Houses that have been on the market for years

lydriver

Saw a few flats on Zoopla today, one first listed 2013, the other 2010, both look reasonable
Do properties stay on the market for that long?

ognum

I looked at a house the other day that had been on the market since 2011, they had several sales fall through for various reasons. They also were not open to any kind of offers and thought their property was better than it was!

There could be a structural problem, which has caused sale drop outs. Could be a divorce or probate where a price cannot b guaranteed. Lots of issues.

Go and have a look you just may find out, or call the agent and ask.

pinkteapot

No, they shouldn't. Usually unrealistic sellers who want more than the average person is prepared to pay for their property. If they wait long enough, they may find someone who loves it so much they'll pay top price for it.

moneyistooshorttomention

It does depend imo very much on what part of the country you are in.

Are you in a "booming" part of the country? - in which case = yep the place itself has obviously got major problems

Or are you in a much "quieter" part of the country = its probably just an old-fashioned type property with no discernible "character" and it may not have Major Faults as such (just be plain Bog Standard BORING)...

[Deleted User]

You'll probably find when you ring that they're long gone and some lazy agent just hasn't bothered taking them off the net (or they leave old ones up even though they're not available to get people calling them!)

Rambosmum

Ours was on the market for 2 years before we put an offer in - divorce and they couldn't decide who would pay the early repayment fee on the mortgage so 6 sales fell through before us.

oystercatcher

There's one near us, a nice family home. My parents looked at it years ago and it's been on and off the market ever since. The elderly sellers wanted to move to the coast but could never find what they want. I think, heart of hearts they didn't really want to move or they just couldn't afford what they wanted.

TBeckett100

oystercatcher wrote: »

There's one near us, a nice family home. My parents looked at it years ago and it's been on and off the market ever since. The elderly sellers wanted to move to the coast but could never find what they want. I think, heart of hearts they didn't really want to move or they just couldn't afford what they wanted.

never understood moving to the coast. A few more years when they need looking after they'll come nearer the children and find that prices on the coat haven't kept pace with the area they moved from.

jacko74

Plenty of kite flyers round my way, in fairness they're not deluded, they do actually realize that their property is stupidly overpriced but they're quite happy to just leave it sat on the market for 3,4 even 5 years in the hope that some gullible tourist will come along and buy it as a holiday home.

pathtofreedom

Depends as well if it is an unusual property. There is one near me that is a 5 bed house, with a converted garage as a granny annex. It has been for sale for nearly 2 years now.

It is massively over priced for the area adding nearly a third on again of the price of similar 5 beds. They obviously spent a lot converting the annex, so I guess they think it is worth that. I can only assume they aren't in a hurry to sell, but the majority of people won't want to pay the premium they are putting on the annex, as they might not actually need it, and would be happy with any other 5 bed in the area.

I personally wouldn't look at a leasehold or listed house and I don't think I'm out of the ordinary doing that, so I assume they also could take longer to sell that other freehold / non listed houses.