Hugely overpriced?

StickMan_3

Afternoon everyone,

I've had a look at a house and its a winner however I once again have hit a brick wall with the valuation. The house sold in 2009 Dec for 190k they listed it last week after having landscaped the garden added a wood burner and remodeled the bathroom for 260k .... Can anyone see this being anywhere near accurate? I am trying to get my head around it and perhaps as a first time buyer I just dont get it but the charts are telling me house prices in my region have dropped by about 10% over that period so is it possible at all that this property has gained 40% in value? I would love to put in an offer but nowhere near there asking price and I feel like a fool to put it in way below what they are marketing it at.

Hope someone can help me here.

BitterAndTwisted

It really doesn't matter what they paid for it or the value of the improvements that they have done. What matters is what comparable properties have sold for in the same neighbourhood recently as well as what the property is worth to you.

poppasmurf_bewdley

Virtually every house for sale in Britain today is overpriced for what it is.

But having said that, a house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. If you are not prepared to meet the asking price, then it's overpriced to you. If the mortgage providers only value it at £200k then it's overpriced to them also. If someone with cash buys it at the full asking price, then it is NOT overpriced.

Put in an offer and see what happens. The worse they can do is come round to your house with a sawn off shotgun and blow you away.

rachel31a

I feel like we are faced with a similar problem. House was on at 199,950, then reduced to 184,950. We offered 180,000 which we felt was reasonable. The vendor at first refused then accepted a few days later after no one else had shown interest. Homebuyers report and mortgage valuation valued it at 175,000 we weren't surprised as next door sold in November for this price - it's virtually the same room sizes, much more modern inside but doesn't have a garage which ours does. We went back to the estate agent with the report but the vendor is refusing to move on 180,000, we have offered 177,000 as our final offer and are still waiting to hear whether this has been accepted if not we will walk away. If we do end up walking away I feel like this is likely to happen again with other properties we go after as vendors aren't willing to accept that their house isn't worth what they feel it should be.

phoebe1989seb

Hi StickMan,

Using my own experience as a comparison to your own situation, we bought a totally unique (Tudor house that wasn't listed) but completely rundown house in 2007 and sympathetically restored it spending between £30k and £40k on new bathrooms, kitchen, restoring original features, landscaping the garden and general decorating. We sold earlier this year for £20k less than we paid for the house, thereby 'losing' between £50k and £60k........we put this down to experience and the fact that we bought an amazing house in a terrible area where such properties are not prized. Although it does depend on many different factors and this is purely my own experience I cannot see how the house you are interested in (unless it is in a very desirable area) can have risen that much in value since 2009.

If you are that interested I would definitely put in a cheeky offer - they can only say no.............

Phoebe x

StickMan_3

Thanks all for you input I do agree a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it but there has to be a start point. Pheobie I think your situation is the most similar to this the property is unique and in a rural area so finding comparibles is almost impossible however I did just find out the previous purchase was a repossession and so probably way under market rate.

evoke

Jeez.

It looks like this particular house is out of your price range - the warning sign is when you feel a property is overpriced. Chances are that the vendors need to achieve a certain price - to pay off an outstanding mortgage or help them buy their next property. The price is what it is.

Look for something within your price range.

StickMan_3

Evoke my problem is not with affordability its with worth. I could afford a 10 quid mars bar but I wouldn't buy it because it isn't worth 10 quid.

evoke

Then you ain't going to get the house so move on. No use quoting charts and figures from past sales as these are largely irrelevant and simply make for great forum discussions. In the real world the vendors put the property up for a price with some guidance from the EA and they have a figure that they want to achieve which is usually lower than the asking price.

As others have said, put an offer in and wait to see what happens. Be prepared to be turned down and be ready to move on. No amount of facts and figures and arguing the toss will change the situation.

chappers

But do bear in mind that it is a buyers market and vendors/agents know that buyers are going to offer below the asking price regardless of how well a house is priced and are therefore marketing over the acceptable price to give themselves some room to negotiate.

pararct

Put in an offer on what you think it is worth and see what happens. You can explain to the agent the reasons as to your valuation when you places the offer, this info will no doubt find its way back to the vendor unless they have told the agent to disregard any offers below £xx out of hand.

If they turn you down then you can do no more except go back in 6 Months and offer again when they have realised the error of their ways and dropped the price.