Selling house through lockdown

Drawingaline

Davesnave said:

You've only been marketing for a short while so reducing the price this soon might look a little desperate, but price is always key.

IMO my niece's house might have made at least £295k, but she went to the market at £280k and blew away the opposition, settling with someone fully proceedable at £285k. She may have 'lost' £10k doing that, but like you, she had something specific in mind and no other plans, so it was sell now or bust.

This is what we did. Out it on for 10k under valuation because we had found something we wanted to offer on. We unfortunately lost our buyer on sat, remarketing sat afternoon, had five viewings on Monday, one yesterday and accepted an offer this morning. Cancelled three further viewings. Other properties like ours that have come on over the past few months 10-15k higher are slowly reducing the price. 

Again, the market is hot here atm.

amandacat

Someone else mentioned having trouble booking viewings and I had the same experience. We have decided to go into rented now once our house sale completes but before this when looking to buy, I phoned one estate agent to arrange viewings on two properties, they took my details and said they’d call me back. It’s been 3 weeks and they’ve never called back. Those houses are still on the market. 
I did online viewing booking forms with two other EAs and never heard back from either of those either. Those houses are also still on the market. 
So that was 3 EAs who didn’t call me back to book viewings, I feel so sorry for those vendors but as I decided to rent I never followed it up. 

Crashy_Time

jonners666 said:

We’ve been up (again after buyers pulled out) 7 days and had 5 viewings and 1 booked in today.

Hate to say it but if the price is right, they will come 

Why do you hate to say it?

Crashy_Time

Davesnave said:

Depends where you are and what your selling strategy is.

Our niece in a Bristol suburb went live on Rightmove in the middle of last week, had 11 viewings and 3 offers, including two above asking price and she's accepted one of them. Funds confirmed.

However, Bristol's a hot market, she priced very keenly and her house is in move-in condition with no obvious down-sides. She's offered now on a property she wants, which wouldn't otherwise hang about, so she calculated taking a small hit to do that was worth it.

Some people are of the opinion lockdown2 is a farce, given the disingenuous way Boris and his chums used data to justify it, so they're voting with their feet. In my view, this will grow, but the basic messages around distancing and hygiene are sound, so it's to be hoped these aren't lost sight of. Viewings aren't against the new restrictions, but it's how people feel that decides whether they go out to see property. In my area people are generally relaxed, but in more urban situations they might not be and  the time of year isn't auspicious either.

The problem is that although they can`t control people to the extent of making sure they follow the rules to the letter, they can shut down their place of work if it is deemed necessary, eventually this feeds through to the property market, I would expect bubbles like Bristol to be especially vulnerable.

Davesnave

I've a feeling the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Tesco won't be shut down any time soon, but on the macro scale you are referring to I don't mind if prices in the city fall, because one of my children will be buying there in the next year or two. Whatever happens in a novel situation, there will be those who see an advantage and those who suffer.

Crashy_Time

Davesnave said:

I've a feeling the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Tesco won't be shut down any time soon, but on the macro scale you are referring to I don't mind if prices in the city fall, because one of my children will be buying there in the next year or two. Whatever happens in a novel situation, there will be those who see an advantage and those who suffer.

Bristol isn`t one of the biggest bubbles in the country because of those two places of employment.

Dougie0202

Thanks for the replies, it’s been on 2 weeks today and I think it’s priced right for where we are and we are the only bungalow in our village for sale at the moment so will wait until after the lock down see if any more viewings come along- do you know of anywhere I can post the link of the house to get some more interest? 

Crashy_Time

Davesnave said:

Dougie0202 said:

We are in a north Norfolk village close to sandringham estate, 3 bed detached bungalow with large garden and field behind priced at £285000 

So, rural, with a smaller supply of people who will be looking than in urban areas, but probably with a more relaxed attitude to risks in doing viewings. But where are all these folk we hear about, allegedly deserting the cities for a work from home life in the sticks?

Certainly, in my part of Devon we've seen a healthy interest in property like yours, but it's not been the mad scrum the media would have you believe; just steady. Maybe it is the time of year and the less panicked outlook many people are taking now. I'm sure someone will want the property if you have it priced right.

Having probably found yours now, I think there's plenty of competition around the price point, though you seem to be in the right ball park. I'm not clued-up enough to say more. You'd get a bit more for your £ where I live, but we have no royal connections! 

More or less as I predicted, the media today are running with a "return to city living" narrative (Bloomberg) so maybe gardens won`t fetch crazy premiums (still not sure how people were supposed to afford it) after all?

Davesnave

Crashy_Time said:

Davesnave said:

Dougie0202 said:

We are in a north Norfolk village close to sandringham estate, 3 bed detached bungalow with large garden and field behind priced at £285000 

So, rural, with a smaller supply of people who will be looking than in urban areas, but probably with a more relaxed attitude to risks in doing viewings. But where are all these folk we hear about, allegedly deserting the cities for a work from home life in the sticks?

Certainly, in my part of Devon we've seen a healthy interest in property like yours, but it's not been the mad scrum the media would have you believe; just steady. Maybe it is the time of year and the less panicked outlook many people are taking now. I'm sure someone will want the property if you have it priced right.

Having probably found yours now, I think there's plenty of competition around the price point, though you seem to be in the right ball park. I'm not clued-up enough to say more. You'd get a bit more for your £ where I live, but we have no royal connections! 

More or less as I predicted, the media today are running with a "return to city living" narrative (Bloomberg) so maybe gardens won`t fetch crazy premiums (still not sure how people were supposed to afford it) after all?

Well, I wasn't bigging-up the situation where I live, was I? People can afford large gardens out here in the sticks because houses generally fetch less than comparably sized ones in large towns and cities. Of course, there are other costs, like the inconvenience of travelling to urban centres for shopping entertainment etc and running the inevitable 4x4.

Crashy_Time

Fair points.