How to phase ‘we want money knocked off’ email

eidand

Thrugelmir said:

ACG said:

I am trying to play devils advocate here, I am not saying the next few months will be all plain sailing, but I think unless we see mass redundancies like we did in 2007/8 then I think any effect on house prices will be limited. 

Impact was on certain sectors back then. City bankers were able to survive redundancy. This time the damage is far broader and wider. 

All that means is people in certain industries won't buy any time soon. Doesn't apply to everyone though. 

FrugalCat

ACG said:

If/When that happens then we can see what effect that has on demand, but until then it is speculative as nobody really knows what the next 6 months will bring and the implications it will have. 
If the people being made redundant are mostly people who work around uni and live with parents, that will likely have a lesser impact than homeowners or people at the stage of wanting to buy their first home.

It's safe to assume it's hitting sectors such as retail, entertainment or travel broadly and indiscriminately.
Would also ask the question: Who hurts more from furlough and losing their income? 
The low-income/student/live-with parent? Or the home-"owners" with big debt commitments?

eidand said:

I don't care how much you ask for, but here's 20% less because bla bla., market, crazy, redundancies etc. I expect any sensible seller will do the same. Common sense works both ways.

You have the luxury of being a non-distressed seller. 
Prices don't drop because sellers are willingly selling under value. They drop because people are forced into selling at whatever price they can get.

ACG

Thrugelmir said:

ACG said:

I am trying to play devils advocate here, I am not saying the next few months will be all plain sailing, but I think unless we see mass redundancies like we did in 2007/8 then I think any effect on house prices will be limited. 

Impact was on certain sectors back then. City bankers were able to survive redundancy. This time the damage is far broader and wider. 

Im not sure I agree. 
I remember Lloyds and RBS laying off about 30,000 people between them - probably more. 
That then has its own implications - the local shops and cafes that those people got their lunches from, the smaller offices which were closed etc. But there were also car plants laying people off and generally speaking I think 2008 was worse because it was people on higher incomes being made redundant. There was also a lack of money from lenders so none of them were really want to lend unless you were an absolute prime customers. 

I think (I could be completely wrong) this time it will affect more lower income people, people in hospitality and retail. I think as a rule, that will have a lesser impact because more of those people may live at home, it may be a second job or a job in between studying. 

But what do I know? It is going to be a rocky 6 months.

Crashy_Time

ACG said:

If/When that happens then we can see what effect that has on demand, but until then it is speculative as nobody really knows what the next 6 months will bring and the implications it will have. 
If the people being made redundant are mostly people who work around uni and live with parents, that will likely have a lesser impact than homeowners or people at the stage of wanting to buy their first home.

If they work around Uni and no longer want or can afford to stay in a BTL/HMO it has a pretty big effect IMO.

Crashy_Time

eidand said:

My point of view as a seller and later buyer is simple: mass redundancies or not, my price won't drop and if that means staying put for a year or so then so be it.
You can come to me and talk to me about realities and guesses as much as you want, I won't be interested.
The only way a  price drop will happen is if I see the kind of properties I am interested in come down by a certain percentage.
In that case my price will come down and it won't be as a result of a buyer asking for it, but simply because of common sense.
If everything comes down then happy days, so will mine. If not, any buyer will have to pay the current price.
My point I hope is very clear, my house was never overpriced, it was always and will always be priced sensibly according to overall market conditions. What this means is this: buyers, FTB or not, will have to do their own research and not come with a straight ... I don't care how much you ask for, but here's 20% less because bla bla., market, crazy, redundancies etc. I expect any sensible seller will do the same. Common sense works both ways.

All sounds great, but if they can buy cheaper elsewhere they will, and they will have a house and you will still be trying to sell one? Also the price of your house is affected by other sales in the street/area whether you sell yours or not.

babyblade41

Just to add my 2 pence worth, a friend who is an EA has had calls through the roof in the last 24 hours to market new properties.

A lot of thinking will have been done through this period of lockdown and big decisions may have been made .

I don't think anyone truly knows what will happen to house prices but if there is a hit I'm pretty sure it will be a short , sharp one and will recover reasonably quickly .

IMO I don't think they will take a hit at all .

In regards to the OP and answering the question,  call the agent and just state due to uncertainty we have to reduce our offer by x amount.
Nothing more , nothing less.

If I was the vendor I'd be very quick to reject it and re-list on RM pronto 

Crashy_Time

babyblade41 said:

Just to add my 2 pence worth, a friend who is an EA has had calls through the roof in the last 24 hours to market new properties.

A lot of thinking will have been done through this period of lockdown and big decisions may have been made .

I don't think anyone truly knows what will happen to house prices but if there is a hit I'm pretty sure it will be a short , sharp one and will recover reasonably quickly .

IMO I don't think they will take a hit at all .

In regards to the OP and answering the question,  call the agent and just state due to uncertainty we have to reduce our offer by x amount.
Nothing more , nothing less.

If I was the vendor I'd be very quick to reject it and re-list on RM pronto 

Nice to dream maybe, but a lot of economic data says that this is looking increasingly unlikely, hence the reason that a load of amateur investors are probably hoping they will be able to offload their properties, can`t see it happening  TBH, many people will be stuck with property they don`t want for some time to come IMO.

tom9980

Crashy_Time said:
Nice to dream maybe, but a lot of economic data says that this is looking increasingly unlikely, hence the reason that a load of amateur investors are probably hoping they will be able to offload their properties, can`t see it happening  TBH, many people will be stuck with property they don`t want for some time to come IMO.

Its all speculation nobody can know. I do have a question for you though at what point would you actually buy? imagine a property valued at £200k now that you would happy live in for the rest of your life, what would it take for crashy to buy it?

JammyMatt

babyblade41 said:

Just to add my 2 pence worth, a friend who is an EA has had calls through the roof in the last 24 hours to market new properties.

A lot of thinking will have been done through this period of lockdown and big decisions may have been made .

I don't think anyone truly knows what will happen to house prices but if there is a hit I'm pretty sure it will be a short , sharp one and will recover reasonably quickly .

IMO I don't think they will take a hit at all .

That's an interesting conclusion to gather from that information, any detail on the types of sellers listing?

Could this not actually be an indication that investor sentiment has changed? I would have thought a sudden glut of properties being listed at speed might suggest investors and/or downsizers have recognised prices have hit their peak, and are now looking to cash in before significant reductions become a certainty? Isn't this exactly the sentiment shift that would speed up a potential crash?

Surely a more positive indication would have been a glut of FTBs calling for viewings, as the bullish investor sentiment seems to be to sit-tight rather than sell up.

The above could indicate that investors are making a sudden rush for the door?

Crashy_Time

JammyMatt said:

babyblade41 said:

Just to add my 2 pence worth, a friend who is an EA has had calls through the roof in the last 24 hours to market new properties.

A lot of thinking will have been done through this period of lockdown and big decisions may have been made .

I don't think anyone truly knows what will happen to house prices but if there is a hit I'm pretty sure it will be a short , sharp one and will recover reasonably quickly .

IMO I don't think they will take a hit at all .

That's an interesting conclusion to gather from that information, any detail on the types of sellers listing?

Could this not actually be an indication that investor sentiment has changed? I would have thought a sudden glut of properties being listed at speed might suggest investors and/or downsizers have recognised prices have hit their peak, and are now looking to cash in before significant reductions become a certainty? Isn't this exactly the sentiment shift that would speed up a potential crash?

Surely a more positive indication would have been a glut of FTBs calling for viewings, as the bullish investor sentiment seems to be to sit-tight rather than sell up.

The above could indicate that investors are making a sudden rush for the door?

Daily Mail and RICS seem to think so.