5 weeks to to achieve a sale...(personal diary)

RedfordML

Going to use this as a little personal online selling diary...

Basically our house has been on and off the market for the past few yrs and have seen 3 'sales' fall through.

We have 5 weeks (3 weeks + 2 weeks notice period) left with our current agent, who have been excellent, apart from the small fact we are still for sale.

We have been on with our current agent since Nov, had plenty of viewings and turned down four low offers. We have come to the conclusion - maybe our property is not going to achieve what we need to move on...plus, although viewing numbers a re great, its getting to the point that we now see them as hassle and I have lost confidence in actually seeing a viewing into a sale (6 in the last 7 days, no 2nd viewings...)

So our EA, does not know this yet, but its 5 weeks and out and we will re-focus on our current house and area and focus on making a success of this...

Day one...

Excited13

Were the 4 offers you received and referred to as low around the same value? Could it be your house is overpriced? You're getting offers which is great so the house sounds good. Has anything else sold nearby recentlt for an idea of the sold prices and not the asking price.

RedfordML

I think we are priced well, the cheapest 3 bed in the area. The problem we have is we need to achieve x and thats are bottom line. One of the offers was only a few £1000 of and maybe in hindsight, we were quick to reject but as it was an investor we thought they might be out for a 'bargain'

Think we both have a negative vibe with it all and its turning into frustration and plenty of disappointment when you have a large volume of people through the door...but nothing!

The four offers ranged ranged within £9k of each other

NB: Should say the 4 offers have come from 2 different buyers, making 2 offers each, one in December, the other first week of Jan

RedfordML

Third offer, still £4k under £x - rejected.

Agent hopeful of another offer, we have explained from day 1 what our bottom line is.

We have had 2 more viewings this week, and this morning a 2nd viewing so still hopeful...

moneyistooshorttomention

Gaye_Mann_[Mrs] wrote: »

Post link to Rightmove and we'll tell you why you can't close the sale.

NB I see from your other thread the house is on for about £165k, but in the current market it's very difficult to say what a house is 'worth'. Offers within £10k of your price would be quite reasonable.

Errm...not knowing what part of the country OP is in, I don't think its possible to really say whether offers "within £10k" are reasonable. I'm guessing that they are in some parts of the country now, but in others £10k off on that price level would count as "Is this would-be buyer for real or no?:cool:". I would personally be in the "Are they for real?" category on a level of offer like that, but I do appreciate that in some parts of the country that might constitute a serious offer.

Davesnave

It doesn't take much of a mathematician to work out that £10k off an asking price of £165k is only -6%. Seems pretty good to me, but I'm not confident that any Feelgood Factor will return in 2013. Which way are prices going in Milton Keynes?

Our house was "on & off the market" too in 2008 and offers fell by over 18% as buyers dropped out, due to Northerrn Rock and general worries about the economy & buying in a falling market.

We still took less than we'd hoped for, rather than continue in a house that had served its purpose. We risked that we'd make up the paper loss by buying cannily once the market had hit bottom, or stabilised, and that's roughly how it turned out.

We didn't really have a financial bottom line, so I appreciate our flexibility was greater than that of someone who must achieve a certain figure.

RedfordML

7 days left. We had 3 viewings on Saturday, no feedback as yet (don't expect anything till Monday at the earliest) and then its off!! (think I will be relieved, just fed up and even posted on another thread about cancelling viewings in a notice period.

What meant to be will happen...

RedfordML

Davesnave wrote: »

Which way are prices going in Milton Keynes?

Milton Keynes was ranked 4th in country for recovery in house price rises since the housing market collapse in 2008!

moneyistooshorttomention

Have you held an "Open House" - last toss of the dice and all that?

When a house near mine held one there were buyers battling it out and he got more than asking price for it (despite the fact that the last sold price of that house - ie when he bought it - was terribly terribly low and much less than these houses are worth and he then put it back on the market for pretty much what its worth).

SG27

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Errm...not knowing what part of the country OP is in, I don't think its possible to really say whether offers "within £10k" are reasonable. I'm guessing that they are in some parts of the country now, but in others £10k off on that price level would count as "Is this would-be buyer for real or no?:cool:". I would personally be in the "Are they for real?" category on a level of offer like that, but I do appreciate that in some parts of the country that might constitute a serious offer.

What part of the country are you in? Surely even in London an offer of 6% under asking would be considering a good one. (obviously depending on how realistic the asking price is to start with!) I'm in Essex and with one exception (where I thought the asking price was very fair, the house sold in 2 weeks) I wouldn't dream of offering that close to the asking price!

lessonlearned

Average sale prices in our area are 10-15% below asking price.

I would have thought that 6% below asking price is a good offer - all depends on your purchaser's position. Are they ready to go or do they have a dependent sale.

I recently accepted an offer of 7% below asking price. I thought it fair. My purchasers were ready to go, no dependent sale, no chain.

I snatched their hand off - in a ever so cool - ok that'll do kind of way of course - mustn't do to appear too desperate :rotfl::rotfl:

Seriously in the current climate, given their strong position it was a good sale at a fair price.

I threw in a couple of extra goodies to sweeten the deal, some curtains and blinds, a dishwasher, and paid for some new fencing and to have my wooden floors re-sanded (wheelchair damage).

The extra's package came to about £1K.

They were chuffed and I got my sale. Win-win. Sold in 3 weeks.

It can be done. Be realistic with your price, be flexible in your negotiations - give them a good deal and you'll all walk away happy.

Agree with Dave here - it's only paper "profit and loss". You can easily recoup any "loss" when buying your next property.

If you are canny and buy smart enough you can still come out with a good profit by buying well next time.