Can't sell our house. What are the options?

[dogrilla]

Put our house on the market in early April, in order to buy our dream house 100 miles away, which belongs to a relative, and despite lots of second/third viewings, nothing has happened. The market around us seems to have been flooded with similar properties and is overvalued and stagnant. We've dropped the price once and could drop it significantly, but that would mean losing our dream house as the sums would no longer add up.
We're in Zone Two, London, and could rent out easily, and people have mentioned getting a let-to-buy mortgage on our house in order to raise the money for the other house. We have a lot of equity in our house as were lucky to buy at a good time, years ago, so I suppose we are technically 'asset rich' but not much in the way of cash flow. Who would I even speak to about let to buy? A mortgage company? A financial advisor? Feeling very desperate.

[Chchchchangeabout]

Where in London are you? Sounds very strange to be in zone 2 but stagnant?

[ChazzerChaser]

We did similar. Speak to a financial advisor. And do some reading here as to the reality of being a landlord and getting the figures to stack up.

[dogrilla]

Chchch - in SW2. It's a lovely Victorian family house, but crap schools catchment area which puts off families (and the main reason we're leaving), and a bit of a schlep to the tube/centre of the action, so puts off young professionals.

Chazzer - thanks. Did you just find a FA on Google? Sorry, am totally clueless!

[hereandtherex]

Drop your price.
Adjust your offer for the next house.
Seriously, the market outside of London has been dead for years.

[Tollygunge]

Are you in Brixton? Really surprised you can't sell, even near shit schools I'd move to Brixton in a heartbeat! Fancy posting a right move link? ????

[Sophieelmer]

The market outside London is not dead at all! In many areas demand outweighs supply and things are moving quickly.

[Theknacktoflying]

Are your agents doing anything to help sell the house? Is the house sensibly priced?

You are ultimately paying the agents to get your house sold - they aren't doing their job .

What about an independent mortgage advisor?

[formerlyofLadysmith]

are you in Brixton? Surprised you can't sell. Are you over priced?

[dogrilla]

Ok, here's a link (outing me forever).

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51695657.html

It IS a stupid amount of money, I know, but certainly not out of line with other houses around the area.

[TheWildRumpyPumpus]

I am silently praising the Lord that we sold up and moved out of the crazy London property market.

If you aren't in a good school catchment then families aren't going to pay a million for your house, unless they are set on going on private education.

If you drop the price enough, you'll sell. Is your relative's dream house actually on the market at the moment, or are they waiting for you to be ready? Would they drop their price to enable you to buy it?

Are you able to increase your mortgage to buy the new place? A million out of London would get you a full blown mansion in lots of places - you'd find many similar properties I'm sure if you do miss out on this one.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Your house is lovely OP.

What I don't understand though, you say the market around you is overpriced and stagnant, but you also say your price isn't out of line with other properties.
So surely that would suggest that if your price is in line with other properties in the area it is too high, and to be a reasonable price with a chance of selling it needs to be lower than the rest?

[OliviaBenson]

Wow it looks lovely! I'm from an area where you can buy houses for £100k so can't help in that respect, but wanted to say it looks great.

Are you sure it's the right price? That's the only thing I can think of. What is your lowest figure you can accept and still move?

[dogrilla]

You're right, RumpyPumpus, it is ridiculous! The relative's house is in Bath (another house price bubble). It's not on the market and they are willing to sell for a good price for what it is, but top of what we can afford. They are however getting cold feet about waiting, and we now risk losing school place if we don't get moving quickly. Total first world problem, I know

[formerlyofLadysmith]

Yeah, I think precise location is your main issue, as you've highlighted. You are a bit in the hinterland, both for schools & for the bustling sights of Brixton. If you think the market is over-valued, why not drop the price for a sale? How much do you need?

[MrsMcColl]

Clapham Park area? Are the schools really that bad? Primary or secondary?

[dogrilla]

Yup. You're all prob right. We need to drop the price... Just sick of estate agent saying there's interest and nothing bloody happening!

[Mintyy]

Oh that is an absolutely lovely house! Beautiful.

But it's just not Brixton is it? I wonder if people who don't want Brixton are put off by that word on the particulars, while people who do want Brixton are never going to buy it.

[allovertheworld]

We've looked into let to buy, the amount they will lend is based on a multiple of rental value, not capital in house, so you may find you end up with a lower budget if you rent.

We are trying to sell near you, se11, and btL mortgages we've looked at would give us less than half of the sale value.

[allovertheworld]

Managed to click link now - OP I'm looking broadly in that area (more Streatham but up to Brixton/Tulse Hill too). I've looked at your house on right move before and yes, it was the schools that put me off.

I'd get some rental valuations and ask the agents who value it if they can refer you to an IFA - most estate agents will have one that they offer to potential buyers. That way you have a clear idea of whether the BTL mortgage, plus any other mortgage you can raise, would be sufficient for your relatives' house.

If not, I would consider dropping price a bit to sell and not lose your dream home elsewhere. You might not need to drop it by much in order to generate meaningful interest.

[etoiledemer]

Your house is beautiful and a wonderful family home.

Do the properties you're comparing with have a Brixton address as it looks like you wouldn't have to go far to get a Clapham address. Could the agents change the details to SW2 instead of Brixton as the former sounds a bit posher.

[MrsMcColl]

It's a bit between places isn't it - not quite Brixton, not quite Clapham, not quite Streatham - and not very close to tubes/trains. Perhaps that makes it less appealing to people who have the sort of budget your asking price requires? (I don't mean it critically - I live in a 'between places' area myself. I think it does affect house prices.)

[wigglylines]

How much are you paying in agents fees?

How about you use an online estate agent. We used //www.housenetwork.com (recommended to us by several mumsnetters!) and they were great but it was about 3 years ago, so it might be worth researching what is the best option now.

Anyway, if you use an online agent you pay a flat fee upfront (I think it was something like £650).

That was you can drop the price by simply removing what your estate agent would have taken as their cut.

Or if you only remove half their comission then you would be offering a lower price to your buyers while making more yourself.

Do the figures add up to a reasonable discount on the price? What kind of percentage is your agent taking?

[ecosln]

I've seen more and more houses on telipo(?) Sarah Beeny website. Can at least then reduce a big as no fees.i would be doing this in future as no one knows your house as well as you. I rent out a property and don't use agents as feel I can sell it better. Agree it's a bit middle of nowhere, not quite Clapham or Brixton, we are Balham but 10+ yrs ago there were areas in Balham that were deemed no good and now prices are ridiculous. So def worth investigating btl for capital gains.
We have btl mortgage and worth looking into to explore a all options, can reccomend and excellent mortgage broker if you would like. I managed to release equity in btl, reduce payments all with property being a bit quirky do reducing my pool of lenders.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

Does it have to be Bath that you move to?
You might find that if you're looking somewhere there isn't a bubble, you can afford something as nice as the relative's dream house.

[wigglylines]

We put our house on Teiplo and got nothing for months! Perhaps it's improved in the last 3 years though?