Is it the market, my property, or the agents?

[rubberduck68]

I’ve been on the market for nine weeks and I’ve had only one viewing (on day three). At the six week mark I knocked 50 grand off putting it in a lower right move bracket. The property is in really good condition, in a popular area and other things seem to be selling in the area (albeit slower than 2021). The agent says it’s probably the run-up to the budget. I’m getting so much conflicting advice from the agent, friends, family, the newspapers, I’m feeling really adrift, and would just love to hear from some other people who are currently selling their homes at the moment.

The market seems to be slow everywhere but i imagine many people are waiting to see what the budget comes up with in case something affects the buying/selling process.

the best time to sell has always been march/April/may.

have you checked online to make sure your asking price is comparable with other houses currently on the market?

also check your on-line details. Do the photos do the house justice, have you decluttered, is there an accurate floorplan with measurements?

if you feel brave send us the link to rightmove.

It’s never the best time of year to sell as people won’t be able to be in for Christmas and then there’s the budget. The rumours about what they’re going to do to the house sales/purchases/propertytax/rebanding for council tax are going to stop the all the people who don’t need to sell because of death divorce or moving area for work

The market has pretty much entirely stopped near me due to budget. If you're not in any rush I would pull it off the market and launch again in January.

I don’t really understand how the new property tax will work. Again, so much conflicting information. Does anyone have an idiot’s guide that they can break down for me?

The market is slow because a lot of people are waiting for budget changes.

But there is a shortage of property in general in the country. If your property is priced attractively for the area then someone will buy it, almost by definition.

There are lots of people out there who want houses, but far fewer that can actually pay high prices for them.

Pretty much every house I have seen posted on here because of lack of interest (apart from maybe a couple) have been priced too high once the RM link is posted and the property price evaluated relative to others in the area.

So in all probability it is unlikely yours will be any different.

No one knows yet. There may not be any changes.

There is a load of speculation in the press though. Which might either be people making stuff up, or the government leaking proposals to try to gauge public opinion.

Nothing is set in stone for the budget.

No one should commit to any big money decisions currently. Rumours include an extra tax on properties over 500k, stamp duty being abolished. But until the actual budget no one knows.

I lowered the price to exactly the same as a comparable property in my road sold for recently (needed work unlike mine, which has been modernised recently) I’m £100,000 under the Zoopla estimate for mine . I’m never quite sure about those?

Well you could be brave and put a link up, the reactions can be a bit brutal sometimes and it is all very personal. I have found with property it’s the surrounding area that influences me more than the house. Someone put a link up to a house recently they were considering near a pylon that would be a hard no from me even if it was my dream building.

You say "sold for recently" but that price could have been set months ago. Maybe even half a year. My feeling is the market is slowing down all the time nationally (what it is doing in your area could be different as the national market is comprised of many micromarkets). Add into that the effect of the market slowing down due to budget uncertainty ...

Other properties are unlikely to be identical to yours unless you are in an estate location and it may be that you are not evaluating the strengths and drawbacks of comparable properties through an unbiased eye but as no one can see it no one knows.

No one can really give you useful information on how your house is presented and whether they think the value stands up against market data without looking at the details.

I really think it the budget. So much speculation about changes to stamp duty, possible property taxes. I want to buy but I’m not even looking until there’s some certainty on what is planned.

No link = no sale. Simple.

People are pulling their belts in and probably being cautious. Also we’re leading up to Xmas, it really does make a difference until about March, I’ve been there during the downturn in 2013, the market was very stagnant. The market had to slow down at some stage, it always does, it comes in peaks and trough’s. I didn’t drop my price and stuck it out, 9 months later we had a buyer who offered 1k below the asking price. I feel your pain but the market has definitely slowed down.

I put my house on the market, no viewings. I’ve viewed several I would like to buy that have been on the market for 6 months, thought they would be gone in a week but no.

Ignore zoopla valuations - all they are based on is what your house may have sold for sometime ago, how many rooms you have and the general sold prices in the area. Nobody can value your house sensibly unless they have been round to look. A nearby house which may have sold recently could have had a high end finish and been immaculately maintained and will therefore attract higher offers than a similar one which has been more ‘lived in’.

did you get 3 estate agents to value your home before putting it on the market?
sadly estate agents often rely on sellers being greedy and if one if them suggests they could ‘try’ your property on the market at 10-20 k more than the others sellers will be tempted to do this!

ask your estate agent what price they would suggest if you needed to sell immediately and see what they say.

Nobody knows what will change or if anything will change. That's the problem no one can make a decision because they don't know if, or how much they might be affected.

Other possible tax changes (again unknown) may also be delaying people making big life changing decisions, like selling or buying a house.

Thanks for all this. I'm starting to wonder if I should wait and see what tax implications there are, although probs won't have a buyer by the budget so hey ho.

You don't understand the new property tax because nothing has been announced yet, we'll find out in the November budget. There are some leaks and speculation, but that's all.

I think it’s the budget. It’s killed the market where I am. Nothing new coming on and nothing selling.

I think a lot depends on the type of house you are trying to sell?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/buying-selling/developers-padlock-new-builds-london-housebuilding-collapse/

We’ve had a house on the market since May and no viewings. We were meant to have one this week, but it was a no show. Our agents said the markets dead at the moment, nothings moving, not just ours.

Impossible to tell without a link. Highly likely a combination of price (99.9%) and an underperforming agent. Upcoming Budget is an extra layer of drama.

Sorry just to add.

As a seller at the moment (changed agents in the end) my immediate thought from experience (learnt that the hard way) is:

— are you agents ACTUALLY picking up the phone, replying to enquiries via the portals, being proactive chasing buyers asking for a viewing? —

I found out mine weren’t picking up the phone on multiple occasions during business hours, not replying to enquiries via the portals, not following up on people asking for a viewing, etc. Ask a friend to get in touch and see how they behave (happy to do that for you, I’m sour enough with estate agents at the moment 😂)

The property is incredibly likely to be overpriced, ignore the Rightmove/Zoopla estimates. Go only by sold prices in a 6 months/1 mile radius. If no direct comparable properties extend the search to 18 months/start increasing mileage.

I need to sell my one bed flat before I can proceed with buying a house. My buyer pulled out a month after initial offer so I’ve taken my flat off the market and will re-list in the new year. I’m competing with lots of nearby new builds which offer incentives for FTB or shared ownership. I think others are in the same boat with a saturated market for some properties. This means until I can sell my flat, I can’t move up and in turn others can’t move up as the ‘buyers’ aren’t in a proceed able position

Yes, had three agents round, all said the same thing. I've lowered it since though.