How to sell a property near the £250k SD

wanttosellmyproperty

I bought my property 5 years ago for £242k, EA's have valued it at £285k, after 4 months dropped to £279k and despite over 30 viewings, no offers except a £250k offer.

We rejected because the minimum we can accept is £260k. We need that extra £10k to put towards deposit.

I have heard rumours of ways to sell a property for £250k but get the buyer to stump up for EA fees etc instead, or we pay the SD for them - but if we did that, whats the point as we need the £10k!

Any clever ideas or explain to me how that could work, because it does not make sense to me??? We are desperate to sell our place and if we could for £250k we would, we know it would be snapped up - how can we get clever and work this out? Or should we just sit it out?

Gwhiz

The problem for a buyer is at £250K they pay £2500 SD. At £260K they pay £7800 - a big difference to their overall costs.

All you can do, if you have to walk away with £260K is offer to pay the extra 2% SD for any buyer assuming you can achieve a sale price of £265 or above.

E.g. Sell at £265K and offer to pay the extra 2% SD (£5300) so your receive £259,700.

hazyjo

Can't you knock that £10k off what you're buying to even things up? I'm in a similar boat...

Jx

brit1234

wanttosellmyproperty wrote: »

We rejected because the minimum we can accept is £260k.

Sorry but I am going to be blunt. You haven't a chance in hell, £249,999.99 is the maximum you are going to get. Also the longer you wait for that £260k the more prices are going to fall and the less chance you will even get £250k.

There is no legal way round this stamp duty limit.

I would also calculate that house prices are below the 2006 level which you bought at. Might be worth another valuation by a couple different EAs, it seems you are pricing too high. :think:

wanttosellmyproperty

Thanks for the replies.

I like the 2% option and could be workable! We had a 250k offer last week and wasnt first time buyer, was a cash buyer.....so would have to pay 1% anyway... so to pay for 2% could work

I agree that we might not get over the 250. But if i can try and get a sale now. Really not trying to avoid SD or doing anything dodge. just trying to move, make the numbers work and see how we can be more attractive to a buyer but still get what we want.

Without boring you with details, I know our property wont go in negative and will be snapped up if there was no SD. But the figures have to work for us. they do not work if we drop the places we want by 10k as it doesnt actually free up 10k, as SD only drops by £200 and deposit drops by £2k.

I also think I will go back to my EA and try and renegotiate fee as well!

martindow

business_man wrote: »

£10k in a £260k house would not be difficult for any solicitor show as a schedule of furniture even is HMRC inspects this case, however the chances are slim.

Second hand furniture is usually almost valueless. I would be very surprised if furniture, curtains, etc could come anywhere near this figure using realistic values.

hazyjo

I was told you might get away with £2-3k extra for furniture, etc, but that's about it. Not worth trying for more, and I doubt your solicitor would approve anyway.

Jx

brit1234

business_man wrote: »

I think the best for OP is to understand his exact needs and amount he is willing to sell it for.

I think it is also best that the OP realises they will be committing fraud if they follow your advise.

sunshinetours

business_man wrote: »

Well it all depends what you put on the paper and doesnt take long at all to put £10k worth. Going by OPs equity I dont think OP ever had an accountant, so it all is upto the buyer the way he wants to proceed, he can use one of the schemes that will mitigate the SDLT.

It it was a £50k flat then I am sure it wouldve been difficult for you to explain £10k worth furniture but I dont think in this case you would struggle.

I think the best for OP is to understand his exact needs and amount he is willing to sell it for.

Actually it takes quite a lot to get to £10k worth of second hand furniture effectively. If the house was empty would be even harder.

Anyone can misrepresent the value of items to get to £10k but that isn't money saving advice its fraud.

No accountant worth their salt would be interested in selling a SDLT mitigation scheme on a £260k property. That however doesn't mean you won't find one who will of course. As long as eveyone is aware that they are likely to fail as the recent raft of letters to users of these schemes may be finding out

Also as you don't know the OP maybe don't be so disparaging about their financial circumstances when you know nothing about them and finally read the post properly as Op is the vendor not the purchaser


In answer to the OP's question I think you will also struggle in a downward market to achieve over the £250k regardless of any stamp duty "tricks" -sorry nothing to add over and above that

hazyjo

business_man wrote: »

It it was a £50k flat then I am sure it wouldve been difficult for you to explain £10k worth furniture but I dont think in this case you would struggle.

Sorry, but I disagree - from other posts on here, and what I was advised by my EAs and solicitors, it is hard to get more than £3k worth of 'stuff' without it falling into the fraud category - plus, who would want to spend £260k (or anything between that and £250k) on a house in this market?

I lost out - mine was 'worth' £265k but the market changed its worth to £250k. Unfortunately, that meant taking an offer at £230k, subsequently dropped to 228,500 after survey! Bought in August 2006 and now selling for the exact price I paid.

Be careful about discarding that £250k offer...

Jx

geoffky

250k offer is massive in this market...bite the hand because prices might fall further and further and further...playing catch up is the last thing you need..