House takes forever to sell, would you consider a let to buy

[Linouta]

Hello ladies

First I would like to apologise if you find this a silly problem to have.

We live in a lovely 4 bedroom detached house which we’ve done up to a very high standard. It’s just outside to London so the transport links are really good.

We have tried to sell it on and off because we’ve had babies and one of them passed away in this house so emotionally I find it very painful for me to carry on living here. Also the mortgage has gone up a lot last month and with the cost of childcare, we have nothing left at the end of the month.

we had a really good offer before but when Liz Truss came in power the buyers pulled out. we have now put it back on the market for a lot less and we’re barely getting any viewings. Two couple who have visited fell in love with it and said they would definitely put in an offer but then disappeared.

luckily we do have enough equity to rent this house if it doesn’t sell and move but it scares me so much. The house we would move to would be considerably cheaper which would help to drop the mortgage a bit.

The mortgage rates are crazy and if we get a bad tenant who stops paying the rent, we would struggle financially.

I thought it might be an option until the market recovers but I’m also scared that we might have to spend money if the tenants damage the property or don’t take care of it.

What would you do? Keep waiting for a sale or rent it as a let to buy and buy another house? It seems that it’s such a great time to buy a house with the prices dropping but not a good time to sell.

would love to hear your thoughts!

Very sorry to hear about your baby that died, I can totally understand your reasons for wanting to move.

I’ve heard a lot of bad stories about how stressful it is these days to be what they call an “accidental landlord “. I expect other people will be along later to explain some of the many things that can go wrong with it, but it’s very much not a decision to be taken lightly. There isn’t as much profit in it as people tend to assume and you will be emotionally upset if the tenants trash your lovely house, as it isn’t just a business to you.

It is a bad time of year to sell. It’s encouraging that buyers have expressed how much they like your home, but many people are finding it hard financially now to afford an expensive house. So try not to take it personally ( hard I know!) when people make the right noises but then don’t make an offer. They have probably just done the sums & realised they can’t quite afford it right now while interest rates are quite likely at their peak.

In your position I would remove the house from the market for now, because it’s unlikely to sell this close to Christmas. Relist it in the Spring if you can afford to leave it that long, or January if not. Take a close look at what other comparable houses have sold for recently in your local area ( look at Rightmove sold properties). Reduce the price from what it is currently listed at to generate more interest. Once you have a Buyer you will be able to benefit yourself from it being a good time to buy as you will hopefully be able to negotiate a good deal on your onward purchase.

Twiglets has given really good advice, I wouldn't let either if you couldn't afford it if things went wrong. So sorry about the loss of your baby, good luck selling. Xx

My sympathies, that sounds like a terrible situation.

If your income shows no sign of improvement in the near future then it's really crazy to be a landlord I'm afraid. If you can't afford the worst-case scenario (a bad tenant) then that risk is not worth taking.

The problem is, the past has little relevance now because conditions have changed, much like when markets were going up someone trying to pay last years price would have gotten laughed out of the room. It's pretty much the same when markets are going down, sellers with listings trying to achieve last years price just looks stupid as there are now many cheaper.

Sadly a lot of sellers get anchored historic prices, either the price someone else achieved last year, an offer last year, or even the price they paid, when these have less relevance because of the changing conditions.

What you feel is 'a lot' less, clearly the market doesn't agree with, and thus absent any other changes in the market more cuts are needed. Much is made of 'waiting for the market to recover' but who knows, next year things could be better, the same, or worse. That reduces your strategy to mere hope, and that could be acceptable while staying there is no bother. But there are financial and mental consequences in this case and mental well being is worth more than money.

You can afford to, so I would just drop the price to get the interest. Look at what the comparable houses are going for and offer the best value to the buyer relative to those, that's not necessairly the cheapest, but you need to be realistic.

Thank you so much ladies for your kind words and I wish you a wonderful 2024!

Dropping the price wouldn't be an option given how much we spent! we want to at least breakeven and just get the natural increase of the house prices without the works.

Since the rates are dropping we are proceeding with a let to buy but decided to buy a cheaper property further out. However it looks like the market is starting to pick up so we might be able to sell in the end which would be the ideal scenario!

Any of you live in Surrey?

Thank you so much and take care xx