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Original poster

House been on the market since Friday but no viewings. Is it overpriced?

34 replies

neverquitesure · 26/10/2010 09:59

As it says

The house was valued by 2 agents at the same price, we settled on the agent who'd been the most proactive when we bought it originally, it went up on their website on Friday, Rightmove on Saturday and For Sale sign up yesterday.

No interest whatsoever.

Now, it's been 4 years since we bought/sold anything but I would have expected at least some interest when it first went up. Our agent said if we haven't had an offer within 2 weeks we can take stock then, but not to panic yet. Part of me sees the wisdom in this (we're in no rush to move) but an offer? No bugger has even asked to look round?!?!

Anyway, be brutally honest, no interest after 4 days - have they priced it too high?

OP posts:

Jackstini · 26/10/2010 10:09

Is there anything else for sale that is very similar to yours?
Do you think it is overpriced?
Post a link if you like and get some mn opinions!

iwantavuvezela · 26/10/2010 10:16

I think 4 days is too soon to be worried! We put our house on in the summer, and had an offer within 6 weeks (which then fell through) and then another offer 6 weeks later - which fingers crossed will hold. We were in a much more buoyant market though and things have slowed down.
it is also mid-term now so many people might be away this week .... I would wait until after christmas and give it 3 months and see what happens - after a few viewings and some feedback you will have a better idea. Dont panic jsut yet, its early days ...
good luck

TondelayooohSchwarlock · 26/10/2010 10:17

Our flat was on the market for 5 weeks. In that time 4 people came to see it. The 4th bought it at just below the asking price. Sometimes its not the volume, it's the quality.

sethstarkaddersmummyreturns · 26/10/2010 10:17

give it a week!
dh and I are looking for a house and we generally check once a week.

but as you probably know agents are pricing things too high, so you are right to take stock pretty quickly.

GoreRenewed · 26/10/2010 10:18

Too soon! It might have been advertised since Friday but people have to see it, think about it and then make the effort to ring the agent. And everyone knows things are slow atm so you aren't going to get potential buyers falling over themselves to get there first.

NothereisnobodylurkingbehindU · 26/10/2010 10:18

So how much more are you asking than you paid 4 years ago?

GoreRenewed · 26/10/2010 10:19

Good point. We bought for 205 (it was on market for 230). It had been bought 6 years earlier for 195. So not much of an increase really.

lborolass · 26/10/2010 10:23

Its half term, people may be away, be busy with their children and don't have as much time as usual to check websites or make appointments for viewing.

I haven't moved for a while but to be worried after such a short time doesn't seem necessary.

I thought buyers didn't pay too much attention to the asking price anyway as long as its vaguely in their ball park.

gillybean2 · 26/10/2010 10:24

Went on their website friday...
So they probably posted out to potential customers the blurb the same day and then it will go in local papers too. How quickly were you expecting people to jump exactly? Especially given it is half term week and they'd have to drag the kids round too on any viewings this week.

artyjools · 26/10/2010 10:26

If you read some of the other threads, you will see that potential buyers are not in abundance at the moment . Talk in the press about double dip recessions and the like are not helping. I suspect many people are just waiting to see what happens and it may be that house prices need to drop a bit more - not just your house, all houses - and vendors need to get their heads around that. Alternatively, it may be that prices have bottomed out and buyers need to get their heads around that. Of course, location will play its part. What we need is a bit of certainty and I don't think we shall be getting that for a while.

I am going to resist telling you not to panic, as I know it is very hard not to (I'm speaking from experience!!).

Original poster

neverquitesure · 26/10/2010 10:32

Yay! We have a viewing for Friday!! Feel a bit at getting so impatient but I work in marketing so am finding it hard to separate work/home and trust in the professionals.

Would rather not say what it is up for but we are asking less than we paid for it (we bought at the very height of the price peak) despite having replaced the windows and kitchen and added a bathroom (amongst other things). We will lose money on it, but it's all on paper really as I expect the next house we buy will have fallen similarly.

OP posts:

NothereisnobodylurkingbehindU · 26/10/2010 10:47

HUrrah for viewing
If you are asking less than you paid and have improved it then it definately doesn't csound like it's over-priced!

Original poster

neverquitesure · 26/10/2010 10:57

I just hate the uncertainty of it all. My expectations are obviously completely unrealistic. I've only ever sold in a strong market - both times I/we had a lot of initial interest and had accepted offers within the first week on the market. It's becoming apparent that this time it's going to be a whole lot slower.

OP posts:

NothereisnobodylurkingbehindU · 26/10/2010 11:00

WE sold in 2008 having put the house on the market 6 months earlier - right before Northern Rock We 'sold' it in 2 weeks but the buyers got cold feet when NR happened. We hung in there and finally got a cash buyer for 7 thousand under asking - which was amazing and allowed us to buy the house we had wanted when we put the house on the market months previously! (They'd had a torrid time with buyers dropping out as well - the house was waiting for us )

Original poster

neverquitesure · 26/10/2010 11:11

I have shaken myself by the shoulders and used my sternest Mummy-means-business voice to tell myself to be patient. It does not come naturally to me.

We will get viewers. We will get an offer. We will move.

Funny thing is I didn't even really want to move in the first place. At least this way we can have a nice family Christmas at home before the packing crates invade.

OP posts:

Vine · 26/10/2010 11:42

Relax! We are looking for a house, I look at Rightmove everyday to see what is new but don't ring the agent until I have time to view. I am not viewing anything this week as it is half-term.

lborolass · 26/10/2010 11:48

Glad to hear you've got a viewing, please take lots of deep breaths as houses don't sell quickly at the moment unless you're very lucky and I'm sure you can live without the stress of being impatient.

quietplease · 26/10/2010 13:41

We felt worried when we didn;t get viewings at first. Remember, people will want to view but will ofte wait until they're in a position to proceed with an offer.

Our viewers have come in fits and starts (nothing for about 4-5 weeks at one point then three since last weekend). You sound like me (impatient) and used to having some degree of control over your life. I've also only ever sold in a fast market and this market is a bit of a shock to the system. I'm learning to live with it...

Original poster

neverquitesure · 26/10/2010 13:51

Awwww - thanks everyone I'm feeling a lot better now.

Yes quietplease I am a borderline control freak and so not suited to the sit back and wait approach. I'm glad I posted this and was therefore able to resist the urge to phone the agents and start meddling.

lborolass you've obviously been talking to my husband as he's been reciting the 'deep breaths' mantra at me every time I start stressing about it!

OP posts:

quietplease · 26/10/2010 15:45

haha I phoned the agents after five days. I guess their faces were doing this .

I'm also some sort of borderline control nitwit. It's not good. And I HATE uncertainty.

I'd reassess after six to eight weeks on the market. We had our first offer after 9 weeks (which we rejected) but we had people interested beforehand who aren't in a position to proceed.

FWIW, I've seen a few houses I'd like to view, but I don't to waste the vendor's time (or mine for that matter) until we're good to go.

Your EA shoud be able to give you some rightmove statistics after about 14 days. What's crucial is your "conversion rate", ie, the proportion of people looking in your area who choose to view the full details of your property. The national average is about 4.5% (though I'm prepared to be wrong). Our conversion rate was almost 11% initially then levelled out to about 6.5%. Interestingly, when the EA changed the main house photograph, it plummeted to 3.6%.

Since I changed it back, we've had three viewing requests!

Vine · 26/10/2010 18:02

I've long wanted to know what information the estate agents get via rightmove. Can they see if a property has been saved by someone (and by whom)? Is it just a case of being told how many hits a property has?

quietplease · 26/10/2010 18:43

I think they get the information about the conversion rates and number of times it shows up in a search.

The interesting thing is that they can see ALL property on the market, not just the property they're selling. They simply type in your postcode and...bingo.

And of course, they can pass this information on to potential buyers if the house is up with a competitor - or at least - they can allude to how much interest it's getting.

cashconverter · 26/10/2010 19:21

"(we bought at the very height of the price peak) despite having replaced the windows and kitchen and added a bathroom (amongst other things). We will lose money on it"

Very decent of you, at your cost, to renovate the house for your buyer and sell at a discount.

CassandraW · 26/10/2010 19:56

There is obviously a disappointingly low number of nosey neighbours in your area.

Don't worry I'm sure one will soon come around to poke into your things.

As to a potential buyer - if at this stage you are already thinking the price might be too high - the price is too high.

Original poster

neverquitesure · 26/10/2010 20:01

Tell me about it cashconverter Moved here for DH's work and expected to be here long enough to make it worthwhile. The paint is barely dry on some of the rooms. It's sad but I guess we're not the only ones in this situation and - thank God - have the equity to move unlike some. We are rather relying on the fact that the houses in the part of the country we are moving to will have dropped by the same amount.

OP posts:

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