House sale novice needs help!!

DeeDee08_2

Hi All
Need help - which are the best sites to find out what houses in an area are currently going for?

We are being pressured by EA to accept an offer lower than we would like, being told we should be more 'realistic' about the price. However when they valued the place they said we'd be giving it away at that sort of price.

Potential buyers took a hit on their sale and EA seems to be trying to get a good deal for them. Surely our EA should be looking out for us -or am I really naive???

Ta

G_M

EAs always talk up the price when you first approach them. They want your business and believe, often rightly, that if they tell you the property will go for more than a competator EA tells you, you will give them your business.

Once you are signed up to them, and time has passed, there motive changes. Now they want to get it sold asap as that's when they get paid. So letting you keep the high, unachievable price, is no longer in their interests.

Google house prices, to see real sold prices in your area.

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/

http://www.nethouseprices.com/

FireWyrm

Youre being naive. Every house no matter the condition will sell at the right price, but with the property market the way it is, you have to understand that buying and selling is a complicated balancing act. Just because you want £500K for your house does not mean you will get anywhere near that, quite the opposite. The job of the EA is to sell houses, and he works for himself, not you although yu can tell yourself that if you want. He is trying to get a sale off the ground and since it's a buyers Market, if the buyer says they will only pay so much below price, you're going to have to suck it, or tell them to get lost and accept you won't get another buyer for perhaps months, if ever. Houses in the UK have been overpriced foe years and it was only a matter of time before there was a sharp correction...I'm afraid that the gravy train of ever increasing house prices has well and truly departed.

DeeDee08_2

Thank-you both.

Thought you'd say something like that! Just annoyed that the house had only been on a couple of weeks before we're told to get 'realistic' They valued the d4mn thing!!!

KRB2725

Personally, although it is a buyers market, I don't think there is any hard and fast rules. A family member has jsut sold a house for full asking price, yet a friend has taken a 20% drop from asking (in the same area).

If it has only been on two weeks, you can always tell them you'll think about it but wo'n drop that much ast such an early stage. However, this obviously carries somewhat of a risk. It really depends on how desireable your house/area is and how quickly the market is moving there.

ceegee

I think that "mouseprice" shows what houses have sold for, using the Land Registry sold prices. I'll see if I can get a link up...

here goes http://www.mouseprice.com/

googler

zoopla
ourproperty

both have sold prices as well as those listed above. Bear in mind that all these sites are usually a month out of date, so a local EA may well know about something that's changed hands before it's public knowledge.

For instance, sales in June get released to these sites and published around 1 Aug. July sales will appear around 1 Sep, etc.

jackyann

Having had more experience of this than I would like, over 35 years, I think that the internet (it used to be difficult to find out what houses had sold for!) is a fantastic tool
BUT it doesn't help you take account of the little factors that can influence a house sale.
One of these is the number of houses in a similar price range on the market. You can easily look around & see similar houses at the price you want for yours & think you're asking the right price.
But if there are 100 houses of a similar type & price (and it feels like 1000 in some places at the moment!) then yours has to stand out: near a "good" school, easy access to & from garage, wide drive, nicely kept garden, pleasant aspect etc.etc. If nothing else does, then it has to be the price.
I also think that because some sections of society ( at the moment, some newly retired people) have more money than others (eg: young families, with mortgages more difficult to come by) certain types of houses (bungalows) are selling more quickly than others (3 bed-semis on estates).
Although there are some rogues, most EAs I have dealt with have been honest & helpful - remember they get their fee based on the price your house sells for.