What do you think if a house comes up for sale that just been bought 2 years ago?

[littlecrystal]

Actually, 2 of them in the same road, both were bought in 2011 and both came on the market in mid-2013.
I wonder if there is something wrong with those houses but obviously cannot ask directly.
Not to mention that both of them try to sell with profits (be thankful if you can recoup the buying cost).

I am selling myself after 4 years of ownership, have never settled in my house despite of everyone complimenting on it.
(silly reason to sell but here you are!)

Is it necessary a red flag if the house was only bought recently and now is back for sale, or perhaps sold several times in the last few years?

Any opinions appreciated.

[sleepyhead]

I think you absolutely can ask directly if you're thinking of buying one of them.

It could be for lots of genuine reasons, but I'd certainly be asking about how things were with neighbours (and they have to declare if there are/have been any recorded disputes).

I'd also be spending some time in the area at different times of day to see if there might be anything that might make you want to move on so soon.

[orangepudding]

Ask the EA's if they know why they are being sold. Can't hurt to ask!

[NoComet]

Sometimes, jobs, relationship breakdowns and other circumstances do mean people have to move when they didn't plan to and sometimes people do houses up to take a profit, but sometimes you do wonder.

Several houses on our main A road have been sold several times in the 14 years I have lived here and two are for sake again. Hugely more than the turn over of houses in my similar size hamlet or the neighbouring village.

I suspect people get very fed up with the lorries.

[Leopoldina]

no. Maybe they've been done up as projects and flipped, maybe the owners have come into a large amount of money and can upgrade, or vice versa. Maybe they're emigrating to Australia. Perhaps they only intended to be in for a short while. They might have had triplets and need more space.
Without knowing what condition the properties were in when purchased in 2011 you can't know whether they should be thankful to recoup the purchase price or should expect a tidy profit.

To work out if there is a problem - how many houses are there on the road? are two quick sales a high proportion of the road? (actually that makes me realise that 4 of the five houses on our road have sold within 5 yrs of each other. No problem with the road but emigration / a divorce or two / a development / a downsize) Are they close to each other so might both be affected by behaviour of a common neighbour? You can always ask direct questions as part of precontract enquiries and the responses have legal status - they're responsible for inaccurate / incorrect answers. You can knock on doors and talk to neighbours.

[CreamyCooler]

I lived in my first 2 houses for just 16 months and 2 and a half years. There was nothing wrong with the houses.

[newgirl]

Could be got into a desirable school now moving? Done up for profit?

[NoWayNoHow]

We moved after 20 months because of DH's job, so I really wouldn't read too much into it - there are loads of different reasons why people move quickly. But ask the EA, they normally know and don't mind sharing - if they're evasive, you have your answer!

[Mamf74]

A house next door to our old one came up for sale last year, and is now on the market after extensive (much needed!) renovation.

I would say in that case the couple are obviously newly married and I know that one factor in us leaving our house was it's total unsuitability for babies / small children (eg small rooms & lots of stairs) so I would put money on them moving in as newly weds then either falling pregnant or thinking about kids and suddenly looking at how tricky the layout of the house is.

Also, is the house near a university at all? My old area was really close to a Uni and it wasn't unusual for parents to buy Jr a house for the duration of their studies, then sell up in the summer of their graduation.

Finally, when we put ours on the market several neighbours did the same with theirs over the next few months; we were lucky enough to live in an area which had massively risen in the 10 year we owned our house and some people on the road could have walked away with 200/250k in their pockets so if there has been a big jump they could be cashing in?

Plus all the other reasons given by PP..... A red flag for me, however, may be if they were next door or close to one another or if the price paid (check Zoopla) was higher than currently being asked as that could have caused financial problems.

[tabulahrasa]

My house was a new build when I moved in...every two years or so about 3 or 4 houses go up for sale because people split up, we've made jokes about our street having some sort of anti-couple curse, but I would imagine it does look like there's something wrong with the area to potential buyers.

Just ask why they're selling.

[Ughughugh]

I always assume they're haunted. Take a priest with you to look round.

[Leopoldina]

tabulahrasa - I remember studying something about the increased divorce rate in places like Milton Keynes and Harlow New Town (back when they were both new-ish). Thinking along the lines is that they type of people most likely to go for new area are more ambitious / career driven therefore more stressed / under pressure = more likely to divorce. Does that fit your development?!

[LifeOfPee]

I'd assume they'd been developed.

[RatHammock]

Oh dear, we're in the position of wanting to sell our house after 2 years of living here. There's nothing wrong with the house; in fact we've done a lot of work and it's much nicer than when we bought it. We just want to move back to London as we have not settled here (Bucks). Our neighbours on both sides are also putting their houses on the market. One set are moving to Ireland. The chap on the other side had lived there with his dad for 60 years. The father died a couple of months ago so he has decided the house is too big and is moving up North to be near family.

Is it really going to put people off if all three come up within about a six month period. Houses round here do seem to sell pretty quickly, if that makes a difference.

Goodbye big house and garden, trees and wildlife, hello smokey old city, massive mortgage and rush hour on the tube. God how I have missed you!

[ChipAndSpud]

We put ours on sale after 2.5 years as DH had a pay rise and we would like another bedroom, nothing wrong with our place and we will miss our neighbours a lot!

I always ask the estate agents, ours even told us that one seller was a total pain in the backside and they were the last option for her as other local estate agents had stopped working with her because she was a pain!

[littlecrystal]

Ha! Those two houses I am looking at are incidentally quite close to each other. I can see Zoopla pictures from 2 years ago, so no they have not been renovated since 2 years ago. One of them was put on the market and taken off, so I cannot ask. Another one I need to ask. It has a double bed in each bedroom, not sure what is says!
The area is just a plain suburb estate. Nothing too fancy.

[littlecrystal]

RatHammock very interesting, are you moving back to the same place in London where you have moved from?

Once I viewed a house that was just bought 2 years ago (again the seller was looking to make heaps of profit). The agency assured me that the seller lived there for many years while Zoopla was clearly showing Sold in 2011. So, not every agent is being helpful.

[tabulahrasa]

"tabulahrasa - I remember studying something about the increased divorce rate in places like Milton Keynes and Harlow New Town (back when they were both new-ish). Thinking along the lines is that they type of people most likely to go for new area are more ambitious / career driven therefore more stressed / under pressure = more likely to divorce. Does that fit your development?!"

No - it's just our street, rofl, they built a few streets of new houses and replaced some HA stock...not a massively up and coming area and not a particularly big development. the next street over which is the same age has hardly any houses coming up for sale.

It's cursed I tell you.

But seriously, my street happened to have a lot of couple moving in with either young children or just about to have young children as they were mostly 3 bedrooms subsidized by the scottish executive, the streets round about happened to get slightly older families - I think it's more that that accounts for it tbh.

[HormonalHousewife]

@ years isn't a long time, so yes this would wave a little flag for me but of course its perfectly reasonable to ask ? why wouldn't you ?

[RatHammock]

littlecrystal

Sadly, no. We previously lived in a very expensive part of West London. The average asking price in our old borough has just tipped £1m.

We'll be moving to somewhere like Willesden or Kiburn; not as posh as where we lived before but absolutely fine (I used to live on Willesden Lane).

Although our mortgage will be higher, we won't need the car (and get free travel as a perk of DH's job), so I don't think our outgoings will change drastically.

[littlecrystal]

RatHammock thanks for sharing.

[wonkylegs]

Could be many reasons. I'd ask EA/owner then see if that rings true.
Jobs (new ones or loss of old ones) unexpected kids, renovating for profit, divorce, marriage........ Loads of reasons

[CreamyCooler]

People can have lived in their house for years but a sale shows on Zoopla etc if they brought a house of a landlord that they were previously renting or possibly if one partner buys the house from the other partner following a separation. Being nosy online only gives a quick snapshot of a properties history.

[Leopoldina]

oh Rat, what a familiar story (now priced out of Belsize Park, never to return...). which part of Bucks did you land in?

[FairPhyllis]

I wouldn't think anything of it. We moved about every two years when I was a child because parents kept getting promoted. A friend had to sell a house 9 months after she bought it because an insanely good job came up somewhere else and she got it.

[funnyossity]

Have done this for job relocation. Someone got a bargain too!