House sale

[user1485851222]

Make me feel better, who else had a property on the market for 12 months or more.... Losing hope..... and yes I have reduced price by over 40k.

Parking available as we put a drive in, neighbouring houses are neat and tidy. The issues I thought we would have, haven't been mentioned, i.e. it has a front garden, but a courtyard at the rear. Feedback we've received, 3rd bedroom is a single, front garden not big enough, ( it has nice trees in it). So nothing we can work with. I get that not all buyers speak the truth, but they are telling the EA it's a lovely house...... (but obviously not enough for them).

I've just sold at 18%-20% under 3 x EAs' valuations, 15% under initial listing price, and 10% under what I thought I'd actually get. That took just over 12 weeks, with two aggressive price reductions (I wanted to sell quickly), and 14 viewings booked of whom 11 showed up and 3 cancelled just beforehand. Round my way there's a lot of property sticking for a long time, and most of it reduced but not by enough.

Glad you managed to sell. We've reduced it by 16%, can't really afford to reduce it by anymore. Will keep plodding on.

Depends how much you want to sell, you could hold your price and perhaps sell in another year. Will you stay there if you do not sell?

Realistically, if you can't reduce further, you probably can't afford to move.
How much do you need to move or is it more than you would like to but can stay where you are?

@TheRoseTurtle's example is not an isolated one at present. So many properties continue to come to market way above what buyers can/will pay. Congratulations on accepting an offer and I hope the transaction is a smooth one.

How are the photos on the listing? Professionally taken? The ones EAs take themselves, with lights switched on, can be off-putting. Was it decluttered with no clothes or shoes evident?

We would have no choice but to stay if we don't sell. The house is nice, seaside town, parking etc, but market is really slow in the area. Lots of houses on 12 months plus at reduced price.

I can afford to move, we'd lose the money we've put into the house and we are willing to do that, hence reduce price. The next house would be more expensive and we can afford to spend the extra, no mortgage.

House is tidy, professional photos.

What I meant is, if you can't afford to reduce the price further, you probably can't afford to move now. If you can afford to drop further, do that next month and hopefully it will attract new interest. If your house has been on the market since June 2023 with no sale and very little interest, it's unlikely, although not impossible, that you will suddenly have interest now unless you reduce further. It would probably have flown in 21/22 but the market is totally different now in most areas.

Did you buy at the height of the market? When did you buy?

12 months is a long time to be on the market and those looking at rightmove will have all seen it by now.

It does sound with a front garden being the main garden that is something as well that would possibly reduce your pool of interested parties.

OP,
How long have you been there?
If you're selling for close to the price you paid originally I would hazard a guess it'd only been a few years?
People might be put off if you've decided to move.on after a short time.

Been in 24 months, lots of properties in our area have been on 12 months or more. I agree about the front garden, but we do have a courtyard, & some properties by us don't even have that. Plus we have a drive, which is gold dust where we live.

Why do you need to move after 24 months? As a buyer that would make me quite twitchy about bad neighbours.

Unless you’re a developer, spending £40k on improvements then putting it on the market after 12 months would make me very suspicious. I’d want to know what’s wrong with a property you’ve spent money on as if you’ll be there for the long term then seem to have changed your mind on.
Good luck with the potential sale.

Nothing suspicious about it. Previously I sold within 24 months. We brought this house 2 yrs ago as we had sold our previous property and needed somewhere to live. We thought we may stay here, but I want to move into a village, hence trying to sell. We aren't getting any younger, so want to do it now...

I often buy a house to live in, renovate it and sell within a year or two. Not suspicious at all. Sometimes I buy another one on the same street and do it again.

My concern would not be as much about making buyers suspicious but more whether HMRC may start to ask questions as this could be seen as property developing to make a gain, especially if you are doing it on the same street?

@Susanap CGT rules are fairly straight forward. Or your solicitor could go through the details in advance if you're concerned before buying.

Precisely,,, well done you.... nothing suspicious on our part. I've moved before after 2 year...

Neighbours are lovely. I just want to move to a village

I think putting it on the market when you've only been in it 12 months will set alarm bells ringing for most potential purchasers. I know some people do turn houses but unless they can see major changes/improvements they are likely to think nightmare neighbours or something similar.

You might need to stay put for another couple of years and then try again.

No nightmare neighbours. You can see the improvements we have made. Nice house, nice area, I just want to be somewhere else.

This is a bit of a lesson for some.. look 5-10 years in advance. Sadly the OP says ‘they want to move to a village etc’. Why didn’t they move to a village 2 years ago rather than buying what is clearly a white elephant now.

I am sorry to be harsh but stop messing around with property. Decide what you want to do and then stick with it. The property market isn’t set up for people changing their mind after 2 years. If you cannot get what you want and reduce accordingly then unfortunately you will have to stay put.

Can't disagree with that @MichaelandKirk. The UK market is so inefficient and poorly designed that it makes no sense at all to move frequently for minor reasons. It's also very expensive because of SDLT. If it was less expensive and better designed, people would certainly move more often.