keep you posted at to what happens.Nice to save.0 -
the contacting the estate agent is brill idea did this for the mother in law told them all the details and that i was even out of town and coming for a visit and told them abt a few that friends had seen so was was requesting details even told them i wanted details on the mils hows and guess what got loads of details but not the one i wanted and there excuse it had just come on the market and they were gathering the details together.. it had been on the marker 2 weeks by then and they never did follow up sending me details when they got them..Those we love don't go away,They walk beside us every day,Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed and very dear
Our thoughts are ever with you,Though you have passed away.And those who loved you dearly,
Are thinking of you today.0 -
I called my estate agent when I sold my flat and pretended to be a buyer. I asked for 2 bedroom house/flat up to £130k mine was on at £115. Can you believe he said 'nope nothing like that. i have a 1 bed flat at 99k and then nothing until a 2 bed house at £135k'. I said to him are you sure you have nothing at all? he said yes im very sorry nothing at all.
I had wondered why in 2 weks of it being put on the market (when the market was moving so fast this was back in 2003) that i hadnt had a single viewer!!!!!
I went straight down to the estate agent, sacked him on the spot, he tore up the contract as i said if he tries to make me wait the 4 weeks then i will go to court, went straight to another estate agent (who bought the flat off originally) and he came round the next day and viewings by the next night even though the details wernt even drawn up.0 -
The asking price does not, in my view, affect the ultimate selling price. At the end of the day, the buyer will pay what they are prepared to.
All the asking price does is to encourage viewings .. the more viewings, the more likely you are to get offers.
Here's an example .. in our village there's a 4 bed house with 5 acres of land on the market at £475,000. Everyone in the village thinks "they're 'avin' a laugh" with that price. It was on the market for 6 months last year, with one viewing and no offer. It's back on again now at the same price and has been for 4 months - no viewings!
A few houses down is a semi 3 bed house in need of updating. It's a beautiful stone house. Put on the market for £285,000 - everyone in the village wanted to buy it at that price! Had 17 viewings within the week and an agreed offer at £340,000.
The first house simply has a price that puts people off viewing. Someone may be prepared to pay £450,000 for it .. but they're not even going to look as they think that he owner will take no less than £475,000.
The second house ... well you can see. It went for nearly 20% above the asking price, simply because it attracted a lot of viewings and plenty of offers.
You have nothing to lose by marketing the house at "offers over £400,000" - you don't have to accept the first offer made. In fact, you don't have to accept any of them. But you won't get offers without viewings. Until you get an offer, you have nothing to consider.
Auctions work in a similar way ... the price starts low enough to get people's interest. The starting price could be as low as £300,000 or even lower :eek: Who knows what it will sell for. If there's only one serious buyer you could get much, much less than £400,000. And remember, that buyers at auction must have all their finance lined up. That's a lot of money for someone to get "in advance", before the identity of the property is known.
If you want to sell at any price, then auction is the way. Otherwise, simply remarket the house at a lower price and see what happens.
HTHWarning ..... I'm a peri-menopausal axe-wielding maniac0
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