Advice on selling

vodkagirl001

1) How many agents did you get to value your flat before you went on the market? If more than one, what did each value it at? 2 one valued at £118k :eek: and the one we used at £115k

2) Do you have weekly contact with your agent asking about the market and whether there have been calls for properties like yours? What have their suggestions been, any feedback?they only rung us if they had a viewing lined up, I rung them a few times, but never knew what to say as I seemed to think, well if there was interets they would have called me - then again they had 2 new build developments on their books, perhaps they were pushineg them?

3) Have you or your friends called the agent to see if they're doing their job right - mystery shopping?no im a scardey cat lol, but with the new agent, i'll get someone to do it on my behalf to see if the push it, new agent explained to me they have a FTB and Apt Property Hot Box we would be put in though so they should in theory push it

4) Has the agent made an effort to get the property in the local paper? it went in even other week yes and will be in the same with the new agents

5) Have you been checking out your competition, going to view similar flats etc? been looking on rightmove and can't find anything similar parsay, there either similar size but no parking, security etc and in worse areas and only a few k cheaper or there similar/bigger size got same parking security etc but £15k more

6) When you've had viewings, did the agent show the person around?sometimes the agent sometimes us, depending if it was evenings and weekends or not i'd say about 50/50

7) Have other properties in your block been sold in the last 6 months? If so, how much for a similar one? not 1 bed's no, there are only 3 1 beds in the 23 apt building, the rest are 2 beds and going for £150k upwards

Sometimes by going through the above you can see how hard your agent is pushing you and determine for yourself why you're not getting enough viewings or the right kind of viewings.

Yes I think it has come to our attention they were probably not doing enough, or pushing their 2 new build developments they had. I dont think they were screening people properly either we had a few people coming expecting to see a 2 bed (so wasted there and our time) and even one guy who didnt speak english and wanted to rent from me for his family when he brought them over from slovakia or somewhere :eek:

I don't know the area but from all the mention of new builds, could you just be unlucky that there is far too much newer build competition out there at the moment and what attracted you to buy brand new also attracts much of your market you now want to sell on to. Also, even though some properties may be 10k-20k higher, if they're new do they offer rewards to the buyer (like cash back, choice of fittings, but 50% and rent weekly etc)? The developers have an advantage with what they can offer to entice people over someone owning a similar property of 18 months of age.

I agree, this is what the New EA explained to us also unfortunatley

Don't most new builds come at a premium and so was the initial proce you paid slightly false?

Im probably being thick because im tired lol but I don't understand what you mean by this?

Lots of things to consider. All I can say is that you seem to have kep the property very well and it looks a credit to you. The outer block photo was dreadful but keeping things minimalist and clean is sure to appeal to your buyer.

Rather than to drop my price looking for a quick sale, I'd probably just go on again with another agent who you can see can sell such properties and give it a fresh push.

Good luck to you anyway.

Thanks for the comments, and the help, my mum & dad were really liking the spare bedroom at home but now its a room full of stuff from the apt that we moved there to get it back to a minamilist look lol. I think the outer Block photo could have been the bain of my life and perhaps what has put ALOT of people off, I know if I saw that I wouldnt view the property TBH.

We wont really drop it any lower than the £112 its going up with the new EA's as we expect to receive offers on that (no one ever offers full asking price do they lol) so would take £109-£110 but other than that we have a good 6 months before we really will be to cramped so will sit and wait as we can not afford to go any less than that really or we can't actually buy anywhere else lol

the new EA's seem to have sold alot of older (i.e not new build) apts recently so were hoping they are the ones for us lol

callmelinda

Sorry about my typos, I'm tired but once I read your thread through I wanted to try help as if at 4am it would somehow make all the difference lol! I went on to adjust my typos and edit some of the post while you must have been writing! My bad.

I meant to say "Don't most new builds come at a premium and so was the initial prIce you paid slightly false?" - They tend to say that when you buy new, you pay an inflated figure which is developer's premium. So when you buy at 99k, the "real" price may be 89k for example, but 10k is added as they give you nice fittings etc which may only run to 3k. But because you've got it all there for you, there's a figure added on which technically isn't anything to do with "real" value of the property if you see what I mean. (I'm not saying you did pay over the odds, but that's the common thing that seems to happen with new builds).

Yes, I think the improvements you've been making can only help and you're definitely right to look to another EA. It's one of those things where you've every right to keep at them, seeing if they're working for you. They can't expect their percentage for nothing eh!

Anyway, I've nothing more to add since I'm sure you've got a good idea of how you can improve anything you think needed it and hopefully a better outlook with the new EA. Definitely try hang out for what you and your agent believe is the right price in my opinion.

Plus, I wish you well with the new arrival of course.

vodkagirl001

callmelinda wrote:

Sorry about my typos, I'm tired but once I read your thread through I wanted to try help as if at 4am it would somehow make all the difference lol! I went on to adjust my typos and edit some of the post while you must have been writing! My bad.

I meant to say "Don't most new builds come at a premium and so was the initial prIce you paid slightly false?" - They tend to say that when you buy new, you pay an inflated figure which is developer's premium. So when you buy at 99k, the "real" price may be 89k for example, but 10k is added as they give you nice fittings etc which may only run to 3k. But because you've got it all there for you, there's a figure added on which technically isn't anything to do with "real" value of the property if you see what I mean. (I'm not saying you did pay over the odds, but that's the common thing that seems to happen with new builds).

Yes, I think the improvements you've been making can only help and you're definitely right to look to another EA. It's one of those things where you've every right to keep at them, seeing if they're working for you. They can't expect their percentage for nothing eh!

Anyway, I've nothing more to add since I'm sure you've got a good idea of how you can improve anything you think needed it and hopefully a better outlook with the new EA. Definitely try hang out for what you and your agent believe is the right price in my opinion.

Plus, I wish you well with the new arrival of course.

Thats ok I know whatyou mean about being tired lol, only 2 hours till home time for me on my last night sift for a while :T lol

Right I understand what you ment now about the premium, but TBH I really dont think they have done that with the 3, 1 bed apts no - we bought it at £99k as TBH it was all we could afford (didnt want to go over £100k for our first mortgage incase we couldnt cope!) there was nothing similar going for less, basically some skanky 1 bed flats that are like 40 years old, no new fittings etc, in a slightly worse area up the road were being sold for about £85k so I think the 99k was realistic. The 2 beds however, were started at £140k and the once at this price are basically the same size bathroom and living area, one bedroom same size as ours but with shower room and another bed slightly smaller than the first and they wanted an extra £40k for it so perhaps seen as there were 20 of these types (well going up to £200k) they put the ''premiums'' on these instead?

Thanks for your well wishes

callmelinda

Night shift.. blimey, I think I can only do night caps these days! I see what you're saying with the premiums, just something that can all-too-often be the case so wanted to mention that. With the 2 and 3 beds being that price, your pricing doesn't seem overly-expensive to me at least and of course having more expensive properties in the block is something I wouldn't be shy about pointing out in a viewing (what a 2 bed went for etc). People might think if things are worth a lot then there will be a good rep come with living there and the standard of the neighbours will be high and it will be a good investment/deal.

vodkagirl001

callmelinda wrote:

Night shift.. blimey, I think I can only do night caps these days! I see what you're saying with the premiums, just something that can all-too-often be the case so wanted to mention that. With the 2 and 3 beds being that price, your pricing doesn't seem overly-expensive to me at least and of course having more expensive properties in the block is something I wouldn't be shy about pointing out in a viewing (what a 2 bed went for etc). People might think if things are worth a lot then there will be a good rep come with living there and the standard of the neighbours will be high and it will be a good investment/deal.

Yeah good point about pointing out the expense of the other properties, and I suppose the up and coming area and that in 5 years or so the profit should hopefully go up (supject to a housing crash obviously lol). The other thing is we like it when people come for the weekend viewings or eveings as there are quite a few cars in our section of the car park that are rather nice (2 porche, 3 top range mercs, a Jag, a nice Lotus) lol I think ill have to get my partner to start moving his faded Corsa round to the visitors section, maybe its that putting people off he he he

I know what you mean about night shifts as well lol - gonna kill me when I come back to work - mind you least Im ready for being up all night with a new baby hey!!......you mentioned nightcaps though..........mmmmmmm ALCOHOL - cant wait for some of that again lol

lynzpower

I may have missed this but whats the feedback been like?

One of the questions I ask when doing viewings is, to start

"what did you think" if they say something glib like "it was nice but not for me" my job is to find out why not. Not only so I can give feedback to the vendor ( lets face it, no EA wants properties sat on thier books for ages- everyone wants it sold!) and also to ensure Im using my time better when showing the buyer something better/more suitable next time.

Another question I ask is " whats the real reason you wont be putting in an offer today?" Sometimes Its a good one - ie i want a 2nd viewing with feind etc coming. SOmetimes, Its the price.

You should be gettting feedback from each viewing.

If they havent got feedback- you know they are not doing thier job right.

nelly_2

Presentation is important but at the end of the day 99.9% of things sell because they are priced at what they are worth.

brainiac44

Geez, what a helpful 1st time post......

Since when were house prices linked solely to inflation? The sad fact for 1st time buyers, and all others wanting to move to bigger places, is that house prices have been, and may well continue, to vastly outstrip inflation.

The OP wants to sell her flat, but also wants to buy another place. As this will be bigger and therefore dearer she needs to get as good a price as possible for her place to make the gap between the 2 as small as possible. Greed doesn't enter into it.

of course it doesnt.
-she wants a bigger place and wants to get someone else to pay for it.!!
why doesnt vodkagirl pay for the difference ????

...and of course prices are linked to inflation. inflation dictates earnings.
earnings dictate prices. any fool with a grain of financial sense can work that out ?

this is a housing bubble. caused by a a massive lending bubble. all the buy to let types are simply lending money in a boom. they dont HAVE this money to invest. they just took out LOANS. which they will be unable to pay back once interest rates rise (as they are doing globally). they cant raise rents as tenants will leave, they cant sell for the real market value as they will take a big loss, but they cant wait forever, and as you can see - you may have to wait forever with an overpriced property as buyers buy the cheapest. theres nothing special about this property except its hers.

this property is 17k overpriced and thats the bottom line.

auntie_brenda

brainiac44 wrote:

of course it doesnt.
-she wants a bigger place and wants to get someone else to pay for it.!!
why doesnt vodkagirl pay for the difference ????

...and of course prices are linked to inflation. inflation dictates earnings.
earnings dictate prices. any fool with a grain of financial sense can work that out ?

In case you haven't noticed 2/3 bed houses are dearer than 1 bed flats. Therefore if house prices increase by 15% the difference between the 2 will be larger. The OP is trying to maximise what she gets for her flat to reduce the jump - she is NOT trying to get someone else to pay for it. It's not necessarily the price which is stopping her selling, that does not appear to be the issue, though if there is a glut she may need to reduce to sell quickly.

I'm obviously either not a fool or have a grain of financial sense.... it took me 10 seconds of searching to find the following which shows house price inflation has greatly outstripped the general inflation rate. In case you haven't noticed that's why lenders are now lending 5x salary as opposed to 2.5x in the recent past. If you don't think prices have outstripped inflation, and you own your own house, I'll offer you the price you paid for it plus an inflation rate of say 3% a year. :money:

"The following chart takes into account UK inflation since 1960 and so shows the real increase in the cost of houses in the UK. This chart shows that house prices have not increased as drastically as you may think. House prices have increased by a factor of 4 in real times since 1960. The real value of UK houses has dipped several times. The largest decrease in house prices was in the mid seventies, but there have also been house prices crashed in the early eighties, the early nineties, and also way back in 1950.
What does the future hold for house prices in the 21st century...?
Graph of real increase in price of houses since 1960

brainiac44

I'm obviously either not a fool or have a grain of financial sense.... it took me 10 seconds of searching to find the following which shows house price inflation has greatly outstripped the general inflation rate. In case you haven't noticed that's why lenders are now lending 5x salary as opposed to 2.5x in the recent past. If you don't think prices have outstripped inflation, and you own your own house, I'll offer you the price you paid for it plus an inflation rate of say 3% a year.

house prices cannot keep rising over the governments inflation rate forever. they can rise 15% in a boom year or two, but if WAGES do not follow - the prices have to come down.

no amout of 5x salary mortgages can help the situation.

stop looking for another reason to explain the non sale of this flat. if it were the right price and the market was strong as you suggest - it would have sold - simple as that.

why this seller thinks she is entitled to some huge profit (around 1 years average real salary) for doing nothing but living in it for a couple of years.

anyway, dont let me put you off.

enjoy your reality !!!!
-this flat will not sell at that price.