How far will house prices fall [volume 5]

[kingston12]

NerveAgent said:

okgo said:

Why is it these houses, which are exactly the same as the ones in London, ALWAYS look so st and cheap inside? I get that not everyone can afford to do the place top to bottom in Farrow and Ball, but you can get similar look and style stuff for a fraction of the costs of the designer brands. But its always the way, even that Bedford thing a page back, lovely great building, looks total st inside and had a £5 kitchen.

I’d imagine it’s more to do with the image obsessed/trendy types being more likely to end up in London or very particular suburbs (not necessarily the only wealthy one) of a particular city...

I’d say it’s partly that, but mainly just budget.

The Bournemouth house linked is £325k. A similar house in a decent London suburb would be £1m+, and £325k would buy a 1 bed flat.

To compare like with like, you should really be comparing the quality of finish on that house to a suburban London 1 bed flat of the same price, and then it looks a bit better.

It’s much easier to justify a £35k kitchen in a £1m house than it is in a £325k one.

[red_slr]

Bullet-Proof_Biscuit said:

I'll have to grease some EAs palms or something boo..

Yep basically getting like that.

Something came up last week I was very interested in. Called the EA, who I have spoken with before. He said there is no way he will take offers at this stage, they are asking buyers to come to their office for a chat. Told him I am happy to offer the asking price without viewing but he declined saying they want to speak to people face to face... WTF.

Given I am 300 miles away I declined.

I am sure I would have got there it would have been a case of its asking price +10% and he probably wants a brown envelope too.

I was checking RM a few times a day but after this I have stopped and just wait for the emails to come through as its all just getting stupid.

I do hope the SDLT holiday is not extended and things calm down.

[NickCQ]

red_slr said:

he probably wants a brown envelope too

Does this really go on?

The simplest answer is more likely, which is that the agent wants the lowest hassle sale, and can get it in this hot market by finding a cash buyer and giving the vendor the hard sell to accept that offer. Why bother with anything hard (chain, mortgage, distance etc etc) if you don't have to?

Agents care a lot more about certainty and speed to close than price (unless they are on a ratcheting contract, which is pretty rare in standard resi).

[menousername]

red_slr said:

Yep basically getting like that.

Something came up last week I was very interested in. Called the EA, who I have spoken with before. He said there is no way he will take offers at this stage, they are asking buyers to come to their office for a chat. Told him I am happy to offer the asking price without viewing but he declined saying they want to speak to people face to face... WTF.

Given I am 300 miles away I declined.

I am sure I would have got there it would have been a case of its asking price +10% and he probably wants a brown envelope too.

I was checking RM a few times a day but after this I have stopped and just wait for the emails to come through as its all just getting stupid.

I do hope the SDLT holiday is not extended and things calm down.

Or wants you to use their in-house broker to see how high you can go before telling you how high you need to go to get it

If alternatively you are a cash buyer who knows

[NerveAgent]

kingston12 said:

NerveAgent said:

okgo said:

Why is it these houses, which are exactly the same as the ones in London, ALWAYS look so st and cheap inside? I get that not everyone can afford to do the place top to bottom in Farrow and Ball, but you can get similar look and style stuff for a fraction of the costs of the designer brands. But its always the way, even that Bedford thing a page back, lovely great building, looks total st inside and had a £5 kitchen.

I’d imagine it’s more to do with the image obsessed/trendy types being more likely to end up in London or very particular suburbs (not necessarily the only wealthy one) of a particular city...

I’d say it’s partly that, but mainly just budget.

The Bournemouth house linked is £325k. A similar house in a decent London suburb would be £1m+, and £325k would buy a 1 bed flat.

To compare like with like, you should really be comparing the quality of finish on that house to a suburban London 1 bed flat of the same price, and then it looks a bit better.

It’s much easier to justify a £35k kitchen in a £1m house than it is in a £325k one.

The Bournemouth house linked appears to a fairly average wickes type kitchen that is exactly what normal people would expect to find in an averagely priced house in Bournemouth. Might not be to everyones taste, neither is it particularly offensive or “£5”

But yes I think my point is still quite valid even if it was overstated to counter okgos snobbiness

[red_slr]

NickCQ said:

red_slr said:

he probably wants a brown envelope too

Does this really go on?

The simplest answer is more likely, which is that the agent wants the lowest hassle sale, and can get it in this hot market by finding a cash buyer and giving the vendor the hard sell to accept that offer. Why bother with anything hard (chain, mortgage, distance etc etc) if you don't have to?

Agents care a lot more about certainty and speed to close than price (unless they are on a ratcheting contract, which is pretty rare in standard resi).

Reckon so, Christmas is coming! The agent will have a good few interested in this one. They know my position and I am chain free this is a second home. I have made an offer on another property with them at the start of the year which was 100k less than this one so they know its within my budget etc.

[z4RRSchris]

highly doubtful there are brown envelopes,

more than likely he wants to make sure the buyer has all their ducks lined up and is serious.

[menousername]

How more serious can you be if you submit an offer?

They do some light DD to check into your affordability and deposit long before that.

Face to face is almost certainly to get you to use their in-house broker and squeeze up your offer.

And my experience is they are happy with uncertainty and care more about bidding up the offer even if the house remains unsold. They are committed to keeping the values as high ad they can

Hence why the valuation is now quite a concerning stage of the conveyancing

[z4RRSchris]

bidding up the offer matters so little to the agent, they care about the sale, not the price.

agency on 1.5%, negs get 10% of the fee.

House sells for 500k, agency gets £7.5k, neg gets £750.
House sells for £525k, agency gets £7,875, neg gets £785.

You think anyone gives a fk for £35? they just want the offer that is the most proceedable and easiest, no chain, no finance, easy lawyers etc.

YES they want you to use the in house broker because that will get them a few hundred in commish.

[okgo]

z4RRSchris said:

bidding up the offer matters so little to the agent, they care about the sale, not the price.

agency on 1.5%, negs get 10% of the fee.

House sells for 500k, agency gets £7.5k, neg gets £750.
House sells for £525k, agency gets £7,875, neg gets £785.

You think anyone gives a fk for £35? they just want the offer that is the most proceedable and easiest, no chain, no finance, easy lawyers etc.

YES they want you to use the in house broker because that will get them a few hundred in commish.

KFH told me they wouldn't put forth my offer until I had a 'clearing' chat with their in-house broker. tts.

[NickCQ]

okgo said:

KFH told me they wouldn't put forth my offer until I had a 'clearing' chat with their in-house broker. tts.

They have to be careful with that - it is illegal both to (i) fail to tell the vendor about qualified offers and (ii) try to link add-on services to how the offer is presented.

Agents usually give up if you present an AIP / proof of funds with accompanying nastygram.

[JQ]

NickCQ said:

red_slr said:

he probably wants a brown envelope too

Does this really go on?

The simplest answer is more likely, which is that the agent wants the lowest hassle sale, and can get it in this hot market by finding a cash buyer and giving the vendor the hard sell to accept that offer. Why bother with anything hard (chain, mortgage, distance etc etc) if you don't have to?

Agents care a lot more about certainty and speed to close than price (unless they are on a ratcheting contract, which is pretty rare in standard resi).

Exactly this. Someone offering unseen from 300 miles away, just has nightmare written all over it.

[AstonZagato]

z4RRSchris said:

bidding up the offer matters so little to the agent, they care about the sale, not the price.

agency on 1.5%, negs get 10% of the fee.

House sells for 500k, agency gets £7.5k, neg gets £750.
House sells for £525k, agency gets £7,875, neg gets £785.

You think anyone gives a fk for £35? they just want the offer that is the most proceedable and easiest, no chain, no finance, easy lawyers etc.

YES they want you to use the in house broker because that will get them a few hundred in commish.

On the last house I sold, I negotiated a contract that gave the EA a delta over an agreed price. Do they not exist any more?

[z4RRSchris]

AstonZagato said:

On the last house I sold, I negotiated a contract that gave the EA a delta over an agreed price. Do they not exist any more?

they do, and I do it on all my stock, but 99.9% of home buyers just have the standard % they have agreed.

If the agent gets me a good price ill chuck them £10k neg bonus too.

[z4RRSchris]

okgo said:

KFH told me they wouldn't put forth my offer until I had a 'clearing' chat with their in-house broker. tts.

that is very very naughty.

[anonymous-user]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Exactly, If they are showing you documentation of their mortgage in principle and deposit (or bank balance showing the full asking price what with this being Pistonheads) why does it matter?

Surely the only thing that matters is how proceed able the person is, not how far away they live. I bought a house from 10,500 miles away and it made no difference (although I did view it in person)

[okgo]

z4RRSchris said:

that is very very naughty.

Obviously I didn't, but I bet many people do, and I bet they make much money from it.

[Previous]

Viewed 2 in the same area, Just north of Bristol, over the weekend.

Both 4 bed detached.

One is fully modernised and at the ceiling price for the street at 440k.

Other in need of cosmetic work plus new windows - asking 385k. Bigger plot though.

Weve had an offer accepted on the last one, and hope to get up to a decent standard with a mix of DIY and trades.

Will post links once underway.

Hope its the right decision!

[cml24]

Humph. Our house has been up for two weeks and had five viewings but no interest. London / Essex border, but low price bracket so lack of stamp duty makes less difference and currently has tenants in which I presume will put people off a bit.

I do wonder if we would have been better waiting till they left and then tidying it up slightly before listing.

[princeperch]

My best mate is trying to flog his very nice fairly new but stone built detached 4 bed on the outskirts of Edinburgh for pretty much what he paid for it in 2016 and has had 4 viewings in the last month.

He needs to get shot of the house to get shot of the Doris (which he really needs to do) so he might have to take a loss on it.