Lowering asking price by £5,000 - is there any point?

Nenen

Still looking for a home *sigh* although it's becoming increasingly likely that we're better off waiting a bit longer.

In the meantime I'm intrigued by the way the market is going and the strategies EAs are using. In the last few months lots of houses in the price range we've been looking at (£230,000 - £330,000) have (after being on the market several weeks/months with no sale) dropped their price by £5,000. As this is a relative 'drop in the ocean' at around 1.5 - 2.2% less I am left wondering why they do it and if it really does attract any more buyers.

I can see the point if they were originally asking just over a Rightmove threshold, e.g. £305,000 dropping to £299,999 as they'd then hit the next range and people who are looking up to a maximum of £300,000 would get details, but this is not usually the case in the ones I've seen, e.g. drops from £295,000 to £290,000.

Personally, if I haven't wanted to view a property at 295K as it isn't to my taste, budget or location then I'm not likely to view it at 290K! It would need drops of at least 15-20K to make me consider a property afresh. Maybe I'm missing something but surely, anyone with a maximum budget of 290K would look at a property at 295K if they thought it was potentially any good and hope to shave £5,000 off anyway, wouldn't they?

Is this a case of sellers in denial about a realistic asking price or the start of a very slow and painful decline in prices dropping extremely slowly as sellers gradually accept what is happening ? IMHO, it's like trying to peel a sticking plaster off a scab very slowly and excruciatingly inch by inch versus a quick, sharp tug and it's all over! I just wish the market would 'correct' asap without all this shilly shallying!

neas

small drops at first... they dont want to cause a crash by dropping too much. Some people wait 5 months bfore they even drop the price to raise interest.

5k off means you can negotiate another 10k off imo :P. They are desperate to sell so will be able to knock em even more :P

WTF?_2

IMO anyone who seriously wants to sell an average property in the current climate would have to be looking at putting it on the market at least 5% below the average valuation to attract interest. Then be flexible enough to let it go for 90% of valuation.

Otherwise the buyer will just be chasing the market down.

Exceptional/ desirable properties should hold their value a bit better but the buyer should still be prepared to let it go at 95% unless they can attract multiple bids.

nelly_2

The one we buying was on at 187 then dropped to 180 and we offered and got at 170

So whats that as a %?

Is it ten-ish

Anyone for tenish? Shertainly shir

m00m00

17k reduction from 187k to 170 = 9.09% reduction


that's above the average property bee reduction I've been seeing, but not outside the range.

congrats nelly

barnaby-bear

Nenen wrote: »

I just wish the market would 'correct' asap without all this shilly shallying!

:hello:Any tales of your adventures, hope all well?

Nenen

barnaby-bear wrote: »

:hello:Any tales of your adventures, hope all well?

Thanks Barnaby-bear... good to see you :hello:

We've kept looking on Rightmove and viewed a few... put in one or two offers but are determined not to over-extend ourselves given the current market climate. One offer was rejected at first but then they came back to us four weeks later asking if it was still on the table as they would now accept (25K below asking). However, by that time we'd moved on and thought of all the reasons why we didn't like the house anyway so decided not to proceed. It's still on the market so I guess they're kicking themselves that they didn't accept our offer in the first place! Many sellers are determined to hold out for asking price or increasingly we are seeing price drops of 5K. Don't quite know what is 'magical' about 5K but that seems to be the average drop on property bee for this area in our price range.

I know logically we should wait and see how things develop with the HPC possibility but my heart is just soooo longing to 'nest'! I feel as if I am in limbo and finding it hard to see a way out at the moment. If only dh could get a job in a cheaper area (I'm fairly flexible where I work but it's not so easy for him). I just need more patience.... and quickly!

mr.broderick

Nenen wrote: »

Still looking for a home *sigh* although it's becoming increasingly likely that we're better off waiting a bit longer.

In the meantime I'm intrigued by the way the market is going and the strategies EAs are using. In the last few months lots of houses in the price range we've been looking at (£230,000 - £330,000) have (after being on the market several weeks/months with no sale) dropped their price by £5,000. As this is a relative 'drop in the ocean' at around 1.5 - 2.2% less I am left wondering why they do it and if it really does attract any more buyers.

I can see the point if they were originally asking just over a Rightmove threshold, e.g. £305,000 dropping to £299,999 as they'd then hit the next range and people who are looking up to a maximum of £300,000 would get details, but this is not usually the case in the ones I've seen, e.g. drops from £295,000 to £290,000.

Personally, if I haven't wanted to view a property at 295K as it isn't to my taste, budget or location then I'm not likely to view it at 290K! It would need drops of at least 15-20K to make me consider a property afresh. Maybe I'm missing something but surely, anyone with a maximum budget of 290K would look at a property at 295K if they thought it was potentially any good and hope to shave £5,000 off anyway, wouldn't they?

Is this a case of sellers in denial about a realistic asking price or the start of a very slow and painful decline in prices dropping extremely slowly as sellers gradually accept what is happening ? IMHO, it's like trying to peel a sticking plaster off a scab very slowly and excruciatingly inch by inch versus a quick, sharp tug and it's all over! I just wish the market would 'correct' asap without all this shilly shallying!

It would give the propertysnake cranks something to talk about

nelly_2

m00m00 wrote: »

17k reduction from 187k to 170 = 9.09% reduction


that's above the average property bee reduction I've been seeing, but not outside the range.

congrats nelly

This is it check out the room sizes

sarah_elton

My brother (an EA) and his manager spent two days last week ringing sellers to try and convince them to drop their asking prices. He was happy because they managed to get £137,000 worth of reductions on 82 properties.

Sellers don't want to drop prices, and when they do they're not going to drop by big increments.

A house in my town has been on the market over a year now. Started at £275k which was ridiculous for it. They've grudgingly come down to £250k asking price by now, but dropped in stages.

snoopy78

I am looking around Kingston/Surbiton area here in the south and I have to laugh at EA taking. My wife and myself are both Financial analysts know a little of what is going on in the market, and according to every EA I speak to things are "seasonally" slow and/or the house price falls are not effecting there area.

Obviously an EA telling you that things are really bad in the market would be like MacDonalds telling you there food taste like crap and makes you into a fatty, but EA do over stretch the truth a little.

Sellers as well have got a problem as they are told to espect a certain amount then they go off and look for another property with that amount in mind, so obviously they are pained to reduce prices. Sometimes they need to realise that they would be getting a similar reduction in the prices they will be paying for their next house.