Should people wanting to sell hang in there?

nutsohazelnuts

We have some friends who have had their home on the market for two and a half years.

The estate agent has recently suggested that they reduce the price to just below the level of a offer they turned down two years ago, and they are seriously thinking of giving up and staying put, even though they are suffering some serious health problems and desperately want to move closer to their eldest daughter so that it is easier for her to help them.

My sister is looking for a property near to us and the rest of the family, but having come from an area of much lower housing prices, and being a pensioner of limited means she has a fixed amount that she can offer.

She has made several serious offers of between £10k and £15k below the asking prices and has always, so far, been turned down.

We could assist her with the difference if she needed us to. If house prices have bottomed out and are about to rise then now might be the time to help her to raise her offer in order to secure somewhere.

Is there any reason to expect that house prices are about to start rising again?

Sibley

It does sound like their place is overpriced. 2 and a half years is too long.

I've been looking at UK houses this week. There has been no price reductions in des res areas whatever people on here will try to tell you.
If you really like a house 100% I'd like to bet it will be in the catagory no offers. That is probably the type of place your sister is looking at.
The seller doesn't need to sell and will have a take it or leave it attitude. If it sells for what they want it goes if not no problem. We'll sit it out and enjoy low mortgage payments. These places will never drop in price.

Next level down are houses that you make you think ' It's not perfect but'.....

Mid range places.

Let's use 2007 for a benchmark as it's popular.
Prices rose sharply and we ended up with magical 2007.

Say a house would have been around 175k.
Prices the rose again, maybe another 10%. Even I thought it was a big much. Now, all that has happened is prices have dropped back that 10%.

Most sellers in this group don't need to sell and will refuse to take a low offer.

Now last group.

Houses in not so good locations.

I'm actually in Maidstone as I type this. It's my area and what I know. Average houses are priced about 10% lower than before but are selling.
2 bedroom places for rental are at a premium and sell nearly instantly to BTL landlords. That is fact. My friend is looking to buy now and is having a hard time. The new laws will not effect rents here as they will be under the threashold.

There is an odd bargain about in the mid range but still not cheap and the market is strong.

Village locations here are still fetching sky high prices and selling easily.

My generation were very lucky. We bought and our places have made big money. Those days are gone. You can still make money but the big 100% rises are finished.

FTB's want the same. They hope prices fall then rise once they own. It's not going to happen. There will be no house price crash for sure. You might as well buy and get on with it.

quantic

I don't mean to sound horrible, but surely if bad health is a reason for moving money becomes irrelevant?

Blacklight

People won't sell at less than they know they can achieve if they wait it out. Not unless they are forced to through personal circumstances.

It's just human nature.

Some people will tell you that if you trade up and buy a bigger place then the gap is less when prices have hit rock bottom. Therefore it's a good thing to sell at a loss. It's a great theory but in practice the demand for property at the lower end of the scale is always higher than for the premium six bed detached's, so prices do not increase proportionately.

That's why people just take their house off the market when prices are low.

doire_2

and they are seriously thinking of giving up and staying put, even though they are suffering some serious health problems and desperately want to move closer to their eldest daughter so that it is easier for her to help them.

Hmmm so they are having serious health issues and need the help of their daughter yet wont reduce their asking price so they can get the help they need.

Its a no brainer really isnt it. If they are too greedy to realise this then their health is only going to get worse.

Percy1983

It won't sell for more than its worth... end of...

With that no steep price rises are expected soon and I doubt rises will be be more than inflation, so even if they do wait it out and get the extra £15k they want they may still be worse off for it.

As mentioned if they are looking to buy elsewhere the odds are the houses they want have dropped too.

Sounds like they want to buy cheap and sell expensive.

ukcarper

doire wrote: »

Hmmm so they are having serious health issues and need the help of their daughter yet wont reduce their asking price so they can get the help they need.

Its a no brainer really isnt it. If they are too greedy to realise this then their health is only going to get worse.

You can't say that without knowing their personal circumstances. If they are hoping to buy near their family then if they can afford to drop the price and still buy it makes sense to drop price but if by dropping price they won’t be able to buy near family there is not much point it dropping the price.

Turnbull2000

The overwhelming number of homeowners (and EAs of course!) continue to believe their properties are worth 2007 prices, and I see no reason for that to change. Until mortgage availability matches these expectations, transactions will remain low. Only more reposessions and forced sellers would change this, but emergency interest rates and state intervention have fullfilled their aim of preventing such downward pressure on prices. Instead, many are sitting pretty on very cheap mortgages, have a tenant paying for the property or both.

DervProf

Blacklight wrote: »

People won't sell at less than they know they can achieve if they wait it out. Not unless they are forced to through personal circumstances.

It's just human nature.

Some people will tell you that if you trade up and buy a bigger place then the gap is less when prices have hit rock bottom.

Most human's are therefore a bit stupid.

If you sell for less than you expected, or have an offer for less than you expected (especially after 2+ years of waiting for a sale), then shouldn't that tell you something ? It would tell me that the market is cwap, and that there are likely to be lots and lots of other sellers in the same situation. If you sell a bit lower and buy you next place a bit lower, then you are probably going to be financially better off.

But no, the majority just want as much as possible for the place they are selling, and although I suspect they'd like their next place for as little as possible, will just borrow what it takes and say "I made £xxxxx on my old place, you can't go wrong with properdy, innit".

Turnbull2000

DervProf wrote: »

you can't go wrong with properdy, innit".

Well, they do have a point. If things go wrong, the government will step in to prevent prices going South and try to restore upward momentum.

DervProf

Turnbull2000 wrote: »

Well, they do have a point. If things go wrong, the government will step in to prevent prices going South and try to restore upward momentum.

And even though the government have stepped in, we still hear stories of property being on the market for > 12 months, and vendors being very reluctant to drop their asking prices.

If you have to sell cheaper, but can buy cheaper, then moving "up the ladder" will usually be cheaper. J. Public seems to be either oblivious to this, or just doesn't want to accept it.