I never knew so many properties went unsold

[Alexalee]

Apparently 2/3rds of London property was removed from the market without selling in 2017

www.cnbc.com/2018/08/09/london-housing-sales-struggle-as-multiple-issues-put-off-buyers.html

@Unobtainable That doesn't make sense. How can they get an extension or rent out their property if they are in negative equity? Both would require a reappraisal by the mortgage company, which would reveal the negative equity and probably result in the mortgage company calling in the debt.

Sorry @Unobtainable, was confusing your post with the previous post about negative equity.

I live in Australia and I think over here you can put in an offer on a house then you have a fortnight to get your mortgage sorted (and do surveys) then you pay a deposit on the house. Then you agree when to settle on the house. I feel like the timeline and deposit helps move things along. I think quite a few chains break down in the uk.

Its the fundamental problem. Its all done on a wing and a prayer and a non legally binding promise.
I chose our buyer because she was a v focussed woman with a timetable same as mine. I chose the house the house we bought because she was a v focussed woman with a timetable. Above and below i had no control over. Our chain of 5 took about 14 weeks to exchange. At any point it could have been called off. By anyone. Its a bloody miracle that as many houses actually complete tbh

Pretty sure it says only 38% that get removed ever went under offer... so still a big majority just overpriced crap that attracts no offers

@Alexalee So 2/3 of properties that do not sell never actually go under offer at all. That means the majority of non-selling properties are not due to chains collapsing. They are just sellers who are not in touch with the real world, and who refuse to accept that buyers' cannot afford the inflated prices those sellers want.

Plus, there is probably a lot of truth to the idea that chains often break down because one or more properties in the chain are too difficult for buyers to afford.

How is a property that is on with 4 different agents counted ? One property or four ? This could make an enormous difference to the results

Moving is more expensive now with stamp duty changes at the higher end of the market A Lot of people realise they can find what they want for the money they have available to so decide to stay put, and possible extend if they need the space. Others with no real need to move are see no incentive in lowering asking prices, so stay put. If there is little movement at the top of the chain, the same will filter down.

So your left with those selling because of financial distress or having to move for work/school, who are really keen.

Listings almost need to be divided into two separate 'markets'. Firstly, a market for realistic sellers, who want to sell, and secondly, a market for unrealistic sellers who are just pretending to try to sell. It would help save buyers a lot of wasted time and effort. I realise it's not going to happen though, because EAs like to mix the two groups together so it is hard to identify which is which.

Well, I took our house off the market and it isn't ocerpriced crap.

I sold twice, twice the chain fell apart and we lost what really was a dream house.

We put the house back on immediately. The next day we found an even better dream house whuch someone snapped up.
There was nothing else to buy, it was August by this time.

So we took it off because I just couldn't bear the stress again!

I'm currently glad we did, as we remortgaged to buy somewhere. It was much less stressful just buying!

We went to view a property and contacted the agent to ask a few questions about the rights of way etc. to be told they'd increased the price by 150k. WTF!!
Turns out that the vendors were splitting up and she didn't want to leave so told the agent to increase the price. It then went off the market and back on again about 6 months later but at 100k more than the original price so it was obvious that she still wasn't planning to move.

Kool4katz I know a couple. She wants to move, he doesn't. So their compromise is putting the house on the market at a price that will not sell (has not sold for at least a couple of years now). I think this sometimes happens to save marriages.