Is it reasonable for us to drop our asking price given current climate?

MobileSaver

JammyMatt said:

Personally, I would wait 12 months, but i guess i'm seriously risk averse 

Clearly you are, I could not imagine putting my life on hold for a year and living with parents for another year just on the hope that house prices may fall. But then I've always been a glass half full type of guy, some people will always be glass half empty.

ichicc said:

We do really love the property but would probably be able to suck up walking away from the table if need be and revisiting the market in 12 months.

If there are normally plenty of similar properties in your preferred area then this sounds your best bet if the sellers aren't interested in renegotiating; just be aware that the last time house prices dropped, transactions dropped by 50% so if the same happens it could be argued there's a 50:50 chance you won't be buying your own place in 12 months time after all. Hope you get on really well with your parents, you could be there for longer than you think.

MobileSaver

colink24 said:

No, I moved out in Sept 2015. I sold it for £156,000. I think its around £200k now (or was prior to Covid).

So, like me, you bought at the absolute peak and still sold it for more than you bought it for?

colink24

Unicorn_cottage said:

colink24 said:

Unicorn_cottage said:

colink24 said:

MobileSaver said:

colink24 said:

yet some people still think the world is the same prior to COVID-19.

I don't think anyone thinks the world will be the same post-Covid-19 but at the same time no sane, rational people think there will be a magic 20% to 30% blanket reduction in house prices due to Covid-19; yet some people on here seem to think just that... go figure!

Certainly not blanket but we paid £142,000 for a one bed starter in late 2007. Early 2008 value was £108,000 (same property across from me sold). It certainly is not guaranteed that we wont see a crash like this, is it? And that was South East England, where prices are generally solid.

@colink24 Are you still in the house? It yes what is it worth now? If no what did you sell it for and when?

No, I moved out in Sept 2015. I sold it for £156,000. I think its around £200k now (or was prior to Covid).

So not all doom and gloom

Defo not! Point I was making is that it took me 8 years almost for be in a position to sell (probably could have sold a year earlier for less) due to the recession. Now im on the other side of the fence looking to buy in a recession, although as pointed out, its going to take months before we see the real effect of this recession.

ichicc

MobileSaver said:

JammyMatt said:

Personally, I would wait 12 months, but i guess i'm seriously risk averse 

Clearly you are, I could not imagine putting my life on hold for a year and living with parents for another year just on the hope that house prices may fall. But then I've always been a glass half full type of guy, some people will always be glass half empty.

ichicc said:

We do really love the property but would probably be able to suck up walking away from the table if need be and revisiting the market in 12 months.

If there are normally plenty of similar properties in your preferred area then this sounds your best bet if the sellers aren't interested in renegotiating; just be aware that the last time house prices dropped, transactions dropped by 50% so if the same happens it could be argued there's a 50:50 chance you won't be buying your own place in 12 months time after all. Hope you get on really well with your parents, you could be there for longer than you think.

Haha - luckily for us, my parents don't live there, else we probably would be a lot more motivated to proceed with our existing deal!

I don't really see this as a question of whether the glass is half full or half empty, more a recognition of the fact that the glass is now less full than it was a few months ago and so probably not worth what it was a few months ago either.

To milk this analogy further, some people might see that the bottom of the glass now has a crack in it, which has had some tape hastily slapped on it but still shows signs of leaking

I take on board your point that supply might also fall in the crisis, and this is definitely a concern for us too. I guess for us it's weighing up multiple possible bad outcomes and picking what we believe to be the least likely. I appreciate other buyers in different circumstances could absolutely come to a different decision.

Unicorn_cottage

ichicc said:

MobileSaver said:

JammyMatt said:

Personally, I would wait 12 months, but i guess i'm seriously risk averse 

Clearly you are, I could not imagine putting my life on hold for a year and living with parents for another year just on the hope that house prices may fall. But then I've always been a glass half full type of guy, some people will always be glass half empty.

ichicc said:

We do really love the property but would probably be able to suck up walking away from the table if need be and revisiting the market in 12 months.

If there are normally plenty of similar properties in your preferred area then this sounds your best bet if the sellers aren't interested in renegotiating; just be aware that the last time house prices dropped, transactions dropped by 50% so if the same happens it could be argued there's a 50:50 chance you won't be buying your own place in 12 months time after all. Hope you get on really well with your parents, you could be there for longer than you think.

Haha - luckily for us, my parents don't live there, else we probably would be a lot more motivated to proceed with our existing deal!

I don't really see this as a question of whether the glass is half full or half empty, more a recognition of the fact that the glass is now less full than it was a few months ago and so probably not worth what it was a few months ago either.

To milk this analogy further, some people might see that the bottom of the glass now has a crack in it, which has had some tape hastily slapped on it but still shows signs of leaking

Not necessarily! You cannot make that assumption.

Crashy_Time

colink24 said:

abanksee said:

kautostar84 said:

abanksee said:

Jimeji said:

We’re putting our house back on the market, after taking it off just before the COVID crisis began as we had no luck. EA insists we go with the same price, as demand is still there! Let’s see how that goes...

It didn't sell before covid with bo interest, EA is in fantasy land. I think offers will come in but maybe 10-12% lower than asking.

It's entirely up to you what price you decide to sell at. However, from my recent experience, people are still buying at guide price. We sold our house prior to Covid-19, but this fell through due to buyers personal circumstances. Went back on the market last week, and sold within days at the same price as before Covid-19. So all those who are saying offer 10-12% lower than market value, from my experience, are having a laugh. If someone had offered that on our house, we would have told them where to go.

We were concerned about the current situation, so asked our EA how sale prices have been holding up and they indicated prices haven't really dropped, so stick to your guns and hold out for what you want.

Of course he would say that though, my friend negotiated 7% off. I raised it with my estate agent too and he offered 4% and said sellers were happy with that. I declined and pushed for 7.5% and it was accepted yesterday.

Job figures out this morning show a 50k increase in the unemployed and this is just the start. The market will have to move at some point.

Unemployment up, wages down, redundancies on on the rise, every major economy about to go into recession, but yet some people still think the world is the same prior to COVID-19. Fact is, everyone is within their right to tell people to shove if it they dont get the price they think their property is worth, but value is driven by demand, not by some magical number people believe it is worth. The solution is to stay put and ride it out until things improve, or take a lower price. This will be the reality in the coming months.

We purchased our first home in December 2007, by February we had lost 30%. It took 8 years before prices recovered for us to sell at a tiny profit. We were going to buy again earlier this year in, making an offer on the property we rent. Landlord wanted 250k but we will now not offer that, more likely around £200k. I have had a 25% wage reduction through end of 2020, possibly beyond, which means I wont be making the same offer. If the doesnt drop his price, we will buy elsewhere.

Absolutely sensible approach IMO.

abanksee

Unicorn_cottage said:

ichicc said:

MobileSaver said:

JammyMatt said:

Personally, I would wait 12 months, but i guess i'm seriously risk averse 

Clearly you are, I could not imagine putting my life on hold for a year and living with parents for another year just on the hope that house prices may fall. But then I've always been a glass half full type of guy, some people will always be glass half empty.

ichicc said:

We do really love the property but would probably be able to suck up walking away from the table if need be and revisiting the market in 12 months.

If there are normally plenty of similar properties in your preferred area then this sounds your best bet if the sellers aren't interested in renegotiating; just be aware that the last time house prices dropped, transactions dropped by 50% so if the same happens it could be argued there's a 50:50 chance you won't be buying your own place in 12 months time after all. Hope you get on really well with your parents, you could be there for longer than you think.

Haha - luckily for us, my parents don't live there, else we probably would be a lot more motivated to proceed with our existing deal!

I don't really see this as a question of whether the glass is half full or half empty, more a recognition of the fact that the glass is now less full than it was a few months ago and so probably not worth what it was a few months ago either.

To milk this analogy further, some people might see that the bottom of the glass now has a crack in it, which has had some tape hastily slapped on it but still shows signs of leaking

Not necessarily! You cannot make that assumption.

Who outside of this forum thinks there wont be a drop of any kind?

Crashy_Time

Unicorn_cottage said:

ichicc said:

MobileSaver said:

JammyMatt said:

Personally, I would wait 12 months, but i guess i'm seriously risk averse 

Clearly you are, I could not imagine putting my life on hold for a year and living with parents for another year just on the hope that house prices may fall. But then I've always been a glass half full type of guy, some people will always be glass half empty.

ichicc said:

We do really love the property but would probably be able to suck up walking away from the table if need be and revisiting the market in 12 months.

If there are normally plenty of similar properties in your preferred area then this sounds your best bet if the sellers aren't interested in renegotiating; just be aware that the last time house prices dropped, transactions dropped by 50% so if the same happens it could be argued there's a 50:50 chance you won't be buying your own place in 12 months time after all. Hope you get on really well with your parents, you could be there for longer than you think.

Haha - luckily for us, my parents don't live there, else we probably would be a lot more motivated to proceed with our existing deal!

I don't really see this as a question of whether the glass is half full or half empty, more a recognition of the fact that the glass is now less full than it was a few months ago and so probably not worth what it was a few months ago either.

To milk this analogy further, some people might see that the bottom of the glass now has a crack in it, which has had some tape hastily slapped on it but still shows signs of leaking

Not necessarily! You cannot make that assumption.

Just seen Bank of America/Goldman Sachs head bankers making that very assumption, probably they wouldn`t have their job if they tried to act like some posters on the internet saying "No, no it will all be as normal soon"? It hasn`t been "normal" for many years anyway, and why do you know more than these guys may I ask?

MobileSaver

ichicc said:

luckily for us, my parents don't live there, else we probably would be a lot more motivated to proceed with our existing deal!

You are obviously in a pretty unique and advantageous position compared to the vast majority of people; why do you want to move at all when you could just stay where you are living in a house owned by your parents?

ichicc

Unicorn_cottage said:

ichicc said:

MobileSaver said:

JammyMatt said:

Personally, I would wait 12 months, but i guess i'm seriously risk averse 

Clearly you are, I could not imagine putting my life on hold for a year and living with parents for another year just on the hope that house prices may fall. But then I've always been a glass half full type of guy, some people will always be glass half empty.

ichicc said:

We do really love the property but would probably be able to suck up walking away from the table if need be and revisiting the market in 12 months.

If there are normally plenty of similar properties in your preferred area then this sounds your best bet if the sellers aren't interested in renegotiating; just be aware that the last time house prices dropped, transactions dropped by 50% so if the same happens it could be argued there's a 50:50 chance you won't be buying your own place in 12 months time after all. Hope you get on really well with your parents, you could be there for longer than you think.

Haha - luckily for us, my parents don't live there, else we probably would be a lot more motivated to proceed with our existing deal!

I don't really see this as a question of whether the glass is half full or half empty, more a recognition of the fact that the glass is now less full than it was a few months ago and so probably not worth what it was a few months ago either.

To milk this analogy further, some people might see that the bottom of the glass now has a crack in it, which has had some tape hastily slapped on it but still shows signs of leaking

Not necessarily! You cannot make that assumption.

I guess the only assumption I'm making is that the valuation of an asset should reflect the amount of risk/uncertainty you're taking on by owning that asset. If you've got two assets A and B which are identical except for the fact that B is riskier, then you'd expect B to be cheaper. This is scenario we are in now, except A is the house a few months ago when our original offer was agreed, and B is the house now. Unless you're disputing the idea that times are more uncertain now than they were back in January?

Not looking for an argument btw, just laying out my reasoning a bit more for my statement above.