To feel bloody miserable that my house probably won’t sell?

[Yesaigust]

I paid 520 for my house in 2022. Had it valued at 540. When I bought it I wasn’t in a great place mentally and think I probably paid over the odds for it a little as it was all done up etc. Anyway, it’s been on the market a week at 550 (in the hope of getting 540) and no enquiries. I’m desperate to move but need the 540 to break even with moving costs after buying in 2022.

I feel stressed. I’m a lone parent too and feel like everything is getting on top of me now and I’m also trapped somewhere I really don’t want to be. Just having a moan really but wondered also if anyone had any advice.

Yes this is accurate- however people won’t be looking until the 26th.

Gove it a few weeks and post Christmas things will start moving again.

I assume you've looked at sold house prices in your area and you are in line with those, and if you want a quick sale maybe a bit below. After that nothing much you can do but wait and see. It's not a great time of year to be selling but people have to move for all sorts of reasons.

Is the house you want to buy very specific or if you lose that one will there be other similar houses hopefully on the market soon? If you really have to have that particular house you may have to drop your asking price.

How much is the place you're looking to move to?

I think there'll be a lot of scope to knock money off if it's more expensive as the top of the market is suffering some heavy drops at the moment, as nobody can finance the massive houses.

I bought a house two weeks ago. Keep it on. Just because a lot of people don't look doesn't mean you shouldn't try. You only need one buyer.

The issue is that if you want your house to sell, you have to offer it at a price that makes someone want to buy it. You can list it for 540K and get no interest or you can drop the price and see what happens. Lack of sale is either poor marketing by the agent or over estimation of the value.

If you can’t afford sell it at a lower price than the listing, then maybe you can’t afford to sell just now. Your house will sell, but it might not be for the price you want and only you can decide whether you want to let go of the house you’ve seen and look elsewhere. Only you know whether it’s worth it to you to accept a lower offer or no offer at all.

Our house was valued the same by several different agents. It didn’t sell at that price though, although not much under. Yours has been on the market a short time. Remove it and start again in a few weeks time.

I thought boxing day was traditionally when sites like RM get the most views.

So having it on there then may not lead to instant viewings, but at least will make sure you are out there to be looked at if and when people feel ready.

Mid 2022 was peak market I think because that is when interest rates rose.

Still, local markets are a mish mash with some houses going up still in price and others going down. You just have to try and see.

And remember although your house may be going down, the one you will be moving to will likely be going down too.

My friend has had her house on the market since September, it's not selling but they won't lower it to a price people are willing to pay (they don't live in a great location so that is a negative) so are stuck. Especially as there are better houses for less.

The agent said before Christmas was good time to list as everyone looks at rightmove over the holidays.

I have never heard anyone actually selling their house say this. At this time of year people normally say "things pick up in the Spring".

Get a new agent.
3 weeks before Christmas is a terrible time to sell a house.
People might view online over Christmas but they're not going to buy. Listing it now might mean it sits on the market for a while meaning people will think they can make low ball offers.

Don’t listen to that poster she’s wrong - always price your property at slightly more than you want. Buyers expect to offer under.

absolutely. And OP, there may be a house that comes up for sale later that you will like even more. There is never just one house.

Apparently the peak day of they year for hits on RightMove is Boxing Day.
Of course, that might just be people being nosey, rather than people really looking to move. Or it might be connected to the Christmas peak in relationship breakdown...

It is stressful selling houses but you are being too tough on yourself. Whilst people might be nosing on Rightmove at this time of year, no one is doing many viewings with everything else everyone has got going on this time of year. It’s a really funny time of year to put a house on the market.

Any interested parties will see that you paid 520 2 years ago, so I think 540 is a realistic target. If you lived there 15 years people would expect to pay more. Putting it on at 550 seems a perfect starting point.

What are your circumstances in that you are selling so quickly? People will ask the agent that, so he may want to have something up his sleeve that doesn’t paint a bad picture of the house I.e Divorce, downsizing, new job.

So you bought a house two years agon and probably paid too much for it on your own words.. now you’d like to sell it for £20k more to replenish your own savings so have listed it at a further 10k over that.. the mind boggles!

The house is worth what it’s worth, not what you need for your savings.

100 percent. If the house was valued at 540, 550 is Ok for the listing. You have to have a little wiggle room in negotiations.

The market round here is slow, so it might just be the same where you are. But houses are swelling in their good time. As others have said, this isn't the time when people are looking, but they do look between Christmas and New Year, so hopefully you'll have some viewing in the first weeks of January.

Give it a bit of time. Ask a friend to ring up and enquire about it. Listen to what the estate agent says about it to your friend.

I don't think prices have gone up much in a lot of areas since 2022. I agree nobody will be looking at this time of year.

The market’s gone very quiet, I was talking to a neighbour this morning who works in a local EA, said enquiries on properties are zilch.
Stamp Duty is due to increase in April so there may be a rush after Xmas to get completed by the end of March.

Won't you lose a lot of what you want in CGT anyway?

I think you’re being unreasonable to expect a buyer to pay £20k more than you paid 2 years ago just because you need that money to cover your expenses.

When we were looking at properties I was suspicious of properties that had only been lived in for a few years without any improvements. It suggests there is something wrong with the area/ house. I wouldn’t be paying £20k to find out.

The current market is not what it was in 2022.

This is not the best time to sell, in fact one of the worst.
The best is well after Christmas and traditionally nearer Easter
If your property was all done up when you bought then it’s highly likely you paid for that convenience with a higher price than average £/m2.

Most properties sell for less than the asking with an average reduction of 2% below the asking. At the moment interest rates aren’t great so that % may be worse and I’ve watched many houses in the 700 - 550 range come down a lot because higher priced properties aren’t selling.

I agree.

Many years ago, I worked as an estate agent. We were open on the day after Boxing Day, and we were SO busy!

I sold 4 houses on the first day. We reckoned everyone had spent Christmas with too many people crammed into too small a house, and decided they had to move to somewhere bigger.

For the three years I worked there, the last few days of December and the first couple of weeks of January were the busiest of the year. Leave it on the market so it's available for viewings straight after Christmas.