When to reduce house price?

[housesellin]

We are currently on the market for £625k, 3 bed Victorian semi. This is in line with all valuations, mortgage survey and recently sold properties. However, you do need to really understand the area to understand the price.

We went live 6 weeks ago and have found our dream house, they’re waiting another 2 weeks for us to secure our sale. We have had 10 or so viewings, one second viewing. All have come back with either 1) the layout (not open plan, traditional layout) 2) no parking. One wanted to offer but isn’t proceedable.

We have two viewings booked for this weekend and our plan before we got these booked in was to reduce to a guide price of £600-625k. We cannot and will not accept less than £600k, we simply couldn’t move.

Do we reduce before the viewings on Saturday as planned, on the Friday, with the hope it causes more traffic and more viewings. Or do we wait until after the viewings? The EA doesn’t call the viewers until the next working day, so we wouldn’t get feedback until Monday and if they wanted a second viewing, we wouldn’t want to delay the reduction.

Houses are selling slowly, it seems. I think it is beginning to pick up.

If I search 1 mile of my area, 3 bed semi or detached, they are all around £600k up to £800k. Ours is perfectly decorated with character. However, all feedback is things we can’t change. We did have one offer but they need to sell so we can’t consider until they sell and I think they’ll be a while as it’s a flat.

That seems rather contradictory! You say that you think the market is beginning to pick up and also say that you think the unproceedable buyers will take a while to sell because the market is flat.
Perhaps you will be lucky and get an offer at 600K+ from the upcoming viewings. You could just leave it on at offers over 600k and see what happens, while keeping an eye on your 'dream house'. If you are not getting proceedable offers at the price you want, it is possible that the current market is not in line with the figure you have decided that you want. Remember, wrt feedback, British people tend to be very reticent and dislike talking about money.

A flat, not a flat market!

You would lose a sale over £5, thats utterly ridiculous.

I didn’t say the market is flat, I said they are selling a flat…which is harder to sell empirically.

Got to have a line somewhere!

So you did. Apologies!

As an update, we didn’t reduce Friday as we were told to wait for the viewings. We heard back about one of them and they want a second viewing so I’m hoping that is promising. We have another two viewings this week also booked in. Haven’t yet heard back from the other viewing but the EA said they were viewing lots of properties.

We’ve been told to hold off on a reduction. I feel nervous!

Economy is slow

I would reduce after 4 months in market

I think you're wise to hold off. It really sounds like your property is getting interest at the price it's on at now. Good luck - it all sounds hopeful!

Fingers x for you. It’s nerve wracking!

Fingers crossed @housesellin

Good Luck - you're getting lots of it interest anyway, which must be a good sign.

If you haven't already, I would ask the EA to explain to any potential buyers that ask that the asking price is slightly negotiable, even if you haven't yet officially reduced the price. Buyers like to feel that a deal can be done.

If you don’t have parking it is one of those things you can’t do anything about but is a make or break for most people, £15k won’t be the difference

You have to just hang in there!

Drop to offers over £600 now. And tell the estate agent that if anyone offers under they can instantly decline and say nothing under £600 will even be considered (legally they’ll still have to send you the offer but it takes away the back and forth and waiting)

I wouldn’t buy anywhere with an open plan layout personally and any viewers who haven’t spotted it on the floor plans are time wasting idiots. I remember years ago breaking my back to be viewing ready, for a viewer to say rooms were smaller than they wanted - all on floor plans. People are infuriating!

Re the price for me it would be a v anxious ride taking it to the wire from point of offer. A survey is likely to pick up on issues in a period property and the buyer would probably want to negotiate. That said, if you don’t secure any offer you’ll miss out on the house you want. Best case scenario is obviously the second viewing leads to an offer around current asking, so there’s some room to negotiate later if needed. Fingers crossed this is how it goes.

One thing from me on the contentious guide price scenario - for me I see it as I do salary ranges for jobs, but in reverse. Company ready to go to max, seller ready to go to minimum, so proceed on that basis! Also, as a previous poster said, people do like to feel they’ve achieved something by bargaining.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes x

A floor plan even with measurements doesn't necessarily relate to ability to perceive the reality.

If you ask 100 people to measure 1 foot in length or 1 meter in length without any form or measuring tool or guide almost all of them will be off. Its not an inbuilt skill that people can naturally visualize distances.

Agree with others who said reduce to offers over £600k.

At the minute you are in the middle of the £600 to £650k band on Rightmove but a reduction puts you in the lower bracket.

It does sound like your house isn’t actually worth what you need it to be though - the fact you can’t change things is directly linked to the price people are willing to pay if they are making compromises.

Also, pre stamp duty increase sales factored in that saving so you can knock several thousand off because of that too.

I agree with others. Unless you reduce it to £599,999 so new Rightmove browsers spot it who haven’t seen it before, I don’t think a price drop above £600k will make a massive difference. People will already mentally view your current price as offers £600k and above. If you do reduce to a smidge below £600k you might bring in new interest who will push the price above your threshold anyway.

I really agree with PP who says to get your estate agent to let potential buyers know you may be open to the right offer if you keep it at your current price. By the amount of viewings you’ve had, it sounds like you’re roughly in the right area price wise with it.

Alot of it is psychological... Put it on for 599950 bet you'll see a difference

It’s only been 6 weeks.. I’m sure you’ll get a bite soon.it takes on average 4 months to sell a house.

Sounds like you’ve priced about right but this is how a falling market starts. Only the perfect houses sell. The buyers hold out for a bargain from the people who really have to sell. Death, debt, divorce.
You’ll have people below and above you in the chain who face these pressures and things can fall apart.
Would your dream house be open to offers? If you got an offer of 590 would they knock down by 20?

On average it takes 38 days to accept an offer, 4 months to complete and exchange.