Is there any point viewing a house this overpriced?

pinkteapot

There's an estate we're keen on, where stuff rarely comes up for sale. Annoyingly, there were about five on the market at once which all sold just before we started looking seriously a couple of months ago. Nothing else has come on the market since, except for one last week.

Two others in the same road have sold STC. The houses were about the same size as the one now on the market. Both had asking prices of £375k. We don't know what they sold for yet, but my guess from other sales in the area is fairly close to asking price.

This one has come on at.... £475k!

I would never normally talk figures until after viewings but in this case I phoned the agent to say "What the hell?". I used nicer words.

I explained that compared to the ones we just missed, I can't see on paper what justifies the asking price. Am I missing something? The agent said this one has a bigger plot. The rear garden is about the same size as the others but it has a frontage 2-3 times bigger so is set further back from the road and provides more off-street parking.

This is a plus, but it's a very, very quiet cul-de-sac anyway so proximity to the road isn't really that big a deal. I can see that the overall plot size makes it worth a bit more than the others, but surely nothing like that much?!

The agent said we should view as they vendors are open to offers. They've found something they want to buy.

I'm just not sure I see the point. I know the area - I know which house it is, I know the plot and I know the room dimensions and house size compared to other recent sales. Offer would probably be £375-400k depending on exactly what the internal condition is like.

I just think viewing would be wasting our time and theirs, until the asking price has come down.

Would you bother viewing in this situation?

lvm

Maybe worth viewing to see what the houses are like inside but personally I'd assume you haven't got a chance of knocking £100k off asking price (but you never know!).

The agent probably wants the vendors to think they're doing a good job by getting viewings...and possibly that you might pay a higher price when you see it.

I'd view just to get a feel for the type of houses though.

richardw

You sound like you are a genuine potential buyer willing to pay a sensible price for the house, that's a good reason to go and view the house.

xyellowx

seller can put it up for what they want doesnt mean they will sell it for that, as you say wait for the price to be reduced or phone e/a let them know your interested and to contact you when they realise its way over priced and are willing to reduce it

Seabee42

If the buyer gets viewings at that price they will assume its correctly priced subject to someone liking it enough to buy it.

I would therefore not view it.:(

pinkteapot

Thanks all - confirming my thoughts. I'm not out to try and get a complete bargain. I'm happy to pay in line with what others are paying. Maybe even slightly over if it's the right long-term house for us, given the shortage in supply in that area.

A couple of have sold in the last six months which had asking prices of £450k, but (1) they were significantly bigger than this one and (2) until now, £450k was the highest asking price I've ever seen in this area.

We are considering viewing just because we haven't been able to view any on this estate yet. As I said, a handful suddenly sold just before we started looking (argh!) and nothing else has come on yet. It might be useful just to have something to compare to when others come on the market. Although the houses are a similar age and style to our current house, so we pretty much know what we're getting there.

I agree that the EA wants the vendor to think they're doing a good job. Part of my reluctance to view is that I don't want the crazy vendor thinking there's interest at that price level!

They're either hoping to cash in on the fact there's literally nothing else for sale, and they might get people desperate to move there who'll pay over the odds, or they've fallen in love with something expensive that they want to buy, and have priced at what they need, not what it's worth. So frustrating as it's exactly the sort of house we're looking for... If the price was right!

neneromanova

being nosey, can we have a look?

carolineb23

We were in the same situation OP, there were a few on the estate we wanted to move to which were all up for crazy asking prices, about 50k-70k more than comparable properties had sold for (on the same estate). I know the estate very well as I grew up there and I had been in the house we wanted to view when I was growing up as it belonged to a friend. None of the houses up for the crazy prices have sold, some have dropped a bit, some have come off the market, others are still on. We were so tempted to speak to the EA and ask how on earth they could justify that price, but in the end, given that I know the vendors, we felt it just wasn't worth it because they would never drop as much as we thought they needed to. But it is really frustrating as we would have loved the house but we have found something else which is 75k cheaper and almost as nice :-) I still have it on my saved properties though as I'd love to know if they ever manage to sell...

pinkteapot

Hmmmmm, paranoid the vendors will be reading! Although I've probably said enough to give it away already, so why not?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41686472.html?premiumA=true

EDIT: Just realised the agents will see a spike in Rightmove page viewings for it and think there's interest...!

These are the two that we missed at £375k, in the same road:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41727380.html?premiumA=true
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25616805.html

Looking at the room dimensions and satellite image again, the one for sale is probably a slightly higher square footage, to be fair. I think it's worth more than the two above, but certainly not £100k more.

And these are ones that have sold with asking price £450k, which are all bigger!
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41613200.html?premiumA=true
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-26371473.html?premiumA=true (this one was on the market for ages)
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37963879.html

bouicca21

A lot depends on the current state of the market in your area. Going up by leaps and bounds here... I've just viewed an overpriced house. Agent made it clear they were open to offers so I've just made a very low one and the reaction in itself has helped me gauge what they realistically expect to get. Compare and contrast the 'we're open to offers' attitude to that of EAs that I have dealt with for other houses who insist that offers are being made over asking price - and on a first viewing only. I initially thought they were lying but, no, it turns out to be true.

I'd view. You have nothing to lose except your time.

pinkteapot

Market here is definitely better than it was. Sensibly priced houses are selling very fast now, but there's the traditional handful of properties that have been on for ages (years in some cases) that are simply overpriced. I don't think we need to worry about being in a crazy rising market here just yet.