Trying to sell a 50% shared ownership house

nibblesandmunch

Hi All,

Hopefully i have posted this in the right section of the forum.

I am after some advice, my 50% shared ownership house has been up for sale for 13 months, initially the valuation was for about £8k less than I brought it for, but it was something i expected and a hit i was willing to take. Anyway i had a fair few viewings at the start but that died down after people got confused over the shared-ownership scheme or weren't interested in owning only 50% (although the option is there to purchase the other 50% from the outset). I have since swapped estate agents and last month knocked another £7k off the asking price as i am getting increasingly frustrated about the lack of movement, i have now moved into my partners house and we want to sell and move on to somewhere new but my house is holding up things.

I have tried everything i can think of to try and sell the property, it's in a good condition, well decorated, it's available for £15k less than what i paid, i have spoken to the housing association to try and negotiate on buying the other 50% at a lower rate so that i can sell it as a whole but they will not budge.

I feel trapped, and have basically got £800+ a month of my money going on a house which has basically been empty for almost a year.

Although I thought I would never go down this route, i've been increasingly tempted to try one of these we buy any house type organisations, i know i'm likely to get only about 80% of my house valuation but i've hit a point where i really need to sell and move on. Are any of these firms reputable? has anyone got any experience of using one of these firms? I just seem to be all out of options at the moment.

Otherwise i'm willing to listen to any other advice or options people may have for me?

marksoton

nibblesandmunch wrote: »

Although I thought I would never go down this route, i've been increasingly tempted to try one of these we buy any house type organisations, i know i'm likely to get only about 80% of my house valuation but i've hit a point where i really need to sell and move on. Are any of these firms reputable? has anyone got any experience of using one of these firms? I just seem to be all out of options at the moment.

Have you checked to see if these firms even consider shared ownership?

If they do i'd be very wary. They'll offer you an absolute rock bottom price.

Pixie5740

Wouldn't the HA have to agree to sell a 50% share to one of the quick buy companies?

What have other, similar shared ownership properties sold for in your area? How to the sold prices compare with your asking price? How does your asking price compare with sold prices for non-shared ownership properties in your area? Are you at least getting viewings?

If you want to live with your partner with a view to moving somewhere else together in the near future would it be better for you both to live in the SO property until it's sold and in the meantime sell your partner's property (assuming it's not SO as well)?

tomtontom

Can you post a Rightmove link? Is it clear that it is also available for 100% purchase, and are the rental costs/ lease terms available to buyers (and are they reasonable)?

I would agree with above, resale to a quick buy company is unlikely to be acceptable to the HA.

booksurr

there is only one reason a property has not sold after a year - the price is wrong

if you are no longer even getting viewings then it must be significantly overpriced compared to the current competition - are your competitors all SO or are there "normal" properties in your price bracket as well?

appreciate to that if you go on the deeds of the new house with your partner yo both will have to pay the higher rate SDLT so there is at least 3% you could reduce off the asking price of your SO property and you'd be no worse off in the short term. Obviously if it does finally sell within 3 years you can reclaim the additional SDLT, but you have to pay it upfront first if you haven't already sold your current main residence before buying another one.

nibblesandmunch

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Wouldn't the HA have to agree to sell a 50% share to one of the quick buy companies?

What have other, similar shared ownership properties sold for in your area? How to the sold prices compare with your asking price? How does your asking price compare with sold prices for non-shared ownership properties in your area? Are you at least getting viewings?

If you want to live with your partner with a view to moving somewhere else together in the near future would it be better for you both to live in the SO property until it's sold and in the meantime sell your partner's property (assuming it's not SO as well)?

I haven't checked yet, but i will contact the HA and find out to see if they allow me to go down that route, their attitude towards me has basically been do what you want as-long as we get our £49,950. They didn't even list it on the shared ownership website.

I don't think any other SO houses/apartments have sold in the last 3/4 years, as there was only a small section of 2 houses and 6 apartments on this new development which was built 9 years ago. Other full price properties that are similar to mine have gone for around £80-82k, i'm asking for £41k for my half.

Viewings have slowed right down, i switched agents, knocked £7k off and have had 2 viewings in a month that i know of (agents have the keys).

We did consider moving back into the property but its a small 2 bedroom coach house and she has pets which (a) aren't allowed according to the contract and (b) I don't have a garden.

nibblesandmunch

tomtontom wrote: »

Can you post a Rightmove link? Is it clear that it is also available for 100% purchase, and are the rental costs/ lease terms available to buyers (and are they reasonable)?

I would agree with above, resale to a quick buy company is unlikely to be acceptable to the HA.

I'm happy to PM the link a little cautious to post it publicly.

nibblesandmunch

booksurr wrote: »

there is only one reason a property has not sold after a year - the price is wrong

if you are no longer even getting viewings then it must be significantly overpriced compared to the current competition - are your competitors all SO or are there "normal" properties in your price bracket as well?

appreciate to that if you go on the deeds of the new house with your partner yo both will have to pay the higher rate SDLT so there is at least 3% you could reduce off the asking price of your SO property and you'd be no worse off in the short term. Obviously if it does finally sell within 3 years you can reclaim the additional SDLT, but you have to pay it upfront first if you haven't already sold your current main residence before buying another one.

It was initially valued for £49,950 last April and marketed at that, in January i switiched agents and re-listed it at £47k, 3 weeks ago I dropped that to £42.5k.

The development is quite full of house up for sale/rent and one similar to mine sold for £82k about 18mths ago.

Sorry I can't work out the SDLT acronym?

marksoton

nibblesandmunch wrote: »

I'm happy to PM the link a little cautious to post it publicly.

It's already public on Rightmove etc.

If it's not that's probably the problem!

Pixie5740

SDLT is Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Did the other property actually sell for £82k, is that the sold price rather than asking price? Was that for 100% share in which case your asking price of £42.5k for a 50% share sounds in the right ballpark, maybe even slightly less.

davidmcn

marksoton wrote: »

It's already public on Rightmove etc.

If it's not that's probably the problem!

Yes, but you wouldn't necessarily want to reveal your negotiating position/level of desperation on a public forum easily linked to your Rightmove listing...