Download "property log" chrome extension

MobileSaver

ReadySteadyPop said:

MobileSaver said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Albermarle said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Chief_of_Staffy said:

I probably used it too much, then. Thinking back it was more like 90 days. I reinstalled and about 40 days ago and it's still OK.

Most serious buyers will only use it to track price changes on one or two properties, RM etc. list price history anyway. What the apps do is give you a feel for an area, multiple price drops indicate lack of demand etc. allowing you to give sellers realistic offers that they have to consider.

I thought RM did not list price history, which is why you need the Property Log extension?

Depends if you want historical sold prices or asking price changes, both can be useful.

I'm not convinced these apps really are all that useful which might explain why take-up is so low. 

Yes they're useful if you're nosey or have an interest in the housing market but for the vast majority of actual buyers I can't see they bring much, if any, benefit to the buying process.

  They can help to identify sellers likely open to offers, that is very important as it saves the wasted time of dealing with a difficult seller. Most buyers are not looking at particularly unique houses.

For what it's worth I think you're wrong on both counts.

Most houses are pretty much unique, there are rarely two identical houses on the market at the same time. The differences may only be small in some cases but they are there just the same and everyone has their own view on what's more important than something else. Relatively few, if any, buyers genuinely have a choice of two or more houses and don't care which one they buy. What is definitely unique is the seller on two otherwise similar houses and that brings me on to the second point...

How does knowing someone has previously reduced their price make them more likely open to offers? Aren't they more likely not to want to reduce again having already done so? The answer is you don't know and it doesn't matter. Ultimately every seller has a minimum price they'll accept and whether they've reduced before or not doesn't change that.

Herzlos

Even in 'identical' looking new builds houses are usually unique. I think RSP views houses as a commodiy where any 1 house is the same as any other 1 house. 

But even availability aside; in that you need to buy based on what's actually for sale, there are all sorts of factors. Even assuming the houses are new so extensions/modifications don't apply, then the plot location and shape make a huge difference. You can get a corner plot with a tiny front / huge back next to a house with better access but a smaller garden, next to a house with an awkward lamp post or utility box, and so on. 

Once you consider how much houses change over time too, there's no guantee anything between similar houses is the same. My house was built identical to my neighbour, on a perfectly square plot, but the gardens and floorplans are wildly different 50 years on. 

MobileSaver said:

I'm not convinced these apps really are all that useful which might explain why take-up is so low. 

Yes they're useful if you're nosey or have an interest in the housing market but for the vast majority of actual buyers I can't see they bring much, if any, benefit to the buying process.

That was my thinking as well. For a house hunter it's largely irrelvant but it makes sense for people who want to track the market for some reason.

ReadySteadyPop said:

MobileSaver said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Albermarle said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Chief_of_Staffy said:

I probably used it too much, then. Thinking back it was more like 90 days. I reinstalled and about 40 days ago and it's still OK.

Most serious buyers will only use it to track price changes on one or two properties, RM etc. list price history anyway. What the apps do is give you a feel for an area, multiple price drops indicate lack of demand etc. allowing you to give sellers realistic offers that they have to consider.

I thought RM did not list price history, which is why you need the Property Log extension?

Depends if you want historical sold prices or asking price changes, both can be useful.

I'm not convinced these apps really are all that useful which might explain why take-up is so low. 

Yes they're useful if you're nosey or have an interest in the housing market but for the vast majority of actual buyers I can't see they bring much, if any, benefit to the buying process.

  They can help to identify sellers likely open to offers, that is very important as it saves the wasted time of dealing with a difficult seller. Most buyers are not looking at particularly unique houses.

More so than how long it's on the market for and that it's had a drop? I'm not sure the numbers tell you that much. A bit drop likely means the buyer isn't going to shift much from that price. Asking the EA will probably give you a better idea. 

Most people will in relatively short order see a house online, view it, offer, negotiate, move. Though to be fair when I was looking last time nothing was staying on the market long enough for prices to drop so maybe I'm wrong. 

ReadySteadyPop

Herzlos said:

Even in 'identical' looking new builds houses are usually unique. I think RSP views houses as a commodiy where any 1 house is the same as any other 1 house. 

But even availability aside; in that you need to buy based on what's actually for sale, there are all sorts of factors. Even assuming the houses are new so extensions/modifications don't apply, then the plot location and shape make a huge difference. You can get a corner plot with a tiny front / huge back next to a house with better access but a smaller garden, next to a house with an awkward lamp post or utility box, and so on. 

Once you consider how much houses change over time too, there's no guantee anything between similar houses is the same. My house was built identical to my neighbour, on a perfectly square plot, but the gardens and floorplans are wildly different 50 years on. 

MobileSaver said:

I'm not convinced these apps really are all that useful which might explain why take-up is so low. 

Yes they're useful if you're nosey or have an interest in the housing market but for the vast majority of actual buyers I can't see they bring much, if any, benefit to the buying process.

That was my thinking as well. For a house hunter it's largely irrelvant but it makes sense for people who want to track the market for some reason.

ReadySteadyPop said:

MobileSaver said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Albermarle said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Chief_of_Staffy said:

I probably used it too much, then. Thinking back it was more like 90 days. I reinstalled and about 40 days ago and it's still OK.

Most serious buyers will only use it to track price changes on one or two properties, RM etc. list price history anyway. What the apps do is give you a feel for an area, multiple price drops indicate lack of demand etc. allowing you to give sellers realistic offers that they have to consider.

I thought RM did not list price history, which is why you need the Property Log extension?

Depends if you want historical sold prices or asking price changes, both can be useful.

I'm not convinced these apps really are all that useful which might explain why take-up is so low. 

Yes they're useful if you're nosey or have an interest in the housing market but for the vast majority of actual buyers I can't see they bring much, if any, benefit to the buying process.

  They can help to identify sellers likely open to offers, that is very important as it saves the wasted time of dealing with a difficult seller. Most buyers are not looking at particularly unique houses.

More so than how long it's on the market for and that it's had a drop? I'm not sure the numbers tell you that much. A bit drop likely means the buyer isn't going to shift much from that price. Asking the EA will probably give you a better idea. 

Most people will in relatively short order see a house online, view it, offer, negotiate, move. Though to be fair when I was looking last time nothing was staying on the market long enough for prices to drop so maybe I'm wrong. 

Now? Very unlikely that things are running that smoothly for various reasons, look at the desperate ideas being floated around stamp duty for instance.

MobileSaver

ReadySteadyPop said:

look at the desperate ideas being floated around stamp duty for instance.

What 'desperate' ideas are you referring to?

Herzlos

ReadySteadyPop said:

Now? Very unlikely that things are running that smoothly for various reasons, look at the desperate ideas being floated around stamp duty for instance.

The process takes a long time, after the sale has been agreed upon. I don't think stamp duty hor changes around stamp duty have much bearing beyond it being a part of the transaction cost. People were keen to transact before the rate went up but that's done now. 

Very few people care that much about longer term house price trends, bond yields or whatever. They just want/need certain things from a house and buy one that compromises what they want with what they can afford. Future house pricing hasn't had any bearing on any house I've bought, because I'm living in them and not investing, and regardless of house pricing at some point it'll be paid off and my outgoings drop by a significant amount. 

The only people obsessing about house price trends are price crash trolls and landlords looking to buy cheap properties from desperate sellers to hit their yield targets.