Why most houses don't sell

ognum

I actually do agree that 90%of the time if a house doesn't sell it is down to the price, everything has a value, it's about agreeing the value.

However, there are still areas where house prices are rising and will eventually rise to meet the asking price. I have sold many houses and have never sold below asking price, mostly above asking with bidding wars, that is about finding a house in the right location. location is the key in my opinion.

witchy1066

I wish they would,

I am sick of viewing houses that have been given a lick of paint and in some cases a new kitchen (most I would rip out and choose my own) cheap laminate floors or even worse new fluffy carpet,
and the seller thinks the leaky roof is a minor problem, that may be but the damage it can do over time is not,

I don't care if the breakfast dishes are still in the sink , I don't care if your carpet has a stain, or indeed if your kitchen is not fitted, and I hate the new kitchen you have just had fitted ( in most cases)

I want to pay a fair price for a house that fits MY lifestyle, and then do the house to my taste , with the help of the couple grand the seller has knocked off because they have saved that on NOT tart-ing the place up

sorry for rant but its so annoying when the EA says "the vender has had a new kitchen and carpets fitted and that is reflected in the price "

kwmlondon

witchy1066 wrote: »

I wish they would,

I am sick of viewing houses that have been given a lick of paint and in some cases a new kitchen (most I would rip out and choose my own) cheap laminate floors or even worse new fluffy carpet,
and the seller thinks the leaky roof is a minor problem, that may be but the damage it can do over time is not,

I don't care if the breakfast dishes are still in the sink , I don't care if your carpet has a stain, or indeed if your kitchen is not fitted, and I hate the new kitchen you have just had fitted ( in most cases)

I want to pay a fair price for a house that fits MY lifestyle, and then do the house to my taste , with the help of the couple grand the seller has knocked off because they have saved that on NOT tart-ing the place up

sorry for rant but its so annoying when the EA says "the vender has had a new kitchen and carpets fitted and that is reflected in the price "

Hmm. Well, I have to say that you (and I for that matter) are probably in a minority. Certainly in London. I've noticed that the places that are snapped up straight away are the ones people want to move into IMMEDIATELY with no decoration or renovation at all.

There are places I've called up to view on the day it's gone on sale, asked to view at the weekend and been told "it will be gone by then" and sure enough, it'll have a sold stc on it within a day if it's ready to move into.

Sure, if it's over-priced it will take longer to sell, but they either drop the price or someone who really wants it comes along or they take it off the market.

Having it ready to move into does shift it faster and my advice from an EA when thinking about replacing MY kitchen was "it's serviceable as it is, if you spend a couple of grand on a new kitchen you'll make it back but you won't gain anything" so I didn't bother.

societys_child

witchy1066 wrote: »

I wish they would,

I am sick of viewing houses that have been given a lick of paint and in some cases a new kitchen (most I would rip out and choose my own) cheap laminate floors or even worse new fluffy carpet,
and the seller thinks the leaky roof is a minor problem, that may be but the damage it can do over time is not,

I don't care if the breakfast dishes are still in the sink , I don't care if your carpet has a stain, or indeed if your kitchen is not fitted, and I hate the new kitchen you have just had fitted ( in most cases)

I want to pay a fair price for a house that fits MY lifestyle, and then do the house to my taste , with the help of the couple grand the seller has knocked off because they have saved that on NOT tart-ing the place up

sorry for rant but its so annoying when the EA says "the vender has had a new kitchen and carpets fitted and that is reflected in the price "

Unfortunately there are would be buyers who don't know which way round to hold a paintbrush and as for getting the lid off the paint tin . . . :eek::rotfl:

witchy1066

LOL to true

I_have_spoken

Well, I have to say that you (and I for that matter) are probably in a minority.

Yep, the great majority of buyers are sheeple and can be easily fooled by shiny things, hence the 'tick boxes' of staging for sale.

yorkshire_terrier_owner

I can only agree in that this was the case with the property I have recently sold. Was on the market for well over a year in total and for all but the last few weeks I had no viewings whatsoever. House was in a good state of repair and well presented.

I kept dropping the price (once I had accepted the harsh reality that the reason I wasn't getting viewings was price). Then suddenly I hit the right price. I went from no viewings at all to 4-5 viewings a week overnight. Then the offers followed.

In total, 24 viewings, can't remember how many offers but there were several, 2 sales that fell through (problems with the buyers rather than the property), then the sale that completed.

dtsazza

spirit wrote: »

If that was the case then why does Phil Spencer in most cases, get the sellers to declutter/paint/tidy etc

why not just reduce the price based on your 'findings'.

Because the asking price is too high for what is being offered right now.

There are two options - decrease the price, or increase the value of what you're offering. Both of these are viable, but one is likely to be better than the other.

If you can spend a dozen hours and £100 decluttering and painting, and raise the value of your house (in buyers' eyes) by e.g. £10,000, then that's going to be much more appealing than dropping the price by £10,000. And I'd expect any sensible person to do it.

That doesn't undermine the initial point, that the house was not selling because its price was too high for what was on offer.

ognum wrote: »

However, there are still areas where house prices are rising and will eventually rise to meet the asking price. I have sold many houses and have never sold below asking price, mostly above asking with bidding wars, that is about finding a house in the right location. location is the key in my opinion.

I agree with this - but again, the house isn't selling now because viewers/potential buyers do not feel it is worth that much to them now.

The price of almost everything changes over time, and there's certainly nothing wrong with holding onto an asset that you believe will rise in price. That doesn't change the fact though, that it's not worth that amount now. And if you list it for that amount it won't sell, while if you listed it for some lower amount it would.


In both cases, I didn't mean to imply that the only option available was dropping the price. Increasing the value is also an option, whether that is through active (redecorating) or passive (waiting in a rising market) means. But no sale means that, for what you are offering, the price is higher than the perceived value.

dtsazza

witchy1066 wrote: »

I don't care if the breakfast dishes are still in the sink , I don't care if your carpet has a stain, or indeed if your kitchen is not fitted, and I hate the new kitchen you have just had fitted ( in most cases)

I agree.

In fact, I liked it if the dishes were still in the sink and the carpet had a stain, because it would put off many potential buyers that couldn't see past those superficial things. And lower interest/demand means lower prices, all things being equal.

The new kitchen is somewhat different - chances are the buyer wants to at least break even on the cost, and will have an anchoring effect on recently-spent money. So again I'd rather see a house with an old kitchen, that other buyers will get a worse vibe from than other, more expensive places.

bloolagoon

I can't even view before they sell in the area I want to move to, my appointments on Saturday were cancelled today as sold.