Lots of viewings but no offers!

Hello everyone,

We have our house for sale since early June. We had close to 20 viewings in that time and the EA said almost every one 'Loved' it. On our first open viewing we had 5 sets of viewers - 3 came back that afternoon with a parent. Another came the following week with their girlfriend. We did get one offer at the beginning it was reasonable but we didn't accept it and I don't think its there anymore (We know stupid now but the EA said we would DEFINITELY get a higher offer). Out of the 20 viewers I'd say 70% have come back for a second look.
The house is great - fab location and in very good shape, nice garden etc. We have priced it lower than other houses being advertised around the area (not huge competition from what I can see on Daft).
We have two small children and getting the house ready for people to see it really disrupting our weekends and disturbing the little ones. I feel like I'm constantly cleaning and don't know if its worth the effort anymore.
Are there any serious buyers out there at all?? Or just nosey parkers with nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than look at 2nd hand houses?
I know its only a couple of months on the market but our hopes of moving to a bigger house I think are slowly slipping away. We can't reduce the price any more as we need a good deposit for the new house.
Are the banks the problem or are people just holding off to see if the market falls further? If that's the case people like me will end up taking good houses off the market.........

Don't panic yet. We just bought and the house was on the market for three months before we viewed it.

House was great, cul de sac, mature garden, semi with familes on the road, they had 5 viewings and two offers which they turned down

People are just exhausting every avenue out there at the moment. Best of luck.

Yvonne 062 said:

Out of the 20 viewers I'd say 70% have come back for a second look.

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You must be doing something right if this is the case, I wouldn't lose hope. If people are coming back for a second look then I imagine you price tag is in some way realistic.

I think you need to give it a bit more time...as a possible buyer myself, I am in no hurry at all...I imagine most buyers are in the same position..I don't have to buy and the market is really slow..houses are staying on the market longer so there is no big panic/urge to rush into buying something asap. This rush might have been there before when people were mad to get on the so called property ladder and bidding and outbidding eachother in ridiculous fashion.
I'm also aware, cynical as it is -that some sellers have to sell- in fact a lot of people who have their house on the market at this point need to sell- for whatever reasons- and I guess the longer they have to wait for a sale, the greater the chance that the house price will come down....it's a waiting game- I know I can wait- but can the seller?- will they be more open to lower offers as time goes on....
I'm sorry to be so cynical..your house sounds nice and people are probably quietly keeping an eye on it....but I think in this market you are a bit unrealistic to expect offers within a matter of weeks...
Perhaps you could try and organise that viewers all come the same day -once per month- to ease the pressure on yourself..good luck with it anyway..

Hi,
Thanks for the replies. I think the only reason I'm frustrated (even though its only been a few weeks) is because there has been alot of positive feedback, quite a few lookers but nothing else forthcoming. We are going to leave it another month and take it off the market if nothing happens before then. I am friends with an auctioneer and she says that although some people have to sell, others are re-considering and just taking their houses off the market - planning to build on an extension or something and just stay put for another few years. We don't have to sell, we would like to though and take advantage of the good value out there at the moment and just get some more space for the little ones I suppose!
Rosey the monthly viewing would be great for us but we have to oblige if there is an interested party (even if its during the week which is NOT easy working full time with two kids I can tell ya!) because they might just be the one!
Here's hoping......

I finally sold my house in April having had it on the market since June 08!

Like you I had lots of viewings - it was a great pain tidying. Lots of things I couldn't find at all afterwards but I did get into a routine. But with a full-time job and family I could not have done it- apart from anything else it made me reluctant to invite people around because of the hassle afterwards.

I had lots of postiive feedback but no serious offers.

In relation to the price I had to drop the price 4 times over the period to keep below the neigboring properties. The price I sold at in April is even now still lower than many asking prices for similar - but then they are not selling.

So it is an impossible market - you need to be prepared for hassle and disappointment and so its only worth doing if you are v highly motivated to sell and are confident that you have done the numbers!

Good luck

I hear ya Putsch, I've been looking for my hairbrush since last Saturday! We normally have some 'stuff' that we literally throw into the car before a viewing because we have nowhere else to put it!
Well done for selling your house - we were highly motivated to sell but its waning a bit now. If things don't start moving I reckon people like me will just opt out and not sell our lovely 3 bed semi that's perfect for some first time buyer, and all they'll be left with will be some investor chaps house that has been rented for the past 7 years and looks it...might get it €10k cheaper but whats that over a 30 year mortgage?

Maybe all this talk this evening about the first signs that the market is finally 'bottoming out' will inspire a few to take the plunge!

Yvonne 062 said:

Hello everyone,

We have our house for sale since early June. We had close to 20 viewings in that time and the EA said almost every one 'Loved' it. On our first open viewing we had 5 sets of viewers - 3 came back that afternoon with a parent. Another came the following week with their girlfriend. We did get one offer at the beginning it was reasonable but we didn't accept it and I don't think its there anymore (We know stupid now but the EA said we would DEFINITELY get a higher offer). Out of the 20 viewers I'd say 70% have come back for a second look.
The house is great - fab location and in very good shape, nice garden etc. We have priced it lower than other houses being advertised around the area (not huge competition from what I can see on Daft).
We have two small children and getting the house ready for people to see it really disrupting our weekends and disturbing the little ones. I feel like I'm constantly cleaning and don't know if its worth the effort anymore.
Are there any serious buyers out there at all?? Or just nosey parkers with nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than look at 2nd hand houses?
I know its only a couple of months on the market but our hopes of moving to a bigger house I think are slowly slipping away. We can't reduce the price any more as we need a good deposit for the new house.
Are the banks the problem or are people just holding off to see if the market falls further? If that's the case people like me will end up taking good houses off the market.........

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http://irishpropertywatch.com/

the average time a property has been on the market is now just under 1 year at 364 days

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You're probably doing alright considering you've only been trying to sell for a couple of months!

I'm on the market for a house (FTB), as indeed are many of my friends - at that kind of age now! - the general reaction from my peers is that they are waiting to see what happens with NAMA and the budget in December, (add to that the Liam Carroll judgement which has made NAMA even more uncertain), so a lot of FTBs - which is now a major proportion of the, albeit small, market are just holding tough for the moment.

We did get one offer at the beginning it was reasonable but we didn't accept it.

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Is your current asking price at or below this offer?

Hi Robin,

We have advertised our baseline selling price (and are including contents) which is just €5k above the offer that we got originally. Its a 'First offer of €245k secures' kinda deal (as advised by EA).

Its €20k lower that what we told the bank we should get for it!

Its a buyers market and being realistic about it the ball is no way in your court anymore as a seller. You got an offer of €5K less than what you wanted and you rejected it? Seriously? We are currently looking at buying and would not consider offering anywhere near the asking price - most houses are just sitting on the market or being withdrawn, the ones that are selling are the ones that are priced well and this tend to sell very quickly.

It is probably unlikely that you are going to get the price you want, especially given the time of year - July & August are the quietest months. Everything picks up in September, but this also means that more houses come on the market so you will see your competition increase also.

You should probably stay in your "perfect" house and leave the FTB's to everything else

We are looking to trade up too, to purchase 3-4 bed semi but are waiting for the budget in December, to see what happens with Stamp Duty and the Property Tax (if there is one). And I think many are thinking the same way, we have to move out of necessity and have friends in the same position due to growing families, so Dec will be crunch time for us and many others it sounds. I think when selling you should be allowing yourself 6 months in any case, recession or no recession and perhaps you are just being a little impatient. Best of luck, there is a buyer out there, its just timing.

Hi,
Good to see the views from people who are looking to buy so thanks for that. Rentdayblues, we only rejected that offer because it came in the first weekend we had the house on the market and we were overloaded with viewings. The EA advised it was too low and to hold out and stupidly we heeded her advice.......it was €15k below where we needed to be at the time, but we re-jigged the figures since.. As you say maybe we should just stay put, it appeals to me more at the moment!

I know as someone that has seen a lot of places that most of the houses we viewed never sold but were taken off the market. I suppose if you can afford to stay put and live comfortably then it might be best to do so - I know its tempting when you see houses that would have previously been out of your price range now being possible for you but I do think the market has a little further to go down and this could mean that you could get that new house for less but may also have to take less for your own

As somebody that has recently bought a house, I would have to offer you some encouragement. If people are coming for second viewings, then you are doing something right and the price must be attractive to people. We have been looking to buy a house for 18months and we've viewed a lot of houses and I think we went back to maybe only 3 houses for a second viewing (including the one we are buying). Some of the houses we saw in the early days are still up for sale, so really having your house on the market since early June is no time atall.
And to be honest with you, the tidyness of a house made no bearing on my impression of the house whatsoever.
Best of luck anyway.

Yvonne 062 said:

we would like to though and take advantage of the good value out there at the moment

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This is interesting and may provide some insight into why you can't sell.

The only way you can believe there is "good value" out there at the moment is if you compare current prices to the insane prices we had in 2006/2007.

Obviously it makes no sense to calculate "good value" based on bubble prices, so is it possible your property is currently overpriced? As in, you have it priced based on the values at the peak of the bubble?

No seller in their right mind is going to pay anything anywhere near 2006/2007 prices.

I sold my house just over a year ago and have been renting ever since. I am now considering buying again and got mortgage approval a month ago for 250,000. Over the last month have been looking at some houses. The thing is though there is so much choice out there. I am in no rush to buy. I want to make sure I pick 'THE' house as realistically I will be living in it for the rest of my life.

I think a lot of people are holding off (me included) in case house prices fall even further. The way I think of it is why buy a house now if the same house will be 10,000, 20,000 cheaper in 6 months time?

Having said that though if I found the home of my dreams and the sellers accepted my offer (which would always be less than the house is been priced at) I would go for it.

Hi there,
UFC I think our house is priced v. realistically - we had it valued last summer with a view to selling at that stage - we would be happy to take €100k less than our baseline price last year (May '08) and that is what its on the market for. We researched what houses around the area were selling for and went in a little under that guide. Our EA knows what every house within a 20 mile radius sold for in the past 6 months so she also advised a figure and we went lower than her suggestion. Problem is - to release enough equity for a deposit on a new house, we are at rock bottom and will have to withdraw the property if the prices fall further.
The 'good value' I am referring to are the fine big properties 10-12 miles outside the city (Galway). There are some developers out there on their knees - tonnes of houses on half acre sites, mostly builders finish as they can't afford to pump any more money into them. They are a bit far out and unfinished so can't really rent them, so they are costing them money every month. That's where the really good value is. Our property is within 5 mins of the city centre and could be rented in the morning (two houses near ours were rented within the week when their owners lost their jobs in Galway and had to move to Dublin). Its the CAB not NAMA that should be getting some of these properties for the sins of some of these guys and what they've done to the country- but I will gladly take one of their hands at a ridiculously low price if I can offload mine at a reasonable one!

If you don't mind me asking, how much is good value 10-12 miles outside Galway City and what area are you talking about ? Not buying at the moment but this is what I would be looking at myself.

I think you should have taken the 240k you were offered. Heard a guy on bloomberg last weeked on valuations of house prices in the states, 11 to 14 times x annual rent is the norm price level otherwise a bubble.