What to do next?

[humbo]

Hi all,

My house has been up for sale for about 6 weeks now with 2 viewings but no offers. Things have seemed to slow up now so i have been thinking of lowering my asking price or offering a cash incentive. Not sure how that would work though. I was thinking of putting £2000 towards the buyers deposit. Maybe this would attract FTB's trying to save a deposit? Could this attract more viewings and would it confuse the selling process?

[brian]

6 weeks isn't that long on the market, but it may be worth your contacting your estate agent to ask for advice.

Estate agents will generally hold out for the best price, but if speed of sale is your priority, then it's worth raising this with your EA so they are clear what your interests are.

[ComareTheMortgageMarket]

The £2000 would have to be a cahsback incentive away from the deposit monies and agreed to be paid after the sale had been completed. A lender would not take this money into account and if it was offered they would just treat it as a sale at undermarket value, with the lower amount being the purchase price & the buyers having to find a 5%/10% etc deposit of that amount. e.g 100k sale price, you offer 2k incentive to buyers, the lender counts that as 98k sale price. Buyers need 5%/10% of 98k. If you did it as an incentive away from the mortgage costs then that would be agreed with the solicitors.

As brian said, 6 weeks is not a long time really and you need to hold out for a little more time. Depending on how desperate you are to sell, you could reduce your price and see where that gets you. Try an open day, reducing the price for a set period of time, offering part exchange etc. These are things the estate agent can do for you.

[sdesign1]

Originally Posted by ComareTheMortgageMarket

As brian said, 6 weeks is not a long time really and you need to hold out for a little more time.

+ 1 for that.

[troymccain]

I think you are expecting results in a very short time, I believe your real estate agent also thinking to sell it as earlier possible. But I don't think its too late for you still. I just wanted to know the update from you. Hope you've already sold it with a good price.

[luke123]

6 weeks is not a big time. I remember it took several years to sell my grandfather's property due to alot of issues, low offerings etc etc..If you want to attract potential buyers then the best way is to use your EA or advertise it on the news paper.

[DStewart]

It really depends on how quickly you need to sell your house, 6 weeks is not a long time in the current market. You might want to check with your estate agent what the average selling time is right now in your area. The UK average can be anywhere between 3 and 9 months, often longer. If you can afford to wait this long then you are in a fairly good position and one of the fortunate ones. Also, keep in mind many offers are falling through right now due to buyer credit problems. Make sure your estate agent is doing everything they can for you and advertising in all the key places.

In my experience, people who need to sell quicker, i.e. within 10 days to 2 months, will need to sell privately. This route will require a significant discount on your property. Again, depending on your timescale and location, you can expect offers anywhere between 65-85% of your property valuation, or market value (example - £100k property will sell between £65k-£85k. The discount is so great because private property buyers have lots of discounted property to choose from right now, due to current market conditions - where many are currently struggling to keep up with payments, inflation, etc. Private property buyers are a great solution for people who need to sell quickly (help people move on, prevent repossession etc) but are not for everyone. If you do take this route my advice would be to shop around a little, see what offers you get, and try get your fees paid.

Good luck and all the best!
Dylan

[qetta]

Our property has been on the market for a couple of years nearly, but so have most of the others around here, and we live in a pleasant rural low crime area.

We have been told that lowering the price isn't going to make any difference in the present market.