So frustrated with the market

[Omgwtafisthat]

Stuff still being priced as if it’s 2022! Stuff needing so much work, but work is so so expensive.

we’ve been under offer for ages but just can’t find anything! Sorry for the rant but please tell me something will happen soon!

if our buyer drops out we will not achieve the same price again but it seems that nothing onwards is being priced all that realistically!

looked at one today which the EA described as ‘quirky’ but they still wanted a fortune for it! Ahhh!

@rosiebl oh really?! How much by? Will you pay the difference or negotiate down?

We have been trying to negotiate on a house today, but the seller won’t budge. We’ve offered what similar houses sold in the road in 2022 (none have sold since) which I thought was fair given the way the market is.

So there we are. We continue. I just know that my buyer is going to pull the plug come September.

We are sold and are searching. You are spot on OP. Houses on right move been sat there for weeks, some making massive discounts. But several 3/4 bed houses we like need well over 120k spending on them. Many are in a terrible state. Mostly probate properties or people who don't need to move but just want to cash in. The market is totally stagnated. I really do not want to feel forced into a property which isn't right for us as we will live there a long time and moving is expensive. But how long before our buyer gets irritated and goes elsewhere?

How much is that under the asking price?

Why not say that to the EA? Put them on the spot and ask them to justify the price while pointing out the flaws.

I did. She blamed modern photographic technology re: the garden looking bigger and because the garden was so crap, it wasn't worth pointing out that we have different interpretations of excellent maintenance. No need for price justification as I had no intention of buying it once I saw the garden.

Pah. I well remember looking at some houses and being absolutely gobsmacked by how small they felt compared with the photography. It should be banned for false advertising surely.

@Northernlass99 we saw a house at the weekend which was north facing garden, mid terrace, single glazing(!!!), had a boiler older than my granny. It needs 100k being spent on it and is 50k over our budget. The EA was annoyed at me that I didn’t want to buy it this morning!!!! Told me that I was going to lose my buyer blah blah. Was really forcing myself to try and like it and then realised I bloody hated it and I am just getting desperate.

@Permanentlyfrazzled it was 10% under asking, as a starter. It’s a landlord and he’s saying he is going to rent it out but every single carpet needs ripping up, new bathrooms needed and bloody good clean too.

@Omgwtafisthat Ooph 10% off asking is a lot. We did try 9% once with a house that was so overvalued it had had 3 viewings in 6 months and no offers. Went up to about 7% off which we thought was generous but sellers weren't having any of it. They pulled it from the market next week. I guess they couldn't afford their onward purchase.

We are selling (again) and there's no way we could accept a 10% drop, probably not even 5%. We just couldn't afford to move.

You did well selling at a busier time and getting a good price. Wish you the best of luck finding somewhere, market is stagnant at the moment. Tough for everyone.

@Omgwtafisthat I feel your pain. There has only been one property where I walked in and said wow, this is beautiful. Unfortunately in the wrong location for us and had train line at end of garden which I wasn't up for. It is so hard to get builders now and material prices are so expensive I really don't want to be gutting and renovating a property, especially as I have done that already three times (I don't mind some redecorating etc). I wouldn't mind a new build but they are usually in bizarre out of town locations now. Trouble is that moving is so stressful and expensive now you really want to get it right. I am trying not to feel pressured by the EA and keep saying to DH that we are not being forced to do anything we don't want to do. Don't listen to the EA - they will tell you anything to get you to move, and I think they are desperate for the sales at the moment.

Yes sounds a lot @Permanentlyfrazzled but 10% is quite the norm around here now. This house has been on for two months no offers. Which Normally around here is unheard of. Also we have a cash buyer so it would literally be just us in the chain 🤷🏻‍♀️ I think he might think our offer is quite good in a months time.

I've had loads of those this year.

See also: measuring all the way to the front of a bay window, so you get there and it's 3 ft shorter than expected (the smart ones put arrows on floorplans to show where they have measured to).

Or, measuring right inside built in wardrobes. Sometimes, you get both, and you turn up and it looks like a 3rd bedroom!

gaaaaaaaaaaah

Nobody regulates this stuff, so it would be pointless making it illegal.

@Permanentlyfrazzled I have seen quite a few houses come down by 10% or more. Prices are dropping significantly. You possibly could afford to take 10% less if the houses you are looking to buy are also 10% less.

A friend of a friend is a builder and property developer and has just been flipping property for the last five years. But he just sold a property at a loss after renovating it due to the falling market.

@Northernlass99 we've already dropped 7.5% but other houses where we want to buy aren't coming down as quickly, if at all. In fact, we've been in several bidding wars with houses going considerably over asking!

I suppose it depends what the market is like where you are. Here we are quickly becoming priced out.

Of course you're within your rights to make a cheeky offer, but equally the seller is within their rights to reject it. Some sellers are just a bit greedy/foolish, but for others they need a minimum price to be able to move at all.

We've been house hunting for months now, put offers in from anything 5% above asking to 9% below. Depends on the house and context I suppose...

Wishing you luck, it's grim out there!

Yes, the buyer may well do. You might find they come back to you at a later date! We put in a couple of cheeky offers in the spring which were rejected outright and we couldn't go higher. They both came back to us 2 months later after the market starting falling and they couldn't sell. Of course the offer was much more appealing then.

Of course by then the mortgage rates had gone up and we were looking at cheaper houses...

Whereabouts are you @Northernlass99 @Permanentlyfrazzled @KievLoverTwo ?

we are south east London

Ah interesting is south east London really slow at the moment?

We accepted an offer from a couple that needed to sell their flat in SE London. Weee advised by our EA that it should sell in a couple of weeks in March - sadly still not sold months later and we've had to put our own house back on the market after waiting for them for months.

Sadly this seems like a bad time to sell and I don't think we will get anything like the offers we had in the spring now.

We are in Surrey, not too far from you. We are in a rural area which is quite slow, looking to buy in the commuter belt which still seems to be very strong market...

North West coast.

This why not move in to rented ? That is really the only way to game the market .

Agree @Goldencup. This is what we were planning to do if we couldn't find an onward purchase. OP is moving into a rented an option for you? May well be a good idea in a falling market. And you break the chain so you can look at properties in your own time, no pressure to pick one that isn't quite right!

We did it in 2007 bought at the end of 08. Prices fell 20% while we waited.

@Goldencup we are porting our mortgage, have a long fix at a low rate, only have 6 months to move and it’s too risky in case we don’t find anything. Also have two very small DC so can’t face moving twice!

To give you an idea - this modern terraced house in Bath at £280k that I've linked in - pretty sure 15 months ago would have been mid£300s - nicely done up, 3 decent bedrooms , roomy downstairs, not an amazing area but not awful and handy for town, good bus route, ok school and good senior schools - pretty unheard of for stuff not to go straightaway here at those prices

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137532977

Eek, they need to get some new photos done, particularly that cover photo of the outside! Such a lovely house inside.

@Permanentlyfrazzled totally agree!! Really nice small family home or young couple - and not really needing work - apart from maybe front garden could do with a bit- but this type of thing , especially with 3 beds used to be totally snapped up here.

• mind you it's only been on 12 days - so May indeed have been snapped up

This in my mind definitely a reflection of the effect of the cost of borrowing on people. Those who would be looking to buy this would be maybe young families/FTB couple and they just can’t borrow what they used to be able to borrow.