Aibu to think homeowners are being unreasonable about prices?

[Justawonderer2018]

I live in London so maybe this is very niche but I'm a first time buyer and am shocked at some of the prices people are demanding for their flats.

Im looking at 1 bed flats and it's clear some of them are way over priced and that they're not selling plus the market is falling yet owners are holding out for more.

One flat I saw last year was on for 600k. Way over priced for what it was even though it was a lovely flat. It dropped to 585 earlier this year and is now on for 565. Even still it's probably not worth more than 499k but apparently the seller won't entertain anything less than the current valuation even though he's been waiting over a year to sell. He bought it for a lot less so it's not like he is losing money.

Similarly saw another flat on top of a shop - nice but very small. The owner wants 475k. I would say it's worth about 400k. She bought it almost 20 years ago and it's a rental property for her.

The estate agent told me people are just stubborn but it seems to me to be pure greed. At the same time it's clear that these sellers can and will simply wait till someone comes along who can afford their vastly inflated prices.

Im slightly baffled and irritated

"just move if you can't afford it" and seem completely unable to engage with what that means - most people can't just move if they can't afford somewhere

Come on OP, you are searching for homes on the market for £400k+. The above does not apply to you- you can afford to buy a house or flat, you just can't afford a house or flat in the area you want to.

When we looked (and it appears we had half you budget) we didn't even look at the expensive areas as we knew we'd be left disappointed as we couldn't afford it.

And I think it's quite offensive to people genuinely faced with homelessness that you can put yourself into any kind of comparable position.

Hmmm I've never said what my budget was. Only that I've seen flats which I believe were well over priced for what they were - which I am entitled to do.

Similarly I haven't actually stated my personal position, whether I'm homeless or have been, nor whether I'm buying alone or trying to buy with others. But since this has been brought up, I have been homeless in my life and slept rough. I also know others who are homeless despite working and I have watched this growing more widespread and becoming more common whereas before it was more unusual where homelessness was caused by other factors rather than inability to afford rent/Buy.

It is clear that there are many on this thread who like to believe that they can live in their own bubble and are blameless as it can only be the government that can fix it. Maybe so but changing your own mindset from what a home is and means can go a long way. Housing should not be something that is restricted purely to the privileged.

As I tried to make clear in my original post the flats I've seen were not people living in them looking to move but buy to let's bought a long time ago and there are plenty of people in that position holding on to starter homes for vast inflated prices when there is a real housing crisis going on.

Of course your budget must be £400k+, you wouldn't be looking at such places if it wasn't. What would be the point.

I am not in any kind of bubble- I couldn't afford to live in a skip in London. I don't blame the individual sellers for this though, we live somewhere significantly cheaper because we live where we can afford like everyone else.

Hmmm I've never said what my budget was. Only that I've seen flats which I believe were well over priced for what they were - which I am entitled to do.

Are you wasting people’s time viewing places you can’t afford? Hard to say what a place is worth without viewing in my experience. And you certainly wouldn’t know the sellers’ situations without viewing...

as I said earlier people who’ve benefited from capitalism don’t want it to change even if it’s screwing over people less well off. If I was in charge I’d put a blanket ban on buying second homes for profit (different if you end up with one through inheritance though) because it is greed, pure and simple. I take a dim view of anyone who enters the housing market with profit as their main priority. If and when I ever buy (and I’m not bothered about doing so but renting doesn’t offer much in the way of security) I won’t be doing it with the intention to sell up and make a buck a few years down the line, I’ll be doing it to have a lifelong home (which will be a one bed flat as I’m in London but that’s fine by me!)

So if you ban BTL, what are people who want to rent a place to live going to do? You can’t assume that a ban on second home ownership would mean everyone can suddenly afford to buy immediately. You’re also assuming they actually want to buy. What about young people who are ready to leave home, but don’t want the responsibility of owning a property yet? Or young people who have a bad relationship with their parents and need to get out? Or people relocating for work who need to move quickly and can’t necessarily wait around while they sell a house and buy another? The market and the country needs private landlords - unless you have a reset button and can put the millions of council houses sold under Thatcher back into public hands.

The long and the short of it is that nobody is obliged to sell at a lower price than they want. If people really have to sell, then they will eventually lower their prices accordingly.
No one can know if these people are greedy or not - and it’s a relative concept in any case.

I agree with higher taxation linked to empty properties however, and also BTL properties. Also some form of rent regulation would be good. It can’t be that so many people cannot afford to live - and signals the real state of our economy - they don’t have this problem in Germany.

And of course many more homes need to be built. Really affordable - not pretend affordable.

I am about to put my property on the market, though it is not in London. I will have to price my property in accordance with the cost of purchasing a similar property in the area I need to move to. If I took any less - that would mean that the property I would have to purchase would be of a lower standard. I am governed by market prices.
While houses are selling - and they are, many to overseas people - prices in the UK will stay high. If people stopped purchasing houses altogether, the house prices would then drop -as they did in Ireland. Whatever price you pay for a property in London, you will never lose on it, because London is the capitol of the UK, properties there are always wanted. However - if you wanted more space, more relaxation, better value for your money then properties outside of the city are far more attractive.

OP, you make good points, but you are wrongI think to point the finger at sellers, and yes, it is only the government that can fix it, because it is a systemic problem

While we live in a greed based, capitalist, market system people can't help but try and make the most money they can because that will afford them and their family security

You can't really expect this mess to be solved by individual action surely? we need government-mediated collective action, and we won't get it with the Tories, but lots of people are more concerned with keeping migrants out then fixing social problems, and so will vote accordingly...

The root cause of our malfunctioning housing market is the failure of government to regulate it in a way which prioritises the people who need homes to live in

The housing benefit system and the buy-to-let market are mechanisms which divert public money into the pockets of wealthy private individuals

We are now in a situation where our young adults cant put down roots and start families because they have no access to secure affordable homes

Whatever price you pay for a property in London, you will never lose on it,

This is not necessarily true for anyone who bought in the last 3 years or so.