Why do people get so aggressive when ...

tyllwyd

Why do people get so aggressive when someone posts that they have put their house on the market but don't want to reduce the price below a certain level?

Some of the replies seem to get very annoyed, going on about not really wanting to sell your property, it not really being on the market unless you are cutting your price at every opportunity to sell instantly. Why do people get so upset with the idea that you might set your price at a level you are comfortable with, taking into account the local market, and you are quite happy to wait and see if a buyer comes along?

angrypirate

I think people get frustrated when people show up on here saying

"My house has been on the market now for 6 months and its not selling? What should i do to get people interested? I cant reduce the price because Mr Honest EA told me it was really worth that much but I havent had a single viewing"

The most simple arguement is the price elasticity of demand. Make something cheaper and more people will be interested in it. And yet a lot of vendors choose to ignore this fact.

BitterAndTwisted

Dunno. You tell me.

I think a lot of vendors are deluded about the current value. Plus some are mortgaged up to the hilt and can't drop the price but that's no-one else's fault.

pinkteapot

But these aren't people who are quite happy to sit on the market at their current level and see if anyone is interested. They are people who want to sell, to the point where they've come to a forum for advice on why their house hasn't sold. If they were that laid back about it, they wouldn't be posting.

The simple fact is that any house will sell quickly, at the right price. If your house is over-priced, no amount of packing away kids toys and throwing magnolia paint at the walls will shift it.

Jowo_2

Not sure that i've seen any aggressive posts on this topic.

Some sellers claim they are baffled as to why they have little or no viewers but when they post a link, it is clear that their properties are priced higher similar properties in the local area. Seems many do little research into their rivals.

Others do have a particular criteria before they sell because they want to avoid negative equity or because they want £x equity to invest in a new property. That's not how the market works - they can only get what a buyer is prepared to pay for it and so they must consider adjusting their criteria.

Other buyers are making posts on this forum indicating that they believe some sellers have no great drive to move, hence are just speculatively putting their properties on the market for an excess price, just in case it sells, which they find frustrating.

poppysarah

Those who can afford to sit and watch their sale board posts rot will.
Those who can't, won't.

sequence

Because for the last 10 years everyone was spoon fed the lie that property prices can only go up and that you are guaranteed to make 20 - 40K profit by buying a house and selling it 2 years later.

That and the fact that most people have a huge pyschological barrier to taking a loss on anything.

puddy

I dont think agression is an accurate description but there is frustration, especially if you have been a buyer with one of these deluded vendors, you go and view the house, you know its over priced, you do your research, you get told by the estate agent that the vendor is 'keen to sell' but they're not that keen because they dont accept offers which reflect the current market value, what a waste of time

myhouse_2

sequence wrote: »

Because for the last 10 years everyone was spoon fed the lie that property prices can only go up and that you are guaranteed to make 20 - 40K profit by buying a house and selling it 2 years later.

That and the fact that most people have a huge pyschological barrier to taking a loss on anything.

Yep - people even have a psychological barrier on taking a loss on a house in which they have actually made a huge profit. Just because an EA told them they thought it was worth more at market peak.

unbeliever

tyllwyd wrote: »

Why do people get so aggressive when someone posts that they have put their house on the market but don't want to reduce the price below a certain level?

Some of the replies seem to get very annoyed, going on about not really wanting to sell your property, it not really being on the market unless you are cutting your price at every opportunity to sell instantly. Why do people get so upset with the idea that you might set your price at a level you are comfortable with, taking into account the local market, and you are quite happy to wait and see if a buyer comes along?

No idea - I feel like I've just been shouted down on my post about deciding to rent as the market's so flat and I want to protect my investment/equity. If you've got a flat that's aimed primarily at first-time buyers it's a tough time, and I'd rather rent for a couple of years or more and then try and sell (my pending tenants want to save up to buy) than give it away now for someone else to reap the benefit when the market recovers. Every estate agent has said to me, rent for a few years, ride this out and you'll be in a better position for it.

I thought I'd get support on this website but feel like people only come on here to have a go.

sonastin

Its not such a black and white issue. While there is a case for arguine that at £X it will definitely sell and at £Y it definitely won't, the reality is that £X and £Y are thousands of £££s apart and in between is a great big grey area of getting the right buyer to connect with the right vendor.

Some of the vendors posting with a "I need to get this house sold immediately" tale need pushing down closer to £X, but others posting with "this house-selling malarky is doing my head in" tales can actually afford to hover in the grey area somewhere up near £Y, but they need to vent their frustrations occasionally (especially if a particular incident has been particularly infuriating!). I think the OP is referring to some of the unnecessarily agressive replies to those types of posts.

All vendors need to tread a fine line between getting as much for their house as they can, and selling it as quickly as they need to. Without a crystal ball or the ability to read all buyers' minds it is impossible to know whether the person who will buy your home at the asking price is just around the corner or as real as the tooth fairy and father christmas. Most likely somewhere in between but its rarely as cut-and-dried as some posters on here seem to think.