Rapid downsizing for elderly parents

[Spudulike3]

I wonder if anyone can help give me some ideas?

Some background, my mum and dad have a large house and garden which they have done up over the years and are very fond of. However my Dad is ill with a terminal illness (not a quick one but a going downhill slowly type) and my mum is struggling to keep up the house and the garden. It is in good condition at the moment though. They want to move to a smaller and more manageable house in a easier location.

They have put it on the market and had very few viewings and have dropped the price a few times but still nobody has taken an interest. I think this could be due to a few factors - Liz Truss et al and the state of the market at the moment obviously does not help. Also, the house is on a busy road which I think puts people off. The decor is also very 'period Victorian' to go with the age of the house but is not modern which may also put people off.

I had wondered whether they could do the kind of scheme when you buy a new build house and the developer takes on selling your house for you. However, my researches tell me that you can only do this when the new house you want to buy is worth less than the one you want to buy (75% of new house price). Does anyone know the reason for this or know of any schemes where this isn't the case?

Alternatively, can anyone give me any ideas of how they may be able to downsize rapidly that doesn't involve waiting for a buyer via the traditional route?

All suggestions gratefully received! I'm sure this isn't an uncommon problem and I'm surprised that there isn't some kind of downsizing to a new build type scheme.

There are quicker ways (eg modern method of auction) but they would lose a lot of value from it so it depends whether it would be enough for onward purchase? And I think some of the retirement complexes offer part exchange but, again, those come with their own problems.

Is it priced correctly? If it's not getting much interest then the price is probably too high. Bear in mind the market has dropped a LOT since last year (when we bought) and building/renovation costs are high so a property needing work is going to be less attractive. When was it last rewired? How old is the kitchen and bathroom?

Also we were viewing properties like this last year - usually owner had gone into a home or it was a probate property.

They often had dated decor and were clean but it was very obvious they needed more work eg wiring looked a bit dubious, signs of damp or roof leak, old-fashioned layouts eg first floor loo separate to bathroom and no basin in it, kitchen that looked nice in the photos but the reality was chips/marks, wonky hinges, windows that needed replacing.

All of that stuff costs money and costs are rising so potential buyers will be adding that up alongside the potential purchase price. How does it compare with other houses on the market nearby?

Truth is you can spend thousands and thousands doing it up but it is still on a busy road - you have to price it to sell if you want to get moving I'm afraid- what are neighbouring properties going for.

We are quite old with a large house and garden. We have reluctantly obtained planning permission to build in our back garden. Reasons 1) If we don't apply then a developer would. 2) all the reasons you state in your post -ie dated decor, single glazing, outdated heating, unruly garden.

If your parents' house is on a main road, that isn't necessarily awful. If it could be converted to flats- that is maybe an option. Having planning in place for a renovation project can also show undecided family house buyers what COULD be done. People are bad at visualising but a nicely drawn up scheme could give them a nudge. Perhaps you won't get any more money but it widens the appeal.

It’ll be down to price. They need to be very realistic with the price the house would fetch in the current market. Everything sells at the right price….

Developers won't take a larger/more expensive house as they risk losing money if doesn't sell/takes a while to sell.

Could you post links to the house and we'll try and help

Is your EA really trying to sell it? When I was downsizing the EA I went to was useless at selling that type of property. As soon as I changed to another it was a different world - and only a very slight price reduction. Second EA sold the house very quickly…..

Hi - I sold my parents' house in 2020 and a couple of ideas. Their house was in good condition, on a convenient road and a popular place for families. My parents had ok and modernish taste but they did have a lot of personal possessions - not hoarding level, just busy.

House sold for an ok price (in that area 650k) after being on market for a while. exactly one year later it was on the market for 780k and sold instantly (market had not gone up). The reason: they had got planning permission for a 2 bed loft conversion (most other houses in street already have this) - literally hand drawn pencil drawings - cost them a minimum to do. They had also turfed over my parents shrubbery and mature ornamental trees to make the garden plain boring, and they had the absolute bare minimum of furniture to make the house lived in - a table and four chairs in the dining area, 2 sofas in the living room, etc nothing else. They had done no work, not touched kitchen or bathrooms etc.

If I had my time again I'd get a planning permission if that's common in your area (does everyone else have a kitchen extension or loft conversion??), and put everything but the beds and sofas in storage (or move out to rental)

Exactly! PP doesn't cost a fortune compared with the uplift in value.

That seems fairly odd. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some money laundering going on with such an uplift in value for little improvement. ‘Sold instantly’ is always a clue, these properties tend to be sold before anyone elapse can have a chance to look at them and make suspicious comments.

believe, I am not making this up, because we lived next door to such a property.

The market had a huge rise in that time frame so they would have made money even if they had done absolutely nothing. The market was crazy in 2021.

Can you rent it and put them in a smaller rented? Sell later but this will fund their move

They need to price it at the correct level for the market or preferably just below to stimulate interest.
Houses on main roads are never as desirable relative to others not on main roads.
Very dates houses/ possibly poorly maintained are much less popular now that the costs of works has risen so much.
If they want to sell they need to reduce it to a level where people can afford to buy.

OMG - is that even still possible? Thinking of the person that bought it... I didn't exactly warm to them!

Re: the market then - in that particular area which I know intimately it didn't really rise.

Interesting question. We are looking at moving but have lived in our house 40 years and I can't face the hassle of selling. In this area houses sell quite slowly. I thought I had struck lucky when I saw a P/E scheme for new builds. However they want your house to be 30% less than the one you are buying. No good to us as we are not downsizing just moving to a better location.

Price it right.

That is the simple answer.

I have seen quite a few houses recently that are being sold because an elderly person is going into a care home/is moving to be closer to family/downsizing to a ground floor flat due to mobility issues or has unfortunately died.

These house are not selling because of the same issues: they have not been updated/maintained to 30 or 40 years so need a lot of (costly) work but they have not been priced to reflect that or/and the owner is not willing to consider offers.

So the houses don't sell and then they end up at auction or the owners try to market them with another estate agent thinking that they might get lucky.

Most of the time these houses would have sold if the owners were reasonable/realistic about what their home is worth.

Thanks all - some food for thought. Xxx

My PILs are in poor health and found themselves unable to cope with their house and garden. They have moved into a 'retirement living' flat and are finding things much easier. They did a part exchange agreement on their old house so they didn't have to bother with any of the stress of selling it (I don't think it would have been easy to sell due to location). Not sure if that would be an option for your parents.

We are looking to move and have looked at a few of these bigger houses that have been lived in by an older couple for a long time.

As an observation they are usually immaculately maintained and seem to be proved to reflect that / they need little work. However, when you look up close they need gutting. The immaculately clean double glazing is 25/30 years old, ditto the bathrooms, kitchens and carpets. They don't have the open plan kitchens, loft conversions that are generally wanted these days and the wonderful gardens are usually impractical for young families (who are often looking at these houses).

Unless the house is in a super desirable street or area I can pretty much guarantee that anyone looking at your parents house is thinking they'll have to gut it and they'll be considering that in the price.

I'd look at how much your parents need to move and think about what is the minimum they could accept while still sensibly pricing the house.

*priced to reflect that

We're next to a house like your parents and DH &I will be in exactly this position in 20 years.
We keep in mind it's a busy road, that's why it was cheap enough to afford 20 years ago. We try to keep some perspective, appreciate it as a place that sheltered our family but not over estimate it's worth to others.
Next door is up for sale, garden too big for 70 year old woman. Everyone who's looked round politely blames the road but it's lots of things.
I think if it was just one thing then you'd shrug and say that's our budget we'll put up with that drawback.
Priced so high, crazy high. If it was halved it would still struggle to sell but someone would compromise and go for it and she' d still be able to downsize.
Clean, you could move in but it's all done on the cheap 20 years ago.
Lots of obvious bodged DIY solutions.
Once you break it down you'd need to absolutely gut the place, new garage, new drive, new tool shed, look carefully at the cheap greenhouse and new cheap porch and decide whether to live with it or start again. But she wants top money for the home it could have become in her dreams.

Your home is always going to be emotional buying a house is brutal.

It's always the price.

Are there any sheltered flats in their area they can apply for?

Change agent. I had mine on for 6 months and hardly a viewing, took off the market for 3 weeks, changed agent got lots of viewings and 2 offers in days. Buyer had no chain (from overseas) despite it being a large expensive for area home

That's really interesting and I'll look into this. My mum is very anti 'retirement home' but there is one where I live which is very swanky and I wouldn't mind it myself (but I'm not old enough 🙂). I guess these days they are not all the grim places we imagine.

Quoted the wrong message - meant this one!