What is is with old ladies and their houses?

BlondeHeadOn

I lived near an old lady once who put her house on the market just because she enjoyed people coming round to look at it! She had no intention of selling, but "met all sorts of interesting people"..... She'd take it off the market in the summer, because then she wanted to spend time outside and could chat to neighbours and passers by that way. But come the next winter she'd be up with the For Sale board again.

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

Don't mess with the seniors indeed!

harrup

Primrose wrote: »

I hope that if I live long enough to be one of those elderly ladies and find myself in a similar position, I'll also not be stupid enough to fall for the first slick estate agent telling me I've got to drop the price. We can't stop growing old, but we don't have to be stupid. What's that old joke doing the e-mail rounds - Don't mess with Seniors ?? Of course the estate agent will tell you to drop the price. They're desperate at the moment to stop themselves going out of business and a sale is a sale, even if it's at a reduced price.

I totally understand where you are coming from.

But there is a difference btw. between standing firm, being savy, and not being intimidated by an EA's alarmist whistle and btw. being completely unrealistic, pig headed and greedy.

For example, offereing a house you bought for 20 K a few decades ago, doing it up to your taste, extending it a bit here and there and now asking 600 K for it falls into the latter category. For me.

But it's everybodies prerogative to sell their own property at whatever price they see fit.

The thing which really annoys me about this " I am old woman and will sell wisely"..... I've spoken to one of my MIL's croonies recently. Her house is up for sale for £ 430 000. She NEEDS to sell it because she needs the dosh to live on. She hasn't had a single viewer in 6 months but she refuses to reduce her house by a single nickel. Meanwhile, her criteria for the property that SHE wants to buy by far exceeds what she has to offer on the one she wants to sell! Her new house should be around the 200 K mark or below, pristine condition, convenient area, nice garden, blah-di-blah. She prattles on and on about her fabulous kitchen ( she must be joking) and the terrific extension ( a shoddy, unattractive annexe) which surely are SUCH a selling point. She fails to understand that everbody without an emotional investment in this property can't see what she sees. That's not being a savvy, shrewd senior..... that's just ossified and dumb. AND greedy.

Speaking of greed..... of course, she blames her greedy EA for the lack of timely selling her house and finding her a suitable one. I mean....hello??!! I suppose she'll wait until she either runs out of money for good or dies....after which the taxman gets the lion share of the sale.

She is far from an exception to the norm.

harrup

BlondeHeadOn wrote: »

I lived near an old lady once who put her house on the market just because she enjoyed people coming round to look at it! She had no intention of selling, but "met all sorts of interesting people"..... She'd take it off the market in the summer, because then she wanted to spend time outside and could chat to neighbours and passers by that way. But come the next winter she'd be up with the For Sale board again.

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

Don't mess with the seniors indeed!

LOL.

In a way that's quite sweet...but how demoralizing for the people who actually wanted to buy it.

Out of interest - just what did she do to wriggle out of any sale? Put an insane price on it? Just never accepted an offer?

harrup

BlondeHeadOn wrote: »

I lived near an old lady once who put her house on the market just because she enjoyed people coming round to look at it! She had no intention of selling, but "met all sorts of interesting people"..... She'd take it off the market in the summer, because then she wanted to spend time outside and could chat to neighbours and passers by that way. But come the next winter she'd be up with the For Sale board again.

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

Don't mess with the seniors indeed!

Actually, now that you said that, I wonder whether this is what is going on whith one of the houses I mentioned earlier in my original post. Namely:

"Property 2: This house was on the market in 2006 for £ 500 000. Don't know whether it sold or not but since no previous sale is listed on zoopla, perhaps the buyer withdrew it. Now listed....wait for this !.....£ 599.950. Again, it belongs to an elderly lady whose son did it up and extended it. Believe me when I tell it it is a bog ordinary looking house standing on a 0.4 acre plot, the front overlooks the road, the back overlooks a housing estate. The EA just sighed and said the owner doesn't want to hear about dropping the price"

I do remember that this house was on the market for a long, long time a few years ago and I can't recall seeing a "Sold" sign.

It will be interesting to see whether it is withdrawn from the market in the spring! Quite possible. Perhaps she just feels lonely and want to show off her house & have a chat?

John_Pierpoint

MrDT wrote: »

Place doesn't sell at joke price, old giffer pegs it, offspring sell at a vastly reduced price to get their mitts on the cash - Job done. :money:

........to pay the InHeritance Tax (IHT) before they could get their mitts on anything.

Itsgottabedone

Speaking up for old ladies (I'll probably be one one day!) - they are likely to be living on pensions, which have dropped in value considerably of late, and have no further earning potential, so who can blame them for trying to maximise the capital they realise from sale of a house? If no-one buys at that maximum price they will eventually have to lower it, but I can't blame 'em for trying!

Geenie

Try and understand where the old lady is coming from and then see if you would act differently!

Her home is probably the most valuable asset she has, and is the result of 50 years work, not over spending, and living within her means.

She hasn't got a job or years ahead to claw back any loss of revenue from a sale, and savings if any, are probably being depleted due the cost of living, lack of interest.

She could be thinking about possible medical or residential care needed in the coming years, and also about passing on something to her children.

When all this is factored in, I think every old lady has a perfect right to stick to what they want.

BettiePage

Geenie wrote: »

Try and understand where the old lady is coming from and then see if you would act differently!

Her home is probably the most valuable asset she has, and is the result of 50 years work, not over spending, and living within her means.

She hasn't got a job or years ahead to claw back any loss of revenue from a sale, and savings if any, are probably being depleted due the cost of living, lack of interest.

She could be thinking about possible medical or residential care needed in the coming years, and also about passing on something to her children.

When all this is factored in, I think every old lady has a perfect right to stick to what they want.

Shame the following generations haven't had much chance of having the same in recent years........

harrup

Itsgottabedone wrote: »

Speaking up for old ladies (I'll probably be one one day!) - they are likely to be living on pensions, which have dropped in value considerably of late, and have no further earning potential, so who can blame them for trying to maximise the capital they realise from sale of a house? If no-one buys at that maximum price they will eventually have to lower it, but I can't blame 'em for trying!

You are absolutely right, of course.

I suppose I just got too much of an earful of my MIL's friend....droning on and on on how her beauuuuuuuuutiful house doesn't get any viewings as a direct result of the nasty EA.......which made me unusually grumpy.

That....and knowing that my mum , MIL and all their contemporaries still see it as their divine right to own and afford a decent property, for which they paid - comparably - peanuts for and for which the younger generation has to pay whacko prices. IF we can buy it at all, that is. It's their "I'm all right, Jack" attitude which get me at times.

gizmo111

My next door neighbour who has been in the house for around 50 years was astonished when she found out that the lowest for a wuick sale she could expect for her house last summer was around £250K - she thought it would be about £100k! She was very worried about selling as she thought it would be ripping people off and illegal in some manner!