House sellers who don't reduce price when on the market for months

[chuckitallin]

Hi,

We are looking to buy a family home at some point this year. I have been looking at properties on Right Move for months, and, although the majority were selling very quickly from June-September/ October at very high prices (compared to previous sales, etc), there are a few which have not budged since around June 20. They look like perfectly nice properties (above our budget and in the nicest area of the city) but they are very over priced and have not come down since around June. There is one on at the same price as a relative's home on a nicer road in one of the home counties of the same square footage. We are nearer 3 hours from London and this is out of keeping with other properties on offer, probably worth 3-400,000 less than advertised. Obviously, it's the seller's perogative to not reduce the price and equally the potential buyers not to offer anywhere near asking price (presumably no one has because the have not sold)!
My questions are, does anyone have experience of this and what were the reasons for the lack of reduction. Does it usually mean very unmotivated sellers? Has anyone been successful in negotiating down the cost of a clearly over priced, non selling house?

Yep - came across a couple of these ourselves.

The first one, the owners had spent an absolute fortune doing up the house and wanted to re-coup the money they had spent. We told the estate agent that we liked it and would consider making an offer, but that we didn't think the asking price was reasonable. He said that the vendors weren't all that bothered about moving and if they couldn't get asking price, they'd stay put. We didn't want unmotivated sellers and walked away. And it eventually was removed from the market, having not sold.

The second one was only 5 years old and the vendors had paid over the odds for it as a new build. The price that we (and other people) were prepared to pay for it was the same amount they had paid 5 years ago, but they were determined to make a profit so were holding out for a higher offer. Months later, they're still waiting!

You've got nothing to lose by making an offer. Even if they've rejected a similar offer in the past, that might not be on the table any more and they might begrudgingly realise they're not going to get what they want for it. But as above - if they were motivated to sell, they probably would have dropped the price by now. Think hard about whether you want to enter into a transaction with someone who might not be all that committed to it.

Oh - a caveat to the "unmotivated seller" thing... it might be the estate agent instead. There are a couple of them in the area we're buyer who overprice pretty much all of their properties. I'd be less worried about an overpriced and lingering one from that agent, if you see what I mean.

I'd steer clear they usually don't want to sell or have ridiculous expectations of how much it's worth.... just because they spent money on it and have debts or whatever batshit reasons
Ex estate agent here
Just avoid

One in our village has stayed on for over a year, they are not in a rush to move. They know what they need for their next purchase so will keep it on as long as needed.
Makes no sense as it'll put buyers off having it sat there but they refuse.

I wonder if it's an age thing?

How can you possibly tell it’s overpriced when you’ve only looked at it online?

An agent only gets paid when a property sells so there is zero motivation to overprice a property.

If someone will only sell their property at a certain price that’s entirely their choice and nothing to do with anyone else. You can’t force someone to lower their price. If it doesn’t sell then again it’s their choice. It’s not your right to buy it at a lower price.

Some of these comment are downright odd and the most entitled I’ve read on MN and that’s saying a lot!

I saw my dream house while we were saving for a deposit. It was still up for sale, at the same price, over a year later when we were finally in a position to buy. We tried to arrange a viewing which was a nightmare in itself, then when we finally got one (and weren't allowed in some rooms because they hadn't been tidied) it became abundantly clear that the owners were divorcing and one party had forced the sale and the other party would do whatever it took to make sure it didn't sell.

I don't blame them; it really is a lovely house and it's still up for sale now. I still look at it sometimes on Rightmove and daydream!

@PowerslidePanda

Oh - a caveat to the "unmotivated seller" thing... it might be the estate agent instead. There are a couple of them in the area we're buyer who overprice pretty much all of their properties. I'd be less worried about an overpriced and lingering one from that agent, if you see what I mean.

Sometimes sub-par agents allow deluded sellers to dictate the asking price as a way of getting listings.

How can you possibly tell it’s overpriced when you’ve only looked at it online?

Quite easily, given that most of it is down to things like location (which you can see on a map), size and number of rooms (from the floor plan), general condition (from the photos)!

And most people going on the market get quotes from multiple estate agents. If one says, "I'd price your house at 200,000" and another says, "I could sell that at 250,000" - as a seller, which estate agent are you going to choose? That's what leads (some) estate agents to over price.

Cross posted with @Mamette - yep, that too!

I think online valuation tools can also give unrealistic expectations - my 3 bed detached cottage is estimated at £350k; I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t go for that, probably more like £275k. There will be sellers who see something like that for their house and decide that’s what it’s worth. It’s not - it’s worth what somebody is prepared to pay for it.

The house we are buying - was put in at £290k in Jan 2019. Then a month later reduced to 280k. Feb 2020 it was reduced to 260k. Beginning of November is was dropped to 250k so we decided to go and view it.
We were worried about the fact it had been ok so long but when we spoke to the vendor it turned out that they had inherited a house so had put it their one on the market. The inherited house turned out to need more renovation so they turned down some earlier offers as didn’t want to move until the other house was ready. They had moved 3 weeks before our viewing so just wanted to get rid of the house. Right time I guess!

I've wondered this too
There is a house for sale on my street which has been on since nov 19. They have it on for more than they paid for it whereas we and another house have ours on for less and ours are both bigger houses
All built at the same time 5 years ago. They haven't made any changes to it . And it's not as nice a plot. Very surprised they haven't reduced it .

@AnxiousSM- I can tell they are over priced. Apart from the fact that they haven't sold during what has been a mini housing boom (as mentioned already), I know the roads, have driven past the houses, can see the photos, square footage and compare to the prices of other houses that have sold in the same area. If they weren't so over priced, they would have been snapped up during the Summer when the market was flying. As I said, it's the seller's perogative to price them at whatever they like. No one on this thread has suggested that they have a right to buy at a lower price. As @Tangledtresses says, they probably have their own reasons even though they may be irrational ones. I do think some agents have a 'sales tactic' of over valuing to get customers.
I'm not sure if it is an age thing or not but, interestingly, all but one of the houses I refer to have no sale history so must have been purchased >25 years ago and probably the sellers are of retirement age now.

Our next door neighbours were on the market for just under 2 years.
Personally we felt their property was over priced, but someone eventually paid it. They were willing to wait until they got the price they wanted and in doing so earned themselves around £50k for sitting on their backsides for 2 years. They are both retired so that's been a nice addition to the retirement fund i'm sure!

Are you sure they haven't sold or are at least under offer OP? Estate Agents are notorious for leaving stuff up on Rightmove to get people contacting them. We just enquired about a property that has been on Rightmove since August to be told that it is in fact SSTC. I don't doubt there are some house that languish at an unrealistic price indefinitely- in fact there is one on my road like that which is a divorcing couple where one of them doesn't actually want to sell, but Rightmove isn't (weirdly) always a realistic snapshot of the local property market!

Hope you find somewhere to buy soon :)

One near us (a neighbour) was up for sale for what we though a very optimistic price. The bloke told dh that they didn’t need to move, but if anyone offered what they were asking, or near enough, they would.

After several months, during which prices dropped a bit anyway (they’d gone daft around here) it was taken off the market.
I imagine there are always a few like that.

We waited six months to see if we could get the asking price. We wanted to move but weren't in a hurry. The house was unusual so it was more about waiting for the right person to come along. In the end they did. If we'd had to move quickly, we'd have a accepted a lower price. So sometimes I think it can be about timings rather than commitment to move.

One in our village which is roughly 50k overpriced and it’s been on the market for over year. The couple were divorcing and one is sleeping on a mattress on the lounge floor. They were selling the house with “potential building plot” but this wouldn’t be viable due to how it’s positioned to the property... you could extend it maybe but not build a house! There was no planning permission.

Basically they’d bought the house at a high price (not our problem) with potential building plot, painted it and put in a new kitchen then wanted 100K more than they paid for 6 years on the market. Other exactly the same houses not selling even though they are on the market for 85k less.

They basically wanted to split and have some money for a deposit on another property. As far as I know the house is still for sale and they are both still stuck in it

I've been on since mid October. I think my price might be a bit punchy now, but I also think since it went on we were in lockdown for a month, then the holidays, now another lockdown. I know estate agents are open but most of the potential buyers have been from London, so that has restricted any viewings. I have turned down a low ball offer- I was willing to negotiate and countered and would have accepted a mid- way, but she didn't come up. I'm not in a hurry, but will review my price soon and drop it a bit to get down to the next rightmove threshold.
People do try their luck, but £3-400,000 over equivalent houses? Unless the property is over £5m they are mad.

@justineboober

Our next door neighbours were on the market for just under 2 years. Personally we felt their property was over priced, but someone eventually paid it. They were willing to wait until they got the price they wanted and in doing so earned themselves around £50k for sitting on their backsides for 2 years. They are both retired so that's been a nice addition to the retirement fund i'm sure!

maybe the value increased in those two years, reaching their asking price. I know a case like that, overpriced took ages to sell. vendor still thinks got more than its worth :)

Early days of looking we went to look at a house on a v nice road that was on for 490k. Walked round it and were honestly is that it? It was beautiful but tiny kitchen, small sitting room, 2 small doubles and a box room. Turned out there was planning in place for a huge 3xtension and they’d priced the house as if it had been built.

We bought a 5 bed, equally nice road, 2 big reception rooms for £485k. First house still on the market 2 years later.

I think some people feel entitled to make loss of money out of their house. They saw X made loads 5 years ago so reason that their property should make the same profit even though it’s a different market, different type of house etc.
Houses are no ok her seem as just somewhere to live and create a home, people think of them as an investment but won’t accept that not all investments make a ton of money!!!

I wouldn't view a house that's been on the market for 6 months, I would think there was something wrong with it

Generally there is a mix here.

Sellers can hold onto unrealistic valuations. They often see their homes as in better condition, or similar to other properties, when it’s actually very inferior.

There was a poster on here who couldn’t understand why her house wasn’t selling, as the neighbours had sold and she thought her house was better. It wasn’t, the neighbours had been fully renovated and hers clearly hadn’t been touched since the eighties.

A property lingering on thr market tends to be always about price.

On the flip side, you also get unrealistic buyers, who see a property they love, but decide miraculously it is over priced, but it’s actually should be within their much lower budget! Wow. What’s the odds!

There has also been many many threads on here showing it. People saying it’s overpriced, and everyone else looks at it an says hmm. That’s bang on the money.

Sometimes folks need x amount to move to their next home, or will only move for x amount, other wise they will stay put. It’s surprising how many folks will value their property based on how much they personally need to move. As you said, it’s their call. If they can wait for the market to catch up with them, then that’s their choice.

Usually divorce or a probate where one of the heirs doesn't agree with selling the house!