Disappointed with house price

[Sheerdetermination]

I put my London flat on at 600k. Few viewings. Dropped to offers over 550k and reluctantly accepted an offer of 550k, after driving the buyers up from their initial offers of 525k and 540k. They were the only ones to offer. A nearby flat sold for 565k last year.
I think my mistake was to put the flat on the market at too high a price initially. I have a toddler and couldn’t quite face rejecting 550k and re-marketing.And yet I feel I’ve robbed myself of 15k.
Buyers are cash-buyers and in only a small chain, so attractive.
Any one ever felt like this or have any words of comfort? Thanks.

Tbh I am annoyed with myself too! I knew the valuation was too high, I must be one of the few sellers who told the estate agent it was too high and we agreed to a price 25k under his valuation! But it was still way too high for the central London property market which he must have known more than I.

I honestly think it's better to start off in a more realistic way when your property is new to market and gets the most interest. But it's hard not to feel foolish disagreeing with a high valuation like you are dissing your own property!

This is the risk you take when you buy property. I own a London flat (much cheaper than yours). I didn’t buy it thinking I’d make a profit on it when I sell. Investments go down as well as up. If I sell it for the same figure as I bought it I’ll be happy, i don’t think homes should be money-making assets anyway.

We sold our London flat last year for 45k less than we paid for it I'm 2015. It is what it is I'm afraid - flats just aren't where the boom is.

Surely with flat prices stagnating or falling this will at some point hit houses as so much of the market in the past has been funded by equity?

@caringcarer a point worth remembering. Thanks

@Poplob there is another thread here all about how much over asking price people are offering, so it’s helpful to hear it’s not just me who is in a different boat. Thanks

Sheerdetermination

I should imagine that's not for London flats tbh! No one I know selling a flat in London recently has got over asking price for it unless it's got a huge garden.

It’s not about making money for me. It’s about selling for the right price so I’m not losing money. I will be buying a property in the place I’m moving too. I’m pretty sure if you have to move one day you’ll be trying to sell your flat for what it’s worth.

Yeah, it’s now all about the garden. Mine has a shared garden but apparently that’s nothing of value anymore

I sold my london flat for £470k in March 2021, the exact same flat below me sold for £500k a year before.

I then bought a London maisonette with a garden for exactly the same price my seller bought it for back in 2016.

We bought our London flat for £565k eight years ago and just had to accept an offer of £492k after a year on the market. No garden. Bloody pandemic.
There is no market for flats right now. Sorry you're also in this situation.

I’m pretty sure if you have to move one day you’ll be trying to sell your flat for what it’s worth.

It's worth what someone will pay for it. If you think it isn't enough, put it back on the market and wait for a buyer who will pay what you think it's worth.

I've made so many suboptimal moves with property. A landlord offered to sell us her Brighton seafront flat for £90k back in around 1998 - we chose to carry on renting instead. Think those flats go for three quarters of a million now (huge 18th century first-floor flats with literally 8-ft windows and sea views). Selling a house in Brighton in a very hot market in 2006 we took the estate agent's valuation and he 'found' a buyer within 24 hours - I suspect in retrospect he already had the buyer (buy to let for students) lined up and we could have got more. (In all honesty i suspect backhanders in this case but can't prove it!)

Meh. I've got a nice home, mortgage nearly paid off, which makes me pretty bloody lucky. Not everyone is cut out to be a wheeler-dealer on the property market and so many people can't get on the property ladder at all. I try not to stew over it.

Personally I don’t think my flat is worth any more than what I paid! Seller wanted £230k, I got it for £200, she’d originally paid £160 about 5 years ago so she still made a profit. The point still stands that when you buy a property the possibility that it will decrease in value exists and by buying it you’re accepting that eventuality. I think it’s naive to assume you’ll always make a profit. Nobody has an innate right to be able to upsize. London flats that cost considerably less than £500k have always existed, I bought mine in 2020, personally I think anyone buying one for half a mil or more is a fool because this was always going to happen. There’s a ceiling on flat prices and I’m glad they’re coming down.

Also it's not necessarily a bad thing. My friend accepted under offer for her flat during lockdown & she got the same % off what she was buying which was a bigger saving.

Try not to think in terms of 'worth' or 'potential'.

Does the sale allow you to settle the mortgage and make your onward purchase?

If the answer is yes, you have accepted the right offer..

@Minimalme Wise words. I’m not quite sure of the answer but it’s probably a yes

@gitbag A very good point but I’ll be buying in a different place that I think is booming. Maybe that will change by the end of the year though (I’m going to rent for a while)

@PacificState I’d have made all those moves too, most likely. You’re right that security is much to be thankful for

It’s not about making money for me. It’s about selling for the right price so I’m not losing money. I will be buying a property in the place I’m moving too. I’m pretty sure if you have to move one day you’ll be trying to sell your flat for what it’s worth.

But it is only 'worth' what someone is prepared to pay for it.

If you can afford to buy whatever it is you are planning to move to, then remember you are in a good position. If you can't, then don't accept the offer.

@YukoandHiro yep. Thanks, Covid