Selling at a loss?

Theresonly1

I currently own a property which I bought some years back to a certain price. I am currently in need of an upsize because of expanded family and deduced that I need to sell in order to help fund my onward purchase.

However, multiple estate agents have valued my property lower than what the market value of the property was when i bought it some years back.

My question is, should I still try sell my property at a lower price? 
By doing so, would I be selling at a loss?
And is that a good thing to do given all I want is to recoup some funds in order to help fund next property?

DullGreyGuy

Depends on how much you want to move and how viable the move would be without the sale? What are your beliefs on the property prices in your area?

If you buy something for £400,000 and then sell it for £300,000 that would be a loss in most people's definitions. 

Most would say a loss is a bad thing but if you're at a £50,000 loss now and think the market will continue to go down in your area then a £50k loss now is better than a £100k loss in another 2 years time. 

Do you have a mortgage on the property? Will the proposed sale price clear it?

Tiglet2

Theresonly1 said:

I currently own a property which I bought some years back to a certain price. I am currently in need of an upsize because of expanded family and deduced that I need to sell in order to help fund my onward purchase.

However, multiple estate agents have valued my property lower than what the market value of the property was when i bought it some years back.

My question is, should I still try sell my property at a lower price? 
By doing so, would I be selling at a loss?
And is that a good thing to do given all I want is to recoup some funds in order to help fund next property?

Of course that's disappointing, but you might find that the property you want to move to has also reduced in value over a similar period.

ProDave

If prices have fallen, then not only does the selling price of your old house go down, so does the buying price of your new bigger house.  That has probably gone down by more.

The bigger issue is not that you sell house #1 at a loss, it's how much you are left with after the sale.  If you bought with a 100% mortgage, you might  be in negative equity depending how much of the capital you have repaid in the time you have owned it.  But if you had a decent deposit and have paid off some of the capital in the time you have had it, you might still have a reasonable deposit left.

Post some approximate figures.

MultiFuelBurner

Give us an idea of what you bought it for, the valuations now and how much you had as a mortgage when your bought and how much left to pay off now.

It's not always a loss just because of the sale figure when you see how much equity you have built up.

propertyrental

yes but think how much cheaper your new, bigger house will be than it was before prices dropped.

You may lose 10% of, say, £200K, on your sale (so £20K) but you'll be able to buy somewhere for 10% cheaper of, say, £400K (so saving yourself £40K)

Stubod

We sold our first house for less than we paid for it, (bought during the peak of the first housing boom, sold during the first housing "depression"), but our next house was larger and we got it for less than the owner paid for it, so overall we were still better off than if house prices had gone up....

EssexHebridean

Was this by any chance a new build when you bought it, OP? 

DullGreyGuy

propertyrental said:

You may lose 10% of, say, £200K, on your sale (so £20K) but you'll be able to buy somewhere for 10% cheaper of, say, £400K (so saving yourself £40K)

That assumes the OP is staying in area and the property prices have moved proportionately, neither of which are necessarily automatically true. 

With the covid driven exodus from central London small flats disproportionately saw drops in values whereas larger houses with private outside space were much more resilient. For those areas where people were going to houses at London flat prices were increasing in value because of the spike in demand

Richard1212

Theresonly1 said:

I currently own a property which I bought some years back to a certain price. I am currently in need of an upsize because of expanded family and deduced that I need to sell in order to help fund my onward purchase.

However, multiple estate agents have valued my property lower than what the market value of the property was when i bought it some years back.

My question is, should I still try sell my property at a lower price? 
By doing so, would I be selling at a loss?
And is that a good thing to do given all I want is to recoup some funds in order to help fund next property?

You don't give enough info for anybody to do other than make wide-ranging opinions. 

Of course you make a loss if you sell your current home for less than you bought it for !  But, how much of a loss---and does it bother you or impact heavily on your finances? #If you don't care about the lower selling price , then sell at best price quoted. 

As to whether it's a good thing to do depends on : do you mind the "loss" or is it of no financial bother for you ( as above); and how much do you want to move to a bigger home and is there any urgency ? I reckon house prices will fall throughout 2024 but no-one can be sure.

My motto when faced with such matters is : if you can afford it .....DO IT.   All the best.

MFWannabe

Theresonly1 said:

I currently own a property which I bought some years back to a certain price. I am currently in need of an upsize because of expanded a family and deduced that I need to sell in order to help fund my onward purchase.

However, multiple estate agents have valued my property lower than what the market value of the property was when i bought it some years back.

My question is, should I still try sell my property at a lower price? 
By doing so, would I be selling at a loss?
And is that a good thing to do given all I want is to recoup some funds in order to help fund next property?

Too little information for proper advice to be given 
what is the property? 

How much did you pay? 

How much is left on mortgage?
how much would new property be?