not many viewings

barnaby-bear

TTMCMschine wrote: »

How much longer can these older couples hold out i wonder? They may well be being stubborn, but if the (their) house isn't selling and it needs work doing to it - what choice will they have? I personally would think an older couple struggling with a bigger house would have more reason to move than you have.

Thing is I don't think a lot of them are struggling - there seem a hard core of baby boomers firmly entrenched in their family houses people in the 55-65 age group, kids have left home, no equity, all possessions+furniture long ago paid for, final salary pensions that are higher than a lot of young families salaries, kids left home, money for a cleaner, still in good health, no issues about being forced to move to work as at end of careers, the odd btl bought a few years back (rather than recent years) raking in the rent. With all the equity still have access to the cheapest sorts of credit. I don't think the crunch is hitting demographics uniformly and the image of the impoverished pensioner whilst true in the older group 75-90 say with mobility/health issues and state pensions the struggling to cope with the oversized house applies more I'm not convinced the baby-boomers are being hit that hard.

bride_on_a_budget

tomstickland wrote: »

This one is clearly detached though and they haven't sold despite a few price drops.

Hi,
this one has sold we looked at this one also, but the front of the house looks directly at another house's side wall.
on the link it has sstc and i think it sold in jan or feb as the family in it now are friends of hubby.

lisa-loves-cats

GDB2222 wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0091906814

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Maisie11

We have just put our house on the market a couple of days ago and live in the South Bucks area. We are 2 miles from Gerrards Cross (one of the most desirable and expensive areas to live) and 5 miles from Slough (which isnt!)We have had three viewings. Looking at a circular area of 5 miles and trying to create a view of property prices would be meaningless. The house next door to us completed 6 weeks ago at over the asking price. Sadly ours isnt as cute but 1/3 of a size bigger. All the houses in our road are different which makes valuations very tricky. Of course I spend some time tidying and cleaning, it shows we care and if I saw a house that had clearly not be looked after I would wonder what else I would find should I proceed.

Many years ago I was viewing a house and it ponged. The estate agent and I went into one room and found 'grandad' in bed. I can smell that room 20 years later...

dopester

Maisie11 wrote: »

We have had three viewings.

That is very good going. You only put it up for sale a few days ago.

Maisie11

It is a big (3700 sq ft with large garden) house in a lovely road with stacks of parking and a double garage. However I realise that it is only worth what it will sell for. Feedback has been good, however although the first person viewing loved it they fibbed about not having something to sell. Why do people do that - it is a simple enough question. Someone saw it when it was bucketing down with rain and thought it was a tad dark in a couple of rooms so now on the EA's recommendation we put some lights on. Viewer also wanted 5 beds.

Also looking at maybe releasing some equity in the property should we need the money for school fees in the coming years if we decide not to sell it.

I must admit when the brochure came back I did wonder why we were selling it!

Daggit

we put our house on the market at the end of April and have not had a single offer, not even a silly one. Since it was valued in April we have dropped it by £30k. Had 5 viewings in the past week and two couples were interested, one couple couldnt get enough of a mortgage and the other couple are coming for a second viewing tonight. I have my fingers crossed!

Maisie11

Daggit

Second viewings are really good news. I really hope you get the offer you are looking for, ignore the doom mongers. Five viewings is great news, shows there is some interest at the right price. Dont let anyone mess you around. I hear there are a number of people who are waiting to the last moment just before exchange and then reducing their offer further. All I can say is wait until it happens to them!

TTMCMschine

barnaby-bear wrote: »

Thing is I don't think a lot of them are struggling - there seem a hard core of baby boomers firmly entrenched in their family houses people in the 55-65 age group, kids have left home, no equity, all possessions+furniture long ago paid for, final salary pensions that are higher than a lot of young families salaries, kids left home, money for a cleaner, still in good health, no issues about being forced to move to work as at end of careers, the odd btl bought a few years back (rather than recent years) raking in the rent. With all the equity still have access to the cheapest sorts of credit. I don't think the crunch is hitting demographics uniformly and the image of the impoverished pensioner whilst true in the older group 75-90 say with mobility/health issues and state pensions the struggling to cope with the oversized house applies more I'm not convinced the baby-boomers are being hit that hard.

I didn't mean financially - i meant physically. Take our house for example, it has four floors. There comes a point when you can get very fed up of the size of a house. I assume that's why bungalows are more popular with the older generations. The only thing stopping them from selling is fullfilling their desire to live in luxury. In other words, they can afford to drop the price, but
they don't want to yet. As you mention the crunch isn't hitting uniformly, and some people won't see its effects yet, or it won't bother them as much about higher costs because they can absorb it. I meant at some point they'll get fed up and they will drop their price.

tomstickland

Maisie11 wrote: »

Looking at a circular area of 5 miles and trying to create a view of property prices would be meaningless.

It will never be "meaningless". It's just a matter of deciding how much relevance it has to a specific property. It's also the sort of thing that potential buyers will do before going to look at properties.

In this case it shows that many houses have been on the market for many months. Some have dropped asking prices several times in that period. There are some houses roughly equivalent to the OP's, some for less, some for more. If I were to pay 100% asking price, then Rightmove suggests I could buy a fully detached 4 bed for a bit more than their house, or a similar semi detached for a bit less.

Buyers are thin on the ground at the moment unless prices offer good value. The thread is titled "not many viewings". Dropping price might attract more viewings. If the OP thinks the price is fine then I suggest just waiting. It might take a while.