Plenty of property on sale, need to buy urgently, can't do a deal!

westlondonbuyer

Hi there,

I wonder if someone out there can help us.

My husband and I want to buy a family house in West London. We're currently renting. Chain free, excellent deposit from the sale of our pre-marriage homes. Basically, very motivated, reliable buyers. We'd really like to get settled somewhere, hopefully have kids and become a part of the local community.

There are loads of houses on sale round here (6 in this street alone), but they're all on at RIDICULOUS prices. Basically 2007 peak prices + 15%.

These and similar houses in the postcode just stay on the market for months. We've put offers in at 2007 prices, but continually get knocked back by vendors. We can't afford to offer more.

Today a house at a very inflated asking price has gone under offer *at the asking price*. Our next door neighbour knows the prospective buyer and says they've offered asking price to get the house off the market, knowing it will be downvalued at least 15% in the survey, so they won't end up overpaying at all. Or, worst case scenario, they'll gazunder just before exchange.

This strikes me as very unscrupulous but I'm now at the stage where I'm just desperate to buy and will try anything.

Is this a tactic we should be trying, or are there better ways of finding a motivated, realistic seller? I'm sure there's someone who's going to say, "You just can't afford the area, suck it up." But clearly no-one else can afford it, either, because almost nothing is selling. Aaargh, what to do?

sinbad182

What area of West London is it?

I ask because some areas seem to give people the impression they can ask whatever they want for their property, and someone will give it to them purely because of the popularity of the area. Pure delusion. I had this problem trying to buy a flat in Chiswick, and ended up f**king the area off and looking elsewhere. All the flats I looked at are unsurprisingly still on the market!

Jowo_2

I'm not sure that it's specific to West London - this buyer reported problems in South London, too, where the prices of flats are way higher than their 2007 sold prices and the failure to sell the properties in months has not led to any price reductions. Buyers are clearly happy not to sell if they don't achieve their preferred price even if its a fantasy figure.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2654687

Having said that, my ex neighbour in south london knocked back an offer of 300k on their property because the buyer said it was only worth that but then sold it soon after for close to the asking price of 370k and the valuation didn't have an issue with this. Don't know how this stacks up with 2007 prices though as only one property sold in that street then for 390k but it had period features and a longer garden. I'd say the 2007 prices are pretty much holding in that area but there's no great inflation on top of this.

westlondonbuyer

Hi Sinbad,

We're looking in the W6/W12 areas.

westlondonbuyer

Jowo, that's very interesting and helpful, thank you.

Interesting what you say about the down-valuation. Can you *ask* your surveyor for a downvaluation? The vendor can always say no to the revised offer, and you'd go on as before?

ILW

You could look in a cheaper area?

seraphina

Don't I know all about it - we saw a property last night that was bought less than a year ago and is now back on the market for 70K more....this is for a smallish 3 bed detached near Cambridge, not a mansion in SW7!

To cap it off, the vendor freely admitted to suffering from a lack of cash -his business is going t!ts up.

Hope you find something soon...

westlondonbuyer

Hi ILW, I could look in a cheaper area, yes. But as I can afford 2007 prices in this area, I'd prefer to continue looking in this area. Nothing seems to have sold at the inflated prices, after all, so I can't be the only person wondering what's holding things up.

lynzpower

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

Jowo, that's very interesting and helpful, thank you.

Interesting what you say about the down-valuation. Can you *ask* your surveyor for a downvaluation? The vendor can always say no to the revised offer, and you'd go on as before?

Well the issue is that you will pay for that valuation survey ( few hundred) No, you dont ask, they value on behalf of the lender. You will have little contact if any with them, the lender will organise them to go out and let you know when it will be and organise access via vendor/agent.

The valuer may well value the property at less than its up for sale at. Then open the negotiations, ie no one else's survey will say its worth it, and in a few months another surveyor may well value at less, so you might as well accept my offer"

however its not a given that they will and you'll be a few hundred quid out of pocket for the cost of survey if not.

However,I would definately consider using this tactic.

Jowo_2

Perhaps my post isn't clear - the first buyer who felt the property was only worth 70k less (to them) was rejected and it didn't proceed any further. The valuation undertaken by the actual buyer's surveyor did not dispute the negotiated price close to the 370k asking price. In other words, the surveyor did not down value the property in anway (as the original buyer would have expected).

I very much doubt that a seller or buyer can influence the valuation placed on the property by a surveyor who should be independent. Any direct influencing sounds like corruption to me! Of course, this doesn't mean that the seller or buyer gets it at the price that they want...

I think the property market is very patchy and inconsistent at the moment. There are bargain hunter buyers who expect to bag properties 20% under the asking price and probably can achieve this in some areas or with some buyers if they are flexible. And there are over optimistic and fantasy sellers who won't budge on their prices who appear to not be in any rush to sell at a cheaper price.

I spoke to an estate agent in the south coast who said he is still showing property to buyers who have been sitting out of the market since 2008 waiting for the big property price crash that they've been expecting since then which has not really kicked in at all. I got the impression that he was a bit weary of serial viewers who would occasionally stick in silly offers, or who continually browsed properties but were too nervous to actually make an offer on those they adored, out of fear that the market would tank after they bought. (even if they are cash buyers or buy to let landlords who are a bit more cushioned from the effects of price falls and interest rate changes than a FTB with a 15% deposit. It sounds like a very emotional market at the moment.

westlondonbuyer

Thanks for feeling the pain Seraphina!

I just want a home, you know? Happy to pay a good price even though the world is very different in 2010 than it was in 2007. But getting nowhere.