Waiting for a buyer... Anyone want to join me?

Bonfire_Bride

This thread really isn't the place to be debating the market. It's a support thread for those trying to sell. It really has ruined this thread. I've just managed to get our broadband up and running in our new home and wanted to log in to catch up on how things were going for some.

I'm hoping 2017 is a good year for you small holding.

A little more than 2 years ago, we put our house on the market and have been in our new home for 3 weeks. We sold eventually even though it was next to a pub AND just after brexit. It will happen soon.

rockey100

selling is in my opinion the most stressful thing to do, but there will be a buyer eventually !

Crashy_Time

PeterPanic wrote: »

As somebody who offered on a house before Christmas and is now waiting to complete I thought I would give my experience of the current housing market (In the South East anyway). There is no doubt that the recent changes to the Buy To Let rules have massively affected the market. As well as the changes to the Tax and stamp duty rules, there is also a requirement for the monthly rental to be 145% of the monthly mortgage if the interest rates were 5.5%. What this basically means is that to buy a Buy To Let property these days you are probably going to need to have a 45% deposit and pay an additional £10K+ in stamp duty.

This means that the flat market is now pretty much dead, from what I can see the same properties have been listed for months on end, and a good percentage of these have had the prices reduced. The sums still do not add up as a BTL investment anymore, so I can personally see the price of flats continuing to fall in 2017.

With regards to houses there is precious little on the market at the moment and I keep seeing the same properties for sale, nothing new has been added in the last month or so. I am a first time buyer which is pretty rare in this market, so I had a reasonable amount of leverage when it came to offers. I offered 5% under the asking price of the house I wanted and made it clear this was my best offer and I would not be offering more. This offer was accepted as the sellers realised that they would not find another buyer in my position and were desperate to move as they had found the house they wanted.

The second half of 2016 was slow and asking prices have definitely started to reduce towards the end of 2016. I suspect flats will continue to fall in 2017 and I would not be surprised by 10% falls by the end of the year. My gut feel is that at the very least house prices will remain static in 2017 and could well fall over the coming year.

So why did I buy you ask if I have no confidence prices will increase in 2017? Well, my personal circumstances ment the time was right, and I think I got a good house at a decent price. It is certainly a house I can live in forever if need be, and it also means I can stop worrying about not being on the property ladder. I am divorced and have not been able to own a property for the last three years, having watched prices increase by 30-40% in that time. I have no intention of ever selling this house and it means I can stop worrying about prices after religiously checking rightmove every single day for months/years on end.

For those who cannot sell their house there is only one reason I am afraid, it is too expensive. As somebody said above, 95% of buyers look at property on rightmove so it makes zero difference which agent it is with. All buyers have a budget so they will be comparing your property with all the others in their price range and deciding which one offers the best value.

For those of you hoping the new year will bring increased offers I personally think this will not happen. If you are really serious about selling then you need to price your property to sell and offer hard on the property you wish to buy. Surely it is better to accept an offer and get on with your life rather than hold out for another £5K which in reality is going to make little difference to your life long term.

Also don't forget that the property still needs to be valued by the mortgage company before they will lend the money, so even if you get a good offer there is no guarantee the mortgage company will lend you the money if they think you have offered too much. They might have done in a rising market but in a static/falling market they will not want to risk getting their fingers burnt.

Most sensible post on here so far I think.

Crashy_Time

Bonfire_Bride wrote: »

This thread really isn't the place to be debating the market. It's a support thread for those trying to sell. It really has ruined this thread. I've just managed to get our broadband up and running in our new home and wanted to log in to catch up on how things were going for some.

I'm hoping 2017 is a good year for you small holding.

A little more than 2 years ago, we put our house on the market and have been in our new home for 3 weeks. We sold eventually even though it was next to a pub AND just after brexit. It will happen soon.

I would say Peter Panic`s advice above should be mandatory reading for all would be sellers in this economic climate.

iantojones40

Bonfire_Bride wrote: »

This thread really isn't the place to be debating the market. It's a support thread for those trying to sell. It really has ruined this thread. I've just managed to get our broadband up and running in our new home and wanted to log in to catch up on how things were going for some.

I'm hoping 2017 is a good year for you small holding.

A little more than 2 years ago, we put our house on the market and have been in our new home for 3 weeks. We sold eventually even though it was next to a pub AND just after brexit. It will happen soon.

You forgot to mention that after that 2 YEARS on the market you eventually sold your house for considerably less than your initial asking price and less than you ''hoped to get for it''

If you'd been realistic and sensible with your asking price to begin with you wouldn't have wasted 2 years of your life having to go through the stress, hassle and inconvenience of having your house on the market for so long.
The longest I've ever had a house on the market for before achieving a sale was 10 weeks... and I'd rate that 10 week period as being one of the most stressful times of my life, I can't imagine going through that for a year, 2 years or even longer!

Am I not offering support and advice to people on here who have had their house on the market for an unreasonably long time and gone through numerous estate agents by telling them that they're being unrealistic and deluded by refusing to accept that their house isn't selling is because it's overpriced?

Davesnave

I would start a new thread and make it clear from the start that it's a social one, rather than something others can twist to suit their particular agendas, well catered for elsewhere. Then, if people persist in posting non-social material, report them.

As a member of a social support group in another place, I would be highly peed-off if those with a different agenda kept interfering.

They could, for example, be vegetarians and vegans who disapprove of our keeping animals for slaughter. Well that's fine, and there are plenty of excellent arguments for being vegetarian, but our group is not the place in which to air them.

When I worked, I saw quite a lot of this spoiling behaviour, otherwise known as bullying. I suppose the perpetrators could have argued they were 'educating' others to life in the real world, because most of them were from what I might call less sheltered backgrounds. However, they still got short shrift.

And yes, they were all children, so at least they had some excuse for behaving like them.

iantojones40

Davesnave wrote: »

I would start a new thread and make it clear from the start that it's a social one, rather than something others can twist to suit their particular agendas, well catered for elsewhere. Then, if people persist in posting non-social material, report them.

As a member of a social support group in another place, I would be highly peed-off if those with a different agenda kept interfering.

They could, for example, be vegetarians and vegans who disapprove of our keeping animals for slaughter. Well that's fine, and there are plenty of excellent arguments for being vegetarian, but our group is not the place in which to air them.

When I worked, I saw quite a lot of this spoiling behaviour, otherwise known as bullying. I suppose the perpetrators could have argued they were 'educating' others to life in the real world, because most of them were from what I might call less sheltered backgrounds. However, they still got short shrift.

And yes, they were all children, so at least they had some excuse for behaving like them.

Utterly deluded.

Not to mention intolerant of anyone who has a viewpoint different to your own, branding them as children and bullies.

I've not seen a single post from any contributor on this thread that breaks the board guidelines and is worthy of reporting

So you don't consider people as 'having their own agenda'' when they come on this thread and encourage others to persist in trying to sell their house for an unrealistically high price?

People who perhaps want to see rampant HPI continue forever due to their own selfishness, shortsightedness, stupidity and greed or fears and concerns that they may have overpaid?

Personally, if a seller comes on this thread and says they've sold their house for a price they're happy with and within a reasonable amount of time on the market I will congratulate them and commend them for their sensible and realistic approach to pricing and successfully selling their house... and yet I'm presumably one of the contributors you would like to see banned.

Davesnave

iantojones40 wrote: »

I'm presumably one of the contributors you would like to see banned.

Presume what you like.

I wasn't thinking in terms of specific individuals, just feeling a bit of sympathy for those who started this thread without any inkling of where it would go.

Back in 2008, Martin spoke of closing down the Debate board, because things there got so heated and contentious. Mods were spending a lot of time policing it, and the impression created wasn't something he particularly wanted to be associated with his site.

Perhaps it was only allowed to stay because it kept the worst offenders from coming over here. Who knows? Quite a few were banned anyway. Even today, I think one cannot 'see' Debate, unless signed-in as a member.

So, it wouldn't be up to me, or to you. It would be for the mods to decide matters if someone carried out my suggestion.....which is all it was.

Someone brighter than me might think of something else.

StephieWillcox

Oh dear, everything has disintegrated again I see

Smallholdings - I really hope early 2017 is your time.

We've had 8 viewings now, one booked for this weekend, but no offers as yet. I am debating linking my house here along with others that have sold to see what your views of my price are...

Before I do that I guess I will just say that my house is on for £395k. Two other versions of my exact house (same floorplan etc) sold last year, one before Brexit and one post Brexit. Both were on for £395k, both sold for £375k. I would like to achieve £375k - £380k.

Houses of a similar vein to mine are on for ~400k at the moment, some a bit nicer are on for more, some a bit worse on for less.

Our house has only been on the market since mid December, had 6 viewings in the first week before Christmas, 2 between Christmas and New Year and now one booked in for tomorrow.

What are people's views? I feel like the price is not unreasonable but can link you to it if you'd like to see other houses etc to make a better judgement.

Doomsayers are also welcome to answer, however "take 50% off the price" will be ignored.

Jox

Hi all, the title of the thread is a clue..."waiting for a buyer, anyone want to join me" not debate about house prices Good luck for all waiting for a buyer