tomandlu Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 A couple of anecdotals that seem to correlate. We've moved (rental to rental), and are currently waiting for a place in the local primary for our daughter (they had a place for our son). The head said that normally she'd expect a place to be available very quickly, as we're number 1 on the waiting list (we live opposite the school). However, "no one is moving now - the turnover of pupils has completely stopped". Near our old house, a couple of friends are selling - the number of viewings is enormous, but the number of offers are minimal. The price they are asking is just too high. When I asked whether they were considering dropping it, they basically said no - as long as the number of viewings is high, they are just assuming that they will eventually hit lucky. They also expressed the belief that the bottom has been reached - mainly on the basis that there is a shortage of decent houses. I asked how they thought that worked when banks won't lend. They had no answer, except to say that some buyers had deposits. However, they do have to sell, so it will be interesting to see what happens next. I think there is a lot of pressure building up, as sellers hold off accepting that prices will fall further, rather than recover or stabilise. When the dam breaks, the falls are going to be sudden and large. There seems to be massive inertia at the moment, but I wonder how long it can last. It will start with a growing trickle, and then a torrent as sellers give in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Weasel Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Good anecdotals. The housing market really has become a spectator sport at the moment. I've viewed about 20 houses over the last six months and I'm presumably one of the 'buyers' that are getting the estate agents so excited. The fact is though that I'm merely window shopping to keep abreast of what's going on in the market. I'm sure there are plenty of others like me and the rest are mostly people who actually want to buy but either cannot sell their own home; cannot get a mortgage; or both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landagan Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Seems like the government have effectively used HIPS to stem volume to the market. Suppose we ought to get used to this temporary stagnation, and be content to watch rental prices continue to fall instead. The damn will break soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theboltonfury Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 on the train down to London the other day I heard a lady telling her friend how viewings were up but how she'd keep getting 'stupid' offers She said 'people are deluding themselves - the market's fallen a bit but not by that much' we'll see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparker Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Similar experiences here too, very few new properties coming on the market but a whole load of unsold stock. People staying put. I've been viewing as well and putting in 25% off peak offers and been turned down. The last one said that our offer wouldn't even cover the outstanding mortgage I hope 'the dam will break' so I can buy soon but even if it does I still think we have at least another couple of years of falls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim B. Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Yeah, denial big time at the moment. Only a matter of time. My own anecdotal - friend is selling, no joy, cut the price a couple of times, eventually got an offer at about 25% off peak, 15% off original asking price. Buyer drags their heels for a while and eventually pulls out. Put back on the market and sold again, this time sold for a little bit more. They are very very lucky. Typical spring bounce sale I think. The house is pretty good though in the land of victorian terraces - cul de sac, private gated road at the back leading to their own parking space, it's got a converted attic room and two toilets - so in that range of property it would be quite a find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poorguy Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Similar experiences here too, very few new properties coming on the market but a whole load of unsold stock. People staying put.I've been viewing as well and putting in 25% off peak offers and been turned down. The last one said that our offer wouldn't even cover the outstanding mortgage I hope 'the dam will break' so I can buy soon but even if it does I still think we have at least another couple of years of falls. I’ve just accepted an offer 23% less than an identical house on same estate (NE29). I've made 75% on top of the price I paid in 2001. I think greed will be the undoing of most owners, though time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foundthelight Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 (edited) I’ve just accepted an offer 27% off peak. SW2. (fingers crossed this one doesn’t fall through) Interesting though it’s been on since Nov 08 as this price, In the last few weeks I’ve had several offers ranging between 27-40% off peak. Looks like people are willing to buy now IF the price is right, whereas before they weren’t no matter what. Edited April 30, 2009 by Foundthelight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heresjohnny Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 We STR a while ago and moved up to the Midlands. I've been tempted recently to view a couple of houses that suited us and were more relastically priced than the others. The houses were from deceased estates and whilst the houses were fine they needed re-wiring, re plumbing, windows, kitchens etc etc. I had a really honest conversation with one estate agent and said I really liked one of them but it was pointless making an offer because factoring in the work required would result in a "cheeky" offer that would only make everyone angry. I told them to phone me up if they reduce the price. Its pointless seeing a house and offering less than 90%. Estate agents don't take you seriously. Owners need to reduce prices themselves. I've got my eye on one house and its come down about 50k over the last 6 months. Still over priced but theres no point going round offering 80% of asking price. Just make you look like an idiot. Patience and all that - houses are only going one way for the next couple of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilroy Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Seems like the government have effectively used HIPS to stem volume to the market. Suppose we ought to get used to this temporary stagnation, and be content to watch rental prices continue to fall instead. The damn will break soon. What i was thinking. How long does it take to do a HIP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Imp Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Peak for 2 bed flats in my area (Splott) was 120k, which is just crazy talk. I accepted 80k, which is 33% off peak. There are still some 'head-in-the-sand' people out there though 1 bed flat another silly priced flat In fact, the whole development seems to be for sale at very high prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Conveyancer Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 What i was thinking. How long does it take to do a HIP? A week to ten days if you have a decent solicitor. DO NOT GET IT DONE BY A FACTORY SHOP most high st solicitors offer the preparation free with their conveyancing service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boon Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 We STR a while ago and moved up to the Midlands. I've been tempted recently to view a couple of houses that suited us and were more relastically priced than the others. The houses were from deceased estates and whilst the houses were fine they needed re-wiring, re plumbing, windows, kitchens etc etc. I had a really honest conversation with one estate agent and said I really liked one of them but it was pointless making an offer because factoring in the work required would result in a "cheeky" offer that would only make everyone angry. I told them to phone me up if they reduce the price.Its pointless seeing a house and offering less than 90%. Estate agents don't take you seriously. Owners need to reduce prices themselves. I've got my eye on one house and its come down about 50k over the last 6 months. Still over priced but theres no point going round offering 80% of asking price. Just make you look like an idiot. Patience and all that - houses are only going one way for the next couple of years. There's nothing wrong with putting in silly offers. EA's can show their displeasure, but in the end they really need business at the moment and will pass on the offer, as there's always a chance that the vendor will accept. As long as your offers are not ridiculous (like 90% off) then its still an offer. Who cares if it makes you look like an idiot. Only the EA, the vendor, and you will know what you have offered, and I don't really care what they think of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronpember Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 There's nothing wrong with putting in silly offers. EA's can show their displeasure, but in the end they really need business at the moment and will pass on the offer, as there's always a chance that the vendor will accept. As long as your offers are not ridiculous (like 90% off) then its still an offer. Who cares if it makes you look like an idiot. Only the EA, the vendor, and you will know what you have offered, and I don't really care what they think of me. That is true as far as it goes - but after you have made the "cheeky" offer and it's been refused then they have you down as a time waster, tyre kicker whatever and stop engaging with you as a serious punter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imp Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 That is true as far as it goes - but after you have made the "cheeky" offer and it's been refused then they have you down as a time waster, tyre kicker whatever and stop engaging with you as a serious punter. No, depends upon how you put it. We put some low offers on houses, but we said "This is as much as we can spend on this house, please put it forward to the vendor. Even if they don't accept it, it may make them more comfortable accepting a slightly higher offer in the future, which is to your benefit." I think they started using us to help vendors see the light. There was also one house which we said, we will go and look at it if the vendor sould be willing to sell it for 17% off the advertised price. The agent was pressurising us to make that a formal offer, which we didn't want to do. We just said, we don't want to wast their time, the vendor's time or our time if the vendor is not willing to be reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fentanyl2 Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Hi, We just made an offer of 490k on a house on the market for 665k (since 4-5 months) in sw18.It was a four bedroom house made into three as they converted one of the bedrooms to a family bathroom (the original one being so small it can just about accomodate a shower).We took into account the prices in the area for 3 bedroom houses and had a 25%cut from it. The estate agent was very upset and angry at our offer and said our perspective of looking at the market is not right and we should price it as 4 and not a 3 bedroom house and then price it.I just told him if it is a 4 bedroom then he should advertise it as such and then see the response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telometer Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 fentanyl2 - what you really need to do is to look at the price per square foot. Gets rid of all this "number of bedrooms" nonsense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepless Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 In my mind, if a seller correctly values their house at todays market, puts their house on a realistic price - say 25% off peak, they still get (cheeky) offers significantly less than that market price. Get what I mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darling Alistair Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 In my mind, if a seller correctly values their house at todays market, puts their house on a realistic price - say 25% off peak, they still get (cheeky) offers significantly less than that market price. Get what I mean? I think I get what you mean. You mean that the lower offers strongly suggest that seller's "correct, realistic" market price might actually be a "stopover" market price on the way down to a "real, more correct" market price - right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Wonka Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Interesting da response to the 3 /4 bed situation. Where is it? Link? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikhail Liebenstein Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Good anecdotals. The housing market really has become a spectator sport at the moment. I've viewed about 20 houses over the last six months and I'm presumably one of the 'buyers' that are getting the estate agents so excited. The fact is though that I'm merely window shopping to keep abreast of what's going on in the market. I'm sure there are plenty of others like me and the rest are mostly people who actually want to buy but either cannot sell their own home; cannot get a mortgage; or both. Same here. I've made loads of viewing, but I'm not buying yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fentanyl2 Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Thanks for the responses.The link is http://www.andrewsonline.co.uk/buying-sell...s.aspx?ID=51637 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostbusters Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Thanks for the responses.The link ishttp://www.andrewsonline.co.uk/buying-sell...s.aspx?ID=51637 Interesting I live in the same area within a quarter mile and have also had an 'interesting' experience with the same agent last year, to the degree I would never deal with them again. Probably go to Haart. House transactions on the grid where I live have been non-exsisitent since last year and I entireley agree with you as to why offer anything over £500,000. I think there was a EOT house on lavenham on the grid with asking price 475k which has a sold board up within days.. Very low viewing numbers on the Grid as well . A few last bank holiay spotted .. none this one so far.. good luck ..carry on offering under the 500k. I am sure something will come around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willy Wonka Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Agree, I think that only 4/5 years ago the houses on the southfields grid were at 500 ish mark. So if we are really dwon to 2004 levels then ........ A 3 bed On W park road at 500 is a hansom price indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fentanyl2 Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Yes, I agree with your experience of Andrews. They were one of the worst agents that we have dealt with-even worse than Foxtons. The thing to note that when asked to quantify how they have valued the house they break into a monologue of their experience in the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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