Moving Home - Zoopla Hurts!

HJS86

Hi there

My husband and I have been in our aparment for 2.5 years and have recently placed it on the market as we would like to start a family.

We paid £80,000 for the property and have put it on the market for such with the hope of getting about £75,000.

Yesterday I went on Zoopla for the first time and was pleased to see that their estimate was £74,392 for our property. So I thought, I'll add some of the specifics like it asks you to...oh no! Now its gone down in estimation to £43,000???!:(:eek:

I'm really worried this will put off potential buyers. We haven't had any views as it is, though its been on the market for 3 weeks and has had nearly 80 views on rightmove etc.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Gwhiz

Does anyone rely on Zoopla when making offers? I thought it was well accepted that their valuations were pie in the sky.

HJS86

Hi Gwhiz

Thanks for your reply, that puts my mind at rest a little! I'm not sure, a friend recommended it to me.

In the local area flats are ranging from £50-£105,000.

Our apartment itself was valued from £55 - £75000 by 4 different estate agents, so we really struggled to set the guide price ourselves.

Do you think we should have had some interest by now?

Thanks

ruggedtoast

I doubt anyone cares about zoopla tbh.

ruggedtoast

HJS86 wrote: »

Hi Gwhiz

Thanks for your reply, that puts my mind at rest a little! I'm not sure, a friend recommended it to me.

In the local area flats are ranging from £50-£105,000.

Our apartment itself was valued from £55 - £75000 by 4 different estate agents, so we really struggled to set the guide price ourselves.

Do you think we should have had some interest by now?

Thanks

Time for a rightmove link!

DannyboyMidlands

I wouldn't worry about Zoopla as I doubt anybody would base their valuation/offer on that churned out by Zoopla's "secret algorithm".

But...

Considering that you are marketing at above the highest estate agent (always over-optimistic) valuation then it does sound over-priced. this is backed up by the fact that you've had zero interest.

Which agent did you go with? The one who valued the highest?

Gwhiz

In this market properties have to be valued realistically (some would say aggressively)

If your highest valuation was £75K I would say you are well overpriced at £80K especially when you paid this at, or near to, the market high.

DPJames

The internet has a wealth of infomation, but it has even more mis-infomation. Don't worry about it.

How do you know how many views you've had on rightmove?

HJS86

Hi all

Thanks for your advice.

We went with an online estate agent called mypropertyforsale.co.uk. We paid approx £400 one off fee, they then list the property on all the big housing sites i.e. rightmove, zoopla, findaproperty etc. and take calls from potential buyers, pass us the details and we call them to make a viewing. They have a counter on the site which shows the owner how many times the listing has been viewed and how many times people have opened the listing for more details which currently stands at 80+.

We are def overpriced, but unfortuantely, as we've only been there 2.5 years, we cannot afford to let it go for less than £75,000 as we can't go into negative equity, the mortgage company said. Didn't want to place it on at £75,000 as thought buyers would then start offering lower than this - was this a bad call? Should we re-list for £75,000?

Luckily, with the savings plan we have put ourselves on, we will be in a position this time next year to let it go for just under £70,000. We're assuming that the market wont have recovered drastically by then and that £70,000 wont be underpriced? As long as we move in the next 2 years, were in no particular rush.

Rightmove link here...any advice greatly appreciated!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33428201.html

Thank you

DannyboyMidlands

The flat looks nice and I can't see anything wrong with the ad...........except the price. I think that you're asking way too much. Sorry to be so blunt but I think that even £70k is hugely ambitious. Unfortunately a buyer isn't going to pay over the odds just because you have a mortgage to clear. They'll just buy elsewhere.

You might have to sit tight and pay down the mortgage for several years yet. Don't let it stop you starting a family though. Just pray that it isn't a multiple birth!

ruggedtoast

Unfortunately I suspect this one going for £35k less round the corner isnt helping.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29184028.html

Its a repo, but even so that is a lot less than yours. There may be some reason why yours is better, which is where listing with a local agent would help. If its just online then people just see what is online.