House sale advice

C.C.L.

Hi, my elderly neighbours have moved into supported housing and their house is up for sale. I'm keeping an eye on the house for them and they rang yesterday to 'check in' .
They've had quite a few viewings and one offer they accepted then the buyer pulled out. They asked the agent if anyone else made a cheeky offer (the one they accepted was £7,000 below asking price) and asked for it to be taken off the market could they ask for a deposit? A very firm no from the agent, they then asked if they could offer cash back on completion as it does need decorationg, nothing major just a freshen up, again the answer was a firm no 'it doesn't work like that'
I didn't say anything to them but I can remember when both these options did happen. Is it not allowed now? They just want rid of the house and they're finding it hard paying rent and 2 lots of council tax out of their pensions. They've been talking about one of those house buying companies and I'd hate to see them sell it for a very low price. It's been for sale since 1st week in July. Thanks for any info/advice.

00ec25

C.C.L. wrote: »

It's been for sale since 1st week in July.

then the price is wrong

Rambosmum

No, those two things don't happen anymore. They used to happen to reduce the amount of stamp duty someone paid, or capital gains tax etc and were used as an incentive however rules have now changed and it is difficult to facilitate now.


Sound like it is priced wrong.

alex_163163

If they are willing give cash back or accept a cheeky offer, why don’t they just lower the asking price now?
It would seem that the current listed asking price might be too high, and a lower one might entice more people to view.

C.C.L.

alex_163163 wrote: »

If they are willing give cash back or accept a cheeky offer, why don’t they just lower the asking price now?
It would seem that the current listed asking price might be too high, and a lower one might entice more people to view.

They've already reduced the price by £10,000.
The one at the other side of me is up for £20,000 more. The price of the elderly couple's is £25,000 more than we paid for ours in 2009.
I think that if they reduce it again they could possibly get more interest.

Cardinal-Red

I echo all of the above comments on the pricing.

I never understand attempts by private vendors to maintain high prices at the same time as giving away cash.

I'd suggest, like above, lowering the price and seeing if that helps.

Crashy_Time

Cardinal-Red wrote: »

I echo all of the above comments on the pricing.

I never understand attempts by private vendors to maintain high prices at the same time as giving away cash.

I'd suggest, like above, lowering the price and seeing if that helps.

Yes, very strange.

C.C.L.

Cardinal-Red wrote: »

I echo all of the above comments on the pricing.

I never understand attempts by private vendors to maintain high prices at the same time as giving away cash.

I'd suggest, like above, lowering the price and seeing if that helps.

Like I said they've already reduced it by £10,000. It was me who wondered if that would be an added incentive not them. 3 valuations, one came in at £170,000, one at £175,000 and one at £160.000 They went with the lower valuation and it's now on at £150,000. I asked if this was still happening not that they were thinking of it.

Surrey_EA

C.C.L. wrote: »

ask for a deposit? A very firm no from the agent

they then asked if they could offer cash back on completion as it does need decorationg, nothing major just a freshen up, again the answer was a firm no 'it doesn't work like that'
I didn't say anything to them but I can remember when both these options did happen. Is it not allowed now?

I can't recall a time when either of these things were commonplace.

G_M

There are two choices:

1) keep the price as it is, since you/they feel it's a fair price, and wait for an offer at or near the asking price. It may happen next week. Or in a few weeks/months. Or never.

2) reduce the price again which will encourage more viewings and more offers.

It depends whether price, or speed of sale, is more important.

C.C.L.

G_M wrote: »

There are two choices:

1) keep the price as it is, since you/they feel it's a fair price, and wait for an offer at or near the asking price. It may happen next week. Or in a few weeks/months. Or never.

2) reduce the price again which will encourage more viewings and more offers.

It depends whether price, or speed of sale, is more important.

Thanks G_M, if it were me I would have it at £145,000 already, they do need the money so they way I'm hearing it from them is that a speedy sale is needed. I'll mention it to them and then I'll bow out gracefully as I'm not up to speed with house sales hence why I asked on here.