To cringe at the British mentality on the property market?

[GinDaddyRedux]

N.B full disclosure I am British, and a homeowner. before anyone questions!

I've read a number of articles online, and a number of posts on here, about the property market after easing of the COVID-19 lockdown. Some of them talking about a drop of 7%, some of 20%. Goodness only knows what's accurate here.

This wasn't the thing that grated on me though. It was the bitter, nasty comments on one newspaper that "young first time buyers are insulting if they offer 10% below asking. They're usually the sort who can't manage money anyway." Or "just because you ask for a discount doesn't mean you're going to get one! Greedy! I worked hard for my investment!!" etc. One even went as far to say "never, ever lower your price for anyone. People who ask are taking the piss."

AIBU to feel the whole mentality around housing is what is so wrong here?

The belief that house prices must, and should, inexorably rise no matter what the economic or social circumstances of the UK, just because millions of Brits have ties themselves up in that dream and want a slice of it?

Surely where we should be is a situation whereby if you need to move, you move. Obviously if you can ride out a crisis like this and have the space, great. But a house is a dwelling first, an investment second as far as I see it.

Therefore if first time buyers want to buy something this year, and make an offer that reflects their reality, why is it insulting or cheeky? Estate agents are legally obliged to put them forward. So. Why the "emotion" as if they are robbing someone's pension pot?

It's because I firmly believe too many people have tied up some of their hopes and self worth in housing. It's "insulting" and "cheeky" for someone to offer lower than asking price, yet we don't think twice about haggling the sticker price on a new car. Granted, a new vehicle isn't imbued with years of memories. Yet there are people who treat it like a personal insult.

AIBU to think some people need to accept they won't get the heady sale prices of 2016/2017, if you need to sell, you just sell. No one is being "cheeky" by asking to buy it at a price they consider reasonable.

I kind of agree with the "home owners" I this scenario.
My DP and I saved HARD for a deposit and got a mortgage at the age of 24. We sacrificed. It's our investment in our and our childrens future.
I'd find it pretty hard to swallow if a 20-something came along now and offered 20% less than it was worth 🤷‍♀️
I see a lot in the news about first time buyers struggling to get on the property ladder and how hard they have it. We did it and we had a baby at the time and only one income. My partner was fresh out of uni with the debts that come with it. It's not impossible! Pay the asking price!

Second homes should be banned for a start, as well as all the interfering from the government over the past decade, low interest rates, help to buy schemes, shared ownership, all of which have pushed up prices massively, sellers whom houses have increased in value 70% over the past 7 years won't take a penny less, that is where the greed lyes, not the first time buyers who will get them self's into more debt than any other generation, I for one will have no sympathy what so ever for sellers if house prices fall dramatically, if they fell 30% in my area it would take them back to 2017 levels, not much of a drop

But who sets the asking price @MummyMayo1988? It's randomly plucked from thin air, often based on the expectations of the owner or the sales tactics of the estate agent. It's a highly illiquid commodity which is only worth what a buyer will pay.

if a 20-something came along now Would it be ok for a 50 something to do it?
and offered 20% less than it was worth It's only worth what people are willing to pay.

Pay the asking price! What just blindly pay it whatever it is without considering relevant factors?! Some sellers think their house is "worth" whatever they want for it and massively overestimate it.

Which asking price are people talking about?

The one the estate agent talks you into as part of heir own sales pitch, based on optimism, ignorance of detail, extrapolation from the selling prices of a handful of houses nearby (that they haven't usually seen inside), over the last 6-12 months (regardless of whether the market has since sharply changed) and their desire to be your agent?

Or the one they persuade you to drop to after six weeks (which begins to approach reasonable for area and condition)?

Or the one you're willing to accept after 3+ months on the market, when every possible buyer knows how long you've been on, so knows that either there's something wrong with your house, or you're deluded about price and holding out for something unrealistic?

Which asking price is it?

“I'd find it pretty hard to swallow if a 20-something came along now and offered 20% less than it was worth“

Turn it down then? You don’t have to ‘swallow’ it at all... what an absolutely insane comment

Really? Just pay the asking price, no questions asked, no matter what the economic circumstances. We're on a precipice of mass unemployment. Your house is not worth what it was at the beginning of 2020 and unearned income isn't some God-given right.

I do understand the obsession with home ownership though. If you buy, over time you will end up with no mortgage payments which provides a better life. If you rent long term you have to keep paying rent right up to your death. Owning a house longterm is preferable even if you are in negative equity for some of this period of ownership. With low interest rates and high rental costs atm, sometimes it is cheaper monthly to own the house.

@DreamTheMoors

My BIL, a real estate broker in the US for over 50 years, once told me, “your home is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it.

Exactly!

Sod off. My house is worth about the same as when I bought it, 10 years ago. That's the reality of some parts of the country. We don't all live in London.

I worked in EA after I left teaching, in a wealthy rural town. Sellers get to know the 'going rate',so don't see why realistically priced property shouldn't get full price. Very high demand for 4bed detached & first time buyer 2bed terraces meant we could often sell first time buyer stuff in a few weeks max. 7 independent agencies & they all did 'price to sell' , so: going rate price & offers close to that or bang on that . If it wasnt sold in 3months, close to, or at asking price, it was usually due to structural or presentation isues. In which case knocking off 10percent is fine. The exception to price to sell was Black Horse, they priced 10k over everyone else then had to come down & down because knowing the going rate for the area,people weren't that dim. Also , all the knackered Victorian double fronted & old farmhouses had been done up already ,so a 'project' that you can offer under asking price on was & is , like gold dust.

YANBU. All investments are a risk - property included.