Reducing the price - but how much?

[RelocatorRelocator]

I'm annoyed with the estate agent tbh and would really appreciate some views.

Don't want to link to the house as I think it will out me. It's a gorgeous semi detached house, 5 beds, very well presented, very spacious with lots of period features, lovely garden and located in a quiet spot on one of the nicest roads here. The photos look great and it also compares very favourably with other houses in the same price bracket (with our agent and others) but to be fair, none of them are selling either.

But our house has been on the market for 5 weeks now and after an initial flurry of interest we aren't getting viewings. Most of the viewings were older couples, who were very positive in their feedback but I suspect the house is too big for them. There is one younger couple who say they are very interested but aren't in a position to make an offer yet.

We're on at £550k which is the upper end of the market here. 3 estate agents all valued it at around the same amount. Our estate agent now says we need to drop the price and is saying that because of the stamp duty threshold, we should drop to £500k. She says people are saying at 550, they want detached for that price.

I agree that if we aren't getting viewings we need to drop the price but a £50k drop feels a lot in one go. Houses do seem to be selling much quicker below £500k but they are much smaller and less attractive than ours (eg one semi round the corner just went for £475k but it's much smaller, 3 beds and a study, not much garden, next to main road). I'm just left wondering why on earth they suggested putting it on at 550 in the first place and how come they didn't know that the semi thing would be a sticking point? I'm also conscious that for the EA this drop represents £500 less commission while for us it's obviously 50 grand!

Probably worth mentioning we are outside the South East and this is a small place where the market doesn't move massively quickly.

Really not sure what to do for the best. Never been in this position before, we've always sold very quickly in the past (different markets though!).

Presumably if you drop to 500 you'll get offers under that as people want to stay under the stamp duty threshold. So you'd be looking at at least 10% drop in asking price.

Have any similar houses sold lately? What sort of figure are you looking at there?

Is there any likelihood that dropping it would result in a flurry of viewings - and then potentially a bidding war?

I suppose it's also partly down to how quickly you need to sell / move and what your bottom line is......

I know doradoo - that's dh's worry, that we drop and then end up having to accept 480 or whatever.

I think the flurry of viewings and bidding war is what the agent is hoping for but of course there is no guarantee of that. Hard to tell really.

We're relocating so a bit torn between thinking we should just go for it and drop so we can get on with things v thinking we could rethink our timescales a bit if necessary. Aargh!

I'd say it depends on what you are planning. I agree, if you want to sell quickly, then drop the price (although perhaps to 520k? That way you may get offers of 500k.

But if you are in no hurry to sell, the market is rising and so you could just bide your time. Once people are happy that they have to pay over £500k (and therefore pay the higher stamp duty), then you'll get some buyers and the price may go up faster. That is what happened round here. Once it was clearly over £500k, prices have shot up to £600k quite quickly (but we are in outer London).

There are two things to consider when dropping the price - one is the stamp duty level as mentioned above. This is something nearly everyone making an offer will take into consideration.

Also take a look at Rightmove and the brackets house prices fall into - when you reduce the price you want to make sure you fall into a different bracket, so that your house is seen by people who didn't see it when searching before, i.e. if your house is currently on at £550,000, the next price bracket down is houses up to £500,000.

I guess it all depends how quickly you want to sell and whether you are prepared to hang on waiting if you really need that much.

If you aren't in the SE then 550 is a lot. Would it be worth to change your ad and point out any outstanding features?

Another strategy would be to drop to 500, have an open day and sealed bids. Not sure how well this will go out of SE, though.

I find that despite the hype, the only houses around here (SE) that sell fast are immaculate and very realistically priced.

Could you offer a contribution to stamp duty? I have seen some marketed like that.

I'm not sure on the legal processes which would make that ok though!

As youare outside SE I wouldn't hold my breath for a bidding war/gazumping. We are on the market for just under 500k to avoid the stamp duty 'problem'. We have had some viewings but only one cheeky offer. EA's advice though is hold tight as activity at the level below has picked up a lot and they expect a ripple effect.

If you haven't had lots of viewing or any serious offers then you are on for too much. You may not like it but dropping 50k may mean the difference between selling or not. At the end of the day a house will sell at the right price. Can you go on for, say £520 000 and say to the EA that you need to achieve £500 000? You don't have to go on at what they suggest. If the EA knows you will take offers around 500 he will let potential purchasers know that.

Thanks all - lots of good points (mainly echoing what is already whizzing round my head ). We had an initial flurry of viewings and then nothing.

Agent is saying that we need to move to 500 so we're into the next bracket down. I am just struggling to get my head around the fact that the houses in the bracket down are considerably less nice than ours!

Just to complicate things further, we are moving somewhere with a more buoyant market so the worry is if this drags on too long then even if we get more for our house, the houses we want to buy could have gone up more!

I think most people will realise that a price between £500k and £550k means you are expecting offers at £500k (thats what I'd think) so I doubt whether dropping to £530K or £520k is going to make any difference. If you want to be seen by more people, then drop it to £500k but get the EA to be clear eith potential buyers that you have dropped from £550k specifically to secure a quick sale and only offers around £500k willbe considered.

We are not in the SE and we went to sealed bids, have heqrd of lots of similar stories from neighbours / local friends. If its a good desirable house at a good price, you'll get the interest. Good luck!