House not selling

kinger101

ReadySteadyPop said:

NameUnavailable said:

Ex estate agent here. I usually found properties being sold by couples who were splitting up more difficult for a number of reasons;

One party doesn't want to sell (either can't afford another place to live or hopes keeping the property might mean getting back together) and does everything to put any buyers off.

Buyers - if they know - get bad vibes, it is an unlucky home!

Buyers, even if they don't know, pick up on an awkward atmosphere (ususally only where vendors are present for viewings).

The home can feel cold and unloved if both parties have given up on it and just waiting to sell (see comments about doing any obvious work that's needed).

I would visit and try to look at the place as if you were a buyer, sort any obvious problems (clean, freshen up etc.) and consider doing any jobs that may mean doing some painting etc. Make sure the agent does any viewings and that your partner isn't there! Ignore most feedback from viewings, people just say stuff to give an answer, not what they really think, usually!

Don't expect much to happen for the next few weeks, new year should bring more interest.

I don`t believe this, divorce/separation is nothing now, it might have had a stigma 50 years ago maybe but buyers are looking at price, if the price is right the behaviour of one or both sellers will be of little consequence.

The risk of one of the parties dragging their heels would put me off.

ReadySteadyPop

kinger101 said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

NameUnavailable said:

Ex estate agent here. I usually found properties being sold by couples who were splitting up more difficult for a number of reasons;

One party doesn't want to sell (either can't afford another place to live or hopes keeping the property might mean getting back together) and does everything to put any buyers off.

Buyers - if they know - get bad vibes, it is an unlucky home!

Buyers, even if they don't know, pick up on an awkward atmosphere (ususally only where vendors are present for viewings).

The home can feel cold and unloved if both parties have given up on it and just waiting to sell (see comments about doing any obvious work that's needed).

I would visit and try to look at the place as if you were a buyer, sort any obvious problems (clean, freshen up etc.) and consider doing any jobs that may mean doing some painting etc. Make sure the agent does any viewings and that your partner isn't there! Ignore most feedback from viewings, people just say stuff to give an answer, not what they really think, usually!

Don't expect much to happen for the next few weeks, new year should bring more interest.

I don`t believe this, divorce/separation is nothing now, it might have had a stigma 50 years ago maybe but buyers are looking at price, if the price is right the behaviour of one or both sellers will be of little consequence.

The risk of one of the parties dragging their heels would put me off.

Fair point.

ReadySteadyPop

RelievedSheff said:

I think it's just a case of sitting it out at the moment. If people are thinking of buying this spring we are out of the Christmas period now so activity will start to increase.

There is still plenty of property market activity at Christmas.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/news/articles/property-news/record-breaking-boxing-day-bounce-2024/

Hb92

Thanks for the advice everyone. We've got no more viewings booked in as of yet.

I will see how it goes for the next few weeks and may possibly reduce it to £170k and see how we go with that.

ReadingTim

Rather than passively sit by, try putting yourself in a buyer's frame of mind and do some research.  Pretend you have £175k to spend on a 3 bed place within a mile or two of your location and honestly answer whether yours is the best one out there for the price.  If not, adjust the price until it is, but note that it may also be less than what you paid for it, or have outstanding on the mortgage...

ReadySteadyPop

ReadingTim said:

Rather than passively sit by, try putting yourself in a buyer's frame of mind and do some research.  Pretend you have £175k to spend on a 3 bed place within a mile or two of your location and honestly answer whether yours is the best one out there for the price.  If not, adjust the price until it is, but note that it may also be less than what you paid for it, or have outstanding on the mortgage...

Or figure out what the type of buyer who views in your area can actually afford at current borrowing rates?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgage-rate-calculator/

Hb92

So we had a few viewings over January, good feedback but again no offers. We have decided to drop the price now to £165k and we had a few viewings at this price but again no offers. This is £10k below the valuation now and we haven't had any viewings for the last 2 weeks. If we sell at £165k this would leave me in £3500 worth of debt so at this time we really can't afford to drop it any further. Obviously this can change with each month that passes as we pay more of the mortgage and loan off.

I thought by February i might have had an offer, especially with the newer price but it just doesn't seem to be happening. It has been on the market for 6 months now, although our first EA was useless but we went with a new one at the end of November and definitely had more viewings and communications with the new agent. Still not quite sure what else we can do at this point. I feel like this will take forever to sell. 

ReadingTim

Ask the EA what price they'd market it at for a "quick sale" by a "motivated seller" - it seems like selling at a loss is inevitable, so the only question is how big that loss will be.  

I appreciate no-one likes losing money, but if that's the cost of allowing you to get on with your life, then it's perhaps a price worth paying (within reason)

ReadySteadyPop

Hb92 said:

So we had a few viewings over January, good feedback but again no offers. We have decided to drop the price now to £165k and we had a few viewings at this price but again no offers. This is £10k below the valuation now and we haven't had any viewings for the last 2 weeks. If we sell at £165k this would leave me in £3500 worth of debt so at this time we really can't afford to drop it any further. Obviously this can change with each month that passes as we pay more of the mortgage and loan off.

I thought by February i might have had an offer, especially with the newer price but it just doesn't seem to be happening. It has been on the market for 6 months now, although our first EA was useless but we went with a new one at the end of November and definitely had more viewings and communications with the new agent. Still not quite sure what else we can do at this point. I feel like this will take forever to sell. 

Is it cheaper than other similar houses?

uralmaid

It is very sad when this sort of situation happens but it is very common.  Speaking as an ex Estate Agent my only advice to anyone is that a property is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. Estate Agents can say what they think a property is worth but at the end of the day it isn't them buying it.  So many people make the mistake of thinking that spending x amount on improvements will automatically add that amount to the price and it just isn't true. Obviously hindsight is a wonderful thing and no doubt when you took out the home improvement loan, you thought you would be staying in the property for years to come and so the benefit of the improvement would be worth the cost. However, you can't expect a prospective buyer to feel the same.  The longer the property is on the market, the more it will impact the price and also your wellbeing.  If time isn't an issue then keeping it on the market may  result in a sale but reading your comments, you just want to get it sold and move on with your lives so it may be you have to take a hit on the price to do that. No-one wants debt, especially when you hope that investment into a property will increase the price but it isn't always reality.  Hope you manage to achieve a sale and can move on.