Is it being a CF to have an asking price lots more above price you paid when you've not upgraded anything?

[FingersXrossed]

Just wondering really. We're house hunting and have found a house that looks nice but is at the top end of our budget. Upon looking at previous sales info this house is selling for over 12% more than the seller purchased it for 3 years ago. Nothing appears to have been done apart from a bit of decorating (new wallpaper etc).

Is this normal or are they taking the piss? Similar homes in the same street have sold for a variety of prices although one sold last year for a third of this asking price! Same type of house and looks nice too so I'm not sure what to think!

House prices can go up no matter what's done. My old house sold for £33K back in the day but at today's prices it's worth over £100K. It's still the same house with nothing else done (nothing could really be done except decorating or a new kitchen/bathroom. It's very small.)

Surely they can sell if for whatever they want, and if they find someone who is prepared to pay that amount then everyone is happy.

Have house prices in the area gone up by a similar amount in three years?

Nothing appears to have been done - but things may have been done that aren't immediately apparent.

It may have been 'under priced' previously.

Have you heard of house price inflation?

House prices increase. That's how people make money once on property ladder.

Given house prices haven't raised massively in the past 3 years (Brexit vote etc) I'm inclined to think they're taking the piss slightly.

You could talk to the EA about your research and ask what the price increase is based on. Think about what you think a reasonable offer price is and sound the EA out about offering that.

Having said that, some people are cheeky and get lucky! So if they want to hold out for their asking price and it's a great house then maybe they'll find a buyer... All you can know is what the house is worth to you, that's all that matters really! Good luck.

Property prices rise regardless of 'upgrading'. And we bought our last house cheaply by market standards, because we'd been renting it for a few years when the owners (an adult sibling group who'd inherited it) let us know they were planning to put it on the market, so we put in a very low offer, well under what would have been the asking price, and they accepted -- we were reliable, good tenants, had no chain, saved them the hassle of marketing it, and had already given them a good chunk of the difference in rent over the years.

So someone researching the past sales of the house might think we were being 'cheeky', but we'll be selling at the market's determination of what the house is worth then, when we sell.

How can it be taking the piss? Who are they taking the piss out of? It's their property to market as they choose. They're under no obligation to meet your price limit. My property is worth 25% more than when I bought 4 years ago with nothing having been done.

A cording to Zoopla our house is now worth 16% more than when we bought it 5 years ago.

We've done lots to it so hope it would fetch more (not that we're looking to sell) but if we hadn't touched it, I'd still be going with the market rate

If the general postcode area has increased by that much then it's far from CF? Their next purchase will cost more than it did 3 years ago too so they probably won't be profiting

Ours has gone up 15% in 12 months! Its ridiculous and we have done not much in that time.

Surely a house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. If you don’t think it’s worth it don’t pay it. If they don’t get any offers they’ll need to reconsider.

House price inflation can vary from area to area. SE prices are kept high due to demand perpectually exeeding supply.

You seem a little inexperienced of the house sale market. Most of it is dependent on location so you could literally make your house worse and still sell it for more in some areas.

We redid the kitchen and bathroom on a house that needed a lot more doing but sold for almost double in 7 years due to being in SE London.

We've done very little to our house over the 15 years we've lived in it (it was a new build). Paint and redid the floors from carpet to nice laminate downstairs. Other than cleaning it up and perhaps doing another round of painting, we'd still get at least £200k more than we paid for it if we put it on the market right now.

House prices tend to go up regardless however, most buyers check out what it last sold for. There is a house near us that's marketed at £20k more than they paid

House prices tend to go up regardless however, most buyers check out what it last sold for. There is a house near us that's marketed at £20k more than they paid

But did that last sale happen 2 years ago or 10?

I just looked on Zoopla to see what value it estimates our house has accumulated by since we bought it in 2015, and it says 39%, for instance. An identical house two doors away has just gone on the market at 10k above the top end of what Zoopla thinks ours is valued at, so it will be interesting to see what that makes.

Our house has increased 175% in twenty years, we have recently put a new kitchen and bathroom in, bricks and mortar are nearly always a good investment.

Saw a house last week that was priced literally double what it was bought for four years ago, with zero work done.

Last year we sold our house (S.E coastal city 1 hour from London) which we had done general decorating and redone bathroom. It sold for 40% more than we bought it for 8 years previous, and we sold it cheaper than valued as we were in a 3 way private sale. Depending where you live property is always going up.

In buying our house DH and I took a calculated risk that the area would improve over the time we expected to be living there. It has improved, and the house's value has increased accordingly despite 'only' doing routine maintenance. So no, if DH and I were to sell we wouldn't feel bad about reaping the reward for getting that judgement call right.

I don’t really understand how you can think this op. Sellers don’t have to justify their asking price by reference to the cost of home improvements.

It’s worth what the market will pay at any given point in time. Anything else is irrelevant.

Of course it may have been marketed for 10% more than it sold at then. Or they may think prices in the area have risen. Or estate agent may have bumped up their estimate to get seller to choose them and it may not sell and be reduced in a few months.
I think concentrate on how it compares to other properties for sale now.

Zoopla price estimates are ridiculous - they’re trying to encourage people to sell but don’t reflect the actual marketplace

If the house had gone down in value, would the purchaser be a CF if they don’t match the previous sale price? Obviously not. It’s fine for the vendors to put any price they like on a house. It’s up to the housing market whether or not they get this price.