How not to sell a house....

paul1964_2

Jowo wrote: »

That may very well be their crude strategy - namely that they assume that buyers will simply put in an offer 10% under the asking price so if they pad out the asking price, they will get a higher bid through this artificial strategy.

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So for every buyer ramping up the price unrealistically, I presume there are bargain hunters thinking a 20% under the asking price is acceptable.

The two things are probably linked.

If vendors are padding their asking price by 10%, it is understandable that prospective buyers are assuming the "real" asking price is 10% lower and offering 10% below that figure to give themselves room for negotiation.

In such cases, an offer of 20% below asking price would seem to be perfectly reasonable.

AppleCore

I've seen this overpricing happening quite a lot. A house I like is on the market for 370k, 3 bed semi with an extension, garage and 2 baths. A larger detached version across the road was on the market for 6 months at 350k and eventually sold for 340k so you think they'd know it was too expensive.

To top it off it needed its kitchen and at least 1 bathroom replacing, completely reflooring and quite a bit of plastering as well as a cosmetic facelift and the detached was near perfect!

The vendors are in a different world!

sarah_elton

As you said before paul1964, buyers have to research what they're buying. We only got £2k off the asking price because it was completely realistically priced, and came on the market with an asking price at least £20k lower than everything else we'd seen up until then. We're more than happy with what we're paying. I get frustrated with posts on this board that say "Is it reasonable to offer 10% under asking?" because the answer is always "it depends on the asking price".

In our area, most of the properties that come up on a Rightmove search result are still the same ones that were on when we started looking 18 months ago. There's that large group that are just stuck on the market, then occasional ones like ours that come on fairly priced and disappear quickly, showing that there is still some pent up demand around. We viewed ours the day I got the Rightmove email alert about it, viewed it again the following day, and offered immediately. We knew exactly what we wanted and the price range we were prepared to pay so we jumped straight in when it appeared without worrying about looking over-eager.

paul1964_2

sarah_elton wrote: »

I get frustrated with posts on this board that say "Is it reasonable to offer 10% under asking?" because the answer is always "it depends on the asking price".

Quite right. If the vendor has got the asking price about right, they deserve to find a buyer who recognises this and quickly come to an agreement.

On the other hand, there are many vendors asking way above the market price, so it is understandable that buyers assume some bargaining room has been added to the asking price.

For instance, I viewed a property priced at £360k and was totally unimpressed. Found out its last sale price was £285k in 2007. Nationwide house price calculator and Zoopla put it at £260k - £265k. This has taught me to always do this research before even viewing a property.

People looking for a property at around £360k will view but not be interested. Those looking at £260k will not even view. I do not understand the logic of such tactics - they are just clogging up the market.

Good luck with your new house. Sounds like you found the right house and the right vendor.

sunshinetours

Chances are the people you are buying from have also managed to find a reasonably priced property so the chain works for everyone. The issue at the moment is when one vendor thinks their house is still worth peak prices

It does seem in many parts of SE Essex (so not million miles from you) that there are many "new build" estates ie built within last 10 years or so, where there is a large oversupply of overpriced houses. Ones with character or more unique style properties are still selling easier at the right price of course.
Colchester I think has always been pretty reasonably priced and as you say plenty of nice country villages and coastland on your doorstep (and one of the nicest zoos in the country!). We looked at Tolleshunt area a few years ago but it was just a bit too far out for my work travel

Good luck with the move!