A House swap is it a good idea ?

baccas

Hi we are considering a house swap our house is valued at £120K the house that we are considering to swap with is a £165k the problem lies in we where hoping to chance our arm a bit and try and get a bargain; but if we do a house swap im not sure how the negoations will go in all honesty our top line is £150k. but if we say we will give them that they will say why dont you drop your price by £15k...... does anyone have any expierence in these matters ? or is a house swap the wrong thing todo in todays Market? any advice will be much appreciated. thanks

wymondham

Surely it's fair for you both to drop rather than just them? If they ask you to drop as well could you still manage it?

sdooley

Talk to the people you are swapping with about "the difference in prices" - i.e. say your offer is your house + £30,000. With the banks being as they are they might devalue both your houses - that shouldn't matter (unless it goes so far as to eat into your LTV) and could even be beneficial (the stamp duty point).

Of course they might haggle and say they want £40,000 over, but that's just haggling as usual. What the fair difference is we can't know, but if you negotiate on the what the difference is it'll be simpler.

baccas

i suppose the best thing todo is talk to them and start haggling but we can only go to £30,000 over and thats our deffinate limit, the advantages of this we wont have to advertise our house wait for it to be sold no chains involved etc also it is quite well done out. on the other side we have a similiar house which is just down the road and it is £147,000 but it will need a whole new kitchen the upstairs has not been lived in for 10 years and will need a bit of decorating and carpeting to make it a bit more homely... O what a diliema!

PasturesNew

Yes, it would be unfair to expect them to drop when you haven't.

guppy

I agree it might be unpleasant not to drop your price, but I'm not convinced fairness should come in to it.

Not all houses necessarily drop in value at the same rate in a downturn, bigger, more expensive houses might fall faster than smaller ones for example.

If you're in any doubt I'd recommend getting a valuation done, preferably by a surveyor who will be liable to you if they are negligent, not by an estate agent.

Of course the other party might dismiss your valuation, but at least you'll be informed before you act.