Property Market Still Alive!
 

Our flat went on the market at 2pm yesterday.

3 viewings last night and today at 10am, an offer at the valuation price :thumb:

5 more viewings tonight so far :D I'm having to double them up!

Result .!!!!:thumb:
I hope you did not undervalue it with all the doom and gloom going on .!!!!:Suspiciou

Here in Scotland we are now forced to have a professional valuation survey done, so everyone knows what its worth in theory. It was about £10k lower than I had in mind, but unlike most, I'll take what people are prepared to pay quickly.

I reckon we'll push for another £5k given the interest though, before we take an offer ;)

I thought it was a blind sealed bid auction system? If 8 people know there is a lot of interest then the bids will be higher anyway.

As long you're realistic with your asking price then they sell.

I dropped the price of my house by £15k and it sold to the 1st person to look at it @ its new price.

Now I'm on the flip side, trying to find another house and seeing houses that are £30k-£50k inflated by estate agents and dreamer sellers.

It can be, but not necessarily. If you are happy with an offer you get at any time, you can just accept it and get on with it. They only brought in the forced survey in December.

Sure, if all 8 people "noted an interest" then we'd fix a closing date for the "sealed" bids.

In this market though, a bird in the hand is particularly poignant.

The Telegraph agrees with you !

BUY BUY BUY

I have been saying that the Housing market has turned for a good 6 weeks now.

We viewed a Bungalow on the South Coast last Saturday, it had just come on the market the week before, as we were viewing it the Agent said that they had 3 proceedable offers on the table within 24 hours of marketing it ....... it needs work, but is priced to sell.

Today I have contacted the Agent to have a second look tomorrow - SOLD!! :(

Property coming on at the right price is being snapped up .... there are still dreamers and hopefuls, but they just simply languish on the market.

We viewed another last Saturday - the Agent took us around it, it's empty .... Agent agreed that it is overpriced but she gave us an insight into the sellers state of mind, she said that they have dumped some new curtains on the floor in the lounge and think that means it is worth what they are asking! :lol1:

It's a funny old world!

i confess to being a "dreamer and hopefull" when it comes to one of the properties I wish to sell

its a 4 bed detached house double garage, in a very desirable village (pub/shop/post office), within the catchment area for one of the best state schools in the country

i,m not desperate, it will sell for what I want and i,m not prepared to "give it away" so there

"i,m not desperate, it will sell for what I want and i,m not prepared to "give it away" so there"
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Fair enough ... you don't 'have' to sell - wait :thumb:

Yep, the number of mortgage approvals was up on what they predicted for February: BBC NEWS | Business | Surprise mortgage approvals jump Of course everyone is now saying that the problems are over but I'm not so sure. This could just be an anomaly, after all unemployment is still rising, jobs are harder to find, and mortgages are significantly harder for first time buyers to obtain. Without new buyers entering the market it doesn't stay fluid for very long.

I guess if you want to sell you can, but maybe if you want to buy - you need someone who has to sell.
People selling will probably sit on the potty:)

and the ironic thing is you could end up paying a much higher rent, if you have to move into rented that is

Once we have a few months of positive news of the above, I may reconsider my opinion that the market will in general continue to fall for a further 9 months minimum, unless something radical changes with the banks, and some of the deals they are offering.

That is the only way we will come out of this. Houses are selling on the first day of marketing here, but that's because of two things;

A) Massively cheaper, more potential buyers as prices have dropped so demand has increased slightly.

B) Good agents get the "Price to sell" or you'll sit there for months losing money hand over fist, and more and more of our Vendors are realising this. Would you rather lose 5k a month for however long, or sell now for 10k less than you want to? Plus, if you are looking to "Move up" the monetary value to do so has shrank massively as the more expensive properties shed more money in percentage terms than a typical FTB house. So if you have a good agent explaining the above and making Vendors and Buyers alike see sense you will still do well.

To date this year I have sold 32 houses. Thats over an average of ten a month. I'm even starting to hit targets (4 out of the last 5) for fee's paid in for sales, and last year we had 5 negotiators and there was only ONE other person bar myself to hit A target.

So, yes things are better, FTB's are competing with investors for the cheap steals so things are moving quickly. This does not mean to say by any stretch of the imagination that the housing market is slowing its drop and starting to stabilise, its simply that alot of FTB's have been patiently waiting and saving, and the Cash rich investors are starting to circle and pick the scraps up.

I think that the key to movement must be money supply.
No mortgages = dead market?
Sounds like things are moving in Blackpool though.

I have bought three properties recently, all new builds, all with more than a third off asking price.

Indeed, the Vulctures who were circling, have dropped down on the bargains.

I am amazed at how many vendors there still are who firmly believe that their house has been immune to any price falls!! :lol1:

I met 3 of these people yesterday. One in particular thought that her street was the only one in the area that had not suffered, and her house was still worth what it was a year ago. The exact reason why it's been on the market for a year:lol1:

That's right .... I am very interested in a property which is for sale.

To my mind it is 15% over-priced .... I know what they paid for it in Summer 2005 and they are asking 20% more now!

House prices are widely reported to be at 2004 levels, indeed a neighbour of this house was sold last night for 5% less than it was in 2004 - so the assumption stands up to scrutiny.

The reason they give for it being expensive is that they have spent money 'doing it up'!

A few minutes studying this Search UK property for sale, houses and flats to rent and house prices - Zoopla!, and you can see those living in a dream world.

with crap interest rates and uncertainty in banking maybe a lot of people are investing in bricks and mortar. despite recent falls as a long term investment they are quite appealing.

Absolutely right .... this is where a lot of buyers are coming from, money in bank, at risk and not earning anything.

When Interest Rates rise again then the money will be earning a decent amount sat somewhere ..... cutting these buyers out of the market and seeing mortgage rates spiral - sending house prices into another free-fall.

update :)

We have accepted an offer after the flat being on the market for about 28 hours.

We got that increased offer of £5k over the valuation from the first people that came to see it.

I'm stunned to be honest.

Been there. My advice - wait till the money's in the bank before you're 'stunned',

Plenty can go wrong yet..... ;)

I've dropped the asking price of my house by 25%. Still no takers :( I'll just rent it out if i have to though but i'd rather it was off the books

Agree with above also.

just sent my euros over there ready for a purchase, waiting on 2 offers

was at an auction recently and it was hammered, hardly any didn't sell, two had low guides of 85k each and went for over 220k

plenty of cash buyers about!

They say the difference between an optomist and a pessimist, is that the optomist doesn't have all the facts to hand.;)

Just to return to the historic average prices need to fall almost 30% more from there current levels (which are already down 20% from peak), and given the deepening recession, near collapse of the entire banking system, and ever-tightening rules on lending prices can't fail to over-shoot that, so more like 40-50% falls from current levels doesn't sound unrealistic now (but even then houses wouldn't be cheap, so could fall even further).

Homeowners face further falls in house prices | This is Money

On the other hand if you want to jump in way too early and lose tens of thousands, then get in there Lewis ;)