Unrealistic house prices.

[lovelyupnorth]

Rant mode really.

Looking to buy a house currently renting.

It’s interesting round here there’s a lack of houses coming on to the market but there is also a number of houses on the market that are massively over priced and thus not selling. Talking to the estate agents they’ve plenty of buyers looking. But prices here have returned to their 2007 level just about and those priced sensible sell quickly but AIBU to think that if your house has been on the market for over a year with two different estate agents that maybe asking £60k more than you paid for it is unreasonable.

To put that into context another house close to that one sold recent for £20k less then they bought it for and had upgraded it.

I realise that at the end of the day it’s up to the vendor. But when they go on about desperate to sell but clearly either aren’t or deluded it’s frustrating.

Rant over. Also council tax bands how can one house selling for £465k be a D but another selling for £325k be a F.

Regarding council tax it may just be that any work done on a house increasing its relative value hasn't yet been picked up by the council so they haven't changed the band. When we bought our house (which had been extended and much improved by the previous owners) it obviously triggered this process and we got a letter saying it had been reassessed and gone up a band.

I get what you’re saying but nobody HAS to sell their house.

Death, divorce, relocation of employment are all things that can force a house sale. And if you're at risk of repossession, it's better to sell before things get to that point if you can.

Where I live, we go for ages without anything coming on to the market. Then when something does come on the market, it does so at the top end of the price range and sells quickly.

There are then lots of disappointed buyers, EAs start leafletting the area and a few more houses come on the market at or above the price of the one just sold. Some will sell very quickly, but one or two will languish on the market for a while before they shift.

Then there's nothing for sale, sometimes for a year or more, and the whole cycle begins again.

We live on the edge of town, nothing will ever be built on the fields beyond where we live, and it's practically the only part of town where you can still get a family house with a decent sized garden for under half a mill. While it's not posh by any means, all that makes it very popular with families.

weve just been through this cycle first house we liked ticked most of our boxes, is on at £120thousand, offered cheeky 112 turned down went up to 115 no reply, went up to 117 she would think about that one, four weeks later and she still hadnt got back to us,

two weeks later house near us comes back on due to sale falling through at 108500, so we viewed it liked it and have gone for that one instead as the difference in price gives us money to do it up,

two weeks later the original estate agent rings us to say first vendor is having trouble finding somewhere else are we still interested, eerrr no we have found an alternative,

the first house has lost three sales now, first wanted her to actually move out of the house she didnt, second didnt want to do the work on the rendering and us because she messed us about, i dont think she actually wants to move, but not our circus or monkeys now

@spiceupyourlife
A house is worth what a buyer is prepared to pay for it. It isn’t worth what the vendor needs to sell it for.

@fancy
Yes MMR seems to have put the brakes on.

I’m looking to move (buy) and see a lot of properties going to SSTC but then reappearing as for sale about 2 months later. Could be something to do with the survey but from speaking to an Estate Agent friend, he said that a lot of people are being declined the mortgage once the MMR checks get done.

It's up to the vendor what they're willing to sell for. The probably have a specific reason for wanting a higher price e.g. divorce, the price of the house they have their eye on, no rush to move etc. Complaining about it as a buyer just makes you sound entitled.

Sales are possible because buyer and seller place different values on the house vs the money. Buyers would rather have the house than the money. Sellers would rather have the money than the house.

The price point set by the seller simply reflects the level at which the money is more attractive to them than the house. If it's unrealistic there's no buyer for them. Some will leave the house on the market for years hoping rising prices will eventually bring them a buyer.

Don't think of those houses as actually on the market. They are waiting for a different market.

I’d find it embarrassing not least with them neighbours to have been sat on the market for so long at such an excessive price

Why would it be embarrassing 🤔

If the estate agent has advised them to put their houses up for that price, I can see why they would think that they would get that price, but if they've added thousands on the asking price themselves, more fool them. But it's hardly embarrassing.

We bought within the last year and there were a couple of particular streets we ideally wanted to live on (for practical/family reasons rather than desirability of the area per se, if that makes sense). We viewed two houses, nice enough but both easily £30k above the actual value. Waited a few weeks, another house came up for sale much closer to the going rate, similar condition etc, we bought it. One of the others is still for sale at the £30 higher price nearly a year later, the other has recently been dropped by £10k. I can only assume they must have their reasons for keeping the price high and being patient, as others have said.

I think part of the problem is the estate agents are trying to get your business and over value the property I hope you will go with them then anything under feel like yours aren’t getting value for your house.

There is one estate agent who always seem to have to reduce their price with every single sale

Talking to an estate agent this morning who was frustrated with sellers getting valuations then ignoring them in once case adding £100k to the asking price. Guess what it sold in the end for below the lower valuations.

I’ve no issues with peoples reasons just sometimes wonder how someone can buy a house and try and sell it two years later adding £60k to the price yet the prices locally haven’t increased.

But it’s nit up to the vendor. The prices are dictated by the buyers! A thing is only worth what someone is prepared to ya fir it.

To pay for it.

But it's perfectly open to the vendor not to sell until they get a price they're happy with. It doesn't sound like the vendors' in question are in a risk to sell.

We've had our house on the market for 2 weeks with only one offer well under asking price. We went with the agent's valuation, but the price feels fair (20k more than 3 years ago, after we spent probably 30k on it).

We probably can't afford to move if we drop the price by 25k. Or if we do this will mean some serious compromises on our ongoing purchase (we need to relocate rather than upsize). W

Your OP is a pretty mean minded. Some people may have to come to terms with a significant cash loss, this isn't easily absorbed for everyone. It's understandable vendors want to give their wanted asking price a good slig before reducing.

@freddyfox

Purple Bricks by any chance?

Anything for sale via them has about a 20% higher asking price than similar houses for sale with other agents. They sit on the market for months.

I agree with whoever said agents over value to get the listing, planning to get the vendor to decrease asking price after a month or so. Problem is the the vendor then has that high asking price in their head and uses that to calculate what the can afford for their onward move.

Just keep saving, we did 7 year stagnant market back in the nineties. Had a much smaller mortgage when we bought.

but the price feels fair (20k more than 3 years ago, after we spent probably 30k on it).

You can't look at it that way. Buyers are comparing your price to the price of comparable houses. What you paid and what you spent is of no interest to them.

You've also had the use of the house for three years, and it is now three years older. We just spent US$40k replacing the roof and the skylights. If I were to sell tomorrow no one would care. They expect the roof and skylights to be in good condition.

Personally, I can think of nothing more terrifying than getting hocked up with a massive mortgage at this moment in time.
It's pretty obvious that a major shit storm is about to hit the UK economy fairly soon.
God help all those who've overstretched themselves with OD, CC, Loans, Mortgages etc etc