4 months and no sale

Father_Karras

Hi all, I wonder if you could help me on this:

I put my flat on the market 4 months ago. It's keenly priced (other similarly priced flats have one bedroom less than mine, or don't have en-suite, wich mine has). It has a nice decoration (wooden laminate, neutral tones, etc.), kitchen with all appliances, burglar alarm, etc. Also, it's a new building in the centre of a popular historical village. But so far I've only got 2 viewings , and one "expression of interest" of a couple that still have to sell their place, so they aren't in a position to make any offer :mad: . I have even reduced the asking price from 150k (the price our EA suggested initially) to 142,500, but no response yet. Any ideas? Am I doing (or is the EA doing) anything wrong?

Thank you

JennyW_2

Are they promoting your property in the local newspapers/their shopfront window?

are you currently tied into a contract with your EA? If not, why not change to another....?

Jorgan_2

You need to have a serious word with your EA. Something isn't working. If its not the price thats wrong its the marketing. How often is it being advertised in the local paper? What websites? Does your agent have similar properties to your own on their books, if so are they getting viewings, offers & being sold? Does any other agent have simialr properties to your own that have been sold? If so for what price? Did you have more than one valuation before putting it on the market and how did they compare to the EA you instructed?

Sorry for all the questions but you need to ask them to the EA's in your area. The market may be slow in your area but I would expect to get more than 2 viewings in 16 weeks.

NAR

Also remember November, December(especially!) and January are the three quietest months of the year for buying/selling property.

sanfrancisco

It is too expensive. Nothing else, nothing more. Reduce the price and it will sell. We had to go way under the estate agents recommendations to get a sale.

Have you checked https://www.nethouseprices.com , to see what house around you ACTUALLY sold for and not what the asking prices were?

[Deleted User]

2 viewings in 4 months? Change ea!

BenL

I once read somewhere that the only thing stopping the sale of a property is price.

No matter where you are when the price gets to someone lvel they will buy it.

We started to sell our old house in Jan 05 at £120K (2 bed end terrace in West Yorkshire, next to railway line).

We eventually sold it for £112.5K after 11 months.

The price went from £120K -> £117.5K -> offers over £112.5K

Ben

dander

Personally I wouldn't say the only thing stopping the sale of a property is price. But I do believe that if you aren't getting viewers in, that is the most likely problem.

However, that might not be that the house is actually over-priced, it might just be that it APPEARS to be over-priced. Check what details your EA is sending out very carefully - are they majorly underselling the property in any way?

If the details are fine, you need to find out how well they are marketing your property. Are you on with a suitable estate agent? If you've picked one purely because they quoted a low fee, but they are based a long way from your property, you may find they just don't handle people looking in your area. Or if you've picked an agent that mainly deals with upmarket country homes and yours is a 3 bed terrace, they may just not have the right people for your property on their books. Have a look at what other properties they are selling. If they have nothing else in your area/style/pricerange you may well need to change agent.

If all these things check out, then it does all come back to the price.

JennyW_2

sanfrancisco wrote:

It is too expensive. Nothing else, nothing more. Reduce the price and it will sell. We had to go way under the estate agents recommendations to get a sale.

Have you checked https://www.nethouseprices.com , to see what house around you ACTUALLY sold for and not what the asking prices were?

it's not always the price plus you cant just keep lowering to sell or else it doesn't become financial viable to sell and move on - especially for those moving to their 2nd/3rd/4th home - you'll just up increasing the amount you borrow and you just cant give your property away

I think a change of EA is what's called for here. Our house has had over 30 viewings in the last 20 days - we know it's the not the price so accept that the right buyer will soon come through the door.

zappahey

JennyW wrote:

it's not always the price plus you cant just keep lowering to sell or else it doesn't become financial viable to sell and move on - especially for those moving to their 2nd/3rd/4th home - you'll just up increasing the amount you borrow and you just cant give your property away

Financial viability only sets the asking price of a property, not the selling price. The fact that you need £X to finance your next move does not mean that your current house is worth £X. It is wrong to say that price is the only problem if a property doesn't sell but lowering the price is the one guaranteed solution to ensure a property sells.

There seems to be a perception that it's the buyer's responsibility to ensure that the price is high enough to finance the vendor's next move but little expectation that the vendor needs to consider if the asking price, and thus the expected subsequent transaction, is truly realistic.

If every other issue has been addressed, such as presentation, outstanding repairs and marketing strategy, then it may be necessary to face the fact that the asking price is simply too high.

My 2p worth

SammyD_2

I am firmly of the view that if it hasn't sold by now, you are better to take it off the market for a couple of months, then put it back on - I was always suspicious of property that I knew had been hanging round for a bit even if it looked good. I guess i thought there must be something wrong with it, and that it would be hard to sell when my turn came. By putting it on in a couple of months you get a fresh lot of buyers who won't see the property as "rejected" goods.

Oh yes, and change agents too.