No viewings

[Ellena646]

Hi, we have been on the market for four weeks and not had one viewing. The agent just keeps repeating "It's August, very quiet" on a loop, although we are now in September. Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same thing. Not sure if it's the agent, the market, the price... Never been on the market and had zero viewings in the first month before...

My buyers came up by £5,000 but the place I want is demanding full asking price and won't budge. It's no nicer or better condition than mine, and I've had to take a big hit. Oh well... Out of interest what do you all think is a reasonable amount to offer under an asking price, e.g. the one I like is on for £475,000 so I offered £450,000 and expected some negotiation upwards from there but got a flat out- "we want asking price"... I thought 5% was a civilised reduction and starting point for negotiation...

I think your offer of 450k was very fair & they should have accepted or at least started a conversation.

Maybe leave it hanging there for a bit in the hope they come to their senses?

Their agent should be telling viewers that they need asking price in order to buy their onward purchase, if that is the reason here. Agent is just wasting everyone’s time if offers are not going to be considered.

Yes, I will stay still on it for now

That's what I thought... or "offers over £475,000"...

I think your offer is fair starting offer. I would just leave it there and wait for the agent to come back to you if I were you. Good luck 🤞

That seems a fair offer to me. We have just accepted an offer lower than asking and ours was listed as ‘offers over’.

I agree that the lower-mid end seems to be moving much better than the higher end in general.

@Susanap, again, would you stop with the personal and inflammatory posts. You've already had posts removed for these reasons.

I am also a 'genuine mum', not that I think this gives me some kind of moral high ground. I don't think my posts are negative. I think they are realistic. I personally find your views unrealistic. If you genuinely think that I and multiple others who have posted 'negative' things or posts saying that their houses aren't selling are all trolls/ making things up/ estate agents, you are free to report all these posts to MN. Again, kindly stop the accusatory and incorrect posts just because you don't like my opinions.

A 5% reduction seems perfectly reasonable in theory but it will be totally dependent on the individual house. How long has the house been on the market for, how fairly valued is it compared to others and how many offers have they had? If it is new to the market, they may have a lot of interest. If, on the other hand, it has been on the market a long time with little interest, the sellers are unrealistic and best avoided. I would just keep looking. Are you buyers flexible?

rainingsnoring Can you please stop accusing me of posting personal remarks just because you don’t like my views! You have mentioned my name multiple times now also and I have not had your posts removed! No one else has taken offence on here by my views apart from you! Some have even agreed. That speaks volumes. Stop trying to get posters censored just because they don’t agree with you. And please stop targeting me personally as I am talking generally of my views as opposed to you! Just leave me alone as you are starting to become intimidating!

Mentioning a name in response to your posts to me is a standard way of communication @Susanap. Throwing around accusations is not. If you feel that my posts are 'intimidating', please report them.

rainingsnoring
Where exactly have I accused you personally??!!
You are accusing me now. Just let people voice their opinions in peace please as you cannot change the market and create a crash! Just as much as I can’t convince people to listen to me! It’s all personal opinions and you just don’t like mine! stop trying to censor posters you don’t like! Please do not refer to my name me again on this forum please. I will NOT be intimidated by you!!

That's good to know, thank you

They have been on four weeks and had no offers yet. I went out looking today at four properties and the feedback was the same re. price; they all want asking price or over... I don't understand, even in a good market that's kind of presumptuous...

@Ellena646- I feel for you. It may be that this is just the estate agent's attempt at marketing and not what the sellers have said. Unfortunately, in the market that you have described (you said earlier that your agent said nothing is selling), it may have the opposite effect to the one they desire, ie put people off offering altogether.

All you can do is research your market thoroughly so you have as good an idea as possible about what is selling and for what (these figures lag a lot but they are the best available). If you think that all these houses are overpriced compared to actual sales, you can give this feedback to the agent or wait until they (probably) need to reduce because others agree with you or you could make an offer that you consider fair. The risk with the last option is that some sellers seem to take offence to lower offers; v foolish imo, but quite common if MN is anything to go by!
There was an updated thread a few days ago where the agent made up all sorts of stories about higher offers, etc but the OP stuck to her guns and secured the property with a significant reduction, 15% or so. This usually only happens when the property has been on the market a long time and the sellers really want to sell but it can certainly happen. Hopefully, your FTB are flexible- just make sure you keep them in the loop!

It depends how much you want this particular house. I would hold out on your offer 5% below and see if they come back to you and edge it up sightly if you love the house. I would never try to knock a seller down by 15% as if a buyer did this to me I would assume they are chancers and will then try to knock you down upon survey and drop you in it before exchange. If they have already said no to a 5% below offer it is ludicrous to think you could knock them down further, that would be a very foolish move imo. I think even 10% below asking price is very cheeky and usually these type of buyers try to knock you down further down the line. Some sellers may even stop dealing with you and refuse any further offers. It may seem stubborn but they may have a rock bottom amount they need for their ongoing purchase. Good luck 😊

Here is the thread I mentioned above @Ellena646:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/5095374-how-much-would-you-offer?page=1

It can be sensible to wait/ stick to your guns and not be pressured into overpaying by agents, who are often dishonest. So many sellers discovering that they have been unrealistic with pricing and reducing down the line.

Yes I agree, no seller should really expect full asking price, however be careful going in too low to begin with as this may insult your seller and they could refuse to deal with you in future.
The current market is now improving albeit slowly. From research and numerous financial advisors with experience, it may have already bottomed out. I believe the ‘crash’ has already happened if you can call it a crash.

I personally, and many seller unless maybe a probate, would ignore any buyer coming in with a very low ball offers as they are probably trying it on with multiple properties to see who bites and not passionate about your home so could pull out down the line after survey once you are too close to exchange and too late to pull out.

Your offer of 5% below asking price was a very sensible starting offer and if the seller does want full asking price I would leave it there for now and see if they get back to you if no other offers are forthcoming. If you love the house wait and the increase it very slightly to see if the counter offer.
That’s if they don’t decide to pull it off the market and try again later of course, good luck with you onward purchase.

Ours is on for £475k and we're fully expecting offers of around £440-450k. We are hoping for £460 but are willing to negotiate. Doesn't matter at the moment anyway as we've had next to no interest after it's been on for a week 😔

Hang on in there, it's early days...

I accepted my buyer's raised offer, but yesterday the EA said they want to book a survey for next week, but I haven't found anywhere yet. There is so little on the market that I want to view at the moment, and as we wind down towards winter it will I imagine continue to be quieter. What if they pay for a survey and I can't find anything to go to (not going into rented)? I thought surveys happened only when the buyer and seller are matched? Feeling quite a bit of pressure....

This shows commitment from the buyers your end. They must really like your home! 👏😊 If you have an offer you are happy with I wouldn’t rock the boat if I were you as you may risk losing them. I would maybe try to delay it by a week or by a few days and hope something comes on that you like. Are they aware you haven’t found an onward purchase as of yet?

I would allow the survey to go ahead and not worry about them. It shows that they are serious buyers so it’s a good thing and committed buyers often do book the survey early in the process.

They do know you haven’t found anywhere yourself yet? So it’s their decision to proceed regardless. All you can do is keep looking. While the market slows a bit as we get closer to winter, there will still be new properties coming on.