Nothing to buy!

[Potaytoe5]

Following from all the threads of people struggling to sell... (I've been there!).
Does anyone else find there's nothing to buy?

What comes on the market is still last years' prices. Well priced stuff goes within a week- we missed on a couple of nice houses as we haven't sold yet when they went up.

So frustrating!! Fingers crossed more will come this month.
The only new houses added recently either were last renovated 50 years ago, or have gardens so sloped only avid fans of skiing would consider them.

Just having a rant really.

It's possible that there is sometimes a glitch in the matrix, sure.

But then it would also be a massive coincidence that the one area that's the most desirable to get into has the highest % of RM solds with no photos, and one of the least desirable (just looked, I actually compared 9 areas) had almost the fewest number of solds without photos. We're talking a 22% difference between the two areas here.

If my assumptions are correct, it's problem houses hitting RM: no parking, big extensions eating up gardens, vendors with deeply unrealistic £ expectations, etc. Which would explain why all I ever seem to see is problem houses!

I just don’t agree as I think most people want their houses to be listed on RM to ensure that they reach the largest possible audience. I know a small minority get sold get before the photos get taken & the property properly marketed but that’s very uncommon I would have thought, especially now.

If I look in my area I see white a few good properties for sale and the usual dross too. I’ve always found I have to look for ages when house hunting because so much on the market is awful or ok but not worth the price. I know I’m fussy but that’s a good thing with house buying I think.

Re: rightmove listings I think it is very area dependant. Only one agent in our area seems to list properties that sold already. Otherwise most seem to go straight to rightmove.
I understand it can vary from place to place and agent to agent!

Ok so DH managed to sell some investments so we'll be going for a house more expensive than we would have- it is lovely I am just not sure if it's going to be worth it. Maybe we can get a bit off it just to cover the stamp duty!

Worth a try!

We are finding plenty we could consider- want to relocate south, but we can’t sell. At the rate things are going we will have to give up as will be in negative equity after being here 17 years.
As for the “dirty boomer” slurs from upthread - we did have a new kitchen and have done some maintenance and redecorating, but I am probably part of the problem as we haven’t had a new bathroom, kitchen, carpets etc every 6 months. I personally find the need to ripout perfectly good fittings and Send them off to landfill just for fashion reasons disruptive and it can’t help the planet.

We are therefore not looking for perfection in the destination, but we cannot move if we can’t sell. There are six houses for sale on our road - prices from 899k down to ours at £425k (after 10% reduction in asking price) none of them seems to be selling, and even the new builds (of which there are many nearby) seem to be sticking. Of course there is a price at which anything will sell, we have tried to be realistic, but it does seem nothing is selling at all here.

Update: We've now bought the house we were looking at (STC). We managed to pay the asking price minus stamp duty, and the stamp duty was quite hefty, so it all worked out in the end.
Fingers crossed there will be no bumps on the way and we'll be moving in there some time after Christmas.

Hurrah! Very chuffed for you, OP.

Good Luck @Potaytoe5!

Argh all this resonates with me and I've been looking since early 2022. The village looked reasonably priced when I look back even at 2021/22 prices but 2023 people were adding like 10% extra and just not much coming to market besides homes that need a lot of time and money spending which you wouldn't recoup as they're already close to ceiling price of the street. Lost my first buyer as they didn't want to keep waiting, then 2nd buyer threatened to pull out so I moved into temporary accommodation to complete, being assured by EA that market was picking up but still nothing coming up. Have offered on 3 houses in the past year - 2 withdrew from sale as they couldn't get the price they wanted (which was excessive compared to recently sold homes) and the current home I've offered on is at the ceiling height for the street but not the biggest home, and overpriced compared to similar standard larger homes that sold in 2022. It's been on for 5 weeks with no other offers and they're holding out for top price as they've spent money renovating it and EA has told them it's added 90k (when in reality they've probably spent £40k since buying nearly 3 years ago).
I expect they sold the last home in a lockdown bidding war?
Feeling very trapped at the moment and stuck in limbo! Have a good deposit, god equity from previous home and the sale history of the village suggests I can afford a home there, just need people to sell, and at market price!

People who can afford to stay put are waiting until prices recover again. Good areas seem to freeze still in recessions.

@amandaleeds must be so frustrating but sometimes the seller only wants to move if they can achieve a certain price - I was one of those people! I live in quite a small town/large village and have noticed that both houses that were for sale at the same time as mine at similar price/period have both taken themselves off the market as they haven’t sold. Both have reduced their price but clearly they aren’t prepared to keep reducing and after 9-12 months online they’ve had enough. I sold quickly but in this market consider myself lucky.

Yes I sold quickly both times, but only because I did a lot of research on the valuation myself and went with an agent who was brutally realistic about the market etc. Had too many agents suggesting valuations that I knew were ridiculously high compared to nearby properties.

I could have afforded to stay put as I'd almost paid off my mortgage but have been wanting out of car dominated suburbs and a closer commute for years. I thought as prices were dropping I'd easily find something, but noone seems to want to drop their price. Seems to be mostly poorly maintained ex-rentals or homes where people have passed away and need everything updating. The quotes I got for work suggested it wasn't worth it...

Still tumbleweed here....since Jan there has been two houses that would have been suitable out of a large bad bunch which are still sat on the market. Sadly both sold well above the expected ceiling price for the street, which I couldn't match. Still waiting for the spring boom...
Sold my place in Feb, all my stuff is stored in various places, and I'm spread between two homes for commuting purposes, often confused about where I am when I wake up 🤣 There seems to be a shortage of decent house shares at the moment too which surprises me.

Sorry to hear you’re still in limbo @amandaleeds

Sounds like you are experiencing the reality that the best houses on the market always sell, even in a stagnant market. While the not so good houses languish for ages unless priced competitively, and then get removed if the owners have no urgent need to sell.

More houses are being listed now according to Rightmove, but maybe not in your area yet. Hopefully something good & affordable comes on for you soon.

@amandaleeds @Twiglets1 I’m feeling the frustration too. We accepted an offer on our (competitively priced) house a couple of weeks ago but we’re struggling to find places to view, let alone offer on. It’s a big move for us - a relocation and a bigger house (and mortgage) so we really need to get it right (though who doesn’t?). There’s barely anything coming on and what does is either massively overpriced and/or awful. We’ve had viewings booked in for nicer places where the owners have changed their minds and taken it off the market, to the agents’ fury. We don’t want to lose our buyer, but we can’t really go into a rental - there are hardly any available, they’re eye wateringly expensive (SE) and we have pets.

Crossing fingers for all of us.

Ah yes that was my problem and I tried holding off completion as long as possible as I was terrified of ending up in the situation I'm in now, which is more challenging than I'd anticipated. I know being chain free puts me in a good position, but that doesn't help when there aren't many suitable properties on the market and are lots of people with bigger budgets (couples) waiting to pounce when a nice property comes up.

I offered on a few where the seller withdrew as they either couldn't find anywhere to move to, or wanted a higher price.

For the recent house I was massively outbid on, the sellers didn't even need to sell to afford their new place (as has been the case with a few I've viewed). Must be nice!

@Potaytoe5 did you complete on the sale in the end?
Am in a similar position as you were when you started this thread, would love to know if it all went ahead as per your Nov update?

We've seen the ideal house but in the next town. Logistically I'm not 100% committed due to the kids and how they'll get to school etc, and fit into new community. If the house was in the location I need it would cost up to 40k more. And unsure why as the location doesn't have great schools or industry. Huge over populated too. Struggling to find the ideal package and sadly might have to compromise to get us out the situation we're in.

Did you make progress on this or find something else? I've lost out on a lovely home that was only offering viewings on one day and wanted best and final offers the following day (so no time for 2nd viewing etc). It was priced very high compared to bigger better homes recently sold in the street and I offered over asking price despite it not being in the area I wanted and needing money spending to create a parking space. The winning couple had money to throw at it and apparently offered significantly more.

That was a while back and there's been nothing suitable since. I'm living half the week at my partner's and half the week near work as it's too far to commute every day. My stuff is still in various friends' garages and spare rooms which they'll want back soon.

Really been feeling homesick as I loved my old flat but had reached the end of my tether with the long commute, traffic noise and no garden. I thought it would be easy to buy somewhere chain free with decent equity but I am competing against couples in the same position who are buying with two incomes 😬

I'm registered with all the local agents, keep posting on various Facebook communities but it seems very stagnant. I even contemplated buying another flat until I saw the service charge was over £3k a year (which explains the previously high rental turnover). My last flat was less than half that cost and had the addition of a huge communal garden and garages to maintain!

Really hope others are having better luck. I don't feel I'm being picky, as I just need something functional and I'm happy with something very dated so long as it doesn't need significant modernisation.

Sad to say much the same scenario. Doesn't seem to be moving at all. Private renting is few and far between due to increased taxation for domestic landlords, unaffordable rent because of rates. So put offers in on two? But got none. Others offers were at least 15k about what what our offer was... Something has to give surely? The social housing is on its arse too. Is this just a fall out of the tories for 14 years or is this the way of it from now on?

Sorry to hear that! It's so frustrating. I've looked at rental market but to get a tiny home and put stuff in storage isn't affordable unless I rented far away from work. I'm looking for a houseshare but that's expensive and noone seems to be renting rooms in the areas I'm looking at. I found something perfect but they turned me down for a longer-term tennant. Most rooms are too small for the things I need to take with me and not feasible to easily get to work from.