When do you drop your price?

[twinsetandpearls]

Been on the market a week so early days hopefully but only had one viewing which has just cancelled.

We are already priced to sell and visibly cheaper than other similar properties.

only one viewing in the first week?
hassle your estate agent
the minute it went on themarket they should have rung round all their customers who want to buy and draggeed them in by the scruff ofs their necks

NB if 'visibly cheaper' than similar properties are you putting o ff people who think 'oh there must be something wrong with it'?

If you drop now it will look desperate, when did it go on RightMove in paper etc. Most people will do a trawl overa weekend.

Talk to the agents about any enquiries and feedback they have had and ask them to follow up potentials on their books. If it has n't improved in a month(bearing in mind the market is sluggish but those at keen prices will still sell) then reduce.

Yes definitely don't reduce yet - how desperate are you to sell?

Not yet. Talk to your estate agent and ask them what they have been doing/are planning to do and what they feel is realistic in the current market.

I did think that Mrs Badger but all the properties going on in the past week or so are going on at about our price. The ones on our road are overpriced and been on the market for 12 months.

THe estate agent said from the beginning that we should be on for a few grand less.

We are amazingly desperate to sell, just got a new job and need to be out my SEptember.

We are hassling the estate agent constantly.

The feedback is that people don't like the fact we don't have a drive or garage. But there is always lots of parking and if theyt wanted to drop the curb and park in front they could but we have never wanted to. If we got them here they would see that as it was an issue we raised when we bought the house

Sounds like you are saying that you know that you are overpriced atm. Given the parking issue (resolvable but people often want what they want!) you may need to reconsider. Do the other houses in your road have garages/driveways?

I would say don't reduce yet but am a bit confused. Did the agent say that you needed to be on for a few grand less so you have priced it accordingly (ie. priced to sell as you put at the bottom) , or did they say you need to be a few grand lower than you are now ? If it is that it needs to be a few grand lower than now I would be looking at putting it down fairly soon, they not so soon as you look desperate, not sure quite what the balance is. But I think with things as they are in the housing market and given that you need to move, I wouldn't wait too long.

Has the agent made it clear on the details that although there is currently no driveway that there is the potential to do so ? And do you know how much it will cost so you can tell potential buyers ? Would it be worth discussing with the agents other things you could do that would make it a more attractive proposition, maybe pay for Stamp Duty or something ?

The others have driveways and garages.

There are two other on the road for about 170, they have garages, drives and a small extension to the kitchen but they are at the other end of the road which is not as desirable.

One other is on the road at 139 which has a garage but again is at the wrong end of the road and needs a lot doing to it. The kitchen and bathroom need replacing and the decor and carpets have had their day. Old dodgy gas fires.

Ours is on at 136,950 we have no garage or drive but we are in a prime location on the road with new kitchen, modern clean decor and realtively new bathroom. The estate agent said to go on at 135 and perhaps drop a few grand after a few weeks. Another estate agent said a few more grand but they are known for taking longer to shift properties so we went for the middle ground. IN 2004 we paid 124,500

There is a house 2K less than us that has just appeared that is as nice but with a drive, again though it is not on as nice a road.

Everyone we know thinks ours is underpriced but that is just an opinion and of course they know nothing and are our friends!

I think people don't realise how far the market has to fall tbh.I have viewed a house today 100k off original price at xmas and I am still thinking of offering another 40k less.If your house was a bargain it would sell quick The meaning of a bargain has really shifted in the last few months.I think asking prices are so misleading as from what i am seeing buyers seem ready to accept up to 15% off last summers prices

I don't know what it is like up by you but not a lot is shifting down here. Are things generally still selling by you ? How much has actually sold recently and can you get any idea from the agents how long they are taking, what percentage of asking price etc ? It's the ones that have actually sold that you have to take notice of I think.

Have a horrible feeling that if the agent said £135, and there is one with a drive (I know the road isn't as nice)that is that price, then you are a bit over priced.

Think you have to take friends with a bit of a pinch of salt, people seem to find it hard to adjust to a slightly different housing market and have a tendency to say what they know you want to hear, however impartial they try to be.

I guess you have to ask yourself, what happens if you haven't sold by the time you start down here in September ? And the answer to that influences your decision. I wonder whether the fact you are fairly close to the stamp duty threshold isn't helping things, hence my suggestion about maybe considering offering to pay it.

for me the benefits of a drive would outweigh being at "wrong" end of the road, but then I don't know the relative merits of the area. So I would n't necessarily pay more for yours but would still look at both.

There is a big difference according to the end of the road. Our road is a long road broken up into three sections, at the far end it is local authority housing which is terraced and it is not somewhere that people viewing our house would live. THere is a middle section which is nice houses and OK. Then at our end is the desirable end.

The only house to sell on our road in the last year is the other end at 60K which was a tip bought by a developer. The others on our road are up for 170 and have been there for a year.

Last August one in the middle section was bought by a developer for 60K and sold a few months later for 168.

In March last year one at the wrong end of the road sold for 135,500.

June last year one sold on the next street which is not as desirable but same house for 140K

This year at a road running at the end of ours which is a similar road, as desirable with the same house one has sold with a garage and drive for 167,500.

If I search within 500 yards of our house this year there have been on average one sale per road. IN 2004 when we bought this house for the same area the average is between 3 and 4.

If they have been on at 170 for a year they are over priced.It depends whether or not you need to sell or just want to.The worst thin though is to chase the market down better to slash the price at the start than keep reducing over a long period

THe ones at 170 are overpriced and everyone knows that, even the vendors. I am not aure why they even have them on the market tbh.

We are going into see the estage agent tomorrow, we are considering dropping maybe to 133 or saying overs over 132.

That sounds a good plan.Maybe put it with new agent new price and maximise your chances.Good luck x

In the meantime, could you apply to have the pavement dropped so that would-be buyers know it can be done and that the permissions are there?

good point lalalonglegs.