How do YOU use Rightmove? + Pricing structure.

[Deleted User]

I usually set the upper price limit to well over my budget, with a view to offering less. Prices are falling, and stuff that's been on the market for a while it's often open to more realistic offers.

lookstraightahead

I set it to show newest listing first on for sale. That's it.

I do look at sold prices more as that's a very different picture for values.

UnderOffer

Newest listing here too, captures the new properties and also shows any that have decreased in price as they jump to top. Doesn’t take long to scroll through and pick out the ones that fit your criteria, I.e. minimum number of beds, garage etc., 

Jami74

As someone who can't quite afford to buy, these comments are really interesting. I tend to search by area and lowest price first and then scroll past all of the garages and cheap properties that have been on the market for months and cost £6k to enter the online auction. Then I get to the properties which would suit my needs and do lots and lots of sums, before realising that they are still £20k more than I could afford. I've heard of people locally offering quite a bit more than asking price and still losing out so assumed the prices listed were starting prices.

Emily_Joy

We are looking in a very specific area (1 mile radius within 3 train stations) where we cycled every street during the lockdowns. On the day one in early January we sat together and looked through all properties that fit our requirements in terms of size and price, which was about 300. Now I am just looking at the map to see if anything of interest appears. Do not filter by date because if the sale fall through the property is often back to the market with the previous date, unless the price is reduced. 

EssexHebridean

Jami74 said:

As someone who can't quite afford to buy, these comments are really interesting. I tend to search by area and lowest price first and then scroll past all of the garages and cheap properties that have been on the market for months and cost £6k to enter the online auction. Then I get to the properties which would suit my needs and do lots and lots of sums, before realising that they are still £20k more than I could afford. I've heard of people locally offering quite a bit more than asking price and still losing out so assumed the prices listed were starting prices.

I’d say that hopefully the situation for you could be going to improve at least a little before too long. Our area too was seeing properties go for over asking price, and quickly, but clearly the whole thing has slowed down a lot in recent weeks. (This is to our detriment, but clearly will suit others, and it is after all the way the property market goes!) 

I’ve generally speaking view the bottom of a guide price range as the “asking price” and would then do my research from there on whether that price is realistic, and of course the real test - what the property is worth “to me” - the old adage that it is worth what someone will pay is often true! 

[Deleted User]

Jami74 said:

As someone who can't quite afford to buy, these comments are really interesting. I tend to search by area and lowest price first and then scroll past all of the garages and cheap properties that have been on the market for months and cost £6k to enter the online auction. Then I get to the properties which would suit my needs and do lots and lots of sums, before realising that they are still £20k more than I could afford. I've heard of people locally offering quite a bit more than asking price and still losing out so assumed the prices listed were starting prices.

You should think about putting in more realistic offers. They can only say no, and with prices falling now you may get lucky.

Sadly as you say there are a lot of scams out there.

YoungBlueEyes

When we were searching about a year ago, it was mostly me doing the looking at RM because himself was at work. This was my system - as our absolute top budget was £260k I was looking up to £240k and RM was set to "show newest first". Our area was pretty large (within about 30 mins of himself's work), this sort of house, this number of bedrooms. Then I'd flick from newest to oldest listed first and up the budget to £260k because if something suitable came up that had been on the market for a good while I'd mentally knock a lump off their AP. 

That was all I was concerned about - house, area, how much. Everything else was just noise.

vic_sf49

I used the area search on the map, set my filters (property type, bedroom numbers and price range), then would view lowest to highest at first.

Once I got a better feel for what you could get at what price, I adjusted my price range, then sorted them by newest first, so you could see newly listed properties obvs, but also ones that came back on at different price.

As for pricing, I detest the OIEO, OIRO labels, or where they give a price range. It just winds me up, for no apparent reason (yes, I'm weird I know), because surely people only offer what they think it's worth anyway. And estate agents* who start with OIEO, then change it to OIRO, but keep the price the same... Ugh.. just put the flipping price.

*You know it's the EA talking their client into this, rather than them requesting that wording.

And not what you asked, but I'd skip properties if they didn't have a floor plan. "But you can come and view the property, to see if you like the layout". Grrr. Which is handy if you're an 8hr round-trip away.

EssexHebridean

I’m immediately put off a property with no floor plan - as it’s just impossible to work out whether its layout might work for us, or might be able to be made to work for us. Sure, I could just go and view it, but if I immediately walk in and find that the whole ground floor is open plan I’ll be walking out again - and it just wastes everyone’s time, mine included! 

We’re looking in a slightly disjointed area, so the “draw your search area” has been invaluable. For various reasons our area includes only part of the town we currently live in - if we’re staying here we want to be walking distance to OH’s rugby club, as a starting point, as that’s a quality of life thing. If we couldn’t have that then the next alternatives would be to be in a couple of small towns nearby both of which we like - so my rather odd search area includes a “spur” off that includes those. Within a couple of miles (so walking distance) of a mainline station is a must for us too, so that is factored in. Then min beds - 3 for us although I do occasionally expand that to 2 to catch anything in that range that might suit - for example if it had a dedicated home office rather than a third bedroom that would work as one). Must have a garden - that is one of our reasons for moving. And the price range set to a little above our “ideal” top level as we’d not be averse to a cheeky offer if we saw somewhere we liked.