Pros and cons of going to auction.....

suzialwaysbroke

My elderly MIL has been trying to sell her house for over a year now. Very little interest in it. I think it is over valued, but having been told a value range by 3 agents, she is not keen to drop the price. She has only had one offer from someone who turned out to be an utter time waster. SO...... should she take the house to auction? Accept a P/ex offer from a retirement builder, or hang on in there. What is happening out there?

adindas

suzialwaysbroke wrote: »

My elderly MIL has been trying to sell her house for over a year now. Very little interest in it. I think it is over valued, but having been told a value range by 3 agents, she is not keen to drop the price. She has only had one offer from someone who turned out to be an utter time waster. SO...... should she take the house to auction? Accept a P/ex offer from a retirement builder, or hang on in there. What is happening out there?

It is extremely unlike your house will sell above the valuation of the estate agents have given you in the auction. Even the one with the lowest valuation from three estate agents valuating the house.

If you want to sell it at a decent price wait or drop the price. If you want to sell it quick or get rip off then sell in the auction.

G_M

Depends how keen/desperate she is to sell.

If she's not that bothered, she could hang on at the same price and see if the next year produces a buyer. but I'd suggest she switch agents and review/brush up the marketing & photos at least.

If selling is now a priority, then clearly she'll have to accept less than she's asking. She can either drop the price (by a meaningful amount) or go to auction - either way she'll get less and must come to terms with that.

Thrugelmir

suzialwaysbroke wrote: »

. SO...... should she take the house to auction? Accept a P/ex offer from a retirement builder, or hang on in there.

Why is the price going to be be any better using either an auction or a p\ex ?

If she's adamant about the price hang in there.

Why is she so adamant though? What's her reasoning. Or is she in reality reluctant to move. Which is fully understandable if she has lived there many years.

Kidder81

In answer to your thread title, the pro is a quick, guaranteed sale. The con is that the sale price is generally lower than you would get on the open market.

As others have said, if she's desperate to sell and willing to likely get less money then its a good idea. If not then its a terrible idea and she'd be better off considering changing agents and reviewing the whole package, including the asking price!

Davesnave

suzialwaysbroke wrote: »

What is happening out there?

What's happening is that people are seeing your MiL's house and thinking, "That's so overpriced!" and then not viewing, or if they view, walking away without making an offer.

I'm at a loss to understand how taking the house to auction will change that in a way that pleases your MiL.

If my MiL was involved, I'd stay well clear of offering advice to do one thing rather than another, because whatever strategy was chosen, it would probably turn out to be the "wrong" one!

suzialwaysbroke

Thanks for all the replies. She is anxious to sell. My thoughts about going to auction were that it would be a swift resolution to the problem, but she would have to accept a lower price. Is the market slow at the moment? I guess it must be....

Davesnave

suzialwaysbroke wrote: »

Is the market slow at the moment? I guess it must be....

Depends where you are, but there's a slowdown in London which is spreading to the shires and the outlook is, at best, uncertain.

Personally, I expect to see a prolonged dip in sales, as there's nothing obviously good on the economic horizon and lenders are behaving more cautiously.

PasturesNew

Dropping her price and speaking to her agents about how to remarket it to the market at the new price would get her a price closer to her preferred asking price than any auction (less fees etc) would do.

Auctions are for quick sales of houses that either have problems, or a FAST sale is required.

Realistic pricing is what she needs.

trailingspouse

Does the house need a lot doing to it? Even if it's well maintained, it's likely to be decorated in an 'old lady' taste (and why shouldn't it be) - but this may be enough to put people off, as they will know there will be a lot to do.

My parents will have this problem should they ever want to move - the house is well maintained, they did a major refurbishment about 20 years ago, and they still like it the way it is. Also, now that they're in their 80s, they just don't want the hassle of major works. But nevertheless, the place looks dated.

martindow

Do you know why your MiL is so adamant that she doesn't want to price more realistically? It seems odd that she is desperate to sell but continues to insist on a price that no-one is offering.

Maybe you could speak to one of the agents you think she would trust and get them round to talk about dropping the price to a more sensible figure.