So this is the situation.

We currently rent our property and the tenant wants to move out and we weren’t sure about renting out again so decided to put the house up for sale.

We had three estate agents around and all of them said to market at offer over 190k and to achieve 200k easily.

We have had over 17 viewings and the only decent offer we have had is at 195k.

Now we have had a firm offer I guess you could say both the wife and I are getting cold feet about selling for a number of reasons….

* We are not sure what the future holds for house prices.

* We arent sure if we could better ourselves in the future

* We are scared of coming off the property ladder.

Here is the house……….

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55210771.html

If we were to keep the house it would need alot of work doing to it to get it to how we would want :- New bathroom, kitchen, windows, remove conservatory and also a major layout change downstairs which is all going to cost quite a bit to do and also we wouldnt recoup any of that cost if we decided to sell in the future because of house values.

If we sold and paid off the mortgage and all fees etc we will be left with between 50 and 55k profit as a deposit to go towards our next house.

We were hoping for an offer closer to 200k which we think is fair considering what else is on the market locally. The person who offered has flat out refused to budge on his offer saying they will look elsewhere but really there is nothing to compare to it in the area?

What would you do??

Sell or keep and rent it again?

Can you see house prices dropping in the next couple of years or not?

Don’t grub about for a few grand, I know someone who did that, took him 2 years to sell, and 25 grand less than the offer he knocked back.

As above is it really worth stressing over for around 2.5% ?

We had three estate agents around and all of them said to market at offer over 190k and to achieve 200k easily.

It seems they were wrong.

Based on your previous posts …. It has an odd layout due to a poorly executed extension furthermore Its not always about bettering your selfs im the future .. Its about buying something you can use now and is suitable for your needs as oppose to having your ideal home …..200miles from where you need to be,

If i was selling i certainly wouldnt be quibbling over 5k at this stage if i had no better offer – and stick my money into something i can use.

or you could just not so stealth ad your property on here. 😉

Sorry bruneep its not a stealth ad !!

You are right over the poor layout and as such it would need a good few grand spending on it to sort that out !

Another factor is that I only have 3 and a bit years left in the forces until I retire and we arent sure where I am likely to get a job !

If we were to keep the house it would need alot of work doing to it to get it to how we would want

That’s your problem, I’m afraid. Buyers are thinking the same thing.

^^^^ This is true!

Agent seems pretty much spot on, market 190 looking for 200 and a firm offer at 195.

I would be very very cautious about being out of the property market. If it goes down 10% you’re happy and have “saved a bit” (rent vs mortgage ?) but if it goes up 10% where do you find the extra £20k ?

I think property at top end will be flat to down slightly (higher stamp duty etc) but middle/lower will imho continue to rise.

Another factor is that I only have 3 and a bit years left in the forces until I retire and we arent sure where I am likely to get a job !

In terms of property that is a short time. Either stick and rent or sell up . Dont sell up and try and buy somewhere else to rent ….

Sell it , bank and ring fence the money in account tat penalise heavily for withdrawls so your not tempted to spend it on bikes that are too small or cars .

Spend once you know where you will be living once you get out the forces.

I thought this was going to be about an Orange 5.

Selling and buying when I leave the RAF is my preffered option but Im just worried that house prices are going to go mental and we will be priced out of the market !

When I leave the forces I will also get a gratuity lump sum of around 35-40k to put with the equity of this house as a deposit on a new house

Your first offer is often your best offer. A house is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it.

We had offers of 185,190,192 and now this!

Moly I wish Id kept the 5 29 !!

just knocked 15k off the price of the house I’m buying due to brexit and still having second thoughts.
I’d grab what you can whilst you can.

They want it, you want to sell it, money’s about there……

2p worth – get it sold then when you leave the forces and start looking around for a job you won’t have the added pressure of trying to sell it as well as a getting a new job .

How about looking at where you’d like to be in ten years. Now might be a good time to buy there.

Moly I wish Id kept the 5 29 !!

Selling mine if you want another. 😉

You’re lucky anyone wants to buy it with such a disgraceful lawn.

Sell, buy a cheaper easier to let buy to let use the rent to pay mortgage and have a bigger deposit in 3 years time.

Keep it . You have an asset that will hopefully appreciate in value, and will provide a higher income than you will get at the bank. At the very least it’s value should track the value of anything you might want to buy when you leave the forces, and the rent you get should cover any rent you need to pay.
It’s not a good time make major financial decisions, particularly if you’re a worrier!
I wouldn’t want to buy a house at the moment (unless I was getting a real bargain and it was my “perfect” house), but I wouldn’t want to sell one either.

If in doubt- do nowt!

Still in doubt !!

Also found out we would have an early repayment charge on the mortgage of 3k.

Sell. You’re lucky to get the value as an offer.

I’m having to do a partial refit to nullify three disklies from potential buyers and I’ve already dropped the asking price twice.

It’s a weird market and there’s no telling where it’ll go next.

That wallpaper in the lounge! 😯

I can safely say that any of the decorating is down to the tenant and nowt to do with me !!

Makes me cringe.

Also found out we would have an early repayment charge on the mortgage of 3k.

And estate agents and legal fees….

If you’re going to continue renting it out you don’t need to do a damn thing to the layout. It looks decorated and in good repair. Exactly what people want.
I’d hang on to it.
Sell it when you know where you want to live.

I can safely say that any of the decorating is down to the tenant and nowt to do with me !!

You allowed it…it’s totally to do with you.

Suburban Reuben . You forget the reason he wanted to sell from previous posts.

He seems to get shit tennents.

For this alone I would sell rather than the stress. He can’t self manage as es miles a way and his agent is useless it seems

Sell and put the money towards a house you do want/like.

[Sucks air through teeth] those trees look like they would cause some issues if not kept an eye on 😆

[Quote] We had three estate agents around and all of them said to market at offer over 190k and to achieve 200k easily.[/quote]

As a non estate agent but a buyer I’d tell you this is nonsense. OA 190 means just that, not offers above 200, the starting price should represent what you want to achieve. A “normal” price (guide price OitRo etc) means I’ll start here and expect less generally. OA means “i think lots of people will want it so make me an offer i can’t refuse” of course people makeup their own mind and they’ve decided since it didn’t sell in a week it really means, “i need this much money to buy my next house.”

If you want 200+ take it off the market and relist in a few weeks at a representative price. Bear in mind that 19p means you’re finding buyers who don’t have/want to spend 200k+.

List high and cone down, everyone wants a bargin and spending more than asking isn’t one.

unless your house is in one of the very desirable areas of the country where things sell on the basis of postcode alone people will expect to spend asking price or less regardless of the wording of your sale.

Flog it now. Cash is simple and fluid.

A house is not a flexible asset.

Deleted – talking rubbish!

The house is in Droitwich according to the advert.

Sell.

Your list of what you’d need to do looks expensive. Especially if you won’t recoup those costs. And for what?

Thanks all for the replies, a proper mixed bag of thoughts as I expected.

The list of what needs doing to it to make it our “home” is quite long and very expensive and to be honest Im not sure its worth doing to that particular house.

If we didnt sell and decided to rent then it still needs a fair bit of work to bring it up to scratch for that… namely new soffits and gutterings, two rooms need plastering, a new window in one room and two window units in the conservatory that have blown plus a lot of painting and tidying up !

my estate agent approached the people that have offered 195k and said that we would accept their offer if they can wait to complete until our fixed term is up (end of november) or pay the fees for us. They flat out refused and said they would look elsewhere. to be honest there isnt anything else comparable and as big in the area for this price point!

Ive suggested to the EA that as a compromise we are willing to split the fees with them. just waiting for a reply.

Daft question Renton, are you able to tighten your belt and hold onto it unrented until such point as you’re selling to fund an immediate purchase?

Nothing you do with cash at present is likely to return a good amount. In the house so long as it’s kept in at least the state it’s in, it’ll likely grow but even if not the odds are high that your house still be representative of the market, a drop of even 25% is likely too be directly reflected in the value of what you’re looking to buy so you would only loose theoretical money, in practice it doesn’t cost you anything unless the sole purpose of this property is to make money as in investment.

In all likelihood the value of the house and the market as a whole will continue to rise faster than most any other investment and almost certainly more than your salary. At least whilst sunk into this house your deposit will broadly track the market, take it out of the house now and it’s unlikely to grow at the same ratel, you’d likely have to put in mortgage cost+ every month to what ever you do with the money to be able to say that if you divest your self of the house now.

Do what he says ^ keep it.

We couldn’t afford to keep it as due to my posting my wife is having to give her job up.

I’d keep it if I were you mate. Spend what you would on fees doing it up to an adequate standard then rent it out again. Prices might go down but that’ll mean the ones you look at will be cheaper. If they go up, you’re stuffed.

If you do decide to sell then play hardball and hold out for what you want. If these people don’t want it, someone else will.

As a side point Brexit seems to have affected house sales near me. Before every house that went up got sold within a few weeks. On my street alone there must have been a dozen sold in no time this year. Since the vote a few have gone up for sale priced around the same market value and are yet to sell.