Selling house! RUNNING OUT OF OPTIONS! Help Please!

EssG

Hi, I need some help in selling one of my properties! I have had this property for around 20 years and it is a secondary property. I had had family living there ever since I moved out around 15 years ago and ever since the family member has wrecked the property.

The family members have now left the property and after cleaning for months it has been emptied. The house is in a bad state of repair, with some plaster work needing to be done, carpets in the whole house to be replaced and the kitchen and bathroom having to be replaced. My initial actions were to put the house on the market and also get the house valuated for the repair work to be done.

The quote given to me was £8k to have the house repaired but due to my financial situation I am not able to scrape together any money to have it repaired. I then decided to put it on the market for £100k and after 6 months of house viewings and the reduction of the property value to £85k, I have had around 20 viewings and all negative feedback with people wanting to purchase a house that is ready to move into or people saying it will cost £10-20k for repairs.

My final option is to go to a 'We buy your house' company and I am looking to get around £75k but I was wondering what is the best company I can go with? I know these companies are trying to rip me off but its one of my only options, I am open to suggestion for other solutions.

Thanking You very much in advance!

S

[Deleted User]

If you are happy with receiving £75k why would you not just reduce it to that now?

Do an advanced search on here for threads relating to these house buying companies - I remember reading some not so favourable threads before.

This topic has definitely come up several times before.

martinthebandit

Domino9 wrote: »

If you are happy with receiving £75k why would you not just reduce it to that now?

Do an advanced search on here for threads relating to these house buying companies - I remember reading some not so favourable threads before.

This topic has definitely come up several times before.

Is the right answer, plus I would give everyone who views it a copy of the quote you got to fix it up.

Your other option is to stick it in an auction, make sure you put a reserve on it though.

EssG

Domino9 wrote: »

If you are happy with receiving £75k why would you not just reduce it to that now?

Do an advanced search on here for threads relating to these house buying companies - I remember reading some not so favourable threads before.

This topic has definitely come up several times before.

I want this house sold quickly, im not currently in a good financial position and its declining!

Mickygg

We buy your house companies will pay below market value at x then later near xchange a lot suddenly drop further, playing on the sellers desperation.I'd go for an auction, a month to set up, a month to advertise, a month to complete. Could be even quicker.

zzzLazyDaisy

Look if you sell it to one of these companies, they will agree to pay you 75% (or whatever) of the market value. They will then give it a laughably low market value and then deduct the agreed %age.

You are far better to lower the price to a figure that people are prepared to pay.

Excited13

I would try dropping the house with the estate agent first as my property went to auction this time last year and I found everything more stressful. You also find auctions also charge sellers which also puts people off who may have normally considered it. I had a women view my property who was very rude about the matter but as I was in the middle of a divorce and we needed to get rid of the house it seemed the best option.

thelem

How bad can the tenants be if you kept them for 15 years? I can't see how you can have any complaint about the state of the carpets, as I'd expect them to be replaced at least once in that time anyway for wear and tear.

Do you need to spend the whole £8k to improve the property? Could you do any of the work yourself? Is there cheap, superficial work that you could do like giving it a lick of paint?

Channel 4 have a show on at the moment "Phil Spencer's Secret Agent" all about doing a small amount of work to shift houses that have been on the market a while - could be worth a watch (it'll be on 4OD)

terryw

Also have a think about the agents who run auctions. Many are sold before the auction because of the interest generated.

grifferz

If £8k is your maintenance cost over 15 years that doesn't sound terrible. How much have you spent on your own home in 15 years?

There are numerous threads on this board regarding people having problems selling and thinking of turning to "we buy any house" companies. Most of them end with the person having a reality check, listing their property at a lower asking price, suddenly getting a lot of interest and it ending up better than they expected.

Your problems to date sound like estate agents sending you people who aren't prepared to do the work on the property, so to me that is a combination of you setting an unrealistic price and your agents not being instructed properly to make prospective buyers aware. A a result you only get unsuitable viewers. As another poster said, get your agent to show interested parties your quote for repair, and make sure they are only showing it to people who know they will need to put in the work. And list it for something near what you would accept from the "we buy any property" companies.

Excited13

Just had a thought are you still tied in with the estate agent or can you change agents? It may be worth contacting other agents who may know of BTL investors on their books and could sell quickly. BTL investors probably wouldn't mind doing the work as they probably know people who can do the work cheaply.