Long time out of the game. Advice please.

Trumpeter

I would like some advice about the house buying/selling process please. There are several questions in here so I hope you can bear with me. As a bit of background, we’ve lived in the same house for 27 years & it is completely debt & mortgage free. It has been on the market for nearly 2 months & we have not yet had any interest. It was put on at the bottom end of the EA’s valuation as I thought it seemed a little expensive. We have also just dropped the price by 3k to see if we can get any viewers.
When (if??) we sell our property, we will be in a position to make a cash purchase. As you can see, it’s a long time since we’ve done anything like this so here come the questions!!
Firstly, I know that market conditions are still poor but do you think that we should be expecting more from our EA? The only contact we’ve had from them is when they suggested lowering the asking price (as stated earlier, it was already at the bottom of their estimated range)
Second, when we finally get round to buying, would you recommend that we have a mortgage type valuation done even though we don’t need a mortgage? Or do we just have to use our (limited) judgement on how much something is worth? I’m thinking that a professional valuation might be a good negotiating tool? Any other views on this?
And lastly (I think), if push came to shove, we could possibly (just) afford to move before we’ve sold our current house. The trouble is that then leaves the option of renting it out. I know some will think this a bit daft but after 27 years in the place, there’s an emotional attachment & it would be heartbreaking to see the place trashed by a bad tenant. As you will guess, I have nearly talked myself out of this option already but I’d be interested to see what others think.
I’m also open to any other suggestions that anyone may wish to add.
I hope you’ve stayed with me this far & thanks in advance for any help/suggestions/hints/tips or just general empathy.

Doozergirl

I or anyone else on the board would be happy to look at your house and let you know how we think it's being marketed. EAs are quiet unless you are getting interest. Is it on rightmove? Does the agent have properties that are showing as sold on rightmove? Are houses going under offer quickly in your area at the moment?

When you come to buy a house, you should have at least a homebuyer's survey carried out on it to check the intergrity of the building, they will provide you with a valuation as well but before you get to that point you want to be looking now at what is available on the market, paying attention to the prices of those that are already under offer as these help you to compare not only asking prices of just the properties that you are viewing, but help you to measure those against current selling prices.

Unless you have a burning desire to be a landlord, do not put yourself through it. Sell your house and get on with your life.

kinglewis

You may have to accept that the EA may well have over valued it.. regardless of their higher and lower valuation. Valuers that work for EAs are often targeted to get your house on the market.. therefore quoting a high price is very appealling to a vendor and gets an easy instruction. If they are asking you to reduce.. and you follow all of Doozergirls advice (in particular make sure it is on rightmove!).. then I would consider reducing your price.

Remember even if you do reduce your price.. you can always try to knock the next person down by the same amount. Once you have sold in the current market you will be in a very strong position to negotiate.

bmunky7

Have you looked at recent sold prices on nethouseprices.com or zoopla to check how your price compares?

You could check on the EA by getting a friend to phone them and see if they push your house.

I know lots of people make a good living from renting property but since you seem to be a reluctant potential landlord, I wouldn't recommend it, seems there is more work to it than people think and you already mentioned your sentimental attachment to the property.

googler

It has been on the market for nearly 2 months & we have not yet had any interest.

Not at all surprising in the current market.

It was put on at the bottom end of the EA’s valuation as I thought it seemed a little expensive.


Did you get more than one valuation?
Firstly, I know that market conditions are still poor but do you think that we should be expecting more from our EA? The only contact we’ve had from them is when they suggested lowering the asking price


If all you're asking for is more contact from your agent, you have to ask yourself if you REALLY want to hear your agent telling you, once a week, that there's been no further interest.

Alternatively, it suggests that the agent may want to work on 'things to say when there's nothing to say'....

Second, when we finally get round to buying, would you recommend that we have a mortgage type valuation done even though we don’t need a mortgage?

Yes, you certainly should get a professional opinion on what your purchase is worth, if only for buildings insurance purposes....

You've talked yourself out of being a 'reluctant landlord' already. Don't change your mind on this. Sell and move on.

pie81

It's worth asking the EA what they have done to market the place - how many people sent out to, etc. It's also possibly worth "mystery shopping" them (pretend to be a buyer looking for something which would include your property, see if they recommend your property). but if the EA has done all they can then there is not much for them to contact you about.

if/when you find a place to buy, definitely get a survey done (this can also include a valuation) to warn you of any structural/major defects in the house.

don't rent out the house - it's a big hassle and unlikely to break even at the moment. there will be relatively few new buyers at the moment as it's the run up to Christmas... I'm sure there will be more in January.

theartfullodger

My granny said if you've been out of "The Game" for some time you might not get the prices you used to...

Cheers!

Lodger

Trumpeter

Thanks for all the replies. To answer some of the queries & add a bit more background. We had 3 valuations from different agents. There were a couple of reasons why we ended up with this particular agency. One was the valuation (more on this in a minute), another was that they were doing what looked like a good deal on the HIP & EPC. Finally, and OK, this is purely subjective, but my wife liked the person we are dealing with. The agent is part of a national group & the property is advertised on the Rightmove website.
The property is an ex local authority 3 bed terraced house with off road parking which has been extended & modernised. It’s in good order & well maintained & decorated so would be ideal for a FTB to move straight into. The valuations ranged between 85 and 95k (this is Lincolnshire, not Knightsbridge!!). Having looked at similar properties in the town, it was put on the market at 90k (actually 89950) For this price locally, you can get a low-end semi but I thought ours is better value. Part of the problem is that from the outside, the terraces all look the same. Inside & to the rear, it is larger & better than most (if I do say so myself!) Any improvements have been made for our benefit, & in this respect, we’ve probably overspent but I realise that there is a ceiling price for this type of property in this area. As stated in my first post, I’ve already reduced the price at the suggestion of the agent.
One of the reasons I’m asking about the EA is because of a bit of research I’ve just done (and suppose I should really have done before I chose the agent) I’ve used Propertysnake to search on my postcode for reductions. I found that there’s the facility to list properties by the length of time they’ve been on the market. When I did this, I found 10 properties that had been on for over a year. Of these, 9 were listed with my EA and the other was a broken link. I then went to 2 adjacent postcodes. One had 11 listed for over a year, 9 with my EA and one with one other. The second was 10 out of 10 all for my EA. Can’t be a coincidence can it? (If you want to check, the postcodes are DN15, DN16 & DN17)

googler

If your EA has a larger market share than others, then naturally they'll have more properties showing up on propertysnake than the others. As long as the number on propertysnake compared with total are in the same proportion as the others, it's to be expected.

Assuming an equal market share, it might be a worry if your EA has more than the others.

If your EA's market share is less than the others, it's definitely a worry if they have more showing up.

dopester

Trumpeter wrote: »

When I did this, I found 10 properties that had been on for over a year. Of these, 9 were listed with my EA and the other was a broken link. I then went to 2 adjacent postcodes. One had 11 listed for over a year, 9 with my EA and one with one other. The second was 10 out of 10 all for my EA. Can’t be a coincidence can it? (If you want to check, the postcodes are DN15, DN16 & DN17)

If the home is listed at an appealing price to the market, it will probably sell quickly.

It is no big mystery.

Trumpeter

dopester wrote: »

If the home is listed at an appealing price to the market, it will probably sell quickly.

It is no big mystery.

The point was that out of the 31 properties that have been listed for over a year, 28 of them are with my EA? I'm wondering whether to take that as a sign that the EA isn't marketing very well or maybe a sign that the EA is giving the sellers a false view of the market by over-valueing. It is part of a large national company but I would very much doubt if the above figures could be explained by having a larger share of the market.