Over pricing

debtfreein2008

Hi

I'm currently trying to buy a house in a particular area and I'm coming up against the issue of over pricing by estate agents and over paying especially by BTL developers! Is there anything I can do?!

EG viewed a very nice 3 bed which needed about 30k spending on it as it hasn't been touched for many, many years. The property next door sold in April for 250k and needed less work. The one I looked at was on at 300k! I offered 250 on the basis of work needed and also one in same road that was immaculate had sold just last month for 279k. My offer was rejected and the property is now under offer, I dont know for how much.

Ive also looked at another tiny 3 bed which in August 2014 sold for 185k, the landlord put in a v cheap kitchen and bathroom and its been rented since. Its not on the market for 240k!!

I know house prices have gone up but 25% in less than a year? I fear I'm going just loose out everytime because I wont be mugged off.

Advice, experience appreciated!

debtfreein2008

PS I should say I dont have a property to sell and have a mortgage offer so I think that should put me in a good position.

Pixie5740

It doesn't make sense for BTL investors to overpay for property. I think they are just paying what the market is dictating. If you want to buy somewhere then you'll need to do the market rate too.

eddddy

I'm not sure that there's any helpful advice to give you.

You seem to be saying that other people are prepared to pay more for properties than you are, so they get the property and you don't.

I'm sure this must be very frustrating, but presumably the options open to you are fairly obvious.


(Perhaps there's a lot to discuss about the state of property market, impact of BTL LLs, etc - but sadly, discussing that won't really help you buy a house.)

mrginge

Clearly the solution is to build 50 properties in that area and sell them for the price you are willing to pay. You will then find that the ones you actually want to buy are closer to your price bracket.

dinkylink

what is the specific area?

phatbear

debtfreein2008 wrote: »

The property next door sold in April for 250k and needed less work. The one I looked at was on at 300k! I offered 250 on the basis of work needed and also one in same road that was immaculate had sold just last month for 279k. My offer was rejected and the property is now under offer, I dont know for how much.

Do you know the circumstances of those sales?

For example when i was looking for a house last year we looked at some houses that were "overpriced" because the seller wasnt in a hurry to sell and they wanted the most for their property and we also looked at houses that were under valued because these people needed to sell quickly due to relationship break ups or moving due to work.

Bottom line is a house is only worth what someone is willing to pay and what the bank is willing to lend against.

Is it fair that the house we bought cost £83000 16 years ago and we bought it for just under £250000, probably not, but thats market forces for ya

Surrey_EA

A house is worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it.

As frustrating as I'm sure it must be, the fact that other people are prepared to pay more than you are does not make a house overpriced.

marksoton

debtfreein2008 wrote: »

I'm currently trying to buy a house in a particular area

From a practical point of view this is something YOU can change and maybe give yourself a better chance.

Expand your area of preference. People pay a premium for so called "desirable areas". Foolish in my opinion as this is an ever shifting dynamic.

pinkteapot

If houses are consistently selling for more than you think they should, your view on the market value is wrong.

Increase your budget, look at smaller houses, or look in a new area.

As others have said, BTL investors are pretty hard-nosed and won't overpay.

Andrew_Ryan_89

My fiance and I have spent more than 6 months looking for a property. We have now had an offer accepted but the previous 4 places we put an offer on, we always had the offer beaten so we changed tactics. We knew our maximum budget (both in monthly cost and what we could borrow), distance we wanted to travel from work and that we wanted a houses that did not need much work, if any, doing on it.

So, our max budget was £285k. Previously, we were looking for properties up to that value and always losing on the bid. So we started looking for properties that were between £260k-280k but all our offers were £285k. Result? Our offer was accepted for a property that literally needed no work doing on it. Regardless or any market analysis etc., we were happy to pay that price for that property and that's the mentality you need to have.

The area you are looking at will be interesting to know, especially if it's in London. Most of the time the house prices are listed, I find, at a relatively low price just to get peoples attention and a lot of people to show up at the viewing. This makes buyers nervous when they show up and 30 other people are viewing the property so they start putting offers way above the asking price.