A selling wwyd?

[moverinchief]

We are torn what to do so asking for collective opinions.

We put our house on the Market 12 days ago as we have seen the perfect property for us to downsize to. Potential new house has been on the market for a week longer than ours (different area faster market). In short, if we don't get this property then there is nothing else that ticks any of our boxes and we would probably stay put.

In the area we live the market is fairly flat. Property is selling but it's taking a while (weeks)

So after a lot of sold price research we went on the market. Similar smaller houses have sold at our asking price circa Dec 2023 although their location is not as good as ours.

In the 2 weeks we have heard nothing from the EA. I rang this morning and she confirmed we have good Rightmove clicks but this is not moving on to viewings.

To me this indicates that the price is too high. She suggested that we leave it for another week to give people chance to get back to normal after Easter/School holidays and then to think about a reduction if there are still no viewings, but time is a ticking with the potential purchase.

Here lies our dilemma. As we are downsizing it would be lovely to maximize the price on this property but we want to move and know it's value is what someone else will pay.
So do we reduce, and how much by or do we give it another week?

Estate Agent recommends a 6% reduction which would take us into the next Rightmove price bracket down and potentially create a bidding war (can't realistically see that happening).

Current price puts us in the middle of current asking prices per sqft in the area we live. House is in good order, new roof, boiler etc and immaculately presented.
WWYD?
I really hope this is my last move because I find the whole thing stressful and a pita. About 4 houses ago I said never again and yet here I am

12 days seems very, very soon to be reducing the price.

I'd be inclined to listen to the estate agent.

I'd also agree with the estate agent to wait until the Easter holidays are over. Lots of people who are considering moving will be busy with childcare for the next week or so and probably just haven't got the time to view properties.

Have you made an offer on the house you want yet? I know you don't have an offer on your house yet, but it is on the market so I think it is worth offering and stating your current position with selling.

12 days is no time at all! Don’t reduce yet.

12 days is enough time for the HOT buyers in your area to have seen and considered making enquiries on your property. Radio silence means either the price is too high, or literally nobody is pro actively looking for a property like yours at the moment (which I find unlikely).

12 days is a VERY long time to be on without any viewings. We went on in February in a seemingly freezing market, had viewings booked immediately and sold after 8 days. Ignore those telling you to wait.

It will be the price, unless your listing is somehow putting people off like if you’ve got no floorplan.

Looking back at the emails from our agent from last year when we were selling, they advised us that Easter is often a very dead time.

What are the agents doing to get viewings? Have they made it a featured property on RightMove? Worth a try before dropping.

I would say it’s overpriced, EA are well known to overvalue to get the instruction. If you are getting the clicks but not viewers, it expect it’s down to price. Good luck OP I hope it works out well for you.

I think 12 days is a long time given that keen people looking to move will have had an alert email from RM the day it went on the market.

I would reduce now.

Have you considered using webuyanyhouse dot com or similar?
https://www.readysteadysell.co.uk/we-buy-any-house-companies-how-much-below-market-value/

If you are thinking of reducing, it may be worth enquiring with them before you do any reducing-any offer the above make is based on the people you are advertising at.

This is terrible advice, these companies are known for dropping the price at the last minute.

Challenge the estate agent.

Ask them what marketing they have done other than stick it on Rightmove? Have they put it on their socials (cringe but works), spoken to people who are after x bedroom houses in your are previously.

Are your photos good quality showing a clean and tidy house and garden or have they taken wonky photos including that one corner where all the stuff is.

6% reduction 12 days is huge considering its school holidays and easter unless they had massively overvalued your house to get your custom or you ignored them and went with your own price. Personally if after 12 days if the EA suggested that to me I'd be getting other Ea's round to value as they have clearly been playing silly buggers to get business.

Can you go with the estate agent from the other area? Sometimes they cover two or three or are you talking about miles and miles making it impractical. Its only a suggestion as then it makes the EA work harder for a sale if they know they are getting a second from it.

12 days and no interest at all, no phone calls to the agents, viewing requests? And they’re just monitoring clicks on rightmove? I look at every new house round here on RM for a nosy, I have no intention of moving. Clicks mean nothing.

Did they give you a marketing plan when you signed up with them? Did you explain speed was of the essence given your circumstances?
Are you tied into a contract?

Some areas are just completely flat at the moment, I wouldn't necessarily start doing anything yet.

We've been on the market since February with no viewings except two right at the beginning. There have been a couple of houses that are basically identical to ours on the market in that time and just before. They took a few months to sell and had very few viewings but did sell for asking price (or close enough that the asking price wasn't the problem).

If your house is in an expensive area, it's just that buyers who can afford it right now are thin on the ground. People love to come on these threads and tell you your price is too high. Yes, any house will sell if you price it low enough but the price that people bite your hand off for isn't necessarily the true value of the house.

I would expect you to get viewings within the first few days from buyers actively looking. The fact that you're getting clicks but not views does suggest price could be the issue. Did you get valuations from more than one EA and were they all around the same?

The other issue is the house you'd like to buy. Do houses like this come along rarely or are other options like to come up over spring/summer?

All your replies are mirroring all the thoughts going round my head hence my wwyd?
The house we have seen and love is perfect for us, after months of trawling Rightmove it's the only one that;s come up that we would consider moving to. If it wasn't for that I would be a bit concerned we hadn't had any viewings in 12 days but wouldn't be considering a reduction at this point, I'd be happy to give it a couple more weeks but I feel that time is against us.

The agent came highly recommended and has a good reputation. They sell the most houses in this area. I don't think she inflated the price to get our business. I always keep my eye on Rightmove and her suggested asking price was exactly what I was expecting ( same as other agents), although in a shifting market that doesn't necessarily mean anything. The listing is good, excellent photo's, floorplan etc.

@ClonedSquare that's exactly what happens here. Properties take time to sell but do sell for asking price. Only one property in a 1 mile radius has sold since ours when on the market.

If we do reduce, is dropping into the next Rightmove band critical? What does a reduction 12 days after marketing say to buyers? I guess that I just feel that if we lose out on the other house and we haven't done everything we can to try and secure it we will regret it.

We have bought and sold enough property over the years so we should be able to navigate this one but for some reason, and I think it is the perfection of the potential new house, I'm really torn as to what to do.

It's so odd that you have heard nothing. I would expect a bit of activity on first listing.

We sold a house recently I thought was too highly priced, BUT our agent literally sent anyone and everyone round and eventually one person offered - they went for quantity buyers not quality!

My point is, it seems odd the EA doesn't have at least one or two people on their books they could send round to view, especially as they took the house on.

What is their plan?

I would wait until school easter holidays have ended - wait another week and if still no interest then reduce the price. Good luck.

I agree with your scepticism on the 'moving down a Rightmove price band' logic. It's used as evidence to support a suggested price drop, but I don't think it has any meaning. Serious prospective buyers (i.e. the ones you want) will be thorough and not be defeated by a simple search engine criterion.

Given your desire for another property, that does create a time incentive to drop sooner, but I agree it does feel soon in normal conditions. If you do, make it a meaningful drop like you mean to sell (and you don't have to accept the inevitable cheeky offer!). At least you will then have the opportunity to make the transaction (which you can still always say no to up until any point before exchange) and see how you feel when you have an actual deal on the table. At the moment, it is all hypothetical as you don't have a buyer. You might be able to make up some cash on your onwards transaction if your desired home is too expensive. Again, might not work, but at the moment you're quite far away from making a chain.

Just my two pennies.

Reducing after 12 days as a buyer tells me that the seller is very keen to sell.
I agree that most times it’s price but sometimes it’s also location

There might just not be keen buyers for your location so reducing might not necessarily be the answer.
But it’s definitely worth a shot.

If it’s a need to downsize as opposed to a want then I will reduce as chances of another perfect property coming on the market in the near future are very slim.

The market has been really slow since last year. Barely any properties have come on the market in the areas I’ve been looking in. A lot of sellers are staying put until conditions improve

It could be overpriced.

It could also be a case of simply being mislisted.

There 2 houses on the market here that have been on forever.

first is classicly over priced, its a 5 bed (although it was a 3 bed terrace and 2 have been added to attic) but its in the middle of nowhere (way out of town not even on a bus route)... the neighboring property which was the exact same floor plan but bigger end terrace and came with land and garages sold for 50k less.

The other is listed as a 4 bed but on no planet is it a 4 bed house, it probably gets loads of clicks as its an acceptable price for a 4 bed and they are fairly rare so sort after (although also in the middle of nowhere) but it just isn't a 4 bed. Its a standard 3 bed house with a garden office that they are insisting is a 4th bedroom. Anyone who needs a 4 bed will instantly discount it and be irritated.

Its so irritating when looking for something specific and things are mislisted, like we need 2 reception rooms but many things say they have 2 reception room but they have been knocked though into open plan, so no use at all etc...

Its always worth a browse over to check everything is right. Some times people (sellers or agents) are prone to exaggerate for an 'upsell' but buyers see right through it so sticking to straight up facts is always best.

So a 3 bed with garden office is probably really good for someone who needs a 3 bed with the bonus of extra space but is useless for someone actually needing a 4 bed because they are usually families with young kids and no one is having their young kid sleep in the shed away from them etc... If house 2 just listed it right I bet they wouldn't have sat on the market for over a year with little to no interest.

What are your photos like? Does the outside look appealing enough?

@moverinchief I think dropping to the next Rightmove band is unlikely to help much. I don't think many buyers are setting their Rightmove limits at exactly their budget, they're usually already looking one bracket above in the hope they could haggle. I know that's what we're doing (budget £450-60k, RightMove maximum set at £475k). It could be worth doing if you really want to sell quickly, are currently sitting £10-15k above the next bracket and can afford to sell at the new asking price or slightly below.

Ours is currently on for £375k and we have considered dropping to £350k to get the extra eyes on RightMove. But £350k is our absolute minimum that we'd have to be really desperate to accept, so I don't think the new interest we might get would be able to meet our price.