Brand-new local build, or established property for quick sale later?

[MM]

Now that I have sold my property I am comparing many properties in Lincs and Norfolk. For example, there is a brand-new detached property available, built by a local builder, not a chain. And there are numerous secondhand properties. The brand-new one is slightly more expensive, but not unduly so.

Now my premise is that the brand-new one will always be easier to sell later, say, in 2006/7/8, than a secondhand property. The brand-new one will still only be two, three, maybe four years old, whereas the secondhand property may be rather tired and creaky, despite a lick of paint. Compare a beautiful young woman with her exquisite mother. Her mother is elegant, cultured, kind, thoughtful and dependable. But you're still going to opt for the beautiful daughter, aren't you!

Having had my fingers burned over the current sale (I has always assumed that selling the property in a matter of weeks would be a mere formality) I am looking at the housing market in a different light. For me it will be important, due to personal circumstances, to be able to sell my next property *easily* if I need or want to.

So, for ease of obtaining a quick sale next time, what do people advise? Old or new?

MM

[Richard Faulkner]

In message , MM writes

Famous last words

Mike,

If you have truly sold your house, (and that doesnt happen until contracts are exchanged), then you havent actually found it too hard to sell.

What you have experienced, is the much inflated expectation of most house sellers, both in terms of the price achievable, and the time it takes. Once you find that reality falls far short of your expectations, you automatically think that your own particular sale has been the one which is out of the ordinary - Let me assure you that it isnt.

In my patch, if a house completes within 6 months of going on the market, then that is a reasonably average transaction.

When you have sold 4 or 5 houses, your expectations will no longer be up there with the hype, and your future sales will proceed according to plan.

If you are concerned, you should buy the house you like, as long as it does not stray too far from the norm. Council Houses and small flats seem to be hardest to sell when the market gets tough.

To answer your question in the simplest terms - Old, with lots of character in a super location. Apart from my 1st house, I have never bought a new house.

[Huge]

Tee-hee.

It takes three months, assuming that *everything* works correctly.

[tony sayer]

Very much so, Edwardian and Victorian properties seem to be very well sought after, and paid for in Cambridge;))

Not with houseys M8..

Then again, older wimmen sometimes know a thing or two more then their younger brethren;)))

Where did U get that mad idea from;?..

[Al Reynolds]

Congratulations. Let us know when you've exchanged contracts. In the interim it would be a good idea to acquaint yourself with the

*enormous* number of things which have to happen before contracts are exchanged.

I don't suppose you're going to tell us what you accepted in the end or whether you decided to break the chain?

Was it a long time since you last sold a house before this one? It pays never to assume anything.

Unless you have unusual tastes, the property you want to buy the most will be the one which other people will also want the most later. Good luck in your house hunting.

Al

[The Natural Philosopher]

Renting.

No one parts with a few hundred grand without a prolonged negotiation and a considered survey.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yup. My family is in te hpricess ofselling my mothers house - nice solid

3 bed detached in good surrey location - but 1953-never-really-been touched vintage.

Buyers threw themselves at it, at full asking price.

Now as we near completion, suddenly we are expected to knock money off becuse the original 1953 wiring is 'inadequate and will have to be replaced'..what DID they expect on an unmiderise 1953 house?

By which time the original alternative buyers have vanished, and its slowing down market wise.

we may yet complete at a few grand under the original ofer, or we may gazump our minging purchaser if someone else comes along who is not into dickering at the last minute.

Or I may just go and plough up the back garden out of spite, the day before contracts are exchaged :-)

[Al Reynolds]

PS Make sure you don't offer less than 94% of the asking price.

[MM]

Yeah, well, I'm not holding my breath!

It's been a nightmare, and it isn't necessarily over yet. Not until exchange at least. The one thing working in my favour is that Christmas is just around the corner, and I think this can serve to concentrate minds quite a bit. The buyer of my property has a FTB for theirs, so there is a minimal chain (does it even warrant being called a chain in this case?) My agent did warn me that the FTB (the one buying my buyer's property) might get cold feet if the MPC did put up the interest rate in November or December. That's why the agent is going all out for exchange by 15th November.

Future sales? I'm pushing 59, how much future have I got?!! ;)

Mine is an ex-LA house. You must never refer to it as a 'Council House'! ;) Shame, in a way, as I saw one semi in Norfolk, ex-LA, with a simply massive rear garden, practically a smallholding. But I'm not going to touch LA any more, no way, Jose!

But many old properties on RightMove tend to stick around the longest. Also, the few properties in my village that *have* sold within a few weeks recently, i.e. quickly in my book, were in pristine, effectively 'new', condition inside and out. And I mean to showhome standard. In a buyer's market, people can afford to pick and choose and if they pay another twenty grand they save themselves the hassle of refurbishment in many cases. If the style is fairly neutral many new occupants can live with it for a couple of years at least without feeling an urgent need to clean out and decorate over various detritus left from many years of occupancy by different strangers. It makes me chuckle when I see particulars that say: "Carpets included". Yeah, right! Like I'm going to be walking around bare-foot across some granny-infested bit of Wilton! I'd rip out all used carpet straightaway.

Whatever the reason, it's the older houses that have hung around for a long time. This is why I asked the question, as I have absolutely no personal experience to go on, this being my first property. For example, there is this one bungalow in North Lincs, very rural, on the market since July. It's a nice looking bungalow, but 19th century. I could see myself living in it, but it's not suitable for a growing family. The brand-new detached house I mentioned is an absolutely bog-standard yet nicely finished family home, whereas the bunaglow, with two bedrooms, isn't really. So for around the same price I think the brand-new one would quickly attract young families, but the bungalow might stick around until another person like me came along.

Until I started realising that selling doesn't happen as if by magic, even though two years ago, even 18 months ago, these houses (I mean where I live) were selling within two weeks, even ones requiring updating. Agents around here were taking calls from new vendors, then calling them back a couple of hours later to tell them they'd got an offer already. I knew it wasn't going to be that plain sailing; I just never imagined it was going to be this hard.

MM

[Owain]

"MM" wrote | Now that I have sold my property I am comparing many properties | in Lincs and Norfolk. For example, there is a brand-new detached | property available, built by a local builder, not a chain. And | there are numerous secondhand properties. The brand-new one is | slightly more expensive, but not unduly so. | Now my premise is that the brand-new one will always be easier | to sell later, say, in 2006/7/8, than a secondhand property. | The brand-new one will still only be two, three, maybe four | years old, whereas the secondhand property may be rather tired | and creaky, despite a lick of paint.

However, after four years, your brand-new property will not be brand new any longer. It may well be better built than whatever GibbonHomes are throwing up on their latest new estate, but GibbonHomes will have the advantages of a Show Home, everything Nice and Shiny, and No Chain. It may be difficult for a four-year-old lived-in property to compete with that. One thing to check is whether there is any land that might be used for redevelopment in the next few years and how close it is to the brand-new property. Otherwise you might find the brand-new property is vulnerable not only to competition from a nearby new build, but from finding itself next to a building site for eighteen months at the very time you need to sell.

You need to compare the new build with the older properties - if the older properties have more character / space / garden / better more established area, then those are features that will appeal to most buyers more than the inherent build quality of the property.

You have greater opportunity for adding value and saleability if you take a shabby house and tart it up. Your house will then be the nicest amongst its immediaste neighbours and likely to sell the quickest. There is probably nothing you can do to add value or saleability to the brand-new one.

| I am looking at the housing market in a different light. For me | it will be important, due to personal circumstances, to be able | to sell my next property *easily* if I need or want to. | So, for ease of obtaining a quick sale next time, what do people | advise? Old or new?

The property that will appeal to the widest possible market. So:

- professional house-sharers / buy-to-let: good-sized bedrooms (no third bedroom only big enough for a cot) and a reasonable number of bathrooms, bus routes to major work locations

- older people (growing share of the market): possibility of ground floor bedroom and shower room or granny annexe

- families with children: garden, schools

- single people (especially women): good security, so not backing on to woodland or a park, or with dark alleys nearby

- homeworkers: office within the house, or outbuilding

You might also consider the rental prospects, not just for selling to the buy-to-let market, but in case the property market is stagnant and renting the house in the medium term is the only way you can move on when the time comes.

Owain

[MM]

[snip]

Yes, in the current market climate it is mad, crazy, nuts etc etc. But eighteen months to two years ago, when I first started to explore the idea of moving, houses in my street went within a couple of weeks, four at the outside. One house a little way away needed updating and the sale fell through several weeks later. Yet still they found another buyer within a couple of weeks.

Like I said in my earlier reply to Richard, agents were taking new instructions and passing on offers often on the same day!

MM

[MM]

Thanks!

I've been making lists for months, but I'm sure to forget something at the last minute. Are there any lists on the web? My solicitor gave me a booklet to read.

I had to swallow my pride and accept the£185 grand. After reading all the earlier replies, most of which tended toward taking the money and making a run for it, and speaking to one or two people, it seemed like the best opportunity I was going to get, certainly this side of Christmas. And maybe I shall be able to 'pass on' the hit when I make offers on the next property, especially if I choose one that has been hanging around for a few months, and there are A LOT of them!

As regarding a chain, I'm not quite sure what you're referring to here, as the buyer of my property has a FTB for his, and I can move out at any time and live in rented accommodation for a couple of months. I don't think there is any chain in this case.

This is my first property, which I bought 20 years ago for £29,500. Before that I lived in rented apartments in Germany. Before THAT, I lived at home in Kent.

Thanks again!

MM

[MM]

I would find it very difficult to make a cheeky offer, but many younger people seem to have thicker skins than us oldies! How would £145K for a property on at £148,950 grab you?

MM

[MM]

But rewiring is only going to cost them a couple of grand, three at most. My agent told me that anything that needs doing that is under a grand, it is the buyer who is expected to cover the cost.

I've just planted daffs in mine! Great surprise for someone! They'll have enough to supply Covent Garden for a month...

...only kidding, Mr and Mrs X! It'll look just luvverly, trust me!

MM

[Cicero]

============== Don't be worried about making a cheeky offer - it's the Estate Agent who needs a thick skin. He / she has to pass on any offers and take the ribald replies. An offer of £145,000 seems perfectly reasonable and it lets the vendor know that you're interested but not a sucker.

Best of luck,

Cic.

[Steve Firth]

Oh dear.

[Steve Firth]

As a reasonable offer.

[MM]

Eh?

MM

[Capitol]

MM wrote: How would

As an oldie, best laugh I've had all evening. My initial bid would be below £120K!! If the economic experts rate the UK housing market at

20/30% over valued, I'd want to protect my capital and that means renting at the present time. (already said by another poster, but worth repeating.) I spent part of yesterday listening to a London estate agent appraising the rental market for a member of the family who is abroad and who rents out the family house. She has renters rushing over her doorstep non stop at this time, but no buyers! The newly arranged rent has gone up! Surprise!! The complete opposite from 12 months ago. The would be renters all expect the house prices to drop and they are prepared to wait 12 months for this to happen. Why buck the trend?

Good luck. Capitol

[Owain]

"MM" wrote | The Natural Philosopher wrote: | >Or I may just go and plough up the back garden out of spite, | >the day before contracts are exchaged :-) | I've just planted daffs in mine! Great surprise for someone! | They'll have enough to supply Covent Garden for a month...

I'd suggest 'taters under the lawn. Not such a nice surprise. | ...only kidding, Mr and Mrs X! It'll look just luvverly, trust me!

I would suggest that Giant Hogweed stuff, but it's illegal so I won't.

Owain