House sale agreed at 600k in '08 but fell through, what to ask now?

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marshmallow

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Wondering what poster's opinions are - want to sell my property once and for all. Large once-off 4 bed bungalow in small village outside Dublin so difficult to gauge off others for sale in the area. Obv haven't a hope of getting next nor near 600k that was offered in '08. If it were you putting it on at today's market what would you price to sell at?
BTW hope this isn't violating the house prices rules as I'm not asking for speculation just help!
 

Hi marshmallow,
I sold my house a while back, while the market was on the way down.
Before I start, I'm not trying to encourage you to sell for "less than the house is worth", but i have been watching the market closely over time,.
I find that a lot of sellers (both developers and individuals) are "chasing the market to the bottom".

ie. By "chasing to the bottom" I mean they are not pricing the house reasonably below other comparable houses on the market so it stands out as "good value". Eventually, what happens is they can't quite sell to house, so they reluctantly reduce the price by a little, say 10 or 20 grand. Its again still not enough to shift the house, so eventually they do the same again reluctantly. This happens numerous times, as the reduction is never quite enough to shift the house. So they end up reducing the price gradually over time as the market prices gradually go down.
They would have been better off going in at a price below the market to start with, and shifting it earlier in the process. These multiple piecemeal reductions tend to prove much more costly in the long run.

When I sold my house, - I priced it noticeably below others that were on the market at the time, - it sold quickly. It felt like I was leaving it go too cheaply at the time, - but now, a year or so on, - I know I did well! Some of those other houses are still on the market for much less now.
 
Thanks for reply Raven, what you've outlined above is exactly what I'm hoping to achieve. I want an attention-grabbing price which stands out as good value in order to sell quickly, but my agent pointed out that I'd have very little leeway to negotiate downwards, as most people buying now want to feel better by negotiating the asking price so they feel they've got a good deal. So difficult to choose a price that's a good balance between the two - low enough to catch attention and yet room to manouvre downwards. As i said, hard to guage off similar houses in the area as there aren't a whole lot, and only houses in a nearby estate, which are all the same, whereas mine is a one-off on its own land with private access etc. Just want to sell it now but frustrating that you have to price almost with a further 'built-in' discount! I'd rather just be upfront about the lowest price I can take and be done with it, but EA reckons bad idea.
 
I have been watching the property market for the last couple of years, like most people. Interestingly there are quite a few beautiful one off houses in my area which were for sale in the region of 550-750. These have remained on the market where the vendor has not reduced the price.

However an interesting recent trend in these houses has been where one local estate agent has started advertising a few of these houses in the region of €425,000- which has stirred renewed interest and seems to result in a sale in the region of 425 but not lower. Not much higher either, though.
 
I was thinking about slashing it to maybe mid-300s if I thought it would shift at that price. I would just about cover my mortgage and expenses with that, although with little or no profit it wouldn't make any dent in the neg equity I've now got in my current PPR, but that's neither here nor there.

I suppose I'm really not trying to be 'cute' with the pricing, I just want to sell.
 
Unusual as it is to say it but I tend to agree with the EA, people do not expect to pay the asking price and I know a number of people who will not buy unless they get at least 10% off. It does not conform to any logic or reason but I think that logic and reason left the property market some time back.

You should carefully consider the absolute lowest price that you would accept. This requires significant realism and a lot of thought. You should then add 15% to that number to factor in a negotiable discount. When you have that number look at all the properties in your area with asking prices with 20% of your asking price and see if you have one of the most compelling offerings. Only compare on the most basic criteria of location, size, number of bedrooms etc. There are far too many subjective criteria that are influenced by your taste.
 
In selling cars and houses, some years ago the expression "Best offer over €x" was used. This indicated that if they received an offer of €x and no more, then they would accept it.

I have seen one case recently where the much reduced price sparked off a competitive bidding for the house and it went for more than the reduced asking price.

But even if you say "Price reduced to €200k", you will get offers of €180k initially.

Tell the auctioneer that this is the lowest price and you are looking for offers above it.

Brendan
 
Thanks for above suggestions - interesting points, its hard trying to factor in the psychological factors, would be nice if you didn't have to play games with price. So the current thinking is that even if I put it on at €1, people would still only want to pay 80c! Right, will think about my lowest possible price and then look for a certain percentage above that, sort of the opposite of what people were doing in the boom years when everything went 20/30% above....
 
Any idea what the rental income would be on the property, you could use this to get a ballpark figure on the price comparing with average rental yield for the area?

Obviously not hugely accurate but it's a starting point and you'll know if you're way off the mark. Where are Dublin rental yields at the moment 3%??


www.moneybackmortgages.ie
 
Don't forget to factor in capital gains tax liability also.
 
Yes, CGT has already been factored (as much as it can be without knowing the outcome!) into my lowest possible price. Was PPR before becoming investment property so thankfully a good few years of PPR relief to go against it.

Not quite sure how to calculate yield to obtain an asking price - currently achieving rental of approx 1500 pm.
 
Do you have long-term tenants? Is it washing its face? If it is you're probably best keeping it.
 
I sold mine last year. Was dropping piecemeal and it was going nowhere so made a major drop and sold at that price. Auctioneer was well able to point to comparative asking prices to show this was the actual selling price not a try on. So I'd be inclined to put it on at your bottom line.
 
I'd agree with putsch above. Get the asking low, and get the punters in viewing, talking and negotiating, - thats the first step and you'd already be doing better than most other sellers out there.
Maybe allow a just a little to to come down (maybe 5%), rather than being completely firm on the asking price, - the buyer wants to feel like they've struck a good deal. As putsch says, - you can point to other houses and demonstrate that your house is giving good value.

Get the punters in and negotiating first, and take it from there, - you'll have a lot more to work with than the other scenario, where nobody is viewing or engaging with you. At least your estate agent can do something for his money then.
 
sorry to say this but 600 k house for sale in my road in 08 went for 380 k last week.i say it was a distressed sale but it is what it is these days.salthill area of galway.15% DOWN IS WAY OFF THE MARK.honestly everything is 40-45% down.
 

1500e per month =18000e per year=yield
With yield =3% of property values as given by another poster,this means
18000 divided by 3 and multiply by 100 gives a vaue of 600000e.

Obviously one can`t go by the rental yield.
 
sunrock said:
1500e per month =18000e per year=yield
With yield =3% of property values as given by another poster,this means
18000 divided by 3 and multiply by 100 gives a vaue of 600000e.

Obviously one can`t go by the rental yield.
Click to expand...

Depends on what the yield is.
 
sunrock said:
Well the OP claimed a rent of 1500e per month.
Click to expand...

He did which is why a price of €600k is way off the mark. Ignoring outlay a price of €400k would give a yield of 4.5%, €385k a yield of 4.68%. Why would I invest in a falling property market at 3% when a deposit account yields more ? The last property I bought was yielding 5.8% !
 
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