Wait for sale or rent out?

Thrugelmir

giffen wrote: »

One more thing I forgot to add, is that competition is against us. For every potential buyer that comes along, they have literally 100s of similar properties to choose from. The odds for us aren't great.

Then you have to make stand out. "Fairly price" against other properties means it could be overpriced in relation to others. If you are getting 6 viewings a month but no offers.

VJ_

giffen wrote: »

Also, I have previously rented the flat out before and found it quite stressful.

This is the only reason I can see not to rent it.
For me, if it was a good enough flat to generate enough to cover it's mortgage & give me extra income, the though of selling would never cross my mind.

DannyboyMidlands

@VJ

What's the point of holding onto an asset that's falling in value?

giffen

@DannyBoy Think you may be right. I am just off the phone to the estate agents and they suggested dropping by a further £5k after I've taken care of next week's viewings. We'll see how that goes!

@xtcc It's a frustrating situation isn't it? How are you finding renting it out, has it been straightforward? What are your plans for putting it back on the market - are you waiting for the go-ahead from your estate agents? Part of my reluctance to rent it out is the 'indefinite' nature of it.

@VJ_ We have to sell if we are to buy another place. If we rent it out we have to rent somewhere else out too. Whilst I am not against renting another property in the short-term, in the long-term we may or may not want to buy. But ideally we would prefer to have the freedom of not being tied to a property that no longer suits our needs.

giffen

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Then you have to make stand out. "Fairly price" against other properties means it could be overpriced in relation to others. If you are getting 6 viewings a month but no offers.

Our 2-bed property is for sale for £120K, which is £10K below a chartered surveyors valuation from last year. Similar 2-bed properties nearby are up for sale for £125K. My estate agent has just informed me that smaller 1-bed properties nearby are selling at between £97-£110K. Our flat has been completely refurbished and requires no work. Would you say that this is fairly priced? If we drop to £115K would that make it stand out? We don't know what else to do.

brit1234

harrup wrote: »

Don't want to hijack the OP thread but what do you mean by "property bee hack". I use property bee but I can't see a filtering option whereby it ONLY shows recent reductions.

Hmmm....confused.

In the rightmove search options select date added say for 7 days. That will show you the new properties added in 7 days but also those existing properties that have changed price or description in those seven days as well.

Thrugelmir

giffen wrote: »

Our flat has been completely refurbished and requires no work. Would you say that this is fairly priced?

When ever I've bought property I've never looked at less than 15 or so before taking the plunge. As behind the front door property is so very different. The standard of workmanship, fixtures and fittings differs so widely from one to another. Then there's first impressions of the area, parking and location to take into account. Each property I look at benchmarks against the others in terms of value.

To sell something quickly price it at a value that will attract lots of interest. Don't discount it further as if in desperation to sell. Hold your nerve and you'll find a buyer.

VJ_

DannyboyMidlands wrote: »

@VJ

What's the point of holding onto an asset that's falling in value?

1) Simple answer is the income you get, also if it's still worth more than you paid, it will probably eventually go up again; the market is down at the moment, but if the property is in a good location it will be in demand again.

More interestingly
2) You could use it as the first part of your own little "property empire" by using it's equity and income to borrow against for another House\Flat; letting that one out, borrowing against the both of them buying more and more properties.

I know a couple of people who've done this 'trick', they both now own a few hundred properties each and are property millionaires with large incomes.

DannyboyMidlands

@VJ

Possibly if you buy at the right time. On the other hand you could just be increasing your exposure to price falls. I wouldn't want to hold one asset that was falling in value let alone hundreds. A 10% fall on one property might be manageable but 10% on lots is squeaky bum time.

Leverage is only clever when prices are rising.

Thrugelmir

VJ_ wrote: »

1) Simple answer is the income you get, also if it's still worth more than you paid, it will probably eventually go up again; the market is down at the moment, but if the property is in a good location it will be in demand again.

More interestingly
2) You could use it as the first part of your own little "property empire" by using it's equity and income to borrow against for another House\Flat; letting that one out, borrowing against the both of them buying more and more properties.

I know a couple of people who've done this 'trick', they both now own a few hundred properties each and are property millionaires with large incomes.

The era has passed of leveraged speculation. Building any business including a property empire requires a lot more thought and planning than on the basis of "it will probably eventually go up again; the market is down at the moment". That's gambling and for the majority taking a real risk with their entire finances including their home. As you should only gamble with what you can afford to lose.