Advice Please - What to do???

elspeth240

We had our (4yr old) property on the market for approx 18 months with no offers and very few viewings, the asking price was 180k. There is nothing wrong with the house and it wasn't overpriced but it was due to the current climate and the fact that there are so many new builds still being built with great incentives. We eventually took it off and decorated.

6 months later, we are still desperate to move and we have now found ourselves in a p/x position where we will get 195k but only if we buy another house that is £260k which I think is around £20k more than it is worth comparing with similar properties in the area. This house is beautiful and great internally but has a few negatives, (north facing garden, heavily overlooked, busy through road, etc)

If we were to try and sell on the market again, we have been told to expect between 175 - 185k max but then we would be in a better postition to get a reduction/incentives on other cheaper houses. Obviously, this way though there are no guarantees of a sale and we could still be on the market in 18 months!

Should we just accept the negatives, and be pleased that we have found ourselves in this position and move or take the gamble of selling and getting a better deal elsewhere and hopefully without any negatives?

Thank you

Hailstorm

Which is more important you, moving quickly or getting a better deal?

snugglepet20

Part exchange with a builder and you will get screwed over. Everyone who I know who has done this has regretted it. They will initially offer £x for your house but then they will expect you to pay for an expensive survey and will find things wrong thus knocking down the price. Plus as you have stated you will be paying over the odds for your new house and there will be no extras thrown in that you can normally negotiate on plus it sounds like they are offering you a house that has not sold due to its negative points.

To give a true example I bought my house new with carpets, fencing etc for £125k, my sister in law bought the identical house type on the same street on part exchange for 150k with no carpets or fencing :eek:. The estate is now 3/4 finished and the builder is desperately flogging the remaining houses off for £110k.

If you can sell yours and go to the builder in a situation where you can just buy a house you will be shocked at how low they will go as they have few buyers at the moment and nobody knows if the market will improve or get worse. They will already have made massive profits on the rest of the estate and basically just want to get out while they can as manning a site office for years and scores of empty houses cost money.

elspeth240

Better deal, but there may not be a better deal as we may not be able to sell again! And we definately want to move within the year, preferably within 6 months.

Cannon_Fodder

I think the question you need to ask yourself is, "do you really like the new place" ?

I think deep-down you don't. Why else list "north facing garden, heavily overlooked, busy through road, etc" ?

Price is important, but comes second to really wanting the place.

If you don't love the place, you might be trying to sell the new place in a couple of year's time, then all those negatives will hit the price you can achieve to move on...

They (should) build to set standards of quality and layout, so if its the right house in the wrong plot/location, check their other developments out.

elise83_2

Sorry you're in this situation, it must be so frustrating for you. You need to ask yourself if you compromise on your new home and "accept" the faults, are you going to be asking yourself 6 months down the line "what if we waited"? I'm also wary about the p/x price being so high compared to what the EA reckons you'll get for it. Looks like they've given you an unrealistically high p/x price to entice you into the deal, but in return inflated the price of the house so in actual fact it's like you are selling your place at 175k to buy a place worth 240k. Does the deal still look good to you like this or would you rather take the chance to get more than 175k for your place and then be a position to negotiate more off the price of 240k for the new place?

If it were me I wouldn't accept the compromise - I'd wait a bit longer, take the chance that I could get more for my property until I find a place that I really want to live in.

Good luck!!

elspeth240

Thanks snugglepet but this is where it gets complicated, the house is approx 7 yrs old, beautifully decorated with extras. The current owners want to purchase a new build but can't sell so the builders have offered to buy mine so that I can buy the current owners so they can buy the builders.

Sorry, I should have mentioned this at the start!

snugglepet20

Ok Elspeth that is very complicated! So... unless the reason you are so desperate to move is because your neighbour tried to axe murder you and you are so in love with the new house you would lick its loft insulation hang tight for a better deal and the new house of your dreams. Buying the wrong house for the wrong reasons is a very expensive mistake to make and you will end up stuck again.

elspeth240

Lol, thanks but no - I don't live next to an axe murder (I hope) but the area is becoming quite run down as more and more people are renting their houses out. We are desperate to move though and after the last (wasted) expense of marketing and not selling and also the length of time we tried we are really put off doing it all again also we would really like to have another child and our current home isn't big enough with a very small garden. I've also got to the point of really disliking it.

I think i'm trying to talk myself into going through with this as I think, at least i'll be in a better area and up the ladder and the house itself is lovely it's just the position!

Fire_Fox

elspeth240 wrote: »

We had our (4yr old) property on the market for approx 18 months with no offers and very few viewings, the asking price was 180k. There is nothing wrong with the house and it wasn't overpriced but it was due to the current climate and the fact that there are so many new builds still being built with great incentives. We eventually took it off and decorated.

6 months later, we are still desperate to move and we have now found ourselves in a p/x position where we will get 195k but only if we buy another house that is £260k which I think is around £20k more than it is worth comparing with similar properties in the area. This house is beautiful and great internally but has a few negatives, (north facing garden, heavily overlooked, busy through road, etc)

If we were to try and sell on the market again, we have been told to expect between 175 - 185k max but then we would be in a better postition to get a reduction/incentives on other cheaper houses. Obviously, this way though there are no guarantees of a sale and we could still be on the market in 18 months!

Your house hasn't had so much as a sniff of a sale in two years ergo it IS overpriced for the market conditions: properties that are priced realistically are selling. There is no point in offering £260K for the new house, then getting it valued by the lender at the £140K you know it is worth. What are recent land registry sold prices like for your estate?

elspeth240

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Your house hasn't had so much as a sniff of a sale in two years ergo it IS overpriced for the market conditions: properties that are priced realistically are selling. There is no point in offering £260K for the new house, then getting it valued by the lender at the £140K you know it is worth. What are recent land registry sold prices like for your estate?

Our house has just valued at 185k on the home report and similar new houses are now selling for the same but I think we would probably get 175-185k for it. The house we are considering valued at £285k last year, (but I think this was over-valued) as similar properties are selling for £240-245k