Diff between asking and selling price

[IDontKnowWhereMyMedalsAre]

We have been outside the Uk for the last 6 plus years so are not very familiar with the markets. My mum has had to go in a home with alzheimers and we are working on figures whether or not to sell or rent her house to pay for care. Obviously we would like very much to keep it. There is a fair bit of work needs doing but it could/will be a good investment for her grandson.
What I'd like to know if what the going rate is for the difference between the asking price and the final selling price. Are there any gudielines or anywhere I can find out?
Currently her house is on the market for 129,995. The agent suggested it would sell for 124 or thereabouts to keep under stamp duty. It has been on the market less than 2 weeks and had 3 viewings, with 2 offers from the same couple. 110 upped to 113 and agent says they will go to 115 as a final offer. I'm not sure that is that good given the agent suggested 124 as a selling price. Am I mistaken? I certainly feel confused. Any help at all please?

[MisForMumNotMaid]

If you go onto rightmove.co.uk and follow the top tabs to sold prices you can look at what has sold in the same area recently. If its just on the market £115k is possibly a cheeky offer but I offered £115k on something on at £130k that needs quite a lot of work because similar had sold with work done ( kitchen / bathroom/ electrics/windows) for £130k. It's not been accepted either.

[IDontKnowWhereMyMedalsAre]

Thanks, will check that out. Sorry for drip feed, just realised I didnt include the really important bit, that with decorarating, central heating, new gas fire, new electrics etc it would be on the market for 160, like the one that sold just down the road, that doesnt have a garden like this one.

[MrsHoarder]

It depends whereabouts in the country the house is, we bought a few months ago for 8% less than the asking price, other areas are more up and down.

How many valuations did you get? And what are similar houses going for?

Also if you are outside the UK, how would you manage renovations and a letting? Day-to-day queries, reletting, annual boiler servicing etc. Depending on where you are in the world and whether you intend to come back to the UK, would your son find a asset in need of management and which takes a long time to sell useful before he is middle-aged?

[IDontKnowWhereMyMedalsAre]

We had 5 valuations and this was the middle of the road one, with a very long established company that we have had previous (allbeit a very long time ago) experience with. Locally they have a good reputation regarding being reasonable in their/your expectations.
Its a bit of an odd area with lots of different houses and not many suitable for a like for like comparison. having said that it is a very popular rental area. As I said the completed house about 10 houses away on same street went for 160 back in June and it doesnt have a garden. I know that a garden can be a plus or a minus but if we did the work I would be expecting a similar price.
Regarding renting Im factoring in management costs, etc at 17.5% (to try and avoid any nasty surprises) which is quite a bit more than we pay the agent who has rented our much larger house in an area about 5 miles away. Different ball game I know.

[throckenholt]

I think the ting is the stamp duty kicks in at £125K - so no-one is going to want to pay a bit more because it will cost them extra in stamp duty. So the agent was telling you the max to expect is about that.

The question is - is it worth it to you, and do you have the money, to renovate it and rent it. Would it cover the costs of care ? Rental income is subject to tax - but I guess that would be in your mum's name so that is probably not a problem, unless she has some other large income.

[throckenholt]

Meant to say - it is a gamble doing the work in the hope of reaching the higher price. In most places the market is flat, or still falling. The other issue is that an unoccupied house in the winter is a pain, and is not as easy to sell as a house that is warm and lived in.

[ClareMarriott]

You could also factor in this scenario , if you have two houses being viewed, one is wonderful, light, airy and you just need to move your furniture in and the other is in need of a lot of work , which one would you try and go for? The offer you have had on the house is probably from a youngish couple, who are not necessarily fazed by the amount of work that needs doing but are factoring in the cost of those works and whether they can get the house under the stamp duty threshold. If you live abroad and cannot deal with the hassle of renting it out, I would suggest you accept the offer and have the money available for your mother's care

[housesalehelp]

Have a look on the rightmove to see what else in on the market - you can also install a really good add in called property bee which give you loads of details of how long houses have been on the market etc -
Also look up how much rent you will get - I can't imagine that it will be enough to pay for your DMs care -
btw there is a section elderley parents which might be useful in general - managment cost of 17.5 seem really steep - I would shop around as there seemed to be a fair bit of competion in my area and got it down to about 10%

[milkysmum]

Hi. We put our house on the market 10 months ago for 132,950, dropped to 129, 125 and then to 120. First offer we had was a couple of weeks ago for 113 they went to 115 as their highest offer and we took it. Exactly the same price we paid 8 years ago but at least we didn't lose anything.