Fantasists?

RelievedSheff

lookstraightahead said:

mi-key said:

[Deleted User] said:

mi-key said:

[Deleted User] said:

A lot of people thought they were getting rich and are now reluctant to lower prices to realistic levels.

Make realistic offers. They can only say no, and they might realise that they are being silly.

Sadly that isn't ( and never had been ) how the housing market works. 

Realistic is whatever a house sells for. If buyer A comes along and decides it is 25% overpriced, but buyer B comes along the next day and pays full asking price, then who is right?  Has A missed out by being unrealistic, or has B been ripped off and paid too much? 

People buy a specific house for all sorts of reasons and I bet the vast majority of buyers never look at what a house has sold for in the past. 

Most people by a house as a home to live in, not something to look at figures on bits of paper to see how much they have saved or could have saved. 

That is exactly how the market works. You offer what you think it is worth and if it's not enough for the seller you move on.

Or you pay over the odds and screw yourself. Your choice.

Or sensible people make reasonable offers they can afford on houses that are within their budget range, rather than wasting their lives making low offers on houses they can't afford that will never be accepted.

It is the difference between being realistic when  looking at houses, and desperately  hoping someone will reduce a house to a price you can afford, while someone with more money comes along and buys it...

But so many sellers are unrealistic, it's worth a try. What's the point of paying a ridiculous price only to have the bank undervalue (for those needing a mortgage).

For the vast majority of buyers, the valuation coming in lower isn't a major issue. It is only those trying to buy right at the top of their budget and LTV who are affected.

Both sellers and buyers need to be realistic. If a property is priced to sell then there is little point going in with low offers, they will not be accepted.

Each property needs to be judged on its own merits and how it is priced against direct comparibles. Not what something similar sold for 5 years ago, but what similar properties sold for recently. What similar properties are on the market for now.

mi-key

Or sensible people make reasonable offers they can afford on houses that are within their budget range, rather than wasting their lives making low offers on houses they can't afford that will never be accepted.

It is the difference between being realistic when  looking at houses, and desperately  hoping someone will reduce a house to a price you can afford, while someone with more money comes along and buys it...

But so many sellers are unrealistic, it's worth a try. What's the point of paying a ridiculous price only to have the bank undervalue (for those needing a mortgage).

The danger is ( as some have found on this forum ) that Buyer X considers every house as overpriced and every seller should reduce the price and accept a below asking price offer.

While doing this and having offers on various properties rejected, other people who are happy to pay more ( and don't consider the price ridiculous ) are stepping in and buying them, while Buyer X sits there not getting anything.

Saving some money on a house is all well and good, but there are very few houses that sell at genuine bargain prices, or sellers who accept low offers, so at some point Buyer X needs to realise if they want to buy somewhere, they are going to have to pay close to asking price

mi-key

Bear in mind as well the UK has a massive shortage of housing. In most areas there really isn't a huge supply of houses that will meet someones requirements and budget with sellers desperate to sell them at any price. 

lookstraightahead

RelievedSheff said:

lookstraightahead said:

mi-key said:

[Deleted User] said:

mi-key said:

[Deleted User] said:

A lot of people thought they were getting rich and are now reluctant to lower prices to realistic levels.

Make realistic offers. They can only say no, and they might realise that they are being silly.

Sadly that isn't ( and never had been ) how the housing market works. 

Realistic is whatever a house sells for. If buyer A comes along and decides it is 25% overpriced, but buyer B comes along the next day and pays full asking price, then who is right?  Has A missed out by being unrealistic, or has B been ripped off and paid too much? 

People buy a specific house for all sorts of reasons and I bet the vast majority of buyers never look at what a house has sold for in the past. 

Most people by a house as a home to live in, not something to look at figures on bits of paper to see how much they have saved or could have saved. 

That is exactly how the market works. You offer what you think it is worth and if it's not enough for the seller you move on.

Or you pay over the odds and screw yourself. Your choice.

Or sensible people make reasonable offers they can afford on houses that are within their budget range, rather than wasting their lives making low offers on houses they can't afford that will never be accepted.

It is the difference between being realistic when  looking at houses, and desperately  hoping someone will reduce a house to a price you can afford, while someone with more money comes along and buys it...

But so many sellers are unrealistic, it's worth a try. What's the point of paying a ridiculous price only to have the bank undervalue (for those needing a mortgage).

For the vast majority of buyers, the valuation coming in lower isn't a major issue. It is only those trying to buy right at the top of their budget and LTV who are affected.

Both sellers and buyers need to be realistic. If a property is priced to sell then there is little point going in with low offers, they will not be accepted.

Each property needs to be judged on its own merits and how it is priced against direct comparibles. Not what something similar sold for 5 years ago, but what similar properties sold for recently. What similar properties are on the market for now.

There are thousands and thousands of buyers where the valuation is vital, or they just don't want to pay for a house that the lender won't even risk. And of course those who have a specific LTV bracket which makes a wealth of difference. This doesn't just affect the buyer, it affects the seller, who has to remarket when the buyer has to, or wishes to, pull out.

I agree that both parties need to be realistic. The issue is that the seller is often the initial one not being realistic. There's a definite theme with sellers being over optimistic (I mean greedy) and that just starts a spiral of events that wastes everyone's time.

A buyer needs to remove all the marketing that so often comes with selling a house (or any product) and see it for what it really is. After all, that's why it's called marketing. There to entice. And often people see something that's more expensive as better quality. Sometimes it is, often it isn't. 

I don't doubt for one moment though that lots of sellers are after that one particular buyer who is happy to pay whatever for their "dream home". There are lots of people who never want to negotiate as well, as it's uncomfortable to do so. So they either get lucky or their house waits around for ever. Recently lots have sold so they're still holding on to this. There are also buyers who bought recently holding on to this. The fact is that generally house prices are heading downwards now. Who knows how long this will be for, but it does pose a question more so to a buyer now. They're going to take it into consideration when offering.

Each to their own, but I don't trust what a house goes on the market for any more than what my daughter used to 'sell' her veg for in her pretend shop when she was little.  

jimbog

lookstraightahead said:

Each to their own, but I don't trust what a house goes on the market for 

not sure what it is to 'trust' the asking price of a house

RelievedSheff

You don't need to trust what a house goes on the market for (whatever that may mean).

It is generally easy enough to compare the asking price with recent sale prices and other similar properties currently on the market.

If a property is already "priced to sell" then you are not going to get a reduction on that. If a property is keenly priced then yes the vendor may accept a lower offer.

lookstraightahead

RelievedSheff said:

You don't need to trust what a house goes on the market for (whatever that may mean).

It is generally easy enough to compare the asking price with recent sale prices and other similar properties currently on the market.

If a property is already "priced to sell" then you are not going to get a reduction on that. If a property is keenly priced then yes the vendor may accept a lower offer.

ok well maybe it's because most of the houses I've bought have no comparables as they're all different. 

But then the market changes too. And sellers and EA value differently. What are they basing their valuations on? Winning business? Selling a dream?

enthusiasticsaver

An overheated property market last year is probably the reason especially in certain areas as many people decided post COVID they want more green space. Then of course they change their mind when they realise they need to drive 10 miles to the nearest town/pub and buses only run twice a week. 

eidand

FlaatusGoat said:

Continuing my house hunt, I've broadened my search criteria for properties up to 350k out of curiosity. What really raises my eyebrows and I don't know if it's specific to this area is the amount of properties I'm seeing that were recently bought circa 2021ish and are up for sale. Plus an extra 100K?!

Someone who's more knowledgable than me please educate me. Are we dealing with vendors who are complete fantasists or am I the dreamer? See below examples.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/128663483#/?channel=RES_BUY

No obvious work done.

Next example

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130008986#/?channel=RES_BUY

Up 80k with no obvious work done.

yup, prices went up a lot in the past couple of years. Looking at my own area we bought a bungalow for 405k towards the end of 2020. Bungalows like mine are now selling at 550k ish and this is without even taking into consideration the improvements we've done. It is what it is.

Had we waited, we wouldn't have been able to afford it now.

I do remember the discussions on this forum around that time and how people were advised not to buy cause the prices are too high and a huge drop is coming .... yeah ... that went well.

ReadingTim

Personally I find the prices advertised by sellers of Rolls Royce cars unrealistic - the fact my budget is more at the Dacia level is irrelevant - I am a first time buyer and therefore king!