Advice needed on selling house!!!!

annodam

Hi,

We are first time sellers. Our house has been on the market since June. We have dropped the price twice and is now at 124,950 to come in line with all the others in the area and had a few viewings.

We had a couple come twice last week who said they defo wanted it and that they were cash buyers whose friend was giving them the money. The friend viewed the house on Wednesday and Monday they made a cash offer of 110,000.

We cant financially afford to accept this offer and feel it was way below the value anyway and we are hoping to get around the 120,000 mark.

We are really clueless to all this. We dont have a chain because we are moving to parents house to be mortgage free, so we can move quickly. What difference, if any, to us would it make if it was a mortgage buyer or cash buyer? can some one advise? Also, what are the probabilities of them making an higher offer? And also why do people keep you waiting for days before making an offer!!?


thanks

Cannon_Fodder

The current downward-heading market is a buyer's dream.

They hope you get fed up that only they have made an offer - that you feel had better take it, however low it may be, before they withdraw it and you don't ever sell...bit of a game, but waiting days is to make you sweat over it and feel grateful when maybe they up the offer £2K or so in a weeks time...

Its up to you how much time you can afford to take waiting for the ideal buyer.

Personally, I think you need to pitching the price a bit below - not at the same level - as other properties around, to be sure of attracting the maximum number of viewers, and hopefully selling.

Down as far as £110K is a bit cheeky perhaps, but if no-one else makes an offer in the next six months, you may regret turning them down, as prices have a way to drop, most sources predict.

Howabout dropping to £120K, it may attract a new viewer, and even if they knock another £5K off in bargaining, that's still better than £110K...

Jorgan_2

A cash buyer is usually able to move on the sale quicker than a buyer who is getting a mortgage, no waiting for mortgage offers to be issued, so you get a quicker completion. Not always the case as some people who claim to be cash buyers, need to cash in stocks/shares or something to release the money.

The buyer is probably playing the waiting game, to see how 'desperate' you are to sell. The offer of £110k maybe cheeky buy in my area, we are seeing offers at the same level they were three years ago.

annodam

Thanks for that, we have ours on the market at 5k above the rest in our area as we have a 20k conservatory and office on the back, that no one else has,` so we feel 5k above the rest is quite a bargain really and others in the area need a little tlc.

the waiting game for offers is so frustrating, i never want to sell a house again!!!


have just had a call from EA who said he told the buyers we refused 110k and they said they would have a think about it and get back to us, again gonna keep us waiting!!! EA says that after talking to his manager that 115k would be a reasonable offer for us. i still think that this is too low!!!!!!

pinkshoes

If you think it's too low, then don't accept it.

It's a case of how much they want to buy it vs how much you want to sell.

If your aim is to be without a mortgage, then take the £115k, as I'd be very surprised if you did any better. The market is currently rubbish, so those that want/need to sell have to be prepared to accept low offers.

Why are you moving in with your parents? When did you buy the house? How much is remaining on the mortgage?

foot_loose

hi there

Why not just move into your parents house and rent your house out untill the market pick's up, and if the rent dose not cover your mortgage them you can top it up each month because you will have more money as you are living at your parents house.

Mutton_Geoff

If I was accepting a low offer from a "cash buyer" then I would want to know their credentials and have proof of funds. Several times I've received such "cash" offers only to later discover the cash was diverted and a mortgage was needed.

Mortgage loans don't generally slow down the process compared to council searches etc provided the buyer has something in principal already. Until you exchange contracts (when you'll know the full extent of the deal anyway) then you are not obliged to continue. The other thing when accepting a low offer is to tell the purchasers that you will still keep marketing the property and not withdraw it. That keeps them on their toes to get exchanged asap or can encourage them to up their bid to get you to stop marketing.

The price your house will achieve is dictated by the market, not a figure that you can't afford to sell below, which is why streets are lined with For Sale boards in this stagnant market.

Jorgan_2

Annodam, work out what is the absolute minimum you can take on the property and see what the buyer comes up with. If they are the same, then I would probably take the offer, subject to a completion in 21-28 days.

I have a client of mine who works as a senior manager for a bank, four weeks ago he was adamant the most he would drop was 5% of the asking price. Last week he had an offer of 14% less than the asking price and accepted it.

Foot_loose, can you tell me when the market is due to pick up?

annodam

Hi

""Why are you moving in with your parents? When did you buy the house? How much is remaining on the mortgage?Today 11:25 AM""

one of them is terminally ill and other doesnt want to be alone plus house is twice size of ours.

We bought the house in 1997.

We have remortgaged since buying to improve and owe 96k on the mortgage and 15k loan.

""Today 11:50 AMfoot_loosehi there

Why not just move into your parents house and rent your house out untill the market pick's up, and if the rent dose not cover your mortgage them you can top it up each month because you will have more money as you are living at your parents house"""

we have looked into this but dont think it suits us, the rent would not cover the mortgage and wouldnt want to worry if the house is being kept in good condition etc.

teabelly

Most areas are showing completions are about 90% of asking prices. Tell the agent to tell the prospective buyer that if they come up to 115k then they have a sale. You may think the property is worth more, it probably is, but if no one is prepared to pay what you think it is worth then unfortunately you either have to take what is offered or wait for a better offer which might happen in weeks, months or longer. 10% below is around 112k so their offer of 110k isn't cheeky really. Under 100k is cheeky....but possibly realistic as only those people that really have to sell will have their house on the market at the moment.

GDB2222

According to Halifax, prices are dropping on average by 2% a month at the moment. If that trend continues, then your house loses £2.5k a month. The house buying season is drawing to a close, so if you don't find a buyer by October your chances of selling before next spring are much reduced.

I can't say about values, but you need to check against actual sale prices, not against what other sellers are asking. You can find sale prices at nethouseprices.

Finally, simply rejecting the offer is not the best way to strike a deal. I would tend to counter-offer. Your counter-offer could be just to knock a few hundred off your asking price. However, and I emphasise that I don't know anything about prices in your area, I would tend to say £120k or £115k. It really depends how much you want to sell and how much it matters if you can't sell at all.