Anyone else finding it difficult to sell a larger family home?

[Pickleandwhizz]

Anyone struggling to sell their home, ok we have only been on a month and ive not moved for the last 15yrs. We are trying to downsize, we have a 5 bed detached in its own plot with double garage, brand new kitchen and boiler only fitted few days ago, log burner, its a 1980,s home so all the rooms are large, ive parking for 8 cars. Its was initially on for 425 but we reduced to 410, we are happy to take 395 for it but people who come love it yet they cant afford it, they want it for 375 but if i sold for that we couldnt buy what we want. Estate agents are saying people want something for nothing and its because they cant get a mortgage. Anyone else trying to sell?

I wondered this too?

Is your mortgage paid off?

It kind of doesn't seem worth it though when you've got a nice big house with loads of space and you're not gonna come out with any kind of equity once you've paid off solicitors estate agents stamp duty etc

Moving into a smaller house is such a big compromise anyway.

Presumably you want a 2 bed because it's easier to keep, cheaper to run and frees up some money. You can do this with an offer of 375k, so why aren't you? If yours is 375 and 2 beds 300k, there seems a disconnect. Are you living in an area where there are lots of downsizers? Is there a little of work to do to yours? Something isn't adding up.

nothing to add up we want to down size, pay off the mortgage and costs come in the region of 20k. We cant do that on 375 so we will stay put. End of. Mortgage will be paid off in next few yrs we just thought we could bring it forward. People saying they want a 375 home with nothing to do are living in cloud cuckoo. Houses are all money pits. Every home you will find a problem even a new build.

Lots of our friends live in 3 bed terraces/ semi’s and can’t afford to move to 4-5 beds -
not just the increase in mortgage for a more expensive house, but associated increased bills like more council tax because wages aren’t increasing at the same rate as the cost of living.

something will have to happen soon otherwise nothing will ever sell! Lots of £4-500k+ houses for sale round here just not shifting and loads of larger, more expensive new builds too.

I’m actually in the opposite predicament to you! I’m trying to buy a bigger home and the EA’s keep sending me houses way over budget! It’s driving me mad!

Tbh its crazy, when you do a price comparison 10mile radius to your home, each day you can now see people trying to undercut prices, the market is saturated with 4 beds. I'd suggest you hold on, prices are drifting down. EA need to get grip on valuations. They are the ones making the problem. If mine today is only worth 375, then a 2 bed is no way worth over 300. That's what is wrong with the market. All the house valuations are out of wack. My EA said my house value was 450 and I told him no way, houses around me are on for 485 same condition and spec. Been on the market over a yr. Crazy situation.

I think if you would be happy with 395k (ie you would be happy you hadn't given it away) and someone has offered 375k - that a really close offer. Quite a strong offer considering the market.
The reason the 2 beds have not fallen so much is simply about affordability. Smaller 2 beds are popular from 2 angles at the moment. Downsizers want them as cost of living and inflation has made life tighter. First time buyers want them as the traditional first step into a flat has become a bad move financially - so 2 beds have become the sweet spot in the market. I can only see that becoming more pronounced in the near future as interest rates are forecast to go up twice this year and inflation is going to take another leap.

I think the trick to avoid EAs over inflation is to pick the one that offends you the most with the valuation 🤣 always worked well for us in the long run and other properties were still up for sale at the inflated priced 6 months after we moved. If you're area is like mine, there are agents that want to move houses on and are realistic. We've always tried to sell and buy from those. But it's limiting.

Interestingly, my curiosity drove me to Google and only about half of houses that come to market ever end up selling.

"Interestingly, my curiosity drove me to Google and only about half of houses that come to market ever end up selling."

This is a really important point. Its easy to imagine things are going well in your local area when you watch houses that are for sale either get marked as sold (which of course they are not until completion) or just listed one day - and not the next. You feel like the market is buoyant when in fact between failure to complete and withdrawal from the market half of those properties didn't actually sell..

I’m in the lucky position of having a 3 bed so it sold within 24 hours so the pressure is on to find something. I think the 2/3 bed houses are generally more affordable so it’s making the larger homes less desirable all round. Us moving to a larger home means a much larger mortgage as the price between our 3 bed semi and a 4 bed detached seems wildly different. It doesn’t feel like the next step on the property ladder given the huge disparity in pricing.

We are more rural so it’s almost impossible to know what is a fair price as there might only be one or two houses in the postcode.

I think you’re looking at this wrong. And your estate agent has given you bad guidance.

its not people can’t afford it. It is simply they do not think it’d worth whay you’re charging, logically you know yours is not the most expensive house in wales, and you also know houses are selling at price points above yours.

the reason you’re not getting offers at whay you wish. Is because no one at this point has thought it is worth that price.

As a ‘baby boomer’ I would like to downsize, as all following generations are complaining that I’m living in a home that is too big for me and I should be happy living in a little shoebox.

There are 2 problems here: 1. I have a lifetime of memories locked in my ‘stuff’ that would have no hope of fitting in a shoebox: 2. No house builders are building bungalows and where I live bungalows are continually being bought and converted into houses so the pool of housing I’d like is reducing year on year, now you’re telling me it’s my own fault for buying a big house and tough that no one can afford to buy it?

so what exactly is your answer?

(all this is hypothetical- I don’t live in a big detached home but the facts still stand. )

Would you be prepared to give us a link?
Some people rely just on photos on rightmove and don't actually visit the property before they decide it's a no.

Are you having lots of people view but not offer ?

or low viewing

Mums lovely 5 bed has been on the market a year. Dreadful times. She’s desperate to move and it’s really taking a toll on her MH.

This is the problem, houses over our price are only selling if they are ultra modern others are not and still stuck on the market, plus its about location if you are in Cardiff then ob they will sell better than ours outside Cardiff but even houses in Cardiff are not selling. We have had good viewings, only 1 person said it wasnt for them, all their problems are that they havent sold. 1 was going to buy and sell his much more expensive home later but the land tax stung him so that was the end of that. Even the 375 offer wasnt strong as they hadnt sold theirs they have had to reduce theirs. Ive sold 4 homes in my lifetime and ive never known it so bad.

Nobody wants a huge mortage with the uncertainty right now. They could just afford it then when it’s up for renewal not be able too. It’s like this across the board, barely any houses are selling unless it’s something cheap or a landlord can snap up cheap & rent out. A family friend has been trying to sell their 4 bedroom home for two years now, zero interest and it’s a lovely home in a very sought after area!
Either take off the market for now, show us a link to the property (as there may be something putting buyers off..) or patience.

It’s the price. It always is. Unless there’s some kind of issue you can’t do anything about like a huge tree/motorway next door/high crime location etc
And even then it will sell eventually with the right price.
A year means the price is wildly off.

I think that even £375k means people need a deposit of £80k, plus stamp duty, moving costs, Reno costs (painting and new floor coverings, new kitchen bathroom, heating/wiring/plumbing upgrades) then both halves of a couple need to be earning £40k a year approx - that’s quite a big ask!

Dont assume the market ‘has’ to recover is what I’d say.

I do get it, we extended our fixer upper and put a spare room in ground floor with en suite so that if in future we have to stay, we can stay. It’s an aging population where we are, bungalows that my parents looked at for £6k in the seventies go for £500k now where we are.

Op of course houses are selling, you yourself are clearly looking to buy. There is no way houses simply have ceased all sales in this price range.

it’s the price, so far no one agrees it’s worth what you want for it. Of course it’s not no one can afford it. Logically you must know this.

it maybe easier for you to beleive that than accept you’ve over priced. But you’ve over priced. For fhe house, the condition it’s in and the location.

Terrible times. There is an older lady who i see on my dog walk, she is also selling near me, her home is lovely, obviously decor is an older persons choice but bathrooms and kitchen are modern, she has not had 1 viewing, seeing the size of her property it is worth the price. Its not a small property. I think the other estate agent was right they want something for nothing.

We sold our house recently in a couple of weeks. All the houses with decent decor and modernisation sell fast round here if they are priced right.

The houses that are sitting on the market for months are over priced. Need a load of work doing. Some haven’t had kitchens or bathrooms done for the last 30 years or so. Old carpet. Bright paint colour everywhere. People look at it and think omg we will need to spend a fortune doing that up! Some agents seem to just be pricing for the shell of the house and the land.

And if you’re selling a probate house with over grown weeds and garden and the rooms haven’t even been tidied up or repainted for rightmove then no it’s not a surprise when someone doesn’t want to pay 800k for a shoddy looking house with bathrooms from the 80s.

@fashionqueen0123 you are so right. I've worked with a lot of mortgage advisors who have always said this was the most challenging aspect of their role. The AVMs they use and are binded to for lending often produce much more realistic but less favourable valuations. It is impossible to get people to understand this though when there's been a relatively long housing boom.

Also a mortgage on £375k is likely to set people back £1800pm. Which is half the avg household income. People are sitting tight and waiting for the markets to pick up. I genuinely don't believe they will soon. Unless rates drop as this is what has falsely propped up the boom long past it's natural expiry. I don't see rates dropping either.

If that was the case why is the market saturated in 4/5 beds there is a home not far from me, its on for 375 not sold been on for over a yr. Its 5 bed with parking for 3 cars, newer build than mine, stunning kitchen, bathroom modern, not sold. People in this area do not have the money.