Are houses selling around here at all?

[zoester]

To chime in here, we just bought a 3 bed flat on upland road. It is newly renovated and we were prepared to pay the asking or close to it because it was so special. However, our mortgage valuation had different ideas. They undervalued the property by a big chunk so we ultimately ended up paying less than we first offered. The point I?m making isn?t that we are total morons willing to over pay but that the people carrying out valuations for mortgage companies are down pricing because they can see the market has stalled. It?s worth bearing in mind that even if you are waiting for an offer on your property that is acceptable to you, it might not be worth that in the eyes of the lender. Of course it all depends on the buyers LTV but I do think that estate agents are generally guilty of over inflating prices to have you sign up with them only to lead you on a long road of price reductions and disappointment. Just my two pennies worth! Wishing everyone the best of luck and if you are really stuck try Nested. We have used them for both of our properties in order to make this move happen. It?s not a perfect solution because it?s more expensive than the generic sales route but it does guarantee you?ll be chain free in 90 days.

[Carissa88]

We are looking to sell at the moment but the estate agents have said how bad the market is at the moment. How did you find Nested? Quite an interesting idea!

[bargee99]

I commissioned "No Flies" in mid April. Sale complete and moved out before the end of May. Use the right people and ask a fair price and there doesn't seem to be a problem.

[KidKruger]

On that note. Anyone sitting on ?1m equity who doesn't sell before March 2019 may well find themselves sitting on ?750K equity soon after. Sell now unless you can afford to lose that kind of money. You can always buy back in a couple of years later and actually turn a profit.

[fishbiscuits]

bargee99 Wrote:

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> Use the right people and ask a fair price

Yeah.. but I think the price really is the main factor. There is some utter crap on the market at around 1M... houses that need completely gutting. I don't get it!

[JohnL]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> On that note. Anyone sitting on ?1m equity who

> doesn't sell before March 2019 may well find

> themselves sitting on ?750K equity soon after.

> Sell now unless you can afford to lose that kind

> of money. You can always buy back in a couple of

> years later and actually turn a profit.

I really hope March 2019 becomes just another date in the calendar.

[dbboy]

The market is tough out there and is only going to get tougher up to March 2019 and then for the following two years, so if you're selling, get onto your agent and badger them to get you viewings and make them earn their commission because you'll already find they have increased it and I can only assume it will be further increased to compensate for the slowness of the market. Don't be surprised if their commission rates increase over the next 24 months to 2% or even 2.5%.

You'll also slowly see Estate Agents closing their doors as competition between them intensifies. The benefit is the proven good agents will prosper while the remainder will gradually wither away. You'll already have noticed if you are a seller that some agents are continuing to make unsolicited approaches trying to entice sellers away from their agent. This type of activity by agents is likely to only increase, but on the plus side their will be far less of agents marketing through letter boxes. I'd guess the independents are even more at risk.

[Abe_froeman]

Ddboy i can assume you are trolling. Never in the history of mankind has a business enticed customers away from a competitor or avoided closing down by doubling thier prices. Commissions, if they mive at all, will move with house prices, not in the opposite direction.

[JohnL]

Foxton's has made a loss and a large fall in sales too.

Maybe that new Rye Lane branch won't last (not that I know how well any specific branch does).

[dbboy]

No not trolling, Its a prediction, I maybe totally wrong, but watch, wait and see and judge in 2 1/2 years time.

[zoester]

Carissa88 Wrote:

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> We are looking to sell at the moment but the

> estate agents have said how bad the market is at

> the moment. How did you find Nested? Quite an

> interesting idea!

Funnily enough through social media, that?s there they were doing most of their advertising. It just worked a miracle for and my boyfriend as we had a flat to sell each to find the purchase of our move to East Dulwich and without nested we wouldn?t be here. My flat is only just going through the sale process after nearly a year on the market and my boyfriend has had 4 viewings on his flat in a highly desirable area east when the pricing is below that of similar properties. It really isn?t as simple as ?if the price is right then it will sell?. there are so many contributing factors so if you want to get moving quickly rather than stagnating on the market then you might as well talk to nested and see how the numbers would work for you. They?re on their way to completely changing the way people buy and sell property, your average estate agent is going to be hugely at risk

[Oldtincan]

London (asking) house prices down 2.3% month on month in August: https://www.homesandproperty.co.uk/property-news/london-sees-biggest-fall-as-uk-asking-prices-drop-by-23-per-cent-in-august-a123191.html

Our neighbours over the road have finally got an offer on their house having reduced the price by 15% from their original asking price. I suspect the market will grind slowly lower through Brexit and the government will eventually be forced to kick start the market by abolishing/reducing stamp duty. Just my thoughts..

[James]

All these people saying "If you price it right, it will sell... it must be overpriced" are being a little smug I think. Surely a huge factor in a depressed market like this is luck. To those who are easily selling their places at the moment, has it occurred to you that perhaps you were just fortunate in getting the right buyer coming along at the right time? Telling anyone who can't sell that they are being greedy or unrealistic and overpricing their houses is a bit patronising and shows a bit of an empathy deficit. Reminds me of the old Tory mentality of "Well I did all right for myself so anyone who can't must be lazy or thick." (Um, no actually, there is always an element of luck in any market situation).

Our house looks great, and is sensibly priced. It's not selling. So we need to decide how much of a hit we can take on the price. Which is not a great situation to be in.

[JohnL]

James Wrote:

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> All these people saying "If you price it right, it

> will sell... it must be overpriced" are being a

> little smug I think. Surely a huge factor in a

> depressed market like this is luck. To those who

> are easily selling their places at the moment, has

> it occurred to you that perhaps you were just

> fortunate in getting the right buyer coming along

> at the right time? Telling anyone who can't sell

> that they are being greedy or unrealistic and

> overpricing their houses is a bit patronising and

> shows a bit of an empathy deficit. Reminds me of

> the old Tory mentality of "Well I did all right

> for myself so anyone who can't must be lazy or

> thick." (Um, no actually, there is always an

> element of luck in any market situation).

>

> Our house looks great, and is sensibly priced.

> It's not selling. So we need to decide how much of

> a hit we can take on the price. Which is not a

> great situation to be in.

You can't have a go at someone for whatever they price their houses at - you can but try for the best (buyer or seller) in your own circumstances.

[Townleygreen]

James said: Our house looks great, and is sensibly priced. It's not selling. So we need to decide how much of a hit we can take on the price. Which is not a great situation to be in.

Hopefully the house you're buying will take a similar hit, so you won't be any worse off?

[fishbiscuits]

I don't think anybody is patronizing you or accusing you of being greedy, James. Of course it's a shit situation when you want/need to move and nothing's happening. But if it ain't selling... there's only a short list of options...

[James]

Sadly I do not think the market is affected the same way at all levels Townleygreen.

And Fishbiscuits (I love that name!) there were a few sniping remarks earlier to the tune of "We sold ours! You must be overpricing it... get real!"

have asked a variety of people with no personal interest in flattering us and they say the place is great and can't understand why it's not selling. So I guess we just have to cross our fingers and hope the right buyer will come along eventually.

[fishbiscuits]

Thanks James - I love your name too.

One problem is that when a place has been on the market a while, it can put people off as they think there must be something wrong with it, or it will be hard to resell. Maybe take it off the market, then put it back on in October with a new agent - and ask for a realistic valuation from a few agents (avoid the worst of the shysters... KFH, Foxtons, etc... who overvalue to get you on their books)

[Westnorwoodboy]

We sold ours at the beginning of the year. The range of estimates we received from agents was interesting - 100k difference between lowest and highest. We knew honestly what it was worth and opted for the middle and listed it with Purplebricks. We then found the local agents were "suddenly" willing to negotiate their fees as well as telling us that it would never sell as PB didn't have the portfolio of people wanting to view property in the area.....it sold within a couple of months.

Maybe it's worth the fixed fee placing it with PB for two reasons; 1. it might give your local agent a kick up the butt knowing they will potentially miss out on the commission 2. if it does sell via PB, you save yourself several thousand pounds.

[eastdulwich_dweller]

Hi

We're looking to sell our 4 bed 2 bath terraced house near east dulwich and denmark hill stations, does anyone have any advice on which estate agent to go with? We are pricing it reasonably with a view to selling quickly rather than the usual price reduction/ offer shannigans. Most agents are pricing in the same ball park, so it just comes back to who is actually motivated to sell it and has clients who can come to view it. I think our choice is between Wooster & Stock, Winkworth and KFH.

Any thoughts on these or other agents welcome. Anyone can PM if they are interested in cutting out the middle man!

Westnorwoodboy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We sold ours at the beginning of the year. The

> range of estimates we received from agents was

> interesting - 100k difference between lowest and

> highest. We knew honestly what it was worth and

> opted for the middle and listed it with

> Purplebricks. We then found the local agents were

> "suddenly" willing to negotiate their fees as well

> as telling us that it would never sell as PB

> didn't have the portfolio of people wanting to

> view property in the area.....it sold within a

> couple of months.

>

> Maybe it's worth the fixed fee placing it with PB

> for two reasons; 1. it might give your local agent

> a kick up the butt knowing they will potentially

> miss out on the commission 2. if it does sell via

> PB, you save yourself several thousand pounds.

[Froglander]

No Flies seems to have the best consistent reviews. Do a search on the forum.

-------------------------------------------------------

> Hi

>

> We're looking to sell our 4 bed 2 bath terraced

> house near east dulwich and denmark hill stations,

> does anyone have any advice on which estate agent

> to go with? We are pricing it reasonably with a

> view to selling quickly rather than the usual

> price reduction/ offer shannigans. Most agents are

> pricing in the same ball park, so it just comes

> back to who is actually motivated to sell it and

> has clients who can come to view it. I think our

> choice is between Wooster & Stock, Winkworth and

> KFH.

>

> Any thoughts on these or other agents welcome.

> Anyone can PM if they are interested in cutting

> out the middle man!

>

>

> Westnorwoodboy Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > We sold ours at the beginning of the year. The

> > range of estimates we received from agents was

> > interesting - 100k difference between lowest

> and

> > highest. We knew honestly what it was worth and

> > opted for the middle and listed it with

> > Purplebricks. We then found the local agents

> were

> > "suddenly" willing to negotiate their fees as

> well

> > as telling us that it would never sell as PB

> > didn't have the portfolio of people wanting to

> > view property in the area.....it sold within a

> > couple of months.

> >

> > Maybe it's worth the fixed fee placing it with

> PB

> > for two reasons; 1. it might give your local

> agent

> > a kick up the butt knowing they will

> potentially

> > miss out on the commission 2. if it does sell

> via

> > PB, you save yourself several thousand pounds.

[alex_b]

Both our neighbours sold with Gareth James last year. The got above asking price and very rapid offers (within a week I think). Apparently they were negotiable on fees too.

We sold our last place through KFH in Crystal Palace and bought through KFH ED, both we?re fine if unspectacular.

[fishbiscuits]

KFH and Foxtons - terrible.

Apart from that, it doesn't really matter. As long as it's on Rightmove and the price is competitive.

[Otiumgrove]

Fishbuscuits, do you mind going into a bit more detail re KFH? (Asking as we're thinking of instructing them too). I'd heard the bad reputation, but also that they have a new team there vs a few years ago, so was wondering if they'd improved (or not). (We're considering them as heard of them achieving a couple of quick sales recently).

Would also be keen to hear any winkworth reviews.

We've been interested to see from the stats that Gareth James do fairly well, as we didn't have a great experience with them when we were looking to move into the area

[bargee99]

I sold with "No Flies" in April. Completed within 6 weeks. It won't be the same for everyone of course but Brendan and Tony are great to deal with and did a good and painless job for me. Best of luck with your sale.