House valuation - help please!

[labsarelife]

House valued at 450k in Aug 2017. Out on at 440k. Few viewings. Reduced to 415k after 12 weeks, end of Oct. Had about 6 viewings since but no offers. Phoned agent yesterday and asked bluntly, what price will we sell it at. Answer, try from £350/375k! Person from the same estate agency that originally suggested marketing it at 450k, with a view to attaining 425k.
I am dumbfounded, speechless, upset and frustrated. Our future projections were based around 400k minimum.
If you have experience of this industry, please can you comment as to how ludicrous you find this (or not!)
Thank you.

[SingingBabooshkaBadly]

Sorry, typo, meant why posters, not who posters!

[SingingBabooshkaBadly]

It’s unusual to find anything other than constructive advice on the property board. I don’t understand who some posters feel the need to be rude and nasty but perhaps those that do could make their way to AIBU? At least there the OP would have gone into it aware that they are likely to get the odd unpleasant comment.

Hope you get a better result with another EA labs and good luck with your medical treatment.

[namechangedtoday15]

don’t expect professional estate agents to mess me about; that’s all.

This^ Good luck OP. Hope your move goes smoothly from here.

[labsarelife]

Wow! So many comments. Some very useful and others unnecessarily harsh. I’m not at all greedy. I’m not motivated by money. My house move is motivated primarily, by wanting to improve my health and freeing up money from the house sale, to do that. Yes, I’d like to make some money but I’m genuinely not a money motivated person at all.
I’ve booked two agents to come out on Friday. Interestingly the most similar property on my road sold for £499,950 but it is detached and we are a semi. However, we have an extra bedroom and a kitchen twice the size. So to swing from £450 to £350, makes even less sense to me.
Our property is neutrally decorated and is very tidy. I can’t believe how some people present their homes for sale with clutter everywhere. Mine is not like that at all. It’s clean and smells nice!
I just want a realistic valuation. Future monetary projections rest on receiving a decent estimate from the EA. It’s not greedy to plan ahead for how money will be spent in the future. Everyone has to do this, when considering a house move.
Anyway, I shall know where I stand on Friday hopefully. The EA was quite rude to me and refused to acknowledge that there was an issue with their initial valuation. He spoke at me - didn’t pause for breath for 10 minutes - for that reason alone, I won’t be staying with them.
I’m a decent person, who is having to sell my home die to a medical condition that has taken my teaching career away from me. I don’t want anyone’s sympathy, I just want to downsize, make some profit on my house and pay for some medical treatment. I don’t expect professional estate agents to mess me about; that’s all.
Thank you to all who contributed with helpful suggestions and to all of you who are or have been in the same boat, we will get there in the end I’m sure!

[Molly1969]

wowfudge
Just like my mother and I, the OP stupidly fell for an estate agent's sales gimmick, which appealed to a baser instinct, ie greed. I was also stupid not to realise that my mother was also being manipulated like that when she was given her original overpriced valuations. But I am wise to it now, and I would hope the OP is now wise to it, too. There is a reason estate agents consistently get ranked by the public as the most untrustworthy of professionals (a misnomer for an EA, if ever there was one).

[wowfudge]

Molly: there's a volte-face if ever I saw one. You called the OP, "greedy, stupid and naive" earlier.

[Molly1969]

wowfudge
That is the obvious thing for anyone to ask an estate agent when they are trying to sell a house - I am sure the OP already did it without guidance.

[wowfudge]

Molly - I have advised the OP to ask the EAs she sees what she should price at in order to achieve a sale.

I think her thread has been hijacked for long enough.

[wherewithal]

House prices have been the victim to a massive credit bubble
THIS.

that is now bursting
Less sure about this. Maybe the ripple effect mentioned earlier, but we’re still waiting for it to reach us. Meanwhile cheeky asking prices still abound.

People cannot afford anywhere near the silly prices that are being asked.
Because they’re investing in avocados, or so I read. Silly people should be investing in tulip bulbs.

What did you pay for the property OP?
Today somebody started an AIBU about RightMove addiction. Here’s a fun hobby: click on the Market Info tabs and experience shock and awe at some of the levels of avarice on display.

[MaggieFS]

Not all agents do that. Some do, that's their business model, and some don't.

[Molly1969]

wowfudge
My mother went first with Strutt and Parker, and then changed to Savills after a couple of months. They both gave identical valuations initially. I then saw how they were subtly managing down her expectations after she had listed. It was at that point I realised the initial valuations were just a gimmick to get her business and it was their plan all along to bring her price down. The OP need to realise that estate agents do this, and their valuations are NOT honest market appraisals. The worst thing she could do is reward her existing agent for doing it.

[wowfudge]

I would never market with a national company because they are the ones who have extremely pushy sales models and often very little local knowledge. The local agent who actually sells places is the one I'd choose every time. Unless I thought their staff were numpties.

[aRespectableBureaudeChange]

Molly: there is always another idiot that will overpay I'm afraid, so fair play the agents were trying to get her the most and the agent has now given honest advice regarding the current potential price.

I would add that the best agents may take the opportunity to say it will be worth less next year than this year and explain how tightening of easy credit to btl will impact the market going forward.

BTL remortgaging will now be hindered both by falling prices (changing ratio of deposit to property value ie was 75% now 80% of value etc) and separately the lender now has to take into account the tax changes (reduction of tax relief to deduct mortgage interest).

BTL that don't meet new criteria going forward are moved on to SVR.

These changes started in 2015 and I can assure you the wise money was getting out back then and the slow down is created by those in the "know" not playing the btl game anymore.

The ever inflating prices some expect are directly linked to the remortgaging, releasing equity to fund deposit as down payment for a btl mortgage and usually outbidding a first time buyer.

Support higher up the market is directly linked to movement at the bottom, whether you feel it is or not in your own personal case - the market is reacting.

[Molly1969]

WheresMyMuppet
And for the record, I think my mother was being stupid, greedy and naive to ask £700k originally, and I thought the agents were wrong to suggest it (very respectable national companies). And, yes I was also stupid for not following my instincts to advise her that I thought it was overpriced.

[jennyj123]

Ah the old value it high to get the instruction then slash the price to get an eventual sale and the Estate Agents 1% commission. When we sold our 2 bed flat valuation range was an incredible £100k from around 7 or so estate agents. We didnt go for the highest value as we did not believe it was realistic at all. Unfortunately EA's dont really care and only want the instruction for their commission, they know most people just go with the highest price but the market has changed and has slowed massively. Glad we didnt go in really high as we sold fairly quickly. Recently prices have been steadily falling in 2017 and 2018. New properties are listed on at 2015 prices then reduced and reduced until taken completely off the market. Only thing selling is priced low or realistically, if you really need to move just reduce price by £1k a week, it will sell eventually.

[Molly1969]

WheresMyMuppet
"Overpriced", yes, just like the OP's house and probably the house the OP wants to buy.

[aRespectableBureaudeChange]

Sadly Molly has some relevant points to make, but will make people switch off and just see the rudeness. Bit of a shame.

[Molly1969]

aRespectableBureaudeChange
House prices have been the victim to a massive credit bubble that is now bursting. People cannot afford anywhere near the silly prices that are being asked. The estate agents have surfed that credit bubble and made a lot of money out of it, but they were always fully aware it was just a bubble, given they often arrange the mortgages. They should have warned the OP that the market was on the turn, and she only had a short time before the ripple hit her area; and so advised her to price her house for a quick sale, before the crash arrived on her doorstep.

[WheresMyMuppet]

I'm out of this one. Reasonable discussion with different viewpoints, knowledge based advice and experience based opinion are one of the great things about MN.

Sadly this thread has been lead away from that! Hope you get to where you want to be OP.

[WheresMyMuppet]

Well, you will know that my mother put her house on the market for £700k (3 identical agent valuations) about 2 years ago, and accepted £550k last month. That is over 20% below her original asking price.

Sounds like it was probably overpriced. Two years ago everything was still crazy!

[WheresMyMuppet]

You are going to be in for a shock when you discover how much selling prices are currently crashing.

I've literally just accepted an offer. In London. For asking. I was not shocked. I did not encounter any "charlatans". I chose an agent I felt were well informed and who ultimately did a good job for me.

[aRespectableBureaudeChange]

Land Registry figures are always a few months out of date. EA are reacting to current market and upcoming interest rates, btl leaving market by 80% etc.

It has all been playing out since 2015 and EA are either very ill informed (a distinct possibility) of government policy and economics at play - or they've just rode the largest credit wave to the 'nth' degree and now waking up to what constitutes value to a real person on an earned wage.

The sort of buyers who actually wants to repay the mortgage and potentially own the property one day - rather than just pay the interest, remortgage and rent out to younger generation.

[Alwayscheerful]

What was the feedback from the viewings? is there anything obvious that needs changing presentation wise? De clutter? Neutral paints, de-personalise, carpet in the bathroom? Sorry to ask the obvious but skim read the thread and didn't notice anyone checking?

[Molly1969]

wowfudge
Well, you will know that my mother put her house on the market for £700k (3 identical agent valuations) about 2 years ago, and accepted £550k last month. That is over 20% below her original asking price.

[aRespectableBureaudeChange]

I have noticed in the Press over the last few years an increase in the "not making a return on your London rental? - Look North, West, East" etc.....

So I do think that this time the London bubble has filtered out to places it would not previously have impacted - with btl buying up "cheap" properties and renting them out to locals - who then can afford a larger deposit on their move up.

I think a reverse ripple is in play and coming out of Central London and slowly beginning to reach outer zones.

All ok until the London buyers begin to realise they were last to the party at the "local village" and only people they can sell on to are locals - on local wages. Sounds a bit League of Gentleman - but is true.