Is reducing your house price always the best tactic??

nickpe

Good Evening All,

This may sound a silly question but id like to know,... my house has been on the market now for 2/3 months and i have had 3 viewings and no offer at all.......the area i live is not particularly affluant and im lead to belive houses in my area in general are simply not selling.

I have a search set up on Rightmove to provide me with the following info - I live in Postcode S63 9DH and i have set up a search in rightmove for all terraced houses (as mine is) in my local village - it brings up "53" records..........i can then also click "Sold subject to contract" and it now brings up "58" of which quite a few are literally the VERY low end of the market and immensly in need of renovations.
So in simple temrs "5" houses have sold similar to mine in my area within a certain timeframe............. so my question is, should i really be considering to reduce the price of my property as it just seems if a buyer really does want my house he will view/offer anyway and with the limited numbers in the market if i reduce the price too much to try and bag a sale im just cutting my own throat and it will inevitably mean im loosing out and wont have enough money to move myself.

G_M

Either you need the marketing to stand out, so that yours is the property buyers come to view
or you need the presentation / condition to stand out, so that after viewing yours is the one buyers prefer
or you need the price to be attractive so that buyers believe they are getting the best price possible.

brit1234

As above its down to presentation and price. Make the place as de cluttered and clean as possible. Also reduce the price under you best rival, buyers are aware we are in a falling market after all.

good luck

ognum

I think you need to consiider who you are likely to be selling to, I am currently selling a flat. In the whole town there are over 700 2 bedroom flats for sale.

In the small area around this flat there are about 50 flats for sale anout 20% are under offer I have choosen a price that is in the lowest 10% of the flats. I have spent about £1000 on decorating and new carpets because I envisaged the buyer would be a first timer with little to spend on redecoration. The bathroom was redone a couple of years ago the kitchen is OK clean but slightly dated but very useable (would be a good project for someone in the next couple of years). Which would allow someone to add value.

It is currently under offer. Nothing is done until exchange so anyting could happen but it took 7 weeks to get the offer and many flats have been for sale for a long time.

So clearly think about who you are selling to. Makre the house as clean and tidy as you can. Make the price competetive. It may be worth a small spend to make it look really good!

hazyjo

Would you let us have a look at the RM link for some honest opinions?

Don't forget that you're comparing the price of yours with those which haven't sold. What have similar properties actually sold for?

Jx

Thundercat_2

Is your house the end of terrace (£72k) or the mid terrace (65k)?

If yours is the end of terrace then the house looks very well presented on the photographs and it may just be a case of reducing the price a little as a means of getting people through the door, otherwise I'd be getting on to your estate agent to make sure that EVERY buyer who comes into their office with a budget near your price is given the details!

If your is the mid-terrace then clearly you're competing against the end of terrace house which is in much better condition and you'll therefore seriously need to consider dropping your price to get people interested!

poppy10_2

I'm assuming this is your house:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34438064.html

Your 2-bed end of terrace is competing against a 3-bed mid-terrace that is £7,000 cheaper than yours, and still hasn't sold despite being on the market since January 2010. Your house looks lovely, but you'll probably need to drop the price if you are serious about selling.

nickpe

Mine is the end terrace (the nice one).........the mid terrace has been taken off the market this week so fingers crossed less competition.

Thundercat wrote: »

Is your house the end of terrace (£72k) or the mid terrace (65k)?

If yours is the end of terrace then the house looks very well presented on the photographs and it may just be a case of reducing the price a little as a means of getting people through the door, otherwise I'd be getting on to your estate agent to make sure that EVERY buyer who comes into their office with a budget near your price is given the details!

If your is the mid-terrace then clearly you're competing against the end of terrace house which is in much better condition and you'll therefore seriously need to consider dropping your price to get people interested!

jahudson72

Sorry but I think your house is overpriced. If the three bedroom can't sell at 7K less than yours then yours is too high. We had similar, two houses very similar (ours and a neighbour's) up for sale, ours priced 20% less than the fellow across the road and ours sold in 10 days he's still not sold three months later. If people are buying similar houses cheaper and in need of renovation then I'm afraid it sounds like your maths aren't right.

On the plus side your house is very nice and I checked out the streetview and it looks like a good road to me - but if you really want to move then I'm afraid I think you're going to have to drop the price. Also there is the point of house much the survey will say it's worth, so even if you get someone offering you say 65K and the surveyor says it's only worth 50K then either they really really want the house and can plug that gap out of their own money else they can't proceed because they can't get a mortgage on it.

Might be worth getting some new valuations done?

All the best.

Leah26

Reducing the price helps to generate interest but I think buyers in this market are still likely to see the reduced asking price as the asking price and still then even offer low on your reduced price.

Reduce it if you need to but consider what offers you are likely to get and the minimum you will or need to accept.

DannyboyMidlands

"Is reducing your house price always the best tactic??"

If you actually want to sell it then yes. Alternatively you could leave it sitting there for 6 months and then reduce the price anyway, chase the market down but never sell because you're one step behind rather than one step ahead.

I mean come on, 3 viewings in 3 months is appalling. If it was priced right you'd be getting at least that many per week. Houses are selling and if they're priced realistically will fly off the EA's books.