how much of a cut would you take

[Guest mike and tor]

I am not having much luck in selling my house. Or should I say the estate agent is not having much luck. I have reduced the price once already and have been told by the agent that maybe i should reduce it by 30k. WHAT! I hear you shout. Well the agent did say they should be able to sell it at a good price, but I now think that was a lie to get me to sign with them. I am now locked in to a contract with them.

 

Now here is the question. Should I further reduce the price just so we can get over to Ade quick or should I sit and wait. The house has been on the market for 6 weeks now.

 

Money wise, if the house sold at the reduced rate we would bring about 50,000 dollars over (once all the debts, flights etc have been paid) would this be enough to get a rental and a car and the rest can lay in wait as a deposit on a house.

 

Job, yes I have already got a job that pays over 60k (dont know if this is good or not).

 

So what are people thoughts. I have tried to be logical and unemotional about this and found that glue sniffing does not help so i will just open the question to the PIA crew.

 

Thanks to all who help.

 

Mike and Tor

[Guest ajw]

Hi Mike and Tor

I am in similar boat in South Africa - takes ages to move property here as well. However that will not stop me moving (end of year). As you have employment there you are in a position to live in Adelaide without the proceeds of your house as best you can. You will (when you do finally sell) have a much better idea of how to spend the 'windfall' as you will have some Adelaide experience behind you.

From my perspective if I took all my cash with me when I went I may not be inclined to have spent it as wisely as I would have (new house, property), had I gone without it - and then had the money follow me a few months later if you know what I mean. Furthermore, our property markets are subdued here too but are picking up, so leaving my sales for a few months could end up putting extra few thousand Aus dollars in my pocket.

From our side this migration to Adelaide is our first prize as a family, so certainly slow-moving sales would not make us hesitate. It might make us more responsible spenders in Adelaide to start with, but that can only be a good thing.

My 2 cents worth at least!

Good luck with the sale though!

[Guest stufi1997]

Hi mike and tor,

I'm up for throwing in my tuppence worth too....I would wait, we're just going into winter...and the end of tax year is looming (end of June) where everyone seems to watch what they're spending, til they get their tax rebates:D

 

Everything will still be here when you get here, you've got more chance of less worries with more money and 6 weeks is hardly a long enough time to drop your price in my opinion....you should probably practice patience anyway:wacko: for when you do emigrate cos nothing happens in a hurry here:cute:

 

Hold out for a while longer if you can in my opinion, but good luck in whatever you do decide xx Fiona

[Anne B]

It depends on how desperate you are to move. Also it depends on what your overall price is - 30K on 500K isn't much but on 150K is quite a big drop.

 

Spring and summer are coming up in the UK and that is the best time for selling, so maybe see what happens over the next few months. The housing market may pick up over the summer, plus the exchange rate may improve so you would end up with a win win situation. If if doesn't sell over the summer you can always drop the price later, but then there's the risk of having to spend another winter in the UK.

 

We put our house on the market in May last year and we got a buyer by August. We put it on at the price that the estate agent recommended and accepted less than the asking price. However we knew we wouldn't get what the house had been worth 2 years before, were prepared to drop 20% below that peak price and in fact got 18% less.

 

Have you had any viewings at the current price? Are there lots of others houses nearby also up for sale? Have you put your house on at a realistic price in the first place? How long are you prepared to wait for the right price? Only you can answer these questions. The estate agents don't really care how much you get for your house, they just want to sell it and get their commission asap.

[Guest emmaandlee]

We took a similar hit on our house, and it meant there was not much money in the bank when we did sell. But, we priced the house to sell and put on a big flight when we had some interested buyers to make sure we got close to the asking price. Its heartbreaking, because it feels like you are giving your house away, but its just how house prices have dropped. Just decide your bottom line now, so that you do not turn down a good offer.

 

I would check what you have signed with your agent. Could you go on a joint contract with another agent?

 

Good luck!

 

Emma

[Guest guest4504]

30 K is alot, Anne B is correct regarding on how much it is on for anyway. Also 6 weeks is nothing, I know many can take a year or longer to get an offer. see what happens over the summer. From what I hear from a couple of agents I spoken to lately the holiday abroad bookings have been in decline this year so more people may be considering a house move with the low interest rates. Why not drop 15 - 20 if you are desperate to sell now and see what goes ?

[Guest mike and tor]

the house is on for 200k

[Guest guest4504]

the house is on for 200k

 

 

A 15% drop is alot. The market doesnt seem so bad now as not many people panic selling. Is 200k the norm for your area ? or is there cheaper nearby. I would leave it for the summer and see, come winter drop then if you have no viewings. 6 weeks is not really testing your market.

[Guest emmaandlee]

Reducing it by £30k at this stage is very drastic. I would not reduce it by such a large proportion in one go.

Some agents do give high valuation figures to make you sign up with them. At the end of the day you should decide the asking price. We had all the agents round, decided which one we liked and picked the middle value of all the estimates to price our house.

I would put some pressure on your agent to get some viewings and feedback...

[Guest mike and tor]

we had lots of viewings. i even paid for an independant builders report on the condition of the house. It just seems the agent does not pursue the sale. She told me today that a couple had a second viewing but complained at one or two issues. But the agent said the price is what is on the card. Man she did not even ring me to ask if i would come down in price.

This just reinforces my view that clowns had escaped from the circus when it was in town. I knew it.

If i wasn't an alcoholic, I would be now!!

[Guest guest4504]

we had lots of viewings. i even paid for an independant builders report on the condition of the house. It just seems the agent does not pursue the sale. She told me today that a couple had a second viewing but complained at one or two issues. But the agent said the price is what is on the card. Man she did not even ring me to ask if i would come down in price.

This just reinforces my view that clowns had escaped from the circus when it was in town. I knew it.

If i wasn't an alcoholic, I would be now!!

 

 

ok, best thing to do is to take your contract to the citizens advice. Not all contracts are binding, it all depends on the terms ( and wording ). Most only 'ask' you to give the term. If you have good reason to remove then this should be done in writing. I know of a couple of sales that ended early because of bad agents and there were no penalties.

[Guest kangomik]

Depends on the job mate, do you need to be here.

60K is good

I would wait a while, the agent is extracting the urine, my guess is you told them you were off. ho hum.

30K would buy a lot here, and still leave that nice lump you have for a nice house.

 

IT IS NOT CHEAP HERE, bring all you can....... i know it's easy to say when we are already here

[Guest Janine3979]

Hiya,

 

We were in a similar situation and decided to rent our house out while we rent in OZ. I don't know if this is an option for you but house value went down a lot in the credit crunch and if you've got enough money to start up car, furniture, rent for a few months etc and you've got someone you trust to manage it for you over here, you could wait till the market picks up then sell when your ready to buy in OZ.

 

Everyones situation is different but it's just an idea.

[Guest Nicky&Andy]

weve dropped our price by 60k , two fallen through at bottom of chain, hopefully 3rd time lucky, its been a long time comming , bottom are in rented so only 3 in the chain,

we decided to drop more in the end cause were fed up of living in limbo, we will probably struggle with a lack of extra money at first, but at least we will be starting to build our new lives:daydreaming::jiggy:

[Guest Janine3979]

Good luck!

 

We're in limbo too but our wait is for the visa, everything else is ready and waiting to go, have just had more doc's requested so hopefully not long now:unsure:

[ails]

hi

 

if you really want to come at a particular time, then rent your house out (maybe add to the mortgage to give you some ready cash if you need to.) The exchange rate is shocking at the moment anyway and house prices will go up at some point in the UK. You can rent lovely homes here which you couldn't afford to buy anyway ... and ..... lots of poms go home after trying it out. you are in a good position with the job already sorted.

It would be a shame to lose all the equity you have built up because of impatience ..... houses are not cheap to buy here ....

 

good luck

Ails

[tina&steve]

If you really want to be here and have a job waiting I'd sell. We did, its not what your house is worth its what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

We sold our house in the doom and gloom took us over a year dropped by £50, we still made a bit of money not as much as the 50k you could make and we didn't have jobs to come to and yes $60k is a good wage my OH doesn't earn that much.

 

We have just bought our 1st house here and would have been so much better if we sold our house (in the UK) for the 1st offer we would have been alot better off butlike you we didn't want to drop so lost out. Also the housing market is doing well here so what you lose on your house now you could gain here. And you would be living the the life you want here.

 

Good luck x

[Guest mike and tor]

there seem's to be a real balanced perspective shown for both sides of the argument. Bit of a shame really as I was hoping to be over powered by one side of the coin. You lot are not making my life easy are you!

Ok the decision that has been reached (as advised by the wife) is that we have slashed the price to make a sharp sale. We reduced by 30k.

I think it came down to quality of life here versus the quality of live in oz. 30k would get a lot of quality no doubt, but mentaly we have already departed from this fair rock and every day is a bind.

Soooooooooooo lets see if we get a quick sale eh.

[coolerking]

there seem's to be a real balanced perspective shown for both sides of the argument. Bit of a shame really as I was hoping to be over powered by one side of the coin. You lot are not making my life easy are you!

Ok the decision that has been reached (as advised by the wife) is that we have slashed the price to make a sharp sale. We reduced by 30k.

I think it came down to quality of life here versus the quality of live in oz. 30k would get a lot of quality no doubt, but mentaly we have already departed from this fair rock and every day is a bind.

Soooooooooooo lets see if we get a quick sale eh.

 

 

Any money you can bring is an advantage, but the reality of how much can you get for your house now and how much if you wait. I'd need to see strong evidence that the market (economy) is going to make a big improvement at a good progress. We're in SA so don't know what it's really like on the ground in the UK, but see no signs of a dramatic recovery.

 

We chose to take what we could get and lost a fair bit but we are here and have work. If you have a job to come to, then that would be the deciding factor for me.

 

Good luck in your decision,

Cooler

[Guest kangomik]

Well done on making a decision, it was a tough call. Hope it sells quickly and you can get on with the next phase of the adventure.

 

Good Luck

[Guest shella_n]

there seem's to be a real balanced perspective shown for both sides of the argument. Bit of a shame really as I was hoping to be over powered by one side of the coin. You lot are not making my life easy are you!

Ok the decision that has been reached (as advised by the wife) is that we have slashed the price to make a sharp sale. We reduced by 30k.

I think it came down to quality of life here versus the quality of live in oz. 30k would get a lot of quality no doubt, but mentaly we have already departed from this fair rock and every day is a bind.

Soooooooooooo lets see if we get a quick sale eh.

 

respect dont know if id have the stomach to do it. Good luck.

Michelle

[Prema]

Good luck. Hope your sale come though quick. We had to drop our price by 13k that was Sept last year. The offers came flooding, no bidding wars. They all offered the same price and it was down to who ever could get survey and deposit done the quickest.

[Cannons]

Hi well after a year and a bit of having the houes on the market, loads of interest 2 offers that have fell through, we now have our 3rd offer and fingers crossed this is the one. The offer was £25,000 below the valuation and we managed to get them to come up by £5,000 so a drop of £20,000 from the valuation but only a drop of £10,000 to what we paid 2 years ago. We just weren't prepared to wait any longer and I'm expecting our 3rd child so this will hopefully mean we can make the move before baby arrives. We will be coming with very litttle money are determination to make it work.

 

Hope you get the quick sale you are after.

 

Jo x

[Guest Fly Away]

Good luck. We dropped our price significantly too. In the end we sold it for what we had paid for it 4 years previously and we had done a lot of repair work to it in that time too. I think once you are here it becomes less of an issue. We don't think about our past life very much or 'what ifs' we just get on with enjoying our here and now.

[Guest mOZzy]

obviously i can't tell you what to do but it took us 15 months to sell ours and we dropped 45k in the end!

the bit by bit dropping doesn't do anything really (my opinion) - the others will do the same and if you drop big time yours will stand out!

 

all i wanted out of the sale was to cover the expense for the move and 6months living.

we didn't have a job to go to - and the 30k (pounds) disappeared in a flash!

 

BUT i'd do it again! - we left limbo land and now we are so much happier

 

money is not everything!!