can't sell our house

thriftybabe

Unfortunately i saw this happen in Florida. People held on to their properties too long and eventually they dropped them but it was too late. Florida was right in the grip of house price drops. There were lots of foreclosures. We saw what was happening and luckily reduced our price by $25k and sold not long after. We got out of it much quicker than those who waited and held off dropping their prices. A lot of villas like ours have dropped at least $100k and more since and that was 2 years ago. This is going to be a long drawn out process and you have to weigh out your costs. You unfortunately could be sitting with it on the market for 2 years so if you have to move then i would reduce your price as much as you possibly can

Leighthal

thriftybabe wrote: »

Unfortunately i saw this happen in Florida. People held on to their properties too long and eventually they dropped them but it was too late. Florida was right in the grip of house price drops. There were lots of foreclosures. We saw what was happening and luckily reduced our price by $25k and sold not long after. We got out of it much quicker than those who waited and held off dropping their prices. A lot of villas like ours have dropped at least $100k and more since and that was 2 years ago. This is going to be a long drawn out process and you have to weigh out your costs. You unfortunately could be sitting with it on the market for 2 years so if you have to move then i would reduce your price as much as you possibly can

BUT
this was'nt you're only home was it?

westv

Dropping the price will certainly help but nothing realistic will guarantee that your house will sell.

daddyorchips

SquatNow wrote: »

If you can't drop the price then you can't sell.

It's very simple.

I was merely asking for peoples' constructive views on what we were thinking of doing.. shouting random comments is not entirely constructive but thank you for you concern. :rolleyes:

Trollfever

Put it up for auction with no reserve and it will sell.

westv

Trollfever wrote: »

Put it up for auction with no reserve and it will sell.

But is that a realistic option? Probably not for most people.

daddyorchips

PasturesNew wrote: »

The only houses that are selling are those that are attractive to buyers. This means they must be priced well and presented well.

You have to be priced well against your competition. Your competition isn't just other houses for sale in your street, or your village, or area.

People will be comparing your house against others in the street, others in your village/town, others in other villages/towns around.

Do you have a rightmove link so we can give you our "Buyers' Eye View" of the details, location and price. We can compare the market for you and let you know how buyers might be viewing your property.

We are your market: strangers who are not emotionally and financially attached to it.

You are emotionally/financially attached. Your family are biased. Your friends are making the right noises. Your agent would tell you what he thinks you want to hear.

Rightmove link please ...

Thanks..We are probably just being impatient .. we don't have to sell but the children have moved out and we are looking at downsizing.As we still have a mortgage, the renting option was just one idea of reducing our outgoings until the we could get our target price for the property so I thought I would see if others had considered it and what the pros & cons were.Realistically we will probably sit tight for a year or two. You are right about the agents though..very generous giving out the rose tinted glasses !!

bandraboy

By all accounts the credit or debt crunch is far from over. That means people won't be able to get hold of the amount of credit that has sustained the boom over the last 10 years for the foreseeable future.

So I'd get out now rather than nurse further losses 2-3 years down the line.

You have to put it down to experience and accept that you bought at the wrong time or spent too much on renovations. That's if selling any lower means you make a loss.

But if you look into your crystal ball and can only see further growth after 10 years of unbelievable price increases, then good luck.

Alybea

My parents have been threatening to downsize for years (they finished their mortgage early this year) my dad feels he's missed the boat for the time being - his comment was that he doesn't know how the house is worth anymore.
If you don't need to move I wouldn't bother. How much mortgage have you got left?

suebfg

Hi,

We're in a similar situation - see my post re should I drop the price - although our houses may be in a different price bracket.

My gut feel is that you need to reduce the price pretty significantly in order to entice viewers - particularly if you're not within the first time buyer bracket. We spoke to our Estate Agent today who gave a glowing picture of houses still selling - but once we went on his website and Rightmove, most of the houses shifting were first time buyer types; barely nothing over £200k was shifting and over £300k the market was pretty grim.

I think most potential second time plus buyers are sitting it out to see if they can grab a bargain - especially if the predictions of 20 - 30% price falls materialise.

That's just my feeling - after all, I've posted for advice too - but hope this helps in some way