Been on market 4 months and no viewings!

Jackinbox99

bowieben2 wrote: »

Yeah thats one of the things which worries us. Weve seen houses that have been on a while and it puts you off when you know theyre struggling to sell, almost makes you wonder whats wrong with them which isnt a good start!

Maybe it would be worth us taking it off the market for a bit?

We had another estate agent round on wednesday (the EA that is selling the property we want to buy). We just dont think our current EA is actually doing anything and feel this other one would have more incenctive to sell ours as they'd then effectively get two sales! He recommended putting it on at £89,950. But their fees are a lot more and we have to a charge to pay if we leave our current EA although its only £100. Not sure what to do now really. Do we take it off the market for a bit? Do we drop the price with the current EA? Or do we change estate agents and remarket with the at the new price?? :undecided

Taking it off the market wont really make much difference. When ive been looking at houses, ive just gone onto one of the sites like home and you can click on price history and it shows the history of the price drops and how long its been on the market for etc. Some houses id seen had been on the market for 2 years on / off.

One serious alternative maybe just to rent it out? Thats what my other half is doing. She bought her flat at the peak for 130k, now its probably only worth 100k. So, rather than sell and loose all that money, she is renting it out. Her mortgage company have extended her loan period & changed it to interest only. So her mortgage is around £300 a month and yet the rental value on the house is £550 a month. She will do this, making £250 a month "profit" until the property prices go back up again.

Cissi

bowieben2 wrote: »

No we absolutely cant. Were already talking nearly a £30k drop since we bought it.

Then I think I'd take it off the market until the spring at least. At £94,950 and with the "open to offers" tag (which unfortunately makes you look a bit desperate), as a prospective buyer I'd assume that you'd definitely accept £85k and I'd have good hopes that you'd at least consider £75-£80k. If that was my upper limit and I thought I might like the place, I'd at least make an appointment to see it, with a view to making a "cheeky" offer. The fact that you aren't getting any viewings indicates to me that even buyers with a budget of up to £80k aren't interested, so something is wrong. It's a nice flat although I can't comment on the area at all. I think it's just been on for too long at too high a price, and now it's seen as tainted goods. I think you should take it off altogether and start from scratch next spring (with a new EA).

Squish_21

bowieben2 wrote: »

Yeah its a really difficult situation!

The 5% will come out of our savings as we'll be making a massive loss on the flat.

We have thought about it, but we'd rather sell if we can.

Ah right. We are now giving the 5% deposit idea a go ourselves.

Renting mine out crosses my mind but dont know if i want the hassle or if the rent would cover the mortgage, I might get a rental valuation done to see.

Im at the end of of my tether!:( Really feel for you.

Cissi

Jackinbox99 wrote: »

Taking it off the market wont really make much difference. When ive been looking at houses, ive just gone onto one of the sites like home and you can click on price history and it shows the history of the price drops and how long its been on the market for etc. Some houses id seen had been on the market for 2 years on / off.

One serious alternative maybe just to rent it out? Thats what my other half is doing. She bought her flat at the peak for 130k, now its probably only worth 100k. So, rather than sell and loose all that money, she is renting it out. Her mortgage company have extended her loan period & changed it to interest only. So her mortgage is around £300 a month and yet the rental value on the house is £550 a month. She will do this, making £250 a month "profit" until the property prices go back up again.

PropertyBee etc won't recognise the house if it comes on with a new EA, new descriptions etc. Some buyers who have been around a long time may, but there will always be new ones.

Renting out isn't as easy as you make out. For starters, you need authorisation from your mortgage lender, and you may need to change to a BTL mortgage, which may not be possible if you don't have enough equity. Plus, when you talk about "profit", don't forget that that's taxable (and you can't offset the cost of living elsewhere). Not to mention all the other pitfalls of renting out - but there are enough other threads about those...

bowieben

Yeah we've considered renting it out, but were put off for exactly the reasons cissi lists here. We may need to look into it further though if we don't get anywhere with selling, but we'd rather sell and make a fresh start.

bowieben

Squish_21 wrote: »

Ah right. We are now giving the 5% deposit idea a go ourselves.

Renting mine out crosses my mind but dont know if i want the hassle or if the rent would cover the mortgage, I might get a rental valuation done to see.

Im at the end of of my tether!:( Really feel for you.

Totally know how you feel! Feel like our whole lives are on hold till we do something one way or another!

Good luck with the 5% deposit thing, it sounds good in theory, but unfortunately it made no difference for us. Fingers crossed for you though

themull1

i think the lease is too short. i wouldnt have even considered the flat. but if the lease is extended it should generate interest. it looks fantastic.:D

bowieben

themull1 wrote: »

i think the lease is too short. i wouldnt have even considered the flat. but if the lease is extended it should generate interest. it looks fantastic.:D

We questioned this with our EA, they advised to leave it as is. We have enquired about it though. It would cost £1 to extend it to 125 years, but the ground rent goes up from £30pa to £300pa. IMO, if I was a FTB another £300pa payment would put me off.

bowieben2

Well we drooped the price to £89,950 last week, still with same estate agent, and still no interest. It's highly depressing!

poppysarah

bowieben2 wrote: »

Well we drooped the price to £89,950 last week, still with same estate agent, and still no interest. It's highly depressing!

Have you got some friends to make enquiries with them about registering to buy a property like yours in your area - just to check they telling people about it?