Vendors That Do Not Want To Sell

[Bullish Bear]

I am really confused - perhaps you can help.

Why on earth would someone market their property for over a year and be unable to sell it? I have seen a handful of properties now in my part of town that have failed to sell - some have brought the price down by a few thousand, others have not.

Now, forgive me for being a little ignorant here - if I wanted to sell my house, then I would be inclined to accept a reasonable offer. Surely after a year, the vendor would have had a reasonable offer? They might be holding out for something a bit higher than the highest offer, but why? What would possess you to keep your property on the market when it is obvious that you are not getting people offering what you want or even getting people in through the door? Why?

Now if I had a property on the market for a year or more, I would be fed up of having my evenings disrupted while potential buyers nosed around looking for issues with my decor to help them negotiate the price downwards. Imagine the situation, you are tucking into your tea, and the phone rings. The EA says, Mr Poselthwaite wants to pop round to view the property. So you quickly tidy up your crockery, get the vacuum out, a quick dust and a squirt of some air freshner. Then Mr Poselthwaite turns up a little later than he should have and complains about the colour of the walls and the carpet.

So what is it? Pray someone explain what vendors are doing? What are they waiting for? Why market a property at a price no one wants to pay? Why do it for over a year? Either you want to sell or you do not? Why mess around? Accept an offer and move on - perhaps you can negotiate a lower offer on your next property.

Mind boggling isn't it!

Now having considered that, now explain this. Why would an Estate Agent be prepared to market a property that a vendor refuses to sell? Why spend a penny more advertising it, or sending paperwork through the poster to a potential buyer? After all, the vendor will probably say no to any offer. Why not just speak to the vendor and say "sod orf! We don't want to waste our time marketing a property when you refuse to accept a reasonable offer!". Why?

In my opinion, the longer these vendors wait, the more the economy will deteriorate and the less likely they will be to sell at the price that they want to. If the property market does crash, then surely the crash will be harder and more painful.

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=9613507

[Elizabeth]

Hope springs eternal?

[Converted Lurker]

I mentioned something similar yesterday, why operate an agency as if it is a gallery. However, let`s not forget, most agencies are not populated by decent salespeople who can convert both customers (vendor and buyer) and obtain a sale. It`s easy when times are good and impossible, or so it would seem, when times are hard. ABC-Always Be Closing-is lost on these guys.

Agents have a massive opportunity and dare I say responsibility to re-educate their customers. Their clock is ticking and even their own press, estates times/gazette, fears a massive cull in jobs and yet they just sit on their hands. Baffling

[FTBagain]

Pride and greed.

[tonytramcar]

Could be that they doubt their own ability to negotiate a lower price on their next purchase and will therefore lose out.

[Guest Riser]

The VI spin masters provide vendors with a steady stream of news that gives them hope the market will start moving again. Earlier this year it was the spring bounce, then the post election boom, then the FTB scheme, then falling interest rates, then a new property boom as people rush to buy second properties to put in their SIPPS. Of course ther is no substance in any of this, it is just short term mis information designed to ensure Brown gets his feet under the table of number 10 before the economy turns to rats and the housing market comes crashing down.

The more they spin now the more the public will start to see through it and sentiment will finally turn, when it does things will move fast as the BTL rush for the exits without needing to buy another property that would support the higher end of the market. I see some similarity between this housing market and the collapse of the twin towers, BTL have removed a whole layer of the market as illustrated in the HPC video, an even reduction through all levels would have resulted in an even crash like last time, but the inertia resulting from the removal of the BTL layer will bring the whole thing down much faster than before.

[Marina]

Pride.

It's a lot to swallow when the house down the road went for £425k last year and yours, at a very reasonable £445k, is not shifting. Feck it! Theirs sold 9 months ago, ours must be worth more.

The realisation that the party is over always takes a long time. When people need to move, they take the lower prices - until then they stubbornly wait for the market to pick up.

If an agent says 'look times have changed, the market is not what it was, you'll get this away but we'll have to drop below £400k' - a lot of vendors will sack that agent. So the agent leaves it in the window and on the web site - but doesn't waste any more money marketing it.

Pride cometh before a fall.

Edited October 22, 2005 by Marina

[right_freds_dead]

the news on tv tells them house prices are going up and/or they always go up.

they will never go down.

its a stand off.

perhaps they didnt create the inviting smell of any 'freshly brewed coffee' or perhaps failed to 'bake some fresh bread' to get teh sale.?