Can't make sense of asking prices!

lessonlearned

You say you have been viewing properties all week. How many and are they all in the same area.

My two sons are currently house hunting and both are FTB.s I have over 30 years experience as an EA so am guiding them through the whole experience.

My advice to you is the same as I gave them. View loads of properties........

Get the feel of the area and then once you have decided on your preferred location then you can narrow your focus. Then view just about every property in that area that meets your criteria and price bracket.

Keep an open mind. Don't just look at photos on RM. They only tell half the story.

The more houses you view the better you will become at judging what represents "value for money" and whether or not the asking price is fair and reasonable.

My sons and I have viewed in the region of 30 properties in the last couple of months.

DS1 purchase is now progressing nicely and DS2 is just waiting to hear if his offer has been accepted.

You are quite right to do your homework, looking at sold prices etc and doing your research, but you cannot beat getting out there and looking at properties "in the flesh".

The other big advantage to viewing lots of properties is that you get to see different layouts and designs and you can get a better picture of what would work best for you.

A row of terraced houses may look almost identical from the outside but over the years people will have made all sorts of changes. You will pick up some great ideas......

Fraise

For what it's worth someone once told to never by the best or most expensive house on a street. Also properties can vary in price considerably in the same road if they are different styles and were built in different eras plus the inside of one may be much bigger, better and s on. As the previous poster said you really need to view the place and get the feel of it.

Duskylady

lessonlearned wrote: »

You say you have been viewing properties all week. How many and are they all in the same area.

My two sons are currently house hunting and both are FTB.s I have over 30 years experience as an EA so am guiding them through the whole experience.

My advice to you is the same as I gave them. View loads of properties........

Get the feel of the area and then once you have decided on your preferred location then you can narrow your focus. Then view just about every property in that area that meets your criteria and price bracket.

Keep an open mind. Don't just look at photos on RM. They only tell half the story.

The more houses you view the better you will become at judging what represents "value for money" and whether or not the asking price is fair and reasonable.

My sons and I have viewed in the region of 30 properties in the last couple of months.

DS1 purchase is now progressing nicely and DS2 is just waiting to hear if his offer has been accepted.

You are quite right to do your homework, looking at sold prices etc and doing your research, but you cannot beat getting out there and looking at properties "in the flesh".

The other big advantage to viewing lots of properties is that you get to see different layouts and designs and you can get a better picture of what would work best for you.

A row of terraced houses may look almost identical from the outside but over the years people will have made all sorts of changes. You will pick up some great ideas......

Thanks for the advice.We live in chester so know the areas we are looking at, we have had about 15 viewings so far with another 8 or so booked in, determined to see everything we can. We have found 2 we like one more of a doer upper as described above the other ready to move in (looks like a developers had it with neutral walls an beige carpet) apart from the kitchen which seems to be half built. You'd think that's the first thing they'd finish as it adds so much value.

Going to set up 2 second viewings will let you know how we get on, sending in my DIY expert farther as he's done up every house we've lived in (always bought wrecks) to get a good idea of work.

Dan-Dan

There is nothing more deflating , but also very very required , than getting excited about a property going by RM pictures , then going to see it in the flesh....

It`s amazing what a camera can do , it really brings you back down to earth , but as LL says , you start getting an excellent idea of what , for you , is value for your money , and what isnt

donz23

Duskylady wrote: »

Hello hoping someone can help me understand the position that we are in.

My OH and I are first time buyers with a deposit and a budget of around £200k We have been viewing properties all week and can't make sense of the differences between property asking prices and the sold prices from the land registry.

For example
3 bed semi on the market for £215 in need of modernisation throughout (really old bathroom and kitchen and dated decor but nothing beyond our abilities.

However when we were looking at sold prices for the same street the house next door (smaller but newly fitted out) was sold last year 2012 for £195 and another house on the same street (same size better finish) was sold for £195 in 2011. Nothing on the street has ever sold for more than £195!

House has been on the market for a while.

Whilst we could stretch our budget I would've worried about buying a house and spending loads on modernising throughout only to end up with a house worth less than we'd payed for it.

I'm tempted to put in an offer for about £185 with an absolute max of £190 but this seems so far from the asking price I am questioning my judgement.

I have tried to be balanced and not look at just one example house and even looked in the surrounding streets, we have driven past to check the houses are the same and checked the property details to see if the interiors are similar I can't understand what i am missing.

It seems to be the same story with the other properties we are interested in they seem to be priced way way over the actual selling price of similar properties.

Is the overpricing deliberate and its understood that the house will sell for much less or am I seeing the results of a fairly substantial house price rise over the last year.

By the way we live in chester if that makes any difference.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I don't have any advice I'm afraid but we as FTB are in exactly the same boat as you with regard to looking for a property, budget and asking prices!
We have offered on 1 house so far - asking price 225k. Previous properties on that same street in the past few years have all sold for no more than 195. Put in starting offer of 198 which was 'flatly rejected' and told seller wanted no less than around 220k! So we walked away. Property has now sold though.
Our problem now is in the last month or so nothing has come on which meets our requirements so we have nothing to view and feeling a bit deflated! Trying to focus on the positive that the longer we are looking the more money we are saving for deposit!

Duskylady

donz23 wrote: »

We have offered on 1 house so far - asking price 225k. Previous properties on that same street in the past few years have all sold for no more than 195. Put in starting offer of 198 which was 'flatly rejected' and told seller wanted no less than around 220k! So we walked away. Property has now sold though.

Would be interesting to know what it sold for.

Is there any way to see the list prices of houses on rightmove which have sold, so we can get ideas about the gap between listed and sold?

moneyuser

Duskylady wrote: »

Would be interesting to know what it sold for.

Is there any way to see the list prices of houses on rightmove which have sold, so we can get ideas about the gap between listed and sold?

Not on RM afaik but on Zoopla you can see previous listings for some houses. Search for the street you're interested in and then select Current Values. If it has a Property History link next to it you can click that and near the bottom of page it might have the previous listing details with the price. Seems to be only for house sold over the last 12-18 months.

lessonlearned

I know this will vary across the country but I think you will find that the housing market has definitely shifted a gear in the last few months.

In many parts of the country the market is much brisker than it was this time last year. The "good stuff" is being snapped up and is fetching good prices. Only the dross is still hanging around for months on end.

Do be careful how low you go with your offers. The days of 10% to 15% off the asking price are rapidly drawing to a close.

It seems to take a couple of months before land registry prices (ie the actual selling price) are published.

gazzabboi

lessonlearned wrote: »

I know this will vary across the country but I think you will find that the housing market has definitely shifted a gear in the last few months.

In many parts of the country the market is much brisker than it was this time last year. The "good stuff" is being snapped up and is fetching good prices. Only the dross is still hanging around for months on end.

Do be careful how low you go with your offers. The days of 10% to 15% off the asking price are rapidly drawing to a close.

It seems to take a couple of months before land registry prices (ie the actual selling price) are published.

I agree, everything that has sold in the last 6 months that I had been looking at, the land registry shows a not far off figure to the asking price.

pinkcheshirecat

We're in Chester. I think the EAs price high to get your interest in them selling your house. We sold last year. Valuations from EAs varied from 375k to over 400k. We marketed at 375, then 360, then 325. (We had thought 340k was what we'd list it for before the agents came to look). We eventually sold for 315k, marketed nov'11 to jul'12. We should have listened to our gut feeling about what it was worth. For what it's worth, another house, not similar to ours but just across the road went on the market the same week for 385. It's been reduced slightly since then....., but still on the market now.

The house we bought we eventually paid about 7.5% off asking price, but they were in the process of reducing the price anyway. We eventually paid within 10k of the reduced figure on a 400k+ house. So I'd say...... Motivated sellers are realistic...... Some aren't and will be on the market for years.