Concrete proof that some vendors (and their agents) are greedy so and so's.

[bibbitybobbityhat]

I live in an area of London where the vast majority of the housing stock is terraced. Most properties have three or four "natural" bedrooms, two receptions, 1 bathroom and a kitchen. But some people convert their lofts and put one large or two smaller bedrooms and a shower room up there.

The size of gardens varies enormously from 15ft courtyards to huge 120 footers.

So

There is a small terraced house on my road that was sold in early 2010 for 475,000. To get to the front door you have to go up a steep flight of steps as the whole terrace is built on a hill. It has had the attic converted so in effect it is a natural 3 bedroom house with a 15ft courtyard at the back, with an extra 2 bedrooms and a shower room in the loft.

It has just gone on the market, 2 years after it was last sold at £475,000.

Have a guess at the asking price?

Trust me, they are being greedy. They cannot be unaware what they paid for the house 24 months ago!

The accommodation has not changed in that time, btw. The loft conversion was there when they bought it.

have they doubled it to a million?

i see houses come on the market round here over-the odds too. they don't sell.

£6500000.

The house in question (with loft conversion already done) sold for £475,000 in Feb 2010.

The unmodernised house 3 doors down sold for £452,000 in June 2010.

The next door but one house without a loft conversion but extended to the rear sold for £520,000 in Feb 2011.

Guess how much they want for the house in question in Jan 2012?

750k

This is the closest equivalent I can find:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36408674.html

It is the same sized property, not updated, and without the loft conversion.

Ah, x posted with Edith, who has hit the button on the nose!

So they want £275,000 more than they paid for it 2 years ago and £200,000 more than a house (without the inconvenience of all the steps up to the front door) that could have a £40,000 attic conversion and £20,000 (generous guess) spent on the rest of the internal decor.

Greedy.

Being generous to them, maybe it's a divorce type thing and the high price is so that it won't sell?

If someone knocked at your door and said he'll pay you double the value for your car or house of whatever because for some reason he really wants it, would you say no? Would you say you can accept no more than you paid for it, as you're not greedy?

Is it on with Foxtons?

No idea whatsoever what you are talking about Jacinda, sorry.

No, its not Foxtons .

So are you actually going to tell us what price the house is on for?

Sorry, ann. Its on the market at £749,000.

Concrete proof that London prices are bloody mental!!!!

We watched Location the other night, as we always do...half a million for a minging 2/3 bed flat regularly on this program. How on earth does everyone afford it??? London can't all be full of city traders....

I thought the housing market had crashed? I'm so out of touch! wonder what my house is worth now!

I'd agree greed. There is no way in this market it would have gone up that much so either an agent who hasn't got a clue but is desperate for business, greed or possibly oil found in the back garden.

Honestly this sounds like lunacy. We live in Newbury in West Berks and paid just over 400k for our 4 bed detatched house 2 and a half years ago. That seemed a lot and still does.

£750k for a terrace? We sold our very nice 3 bed terrace in Reading at the same time for £200k - and were considered lucky to have got the asking price. How the hell do normal people pay this much for a house? More to the point - why do they?

I would say in their defence that whilst there are still buyers out there who think any offer of less than 2% off asking is 'cheeky' and that 'if you love it you should just go for it' (as any browse through the relevant threads on MN confirms) then there will be sellers who at least try and take the piss. Why not? You only need one mug buyer to make it worthwhile.

Personally I blame Kirsty and Phil, perhaps the two worst negotiators in the history of homebuying ("lets see if we can get it for asking"). But in their defence they do need a 'happy ending' with some nice finishing shots of the newly installed homeowners clinking glasses in their new (overpriced) home. Problem is a lot of viewers will then believe this is the way to go about negotiations in the real world..

I think they are completely crazy and just honestly cannot understand why they have done it. The agent has a reputation for overpricing ... but, by at least £100,000???

Am quite tempted to put my house on the market because I would be ecstatic to sell for £100,000 less than that one and ours is a lot bigger and has a 100ft garden and is practically opposite.

on a more bitchy note....

1)nice sink, why not matching bathroom pottery?

2)kitchen splashback too dark and commits you to a lifetime of grout cleansing.

3)for Jeffs sake put some pot plants in that yard!

Haha! That's insane, very strange as stats show the market dropped1.3% in the last year, I know London has its own sub climate bit even so! I'm an EA and have had to turn down vendors who want to come on with us on the basis that they want to market at a crazy price (amazing how many people think the crash hasn't affected their house). It's normally only nationals who take them on as they don't have to worry over advertising costs where as independents are well aware of the money they have to spend on advertising a property that won't sell. And I wonder why people look at me like I'm going to rob them when I tell them what I do for a living...!

More like concrete proof that anyone who pays the best part of a million quid for a terrace need their heads read.

ah, that wasn't the actual property.

i think the people on our road who put their house for about £20k above what they'll actually get are silly ....but then i'm not in London!