To those selling in these difficult times

pawpurrs

To be honest, I dont think by the work you say you are going to do, I wouldnt expect it to add value.
By all means Clean and slap some new paint on the walls to make it a bit nicer, but I shouldnt go spending lots as it wont be adding much to the value of the house at the moment.

moneysavingfamilycomp

it was more the drive i was wondering about its going to cost about £1,000 at min we have a single drive which is just large paving slabs although path and kerb are lowered so we are extending to make a double drive and having the whole lot block paved we are doing it for our own benefit i recently passed my test so we now have 2 cars here alot of the time and as we dont know how long we will be here decided to do work we wouldnt expect it to add value in the current market but i was wondering if it would help make the price we are at seem like better value IYSWIM

pawpurrs

It could make it more attractive and saleable.
Gone quiet here, no more viewings booked in at the moment.

Davesnave

Pawpurrs is right. As long as your drive is serviceable and tidy, enlarging or re-doing it will not add value. Earlier this year I had to landscape a hideous garden area, but that was just removing an eyesore & didn't add a penny to my house.

Price, location and up-togetherness is all people are looking at.

mishmash

Hi All

Oh has a second viewing booked for tomorrow, so that looks promising.

My very keen viewers from the other week, have decided that my house is too far away from where their family lives, but did love the house.

The stalker possibly cash buyer has gone to ground, he has not stalked our house for a week or two and the agent cannot get hold of him,.

Oh well, sorted out the hanging baskets and little pots at the front of my house, as they were looking a bit drab. Thought I should make an effort to keep it looking appealing. Bit of a bonus most of the plants in B&Q were reduced to 25p, so I have been very MSE today. Even baked bread for the first time (which was scrummy) I know that's off thread, but it made the house smell lovely. If I get any more viewers I may do another batch.

Good luck all

Mish x

moneysavingfamilycomp

hhhmmmm thats what i thought oh well its getting done anyway apart from that il just do a bit of decorating tidy up nothing else needs doing and then get valuations done again possibly sign up with new agent although when we originally put house up we researched agents in area secretly as a buyer and also compared fees etc and jwwood was best allround so thats who we used. may have to do the same again and use multiple agency see if a bit of new marketing with a new agent drums up some interest good luck to everyone else.

pawpurrs

Feeling pretty despondant today, not heard anything from those viewers, and no more viewings booked in.
It was advertised this week in the local rag, so lets see if that brings any interest.
How is everyone else doing?

rs82uk

As a buyer the type of drive, the paint on the walls, the lovely laminate, the decking in the garden and even the designer kitchen means absolutely nothing. I only care about the price and the location.
As you cant move the house the only thing you can move is the asking price.

ruggedtoast

moneysavingfamilycomp wrote: »

can i ask buyers out there what actually persuades you to buy. we simply cant reduce our price anymore at the moment

A simple house somewhere that doesnt require a crippling mortgage.

What you've described in your post just sums up a stuck chain in a sclerotic market, you, the people you want to buy from, and probably the people they want to buy from, have overpriced their property. At some point someone either has to resign themselves to not selling and take their place off the market, or bite the bullet and reduce their own price - and try and force a discount in the seller above them.

No ones going to come along any more with a 125% mortgage fixed for 2 years at 3.5%. Money is hard to come by, expensive to borrow, and if you want to sell your house you're going to have to come up with a pretty persuasive reason for someone to part with some.

gastroboy

moneysavingfamilycomp wrote: »

can i ask buyers out there what actually persuades you to buy. we simply cant reduce our price anymore .

My very simplified view as a FTB on this and in addition to what ruggedtoast said. Its basically the fact that there are two sides to the coin so to speak.

1. the seller: you receive money for the sale
2. the buyer: puts themselves in debt for 20+ years

Now, in a falling market with houses overvalued, a buyer is not going to give the seller MORE money for their property when they have a very real chance of losing money themselves.

When the bubble was being made, a buyer can buy whatever they could pay back per month because if they wanted to sell they could and make money or bail themselves out. Now, they can't. They have to put their actual money (i.e. savings) on the line with a very real chance that in the next 5 years their savings will disappear as the value of the property has reduced.

When the market does start going up, it will not return to the huge increases it did before, Gordon and the lack of "pretend money" has made sure of that. it will go up but it will go up slowly until some other bubble is thought up.

As an example:
Seller buys their house in 2000 for £100k. Wants to sell for £230k at the start of 2008.
Reduces price to £200k now as they can't sell. Seller thinks...i've reduced by 13% now, i can't reduce anymore because it was "worth" £230k when i put it on.

Buyer thinks, it's on for £200k, so buyer wants around £185k-£190k. Buyer checks Land registry and finds that seller bought for £100k so is going to make a ton on this. Buyer thinks, I need to protect myself against next years fall as well so i'll offer £170k.

Seller says, no way, i have already reduced by £30k so i am not going to take another £30k "hit"......

and stalemate. Multiply this up the chain and you see why its going to be very hard to sell.

wow, the post is a lot longer than I initially thought but to sum it up as a buyer, I won't buy off a seller unless they are willing to share some of my future loss as prices are still overvalued and market will continue to fall.