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Should we cut our losses?
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[Deleted User]
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This is the last thread I will make about my house, you are probably thinking I sound like a broken record 
Basically our house has been on the market for well over a year, changed agents, reduced the price twice and I can count the viewers we have had on one hand.
House was valued at 129.950, we put it on for 115k, dropped the price to 110k still no interest.
The house is starting to feel like a burden to us now, as in, we just want to move to the new area and be done with it all, we were talking about it over the last day or so and we are thinking of just dropping the price drastically to 90k, that would clear our mortgage and leave us with nothing, but we are moving in with my family for a while so can save a bit of money.
We canot afford to rent it out (maintinance costs, letting agents etc) we also cannot afford to put it up at auction as we dont have a spare £400 to give them to list it.
In our position would you just cut your losses, pay the mortgage off and start a new life or hold out for a price we may never get?
Basically our house has been on the market for well over a year, changed agents, reduced the price twice and I can count the viewers we have had on one hand.
House was valued at 129.950, we put it on for 115k, dropped the price to 110k still no interest.
The house is starting to feel like a burden to us now, as in, we just want to move to the new area and be done with it all, we were talking about it over the last day or so and we are thinking of just dropping the price drastically to 90k, that would clear our mortgage and leave us with nothing, but we are moving in with my family for a while so can save a bit of money.
We canot afford to rent it out (maintinance costs, letting agents etc) we also cannot afford to put it up at auction as we dont have a spare £400 to give them to list it.
In our position would you just cut your losses, pay the mortgage off and start a new life or hold out for a price we may never get?
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How have properties in your area been selling in the last 12 months ?
You can get a list of selling prices online and from there work out which properties are similar to yours and think about price change.
I am going to assume that you have done all the usual stuff to make your house more attractive to viewers ?
All other houses on our street have sold in the time we have been on the market, we have done all we can do, we have painted all through, everything is clean and tidy, gardens done etc.
If you're moving in with family, you could move now & sell the house as a vacant possesion.
The surveyor, who was a total idiot, made a really big deal of the price and it caused quite a few problems with the mortgage company as they were convinced there had to be something wrong with it. We nearly lost our buyers because of it.
So low price can = suspicion.
What were the selling prices of the other houses, you can check here. It can take around 6 weeks between exchange and update of prices.
http://www.nethouseprices.com/
Have you considered renting it out to your local council or a housing association? I don't know a great deal about the scheme, but as I understand it, so long as the property is in good condition, and meets H&S standards, you would be paid a set amount for the term of the lease, whether it's occupied or not. The other advantage is that they have to give you back your property in the same condition that it was in from the start. Possibly the only drawback is that you have to hand the property over to them for a set period (3 years, I think.. but someone else may confirm that one way or another).
Or alternatively put an ad in the paper and say you want an exchange.....it might work. Gumtree is one website for such swaps...
There are some companies which will buy any house at a discounted price. (I am not talking about companies offering part exchange or equity release for the elderly -- they buy it outright.)
Just google "we buy any house" and lots of results come up -- as long as they can offer you your minimum £90K to clear the mortgage, it would enable you to get moving.
These companies buy properties at a discount, knowing that they will be able to re-sell the houses later at a profit.
You could take it off the market now, then relaunch it in the spring with a new agent, new photos at a reduced price and see what happens. Good luck
It only 4 years old, bought for £100000, on for £90000, the estate agents want us to drop it to £80000 and hope for an offer around £75000. It just so bad, we cannot see a way of getting out of this place !
Why is letting it out a problem? I have a flat that I rent out and I did use an agent to find a tenant, but I only paid them one finding fee, I manage the rent collection myself (my tenant pays the rent directly into my bank account) and the only other fees I have are the annual gas safety certificate and the ground rent.
No hadnt thought of that, I didnt even know you could do that to be honest, I have had a look on the loacal council website and there are terms and conditions so will give them a ring later to see if its possible. Thanks.
I dont think we could do that because we need to clear the mortgage before moving out, if we swapped houses we would still need to pay the mortgage off I think??
We have looked into these companies, one of them said they would give us 90k, which was fine then they called us up a few days later dropping the price to 75k saying the market is changing, another one said they dont buy houses anymore but they will give us a set price of 30k now and then rent the house to someone and then give us the rest of the money in 5 years???
Yes, we changed agent after being on the market for a few months, we changed to the agent that was selling the most houses in our area.
9 times out of ten the viewers we have had fall of the face of the earth after viewing and the agent always says they cant contact them to get feedback, we got old by the last viewers that there was too much work that needed doing, but refused to tell us what. Other than that all the agent says is reduce the price, its got to the point where they are phoning us once per week telling us to reduce.
I know she says this is no longer your home it has to appeal to a buyer, and when I read viewers have told you your house needs too much doing to it, it rang rather a chord with me. Hope that might help. Good luck.
I know somebody that did that, although unfortunately I don't think they got a buyer. It might give you the opportunity to talk get some people looking round and possibly have a chat with them to see what they think.
It's a dreadful time to sell. I want to sell too, but shall rent it out until the market is better.
you're going to have an awfully long wait then i'm afraid, it will be years and years before things pick up.the main problem is that people were used to the boom years when properties were selling at silly prices, that won't happen now, so forget big profits.
The last time we moved, people said our kitchen looked a bit outdated. As we weren't in a rush to move, took it off the market, had a new kitchen fitted, but later put it back on, and it sold! This was a good few years ago, though.
As the good House Doctor would say: Declutter and Neutralise!
Good luck. The people at the end of our road have put their house on the market about 4 times now and are having no luck. Mind you, that could be because they're asking stupid money for it. and can't accept it's not worth that :rolleyes:
It sold before the contract was signed with the agent!
Depends where you live 5 houses have been sold in my street in the last year and none of them have been on the market for more than month and I'd be happy to get a similar price for ours
Probably because they are priced reasonably. Things always sell quickly in my neck of the woods too, but the house across the road has been on for ages because they bought at the peak and expect to get that price back at least now, it ain't happening and they won't drop the price so they're stuck. That's my point.
When did they move in? Maybe they paid too much and need the silly price to clear the mortgage.
Very true (more's the pity)
But I can wait. I'll rent it out. No mortgage on the place, so nothing to pay in that regard.