Would you buy a house for £30 000 above the previous ceiling price?

[lecce]

We viewed a lovely house yesterday but, having done some research, we have found that the vendors are asking for £30 000 more than any other house on the road has ever sold for, including during the height of the market. That is without including what they paid for the house 6 years ago so they are clearly trying to get back what they paid - not trying to make anything.

The house is one of a pair that is very different from the others on the street. This pair are the only Victorian houses with rest being fairly bland/unattractive looking 1950sish builds. You would expect the house we are looking at to be more expensive than those but it does worry me a little. I can hear Allsopp's voice saying, "Don't buy the best house on the worst road!" and I fear we may regret it.

It's not in a 'bad' area at all - the other houses are smart and it's a cul-de-sac. The local schools are good, it has good transport links and isn't rough. I am afraid that most people who want to live in a period home (like us) would rather live on a street full of them than on the sort of road this is on. I think the sort of people who don't mind the road won't want to pay extra for a period home. The house has been on the market since the winter which adds to my impression that it's hard to sell.

We intend to live there until the children leave home (aged 3 and 5 now) so am I silly to worry about this? I just worry that if a crisis happened, we wouldn't be able to sell in a hurry.

Tell me what to do!

Can you give a link so we can get more info?

You seem to be thinking more about how hard it might be to sell than about whether it is suited to your needs/taste.

How long do you plan to live there?

That Allsopp has a lot to answer for

So if I understand you correctly, the vendors asking price is what they paid in 2006.

If that's their asking price, they are probably not expecting to get what they paid for it then.

Knock off 10-15% - maybe more depending on where you are in the country. How do you feel about that price?

It can be really difficult to value a house that is unusual. We live in an almost unique house and spent a fair amount if time working out how much we should offer on it. You have the price it was last sold for. Go to this website, put in the numbers and get a ballpark figure. Then think about any improvements that have been made, or if it's not been maintained take off some money. Also do a sense check against general house prices in your area. Are they consistent with the region or do you live in a pocket of rising, or falling, prices.

When you've done all that you should have an idea of what the house is worth, which is evidence to back up whatever offer you decide to make.

Our street is a real mish mash of individual houses built at different times, so it's hard to compare values. People tend to buy a house if they like it, and think it's worth it, for them. So, it's difficult to answer really. I'm amazed at what some houses go for.
If any house has been on the market for a while, I would automatically make an offer lower than the asking price anyway, and if it is a house that is different from it's neighbours, they are a bit less certain of their price.
However, if it's the home you really like, and you can afford it, I wouldn't factor in too many "what might it be worth in 20 years time" questions into the occasion. Sometimes it isn't just a financial decision.

REMEMBER
that prices on Zoopla etc can be deeply misleading for some roads.
The Land registry data (from whence everybody else gets their data)
EXCLUDES
any house sold as repossessed by a lender
any house where the buyer is a company (now common in parts of London)
any house sold at 'under value' eg inherited
any house sold for or bought from business use

Whilst it's difficult to compare the value of the house with others on the street (due to period), could you use the others (& data from neighbouring streets) to gauge how much prices have moved (% wise) since 2006, and then apply that to your house?

It's still a flaky approach but better than nothing. Really,the fact they're asking what it cost them sends a clear signal, i.e. "I know we aren't going to make any money but let's just try not to lose any". Of course they have lost money due to purchasing fees/stamp etc! On since Christmas is a long time, but not so long in this market of vastly overpriced houses and gradually more savvy buyers.

£30k difference without knowing the asking price is a bit meaningless, i.e. 150k against a street high of 120k; 480k against a street high of 450k? If it's more like the latter then the difference seems reasonable for Victorian 'desirability'; if closer to the former then I'd probably try and knock them down more*

• however I'd be offering below regardless. A house priced at £1 sells in an hour. The asking price gives you a good idea that no-one else has thought it a bargain to snap up.