trouble selling house

wannaberich41

Hi
i'm writing this on behalf of my parents. They live in a very unique large period property and its been on the market for 2 years now. She has had a quite a few viewings and all comment on how lovely it is but it never goes any further. They did have an offer which they accepted and it was going all through but they pulled out near the end due to personnal reasons. The offer was £50k below asking price. Mum is getting frustrated and upset having to keep everything spick and span and was on about taking it off the market even though the house is now to big for them. Was just wondering what people think about these companies which will buy your house off you for between 70-90% of the market value?
are they a con? can anyone recommend a good one as they want to get as much as possible for it as retirement fund really.

Your help and comments would be very much appreciated.

clutton_2

why not discuss things with an auctioneer ? - at least you would get a fast sale.

poppy10_2

We need more details - i.e. how much is it on the market for; how much have they dropped the price by so far; how much did they buy it for themselves.

A rightmove link would be helpful aswell - it may be being marketed badly.

Those companies that buy the house off you are generally a very bad idea.

pamaris

I reckon these companies give something more like 60-70% of "market value"... why don't they just drop the price. They would probably get more money and a quick sale by dropping the price by 10 or 15% and selling privately.

How much is the property on for? In our area, most homes are 3 or 4 bed semis for about 200k; while there are about ten 7 or 8 bedroom Victorians. The 7 bed Victorians go on for 700k but no one in this area has that kind of money so the homes sit on the market whether they are on at "market value" or not. It is only "market value" if there is a market for said property.

teabelly

Is it listed? If so it might be making it unattractive as listing is a pain. Would it be possible to convert the property into high quality flats? That might be a good route to go down, with planning permission granted you'd find it much easier to sell to a developer. It just depends on the local authority and whether they'd want something like that though.

Take it to a fresh EA. It is an exclusive kind of property then choose one that does those fancy glossy brochures. A stack em high sell em cheap EA isn't going to do the property justice if it is an interesting period one. Knight Frank are one name that springs to mind that deal with high value properties. They advertise in places like Country Life.

Debt_Free_Chick

wannaberich41 wrote: »

Hi
i'm writing this on behalf of my parents. They live in a very unique large period property and its been on the market for 2 years now. She has had a quite a few viewings and all comment on how lovely it is but it never goes any further. They did have an offer which they accepted and it was going all through but they pulled out near the end due to personnal reasons. The offer was £50k below asking price.

I think this is your answer - reduce the price. Also, get a "fresh" marketing of the property - with new photos, if the existing ones can be improved upon. Change agents if the existing ones seem to have lost interest.

Is it on Rightmove?

macaque_2

wannaberich41 wrote: »

Hi
i'm writing this on behalf of my parents. They live in a very unique large period property and its been on the market for 2 years now. She has had a quite a few viewings and all comment on how lovely it is but it never goes any further. They did have an offer which they accepted and it was going all through but they pulled out near the end due to personnal reasons. The offer was £50k below asking price. Mum is getting frustrated and upset having to keep everything spick and span and was on about taking it off the market even though the house is now to big for them. Was just wondering what people think about these companies which will buy your house off you for between 70-90% of the market value?
are they a con? can anyone recommend a good one as they want to get as much as possible for it as retirement fund really.

Your help and comments would be very much appreciated.

If your parents have not mangaged to get a buyer in two years, the evidence suggests that they do not have it for sale at the right market value. So, if they go to one of these property buying companies, they may find the offer is 70-90% of a much lower figure.

If they are prepared to contemplate such an idea, I don't understand is why they don't knock 20% off the ask price today. The companies you are talking about are a last resort for people selling in a hurry.

wannaberich41

They were at 1 point on with 3 agents. the one they have stayed with is the one that has put the most people through. (i think the others she had 1 from each) It had at one point changed from saying £450,000 to offers in excess of £400,000. They were advised to put it back at £450000 and they will inform viewers open to offer.The amount of interest was no different. When they originally had agents come round and value most of then said more than what its on for. I know its very unique and people who leave round where we live wouldn't be able to afford it. (wages not alot round here) The people who are viewing are from away (which we were when my parents purchased it 25 years ago. I think mum is getting fed up because a few houses that she would have liked and gone and she just wants shot of this one now. They are not spring chickens to cope with such a large house and lots of stairs.
They were looking at one of those companies for the quickness of sale before they loose another house they have fallen for.

lowbudgetlife

wannaberich41 wrote: »

Hi
i'm writing this on behalf of my parents. They live in a very unique large period property and its been on the market for 2 years now. She has had a quite a few viewings and all comment on how lovely it is but it never goes any further. They did have an offer which they accepted and it was going all through but they pulled out near the end due to personnal reasons. The offer was £50k below asking price. Mum is getting frustrated and upset having to keep everything spick and span and was on about taking it off the market even though the house is now to big for them. Was just wondering what people think about these companies which will buy your house off you for between 70-90% of the market value?
are they a con? can anyone recommend a good one as they want to get as much as possible for it as retirement fund really.

Your help and comments would be very much appreciated.

Larger, more expensive homes are sticky all over the country. My parents are lower-middle class, most of thier married life living on just one salary. My Dad would have had to have been on about 70k to buy their house now in the same way.

Even property ladder climbers with big incomes cannot, say, go from a three-bed semi to a four bed detached in many regions as the rungs are so far apart.

I don't know anything about your parents but could people like them a generation younger buy their house today? If not, then there's you answer. There's probably only a tiny pool of potential buyers out there and the price is probably massively too high.

Rememeber, prices are high because banks have been willing to lend anything to anyone with a pulse which has inflated the market. There's evidence that banks are tightening lending criteria now that there's a growing property crash brewing Stateside. That means fewer buyers again.

pickles110564

Any house is only worth what someone will pay for it, after 2 years it has been proved to be well over price for the area. If they bought it 25 Years ago they would still have made a tidy profit on accepting the 50K less, dont be greedy because if the crash comes they could be looking at a lot less than the 50K below asking price

dolce_vita

Massive HPI is over. Welcome to the falling market.

I am guessing that your parents paid around 60-90k for the house?

In which case they should still make a tidy profit by selling for around 380k

(if they can find a buyer)