average length of time to sell

Hi all,

I posted about selling my house here before so apologies if its in the wrong place or cant be answered. As per my other post my reason for selling is due to a sick family member which is why im anxious about the time frame as the relation in question is poorly. Its the start of the third week of our house being on the market in Athy,nice location and 4bed semi at a good price, so far two appointments were made to view the house and then it was a no show as the estate agent couldnt get through to them to confirm a time...is this normal practice or is the EA Bluffing? But in relatition to my origional query, on average can anyone tell me or point me in the right direction to the whereabouts of such info, does it take to sell a house in the kildare region? Perhaps im being a bit impatient...the responce im getting from the EA is mixed with answers like" its only coming into the spring so things should start moving" then " with the stamp duty argument in the election things are slow"...so can anyone shed any light or opnions? Any info would be great.

Hi Sarah,
We sold a house 2 years ago and it took us about 6 weeks. I would agree with the EA, in that the winter can be slow enough and tings tend to pick up during the summer.

Things may be a little different now with interest rates rising , debates about stamp duty are also tending to slow things down.

I think it has gotten to the stage where it is a buyers market.

It will take as long as it takes. All you can do is make sure that anything you can do to help is done - i.e. keeping everything neat and attractive, making sure house is well advertised etc.,etc. I have had clients with properties on the market for over 6 months.

In the current climate I suspect the EA will be very happy to find you a buyer so that they will get paid but I understand that buyers are somewhat thin on the ground - for all kinds of reasons.

Keep your fingers crossed and if you're religious, a few decades of the rosary ( my mother swears by this) won't go amiss.

mf

mf

Hi Sarah,

Someone else is talking about selling in Athy over on Daft:

selling house in athy?

It might be of interest to you.

Sarah
The market is very flat all over. A friend of mine who is an auctioneer has not sold one second hand house this year. He blames the stamp duty issue. Dont panic just yet.All you need is one interested party.

Have you thought about undercutting the other houses in the area in an effort to drum up some attention. As the market is slow you may need to take a course of action that many find unpalatable but otherwise you could be posing the question again in 2-3 months time.

I agree with beattie - price is very important to attracting interest.

I've seen a few 3 bed semi-d houses priced maybe 10 or 15 K above the FTB threshold not selling for a few months, then going sale agreed within three days of dropping to €317 500. Know your target market and set your price accordingly.

And if your primary concern is selling as fast as reasonably possible, rather than getting the absolute best price possible however long it takes, then a lower AMV should help you achieve your objective.

Hi All,
Thanks for your replies.
In responce to some of the replies, i have set my asking price to be about €10000 less than the other houses around and there is not that many so its selling at €305000. Im hearing two different opnions depending on who im talking to...a few people said they sold within 2 months(apperantly this is now the normal time frame of selling a 2nd hand house) one even said she sold within 2 weeks of putting the house up for sale in Kildare!! Then others are saying it takes about 7-8 months!!! Very pessismistic but what can you do except hope and know that whatever happens people will always need somewhere to live so houses will sell eventually. Although i do need to sell i also need to make a half decent price otherwise there is no way we could afford aother place but i think the asking price is very reasonable, below FTB Stamp duty and in a good location, large 4 bed house and below the other houses asking price. The EA agrees, in fact he wanted us to ask for more but were trying to be reasonable and also given our circumstances we thought it best although if someone has a better outlook on this please let me know as i really appriciate the views on here.
Thanks a mill

Sarah

http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?search=1&s[cc_id]=c3&s[a_id]=&s[mnp]=&s[mxp]=300000&s[bd_no]=4&s[search_type]=sale&s[refreshmap]=1&limit=8&search_type=sale&id=196357

Heres a 4 bed semi d in Athy for 265k & it hasn't sold yet.

You could put yours on at 250k just to see if there are any buyers & hope for a bidding war.

If no-one views no one will put a bid in.

I hate to be pessimistic about things but unfortunatly it seems to be the way things are going in the likes of Athy, it's very far away imho and alot of FTB's bought there and will struggle to make anything on their houses if they sell them at all. The town has always been very dismal and not much in it. The houses down there are really lovely but the prices are falling fast, followed by the likes of Kilcullen. A friend of mine struggling to sell there at the moment despite reducing the price of the house by €18k!. Blame the government, overdeveloping towns with nothing in them and miles away from jobs etc.
I really hope you do sell your house and get what you need for it but be prepared for a long wait and probably another price drop to sell it.

Agree with Undersupply - at the moment it's a numbers game - you need to get the punters in through the door to get an offer. The only way this can be achieved is by making it attractive financially in comparison to other houses in the area. Then when they are viewing hope the house hits them at an emotional level and they start bidding.

Property buying is part financial but mostly emotional - just look at all the part time developers on Reality TV shows that restore a property to their own expensive taste even if it means they won't make a profit when they come to sell.

If i was selling now I would undercut the asking price significantly, from say 300K to 260K and see what kind of interest it generates, the object is to attract a few serious bidders. You don't have to sell if you don't like the final offer.

thanks again to everyone taking the time to reply...the house in question for €260 is actually quite far away from the town so you would need a car just to get ot the train station. Ill give it another week or so and see what happens...i presume the two viewings we nearly had! wernt put off by the price so fingers crossed as its a good price in my opnion but have to see what happens...Ive heard it can take 90 days to sell...is this average?

Sarah said:

Ive heard it can take 90 days to sell...is this average?

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It's probably approximately average, but to be honest, averages in this situation don't tell you a lot. Some houses sell in a matter of days, some linger on the market for months for a variety of reasons (they may be overpriced or for any number of reasons they may appeal only to a limited group of possible buyers).

If you're really worried, I think the best person to talk to is your agent: s/he should know what the market in your general area is like, and whether your property is taking an unusually long time. Alternatively, you could contact another local agent and put the same general question - but bear in mind, agents may talk to each other, and join the dots...

mf1 probably has it right - it takes as long as it takes. Keep an eye on the local market yourself, and I don't think you should panic unless similar properties are obviously either much cheaper (or better properties are in the same price bracket) or are being sold much faster.

Hi Sarah
In my opinion it's all about supply and demand, and at this present time the demand for houses is less than say 6 mth's ago due to anumber of different reasons,So imho if 305k is the price you need before you sell you need to be patient and don't panic sell,and if nothing is happening in say another 2 month's then review your situation,I'm in the wicklow area and there are houses on the market around here since before christmas.

You May know that the other estate is a drive away but people from outside athy probably wouldnt and would be comparing based on that so consider the price and competition
Looking for a house myself at the mo and have to say that Photos are really important -ask a friend for objective advice on the photos included with your posting -You might be very proud of the house and what youve done but it mighnt be to everyones taste
Its obviously not attracting people to come for viewings why not?

1st are the photos bright ? any bit of shadow or darkness puts people off
2cd Any clutter ?-i would remove as much as I could
3rd Space? try to show as much as possible take out furniture etc
4th Neutral? -no bright colours consider painting any strong colour schemes in the house to magnolia
Again consider dropping the prices You dont have to sell for that price but at 305 im thinking wont go for under 317
at 295 I think it might

Although i appriciate everybodys comments both positiave and negitave there is no reason to be sarcastic - see last post. For what we paid for the house ,the size of the house and what we have gotten done to it is the reason in my opinion, why i feel 305 is a reasonable price to pay for the house...although not smack bang in the middle of dublin or the likes i still commute every day and have done for near 2 years and have had no problems so its a reasonably good location. Although the price is negoitable i would not be able to drastically drop my price as although i will have to live with the sick relitave in question for a period of time, i will eventually be wanting to buy my own place near to them and could not afford to do so if i did not make any profit on my current home. -Again, thanks a mill to everyone's responces...the general concensus is to ride it out and the house will sell for near to the asking price...would that be correct?

Sarah, dont mean to be brash here but am i right in saying that the only reason you are selling is to be with a sick relative and would be looking to buy again when he/she dies?

If so would it be an option for you to rent until then and then move back into your house?

Im selling myself and know its stressful so its nice to have another option so you dont have to drastically reduce your price in order to get a quick sale.

Honestly if i were you id expect to have it on the market for a few months, houses are selling just not as quick as before, try not to panic.

HI,

I actually have thought about the renting option but it didnt look feasable for us..perhaps in a month or so we will review it again.On a personal note, with everything going on im not sure if i would wish to be a landlord just yet, although i do know you can rent through estate agents.
My unwell family member i was referring to is not terminal so therefore the length of time of care will depend on several things, although they are elderly.So although in the future we would probally get our own place, we would be staying with the relation for some time.
Undersupply -Fair enough...fingers crossed for a sale soon though!
Does anyone know if like in England, there are companies that can buy your house from you quickly?

undersupply said:

... or wait till after the interest rate rise in june or the next one in september ...

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Unless you are regularly intimate with a certain French banker I would have to question how you are so certain about the timing of future interest rate rises? Certainly if I knew how many rate rises to expect this year I would be out making a killing on the bond market, rather than wasting time posting sarcastic comments on AAM.