Some friends of mine desperately need to sell

Jowo_2

michaels wrote: »

This is interesting.

In 'normal' times it was likely that any reduction in selling price was likely to mean a similar reduction could be requested in buying price and transaction could still proceed.

However with the current much more stringent deposit requirements a reduction of say 10% in both selling and buying prices may well mean that thee is insufficient equity for a mortgage to be achieved on the purchase. Another reason for volumes to remain low but again may not say anything about overall price levels?

Yeah, I'd have thought that the OPs pal could have sold under their desired price and recouped it by negotiating hard on their next property.

I've seen posts on the housing forum where frustrated sellers have made clear that they won't reduce their asking price any further or accept 'bargain' offers because they desire a certain sum for their next property. The stock response from MSE posters are that the market doesn't work like that, the seller can only get what a buyer is willing to pay for it, not what they 'need', hence that's probably the reason why their property remains unsold.

ILW

What have the sellers based their asking price on?

Blacklight

Jowo wrote: »

Yeah, I'd have thought that the OPs pal could have sold under their desired price and recouped it by negotiating hard on their next property.

I've seen posts on the housing forum where frustrated sellers have made clear that they won't reduce their asking price any further or accept 'bargain' offers because they desire a certain sum for their next property. The stock response from MSE posters are that the market doesn't work like that, the seller can only get what a buyer is willing to pay for it, not what they 'need', hence that's probably the reason why their property remains unsold.

Both of them are very well paid and have been living their for ages. I don't think there's too much of an issue with buying a place, even if they did sell at 15% less than they want.

The problem seems to be that they don't like the thought of giving about £20k away to a complete stranger. Can't say I blame them, who would?

kaya

lol, like everything in this world its only worth what somebody is prepared to pay, if loads of people are offering 15% lower then thats what its worth at the moment

ILW

kaya wrote: »

lol, like everything in this world its only worth what somebody is prepared to pay, if loads of people are offering 15% lower then thats what its worth at the moment

Odd the way people cannot seem to understand that when it is their own house. Some seem to take low offers as a personal insult. Very strange.

botchjob

Indeed. How many offers at 15% below the asking price will it take before it sinks in that maybe that's the market value at the moment? Sure, they can take it off the market and wait until the market value has risen by 15%. But they might be in for a bit of a wait...

AD9898_2

julieq wrote: »

It isn't high. It's low. Most people aren't on low mortgage rates, most people didn't enter the market in the past few years. So 36,000 repossessions is proof of nothing of the kind. If anything it proves that lenders have a conservative approach to risk management.

Disagree, when you entered the market is irrelevant. You could have bought 20 years ago and MEWed like crazy, the overriding issue would be the IR, which for the majority of homeowners is much less today than it was 3-4 years ago.

StevieJ

Blacklight wrote: »

Both of them are very well paid and have been living their for ages. I don't think there's too much of an issue with buying a place, even if they did sell at 15% less than they want.

The problem seems to be that they don't like the thought of giving about £20k away to a complete stranger. Can't say I blame them, who would?

Why don't they look around and put bids in at 15% less than the asking price for a place they like? If they get a bite they will be able to drop their own house price.

lisyloo

I must admit by being baffled by the number of posts I see on MSE where the household say their property is too small.

Jowo - I understand what you are saying, but some modern houses are real rabbit hutches.
We had a 3 bed semi and couldn't really sit people round the dining table properly.
When we had family round, we got our plasterboard walls damaged by people trying to get into the chairs and that's a 3 bed !!
Many 1 or 2 beds are absolutely tiny, so it does really depend on what type of house you are talking about.

New build 3 bed semis are adequate for a small family but even a lot of those don't have room for seating around a proper dining table.
I agree though that it doesn't fall into "desperate".
People ion war torn countries who have to walk miles for water are desperate, so let's get it into perspective.
If they won't drop the price then they don't need to sell.

Jowo_2

Blacklight wrote: »

.....
The problem seems to be that they don't like the thought of giving about £20k away to a complete stranger. Can't say I blame them, who would?

How much did they pay for the property and in what year, and what are the properties of the same size in the same location actually selling for (which is very different from what they are marketed for)?

From a buyers perspective, the sellers aren't 'giving' it away and offering a discount, merely having to adjust a fantasy sales price to a realistic one.

They aren't gifting 20k to a complete stranger, they are marketing it to sell the property to move elsewhere and realise their plans.

By remaining where they are, not willing to take the risk of negotiating on the next property (or were they planning to pay the full asking price to these complete strangers!) then they are cutting off their nose to spite their face.

They can stay in their current allegedly cramped property waiting a long time for their property price to rise in value and then when they seek a new place, they will discover that everywhere else has risen in price to a comparative degree!

In other words, they are no better off waiting for house price inflation because it affects all properties. And if the market tanks, then it will be even harder than now to sell the property - less buyers who are offering even lower money.

Idiots.