why no offers on our property?

nugget08

ok, so we have a one bedroom flat to sell in South London and have dropped the price to £159,950. This seems a competitive price taking into account what else is on the market and it is in good condition. We are currently renting the property as we have had to move to Scotland. The tenants have been very good and are keeping the place nice and tidy and presentable for viewings ( we pop down there regulalrly to check on the property and it still looks good - the EA also confirm it looks nice when they do viewings.)

it has been on the market since July and we have had 15 viewings so far. However, not one person has put in an offer - not even a taking the p**s offer. I cant understand whay this would be. Why would you bother to go and view and not put in an offer, especially in these times when you are getting a really good bargain - the flat was valued last year at £165 - 170k. if you cant get a mortage agreed, why would you even bother going to see places?

we dont get much feedback from the EA but what little we have had has been very non-descript - bathroom/bedroom too small, dont like the road, want a garden etc. nothing we can physically do anything about.

anyone have any ideas as to what the problem could be? Why would we have had this many viewings but not one person comes back with an offer?

any sensible suggestions welcomed - plse dont come back with ' cos no-ones buying, youre a mug for trying to sell etc' - i ve heard it all before.

donna1975

we put our house on the market back in march for 199 950 after it being valued at this by 5 EA's and since then we have dropped it down to 159 950 and we never had one offer either and we too had around 15 viewings, we are now doing a part X. All the EA's would say to us is there is nothing worng with your house it;s just no one is buying and yes peopel are just looking at houses to see how much they can put theirs on the market for and comparing theirs to yours.

pawpurrs

Is the EA doing all the viewings? Otherwise it could be the tennants dont want to move, and are putting people off?
Your only just above normal average viewings to sale at the moment.

pawpurrs

Is the EA doing all the viewings? Otherwise it could be the tennants dont want to move, and are putting people off?
Your only just above normal average viewings to sale at the moment.
Have you got a link so we can see if there are any obvious reasons?

Incisor

Vacant possession. Your tenants are being perfectly charming, doing a terrific job on your behalf, selling the merits of the place [and subliminally conveying that they won't move out easily]. Are your selling and letting agents one and the same? Cos I would change that - they may be more interested in keeping the let going than in selling.

PasturesNew

Do you have a Rightmove link?

EagerLearner

It may be that people are just looking and not intending to buy, could be they are other sellers looking to see what's around, could also be feedback that they are not passing back to the EA. Hard to say.

Personally I am looking for a 2 bed flat now, even though I am a first timer. I remember being told a long time ago that when prices drop, people 'piggyback' over the 1 bedrooms and go for the 2 bedrooms. Maybe that is what is happening. I also think (sorry) that the price you quote is still high, considering the turmoil going on in markets, estate agents closing down, Icelandic banks nearly collapsing, Germany struggling etc.... people will be too scared to buy unless the price really is tempting. If your property was valued at £165k last year, you have only reduced it by £5k, yet prices for 1 beds have fallen much further than that (I live in Brighton so London prices are comparable to here in some ways...)

I wouldn't get rid of your tenants without having a long hard think - better some money in the bank each month than a property that *might* still sit empty and with no offers. You had it empty before and no offers, so having it empty now with the market continuing to fall might leave you with no cash at all for your mortgage payments, putting you at risk.

ad9898_3

Check on nethouseprices.com to see if similar properties have sold recently. One thing you may have to bare in mind is its a one bed flat, these places have been clobbered lately with price falls, if it was valued at 165k last year, your 159k is way, way wide of the mark. You may have to drop it at least 35k to get some interest.

neverdespairgirl

nugget08 wrote: »

especially in these times when you are getting a really good bargain - the flat was valued last year at £165 - 170k.

If it was valued last year at £165k - £170k, I don't think that £159,950. is remotely a bargain, really - that's a very small drop.

donna1975

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

If it was valued last year at £165k - £170k, I don't think that £159,950. is remotely a bargain, really - that's a very small drop.

No it's not a big drop at all really, we dropped from 199 950 to 159 950 in the space of about 5 months.

Conrad

Mortgage lending was 95% down in August. Think about that. Buy to let lending is almost exstinct and pretty expensive.

The only people buying are investors and they wont take a chance on a 1 bed flat at £160k, as it may be worth £100k in 12 months time, such is the over supply of flats and high cost of lending.

The true value of a flat is as follows;
Rent pa x 14

If I buy a flat for £100,000 I need gross rent of £7000 as a MINIMUM (but such a low yield is hardly worth getting out of bed for). After services charges lets say I get £6000 pa, thats just a 6% yield. I can get that from a hassle free no risk Bank account.

You need to recognise now that past prices were just a by product of cheap and easy lending. The lending tap is rusted solid, so prices now can only reflect mortgage availability.

Im seeing newly built 2 beds in great areas such as Hertfordshire commuter towns, for £140,000.