Can't make sense of asking prices!

DRP

BazzaDP wrote: »

You're both wrong. A house is is often said to be worth the price where a buyer and seller agree. A buyer can offer 10p, a seller can ask for £100,000,000. Neither is a true measure of it's value unless there is an agreement.

As houses are often unique, even an agreed price is of course an estimate depending on the parties involved (one side might have got the better part of the deal) and is almost immediately out of date depending on the local housing market. However it's the only way to really value a property.

Exactly.

And another important factor is time/motivation.

That's why complaints about 'unrealistic' vendors or buyers and properties sitting on the market for months are often way off the mark - if you have plenty of time and are not highly motivated for a quick deal, then you can afford to play the long game.... in the hope that eventually someone more motivated than you will come along and meet your expectations.

Duskylady

Almo wrote: »

We are house hunting in Chester too, at about the same price point. We are finding it tough to know where to pitch offers vs asking prices, there is a house we went to see today for the second time that has an offer on it already, so I suspect we would need to go in at full asking price, and I am very scared of doing that!

I would be wary of that. Everyone I know who has done similar has ended up in a bidding war. Then they either can't complete as the survey doesn't support the value or they end up having paid too much and stuck with a house they can't sell. I have a couple of friends in this position now. I'm not trying to make a quick buck but would like to think if we had to change jobs etc and move we could sell our house without losing all the deposit which we've saved so long for.

SG27

geoffky wrote: »

Asking prices are dreams,Selling prices are the reality of the market..

This is exactly what we discovered. We were looking for over a year and lost out on at least two houses because the asking prices put us off making an offer. We viewed a house on for offers in excess of £210k which was very top of our budget the house was great but a bit small and the garden was a compromise as it was tiny. We thought we would probably go to £195k max but before we made any offer the agent told us that they would only accept £205k+ as they had just turned an offer down of that amount. So we forgot about it. I noticed it sold several months later and eventually found the sold price on land registry for £190k!! Less than we would have paid! Their loss I suppose as we found a better bigger house with a lovely garden and knocked a fair chunk off an already reduced asking price with some tough negotiating


What I'm saying is don't be afraid to go in low. After seeing sold prices coming up well below what we expected we decided not to be afraid to offer low. If they say no you go elsewhere if you don't try you'll never know and if we didnt try we wouldn't be sitting in our lovely kitchen over looking a very nice garden with countryside views beyond

Good luck.

robatwork

Almo wrote: »

We are house hunting in Chester too, at about the same price point. We are finding it tough to know where to pitch offers vs asking prices, there is a house we went to see today for the second time that has an offer on it already, so I suspect we would need to go in at full asking price, and I am very scared of doing that!

You have to rationalise your feelings.

If the house in question was priced £20k more than currently, and you offered 20k less and they accepted, you'd be delighted.

If they are offering a realistic price, then that's what it's worth, and the asking price is a reasonable offer.

Not everyone prices their property at the highest valuation...

lessonlearned

Almo wrote: »

We are house hunting in Chester too, at about the same price point. We are finding it tough to know where to pitch offers vs asking prices, there is a house we went to see today for the second time that has an offer on it already, so I suspect we would need to go in at full asking price, and I am very scared of doing that!

Why are you scared of paying the full asking price. If the house is priced correctly then there should be no problem..

The house you are interested in already has an offer. This would suggest that the asking price is about right.

If the house is the one you want and you have sufficient money to pay for it, then don't mess about with low offers when there are other interested parties hovering about.

My sons are currently buying their first property.

DS1 saw a house which we knew would attract a lot of interest. We knew we had to pounce and we had to be quick about it. We went straight in at the full asking price, with the condition that the vendors removed the property from the market immediately. They complied.

DS2 saw a house last week. Again because of it's fashionable location and because it is a very realistically priced probate house there is a lot of interest. One other offer so far and two more viewings booked for this weekend.

Again we have not messed around and have gone straight in at full asking price. Just waiting to hear on that one.

In both cases we knew that the houses would attract a great deal of interest, that they were fairly and realistically priced, that we can develop them and add value.

You need to do lots of research and view as many properties as you can. Then you will learn which properties are overpriced and which ones represent value for money.

You really need to do your homework so that you know and understand your local market conditions. There is no point just making random offers and hoping for the best.

If your local market is a bit of a hot spot, don't mess about with daft offers.

joujou

I think the problem with with the Chester<->Altrincham<->Wilmslow<->Knutsford (aka the nice places south of Manchester) area is that there are too many estate agents. There are just tens and tens.

They are all vying for sellers' attention and one of things they compete on is the selling price they promise.

Sellers see the asking prices around their areas and get over hopeful in turn, and the cycle continues. Alas, I have seen so many properties just come, advertise for a year then go without selling because of the ridiculous asking prices.

Of course a lot of sellers are realistic so they advertise realistically and don't listen to the EA's tripe...

You just have to patient and keep offering what you think the houses are worth...

My colleague recently offered £240K on a £320K price, they refused (of course...) but they called him up 2 months later and sold it to him...

Patience...

Duskylady

Ok now feel like I am entering the realms of lunacy. Went to see a house yesterday which was an estate sale. Had no fitted kitchen original 1950's wiring and plumbing, and hasn't been decorated in prob as long. Has 3 bedrooms and an attic conversion room(not called a bedroom not sure why) and the agent is listing it at £240k.

There is a house on the same street exactly the same template, completely modernised with hand made kitchen an extra bathroom a conservatory and the 4th bed called a forth bedroom on the market for £247k

Agent said they would be open to offers :rotfl:not sure if the kind of offer I'd be making would've acceptable. Shame it's a nice house with loads of potential but I think they are wildly optimistic with the price. Like £50k optimistic.

lessonlearned

Bathroom, rewire, conservatory, building regs standard 4th bedroom do not come to £50K.

Well they could but they don't have to:rotfl:

Duskylady

It's kitchen as well but I take the point I was being a little ott.

Another new one on me though EA phones me today to see how second viewing went and I say we are going through some figures to see if we want to make an offer.

Another more senior agent phones us back discloses how long the property has been on the market for that the vendors are going through separation and want to shift it quickly! She also offers to send me some thing called a rightmove comparable report as she has access to trade statistics that the general public don’t have the same access to. I've never heard of this is it any different to what I can work out myself?

What is the deal with separating couples do they both have to agree a sale price if they are both on the mortgage?

lessonlearned

Duskylady wrote: »

It's kitchen as well but I take the point I was being a little ott.

Another new one on me though EA phones me today to see how second viewing went and I say we are going through some figures to see if we want to make an offer.

Another more senior agent phones us back discloses how long the property has been on the market for that the vendors are going through separation and want to shift it quickly! She also offers to send me some thing called a rightmove comparable report as she has access to trade statistics that the general public don’t have the same access to. I've never heard of this is it any different to what I can work out myself?

What is the deal with separating couples do they both have to agree a sale price if they are both on the mortgage?

The comparable report might prove interesting, however it is the land registry sold prices which are really important.

Re - separating couples.

There are so many variables which can affect the outcome, but yes if they are both on the mortgage and hence the title deeds then they both have to agree the sale.

It is not uncommon for one partner wanting to sell and the other one - for whatever reason - trying to do everything to block the sale.

On the other hand they might be in total agreement and just want to get shot of the place - and each other :rotfl: and they might be very motivated sellers who just want to get the whole thing over and done with asap.

Hopefully, your potential vendors sound as if they are keen to sell.