Argh! Estate agents & house-selling rant...

[Frettchen]

I already hate this house buying/selling malarkey!

My house has been on the market for a month. The valuation, done by two different EAs put it at £170-175k.

So it's been on Right Move and all the sites, we had an Open House thingy on Saturday, and all I got from it was an offer for £156k. This has been raised twice, ending at £163k.

There are other, similar properties nearby with asking prices of £175 and £180; possibly in better nick, but without the conservatory mine has.

So should I hold out for £170 and tell my EA to do a better job, and risk losing the one buyer who has so far shown any interest, or do I give a lot of consideration to the lower offer?

In theory there is no hurry; there is nothing pushing me to sell quicker. I have seen a property I like, and will be consulting with my mortgage man to work out if I can afford it, but I'm expecting someone else to offer more as it's a good area. Trying so hard not to get my hopes up for getting that one, especially as the offer on my place was so low.

Once I sell my house I plan on moving in with my mum for a few months, so there's no need to get a chain up and running. So I can hold out for the higher figure... right?!?!

The nearby properties might have asking prices of £175/180k but have they sold?

You might not be in a hurry but a property which sits on the market for a while starts to look stale. I'd give the £163k serious consideration.

What did you base your price on? Agents often give high valuations to get the business so the fact that it's what two EAs said still doesn't mean it's going to fetch that, unfortunately.
I think in your position I might give it a month or two longer as traditionally the market picks up in the spring.

We are going on the market this week for £389950 but know we would consider offers from 370k upwards from the off - I guess it depends how much you want to sell, how much equity it will leave you and how well other houses are selling near you. You would be a fool to hold out for the extra if houses aren't selling that well, however if you are in an area which has a buoyant market then it may be worth the wait.

Thanks for the responses; definitely some food for thought there.

The buyer's a first time buyer in rental at the moment, so I don't really want to take the risk and let them go as there's no guarantee there's anyone else/that anyone else wouldn't have a horrid long chain.

I've got a meeting with my mortgage man tomorrow to go through the numbers and see what's possible. I'll base this on a sale price of £163 and see what that realistically means in terms of what I could then afford.

It's tricky for me to figure out what it's actually worth. I bought the house just over 3 years ago for quite a lot less than is being offered, but I had to do a lot of work on the plumbing and the interior just to make it livable, so I can't work it out....

I stopped focused on offer price as long as I can afford to buy what I want. A huge factor of success involved. If I were you, I would be tempted to try and push up to 165k, but if you happen to find a house to buy and can afford it, and your buyer is willing to wait until you find, then accept 163k.

When you say the EAs did valuations, did they mean that was what they recommended you put it on the market for (as a suggested sale price) or did they mean that £170k is what you'd expect to get?

I think as others have said, you need to consider local "sold" prices, not marketing prices. I also think that some people (including myself) wouldn't see a conservatory as adding any value, so if houses you think might be better are on for £175 - £180k, then I'd say £163k was a very good offer.

I had a meeting with my mortgage adviser yesterday and have worked through whether I could afford the property I like (assuming paying asking price) with a sale price of £163k, and the answer was 'yes, but it would be a bit tight'

I've pushed the buyers up to £164k and accepted their offer, and will put in a starting offer on the house I want. I'm feeling a lot better about the offer I've accepted now I've taken a little step back and taken a more realistic look at it.

Re: the valuation - both EAs said that the house asking price was between £170 and £175, and I sort of blythely assumed that I'd get something in those brackets, rather than negotiating with a lower offer from potential buyers and landing in the middle.