How far "over budget" would you view?

QTPie

(in the current climate)

We had our house on at a VERY reasonable asking price (Nov 08 - we priced just under what an identical house agreed their sale for in June/July 08). The offer we accepted (and have gone on to exchange contracts for) was about 8% under our original asking price. Our house sold for the equivalent of "late 2006 prices".

So, we are now in a position to start looking ourselves. I have NO HESITATION at looking at houses which would be on/under budget if they were priced at late 2006 prices (most of these currently have asking prices at about 10% over late 2006 prices).

There is another that I am interested in:
- last sold in mid 2002 and is on at 320% of the price that it sold for then. It appears to have been completely redeveloped, but the latest planning document on this property is from 2001 (so I am a little confused!). Maybe the inside has been gutted and redone recently (i.e. last year?). Not many properties have sold in that road (and they are all pretty individual), but it is currently at 50% over the 2004 ceiling price for the road (the last property in the road sold for that sort of price too in 2006). It is currently priced at 22% OVER our budget (budget excludes fees and stamp duty, which we are accounting for seperately). It has been on the market since August last year, has had two price cuts (both in November, came to a total reduction of 12.5% on the asking price), has had no offers accepted on it and is currently being run as a B&B.

I think that it is over-priced. I guess it is one of those properties that is very hard to price...

Would you go and see it? Would you view at ANY properties that are 20% over budget?

Was talking to my EA (who we are selling through) a couple of months back and she was telling me how one of her properties was under offer for 20% less than the asking price. Interestingly that sale has since fallen through and the property is back on the market at the original asking price (wouldn't they get more interest if they cut their asking price by even 10%?)

QT

princessamy86

I would go and see it! I see lots of people who want to view way above their budget just in case there is a deal to be done. It's only the same as investors making a low offer on something which is already reasonably priced (as happened to you!) At the end of the day, you've nothing to lose by having a look

pawpurrs

Its a really difficult one to call isnt it?

If the media is to be believed then we are back to 2004 prices, then I cant see that your asking price was VERY reasonable? However I know some areas have dropped more than others.
Its also difficult to call on some properties as you dont know if they have been refurbed or not, so just looking at sold prices and working out what it should be on the market for now, doesnt allways follow through.
I have refurbed mine, and its on for less than I paid late 2006?
Is much actually selling in your area?
I dont think there is any harm in going to see it, if only to compare to what else is on the market, after all you are in a good postion now, and if you do decide it is the one, you can allways put in an offer and see where that gets you.

before_hollywood

i viewed one that was 10% over budget, and the one over the road :eek:

i came home, thought was nice, booked a second viewing and found out it was reduced to 2k over budget

offer went in today

QTPie

Good luck before_hollywood!

Princessamy86, that was sort of what I was thinking... I don't want to waste people's time, though. Often you can tell if a house is "likely" to be realistically priced and whether you should be able to make a sensible offer, but there are always a few properties that are really difficult to gauge...

pawpurrs, yes, especially this one house...

I think it depends where in the country you live and even then sectors within the housing market depreciate (or at least react to the market drop) differently. We seem to be in a bit of a bubble here (in Bath) and certainly the higher end of the housing market is taking longer to adjust to the "current market climate" than the lower end.

We got a good price (for us) compared with much of the rest of the country. BUT it can't have been that unrealistic, because the house was snapped up twice (albeit the first time by people who went on to gazunder): the second time by a cash investment buyer (and - looking at who he is - definitely not a complete idiot). So property prices appear not to have fallen as quickly here as other places, but we really want to AT LEAST buy in the same market that we sold in (ok 2004 prices would be fab, but really don't want to pay over 2006 prices).

Not much AT ALL is selling in the sector of the market that we are looking at in the past 7+ months. Quite a few properties are selling in the sub-£400k price bracket. A few are selling in the £1m+ bracket. Very little at all is selling between £400k + £1m (and that is quite a wide bracket!). A mixture of cautious buyers, not a HUGE choice of property on the market and un-realistic asking prices (beginning to see a BIT of a change in the past two/three weeks, but before that many were priced as if there was no drop in the property market...).

Have started looking at planning applications for those houses that I am interested in: the local planning applications are now mostly available online (for the past 5/6 years or so). So if a property was last bought in 2004, you can actually see if the owners have done any structural changes. The photos/details or a viewing tends to give you a realistic impression of other things that they have changed (double glazing, boiler, kitchen/bathrooms, decor etc).

QT

pawpurrs

I didnt mean to offend QT, I am sure your price was well priced for your area, as people seem reluctant to drop their price in Bath, (lovely town BTW) but I am sure it will catch up, with the rest of the country at some point, however I am sure some towns will fare better than others.
I think you did ok with the price you achieved, and hopefully prices will drop further and you will be rewarded again, for the risk you are taking.
I think davesnave is in your neck of the woods, and took a 2004 price.
Prices around me are all over the place, some especially around the 250k mark are starting to look better value, but there is quite a lot still on at 2007 prices.
Some things have gone under offer that I percive to still be expensive, I know all the Agents well, and some have had low offers accepted.
But its a tricky market to sell and to buy in.

QTPie

pawpurrs wrote: »

I didnt mean to offend QT, I am sure your price was well priced for your area, as people seem reluctant to drop their price in Bath, (lovely town BTW) but I am sure it will catch up, with the rest of the country at some point, however I am sure some towns will fare better than others.
I think you did ok with the price you achieved, and hopefully prices will drop further and you will be rewarded again, for the risk you are taking.
I think davesnave is in your neck of the woods, and took a 2004 price.
Prices around me are all over the place, some especially around the 250k mark are starting to look better value, but there is quite a lot still on at 2007 prices.
Some things have gone under offer that I percive to still be expensive, I know all the Agents well, and some have had low offers accepted.
But its a tricky market to sell and to buy in.

You didn't offend me, pawspurrs (don't think that you ever could)

(sorry if I came across as if you offended me ).

It is a lovely part of the country. Our business and social life are based here, so I would be reluctant to move very far (even though it looks as though we could get more for our money...). We are trying to start a family and I don't wont either of us having to spend too much time travelling: more time travelling is less family time (and that is the best time in the world ).

Prices are definitely "all over the place" here too: occassionally you see something well priced, BUT an awful lot isn't yet... Bath is either in a bit of a bubble or it "perceives" that it is (i.e. sellers are taking longer to see reality). There are ALWAYS the occassional nut that will happily spring for a £1m+ property at the asking price... BUT I think that most families are mor prudent - hence why VERY LITTLE is shifting in the "larger family home" sector of the market.

I think that sellers should start to take note of genuine offers over the next two/three months because I doubt that there will be much interest between July and nest Feb/Mar somehow... Maybe if we were sane, we would delay looking until about October/November... But we will see. We look forward to being in our own home again and hopefully starting a family. We are genuine buyers and want a good home at a reasonable price (we wont mess around).

You are right - tricky time to buy OR sell. Hopefully you will get a good sale soon

QT

pawpurrs

Hopefully tomorrow! Will be my day.
I just thought I was a bit rude when I said VERY, only because I would be chuffed to get what I paid in 2006, which is unlikely as its on for less than that! :rotfl: Despite the work! Hay ho!
As your upsizing and rental sorted perhaps, it may be prudent to wait and watch a while? Once you start viewing its more difficult, especially if you see something you LOVE.
Been browsing RM, as you do.... I have seen a couple of lovely properties, but they are not reasonably priced really. Plenty of carp on for reasonable prices though.
Bristol prices seem to have come down a bit more?
You looking for new or older properties this time?

QTPie

pawpurrs wrote: »

Hopefully tomorrow! Will be my day.
I just thought I was a bit rude when I said VERY, only because I would be chuffed to get what I paid in 2006, which is unlikely as its on for less than that! :rotfl: Despite the work! Hay ho!
As your upsizing and rental sorted perhaps, it may be prudent to wait and watch a while? Once you start viewing its more difficult, especially if you see something you LOVE.
Been browsing RM, as you do.... I have seen a couple of lovely properties, but they are not reasonably priced really. Plenty of carp on for reasonable prices though.
Bristol prices seem to have come down a bit more?
You looking for new or older properties this time?

Fingers crossed for you - it will come, just requires a lot of patience (which is a lot easier to say than to do - I know... ).

No, I didn't take it rudely... . I was happy with what I got for the house, would have been happier if I got on the market earlier and sold a year before, but we didn't... So, in the circumstances, I think that we did pretty well.

You speak complete sense. We will definitely take our time and not rush, but do want to start looking now (my slight nervousness about waiting is any half-reasonable houses getting pulled from the market completely...). I know that if I get pregnant, I will become less patient . We don't need the bargain of the century, just want a good house at a sensible price. We want to stay put for the next 20/30 years, so getting it right is VERY important this time. If we can't get the right house at the right price, then we will have to be patient.

I am not a big fan of Bristol... The nicer bits of the city tend to be on the other wide from Bath (Clifton/Redland/Westbury etc) and that would be a hellish commute... It is also (apart from the best bits) a very different city from Bath: with Bath you can generally still see some green (even right in the middle of the city), Bristol is a complete sprawling urban city. I am keeping an eye on things "in between" Bristol and Bath and the villages just to the South of Bristol.

Ideally, right now, I am thinking "larger Victorian/Edwardian Semi" with a reasonable sized garden: plenty of character and normally good sized rooms to go with it. Brand new property seems out: to get anything much bigger than we just sold would be £800/£900k+ :eek: . But I am staying open minded.... I wouldn't rule anything out yet.

It is all a bit of a gamble: the right house, in the right location, at the right price. We will stay put until that comes up.

QT