House Prices #3 Property market, buying and selling

[Clover123]

What surprises were left in your house when you bought it for you to discover when you got the keys? Mine last year;
- Broken boiler
- Pipes under the sink leaking (previous owners had just put a bucket underneath)
- Skirting boards all rotten and fallen off the wall where the furniture was previously
- Filthy bathroom that hadn't been cleaned since we put the offer in
- Oven - didn't look like it had ever been cleaned
- Outhouse full of junk
- All the bannisters down the stairs were broken, presumably when they were moving their furniture out

I could go on but once my bathroom is sorted I will have spent £10k rectifying the above and I already overpaid for it to begin with

I had the same thing in that I think the second my offer was accepted by the seller they stopped cleaning for the six months it took to take to go through! Black mold, grimy floors, black windows, so many marks and scuffs from moving. It's crazy! I couldn't have lived like that for all those months, made me wonder if it was professionally cleaned for the viewing and the seller was just quite filthy

 

[_Laura]

No nasty surprises apart from the house being really dirty, the shelves in the bathroom are so full of grime, it was disgusting. Lots of hair everywhere too. I wasn’t expecting her to hire a rug doctor or get the carpets professionally cleaned, but I did assume she would hoover

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

I had the same thing in that I think the second my offer was accepted by the seller they stopped cleaning for the six months it took to take to go through! Black mold, grimy floors, black windows, so many marks and scuffs from moving. It's crazy! I couldn't have lived like that for all those months, made me wonder if it was professionally cleaned for the viewing and the seller was just quite filthy

Did you get some money back? Surely it's supposed to be left in good condition

 

[Clover123]

Did you get some money back? Surely it's supposed to be left in good condition

No, to be honest I was so relieved it had gone through before my low rate mortgage expired that I just deep cleaned everything before I moved in and tried to forget about it! The mouldy grout in the bathroom came up a dream, I was so proud of myself

 

[Princesst]

We had loads of problems when we moved in to our current house. Really felt like we’d been duped. Worst “surprise” though was finding some really grotty adult DVDs on top of a built in wardrobe in the bedroom we had met the previous owner & he was a really strange old man .

 

[Megansnarkle]

Did you get some money back? Surely it's supposed to be left in good condition

No, it's supposed to be in the condition at completion that it was at exchange, subject to any obligation to make good damage from removing fixtures and fittings. That's why you should do a viewing just before exchange to ensure that you know what you're buying.

 

[margaretta]

Just coming on to say so much stuff in my area is being reduced (sometimes more than once) and lots coming back on to the market after sale has fell through.

I am seeing a number of properties come back onto the market, including a couple I’d previously offered on. There is a little bit of smugness pleased to see this, particularly when the agents questioned my reasonable offer and tried to push me into a bidding war and pay over the odds. 6 months later they are back to square one.

 

[Notworthy]

I am seeing a number of properties come back onto the market, including a couple I’d previously offered on. There is a little bit of smugness pleased to see this, particularly when the agents questioned my reasonable offer and tried to push me into a bidding war and pay over the odds. 6 months later they are back to square one.

Have you bought yet or are you prepared to reoffer on any of them (at a far lower price than your original offer of course)

Just saw this New Zealand house seller throws in free Tesla as market tumbles | New Zealand | The Guardian. Apparently their house market has been dropping due to high mortgage rates for a year now. Interest rates have been rising for a year to combat inflation. Clearly not just a UK issue despite what the media like to portray

 

[instasham13]

There are about 5 or 6 properties on page 1 of Rightmove in my area that have been reduced or are back on the market. My cousin has also has to reduce her house from offeres over 290k to offeres over 265k as she needs to sell..it's a lovely 4 bedroom house in a good area and is very well decorated with a brand new kitchen but estate agent said the above 200k part of the market is struggling. We are Scotland so houses under 200k is still very doable but the better/bigger ones are between the 250/300k mark in my area.

Decent ex councils go for about 150-170k and those are still flying off the shelf. I think people realise you can get a good solid built house with bigger bedrooms if you are lucky enough to get an ex council in a nice area.

The 4 beds in the new build estate along from me are 375k. That price in our area is above the average and I can't help but think those people will move in and be in negative equity.

For comparison I just done a mock mortgage application on our house but with the 6% interest rate and it takes our payments from £750 per month to the 1300 mark. That is terrifying.

 

[Yel]

There's always a bit of lag when things adjust.

I'm noticing a fair few coming back for sale. I expect a fair few have agreed to a sale, then the bank computer says no to the valuation. After all SSTC means pretty much nothing.

 

[Anne1448]

So many houses are coming back on the market in ireland as well.

Similarly to Scotland, homes below 200k are the most sought after homes since they are started homes.

Also, with all the layoffs in tech, the high earners are not as willing to buy homes now.

It feels a lot like 2008...

 

[masterone]

A house on the outskirts of a very good area (semi detached 3 bedroom house) was on for a few months for offers over 165k. Yesterday it was relisted at a fixed price of 305k.

I'm not sure what it's like in England but the system of offers over really annoys me(Scotland). I much prefer the fixed price but for that house in particular it's ridiculous and I very much doubt they'll get that much for it. Our house, 13 years ago was fixed at 145k we talked them down to 138k it was a tad overpriced then even what we had paid but we were desperate and the lady had kept it imaculate to the day we moved in. We recently had it valued and in its current state of repair they're saying we could expect to get anywhere between 186k-191k. If we fixed it up then about 210k. It's mad. This was before things went bonkers though so it's probably changed now. Houses round here sell pretty fast, like within a week of being put up, but we've had 2 now on sale for about 6 weeks, they aren't budging.

 

[margaretta]

Have you bought yet or are you prepared to reoffer on any of them (at a far lower price than your original offer of course)

I bought something else.

 

[Yel]

From the economist

A global house-price slump is coming
It won’t blow up the financial system, but it will be scary

Over the past decade owning a house has meant easy money. Prices rose reliably for years and then went bizarrely ballistic in the pandemic. Yet today if your wealth is tied up in bricks and mortar it is time to get nervous. House prices are now falling in nine rich economies. The drops in America are small so far, but in the wildest markets they are already dramatic. In condo-crazed Canada homes cost 9% less than they did in February. As inflation and recession stalk the world a deepening correction is likely—even estate agents are gloomy. Although this will not detonate global banks as in 2007-09, it will intensify the downturn, leave a cohort of people with wrecked finances and start a political storm.

A global house-price slump is coming | The Economist

archived 25 Oct 2022 02:38:31 UTC

archive.ph

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

From the economist

A global house-price slump is coming
It won’t blow up the financial system, but it will be scary
View attachment 1763896 q
Over the past decade owning a house has meant easy money. Prices rose reliably for years and then went bizarrely ballistic in the pandemic. Yet today if your wealth is tied up in bricks and mortar it is time to get nervous. House prices are now falling in nine rich economies. The drops in America are small so far, but in the wildest markets they are already dramatic. In condo-crazed Canada homes cost 9% less than they did in February. As inflation and recession stalk the world a deepening correction is likely—even estate agents are gloomy. Although this will not detonate global banks as in 2007-09, it will intensify the downturn, leave a cohort of people with wrecked finances and start a political storm.

A global house-price slump is coming | The Economist

archived 25 Oct 2022 02:38:31 UTC

archive.ph

It’s about time. Even though we own a property that is worth a lot I’ve always thought house prices are ridiculous.
How can a property bought 10 years ago gone up in price 4-fold.
Mind you this is in South Africa but I remember my dad telling me they bought their first house for R200 and that was a lot of money for them

 

[Yel]

Better to accept a 3% reduction now than wait if I was a seller. 5% falls sounds very very optimistic!

UK homeowners forced to settle for below asking price, Zoopla says
Property website data shows housing market is slowing, with 44% less demand for homes and sellers accepting 3% below asking price


People selling their homes have typically had to settle for below the asking price in recent weeks, according to Zoopla, which is predicting house prices will fall by about 5% next year.
The average price achieved in recent weeks has been 3% below a seller’s asking price, when for much of 2021 and the first half of this year it matched the asking price, the property website said. Zoopla said it expects discounts to increase further in 2023.

https://www.12ft.io/https://www.the...-to-settle-for-below-asking-price-zoopla-says

 

[Anne1448]

The slowdown was definitely needed.

I won't lie, seeing homes that I put offers on having to reduce prices is beautiful.

 

[masterone]

Houses aren't budging in the area we are wanting to buy, usually they are sold or on offer within a week of being listed.

 

[Folkevermore]

Houses aren't budging in the area we are wanting to buy, usually they are sold or on offer within a week of being listed.

Almost all the properties I’ve saved in the last couple of months are still on the market - crazy how it’s so different for different areas!

 

[xbxbx]

Not sure if this is a silly question but I can’t seem to find a straight answer online. Also apologies if something similar has already been asked, I haven’t had the chance to read all the threads yet.

I bought my first flat 3 years ago and am looking to sell and move once my 5 year fixed mortgage is up. Do you need a deposit when buying another property? Or are deposits usually just for first time buyers?

I have an idea of how much I’ll need to put aside for estate agent and solicitor fees etc but now I’m wondering if I should save a deposit too. I won’t have a massive amount of equity in my current property and obviously can’t rely on it selling for much of a profit due to current climate. I also don’t earn a huge amount of money so need to budget quite tightly for putting money away into savings so like to have an idea of how much I need for certain things.

I’m in Scotland if that makes any difference to anything.