Why do people still list their flats so high?

[kwon33]

tat's what i think so too & i dun really understand y seller wanna mark up a lot more than the transacted price.

like i said earlier, buyer can also low-balled 20% or even more lower than the transacted price and let's see how sellers react lor.

seller can do that, so does the buyers... thus in the end see who's the more desperate ones in this waiting game mah.

I guess this will probably work only if sellers have already take over their new flat and despo to sell.

 

[highlader]

hdb will buy back at 90% valuation meh? then why got pple still selling way below valuation? Might as well sell to hdb better..

How many units is really selling 90% of valu. If u notice a trend most r still able to sell above 90% of valu. Even at 90.5% is still more.
All taking chances till the last minute.
There r a few cases already but still considered very low nbrs.

With lesser buyers willing to buy at the price now, there is gonna be much more such cases of sell back

 

[runforyourlife]

Well I have the time since I already have a an alternative place to stay. Have to play the game well lol!

U must be a seller....good luck.

Sellers always have the time too if u reAlised lol. They too have alternative place to stay and almost are in this state of checking out e market forever!

U complain they too high, they complain u lowball lo

 

[runforyourlife]

I guess this will probably work only if sellers have already take over their new flat and despo to sell.

The option of renting out is always there if price is not right

 

[tk]

The option of renting out is always there if price is not right

if they got new hdb then have to sell off old hdb.. renting is not an option lah..

 

[kwon33]

Sellers always have the time too if u reAlised lol. They too have alternative place to stay and almost are in this state of checking out e market forever!

U complain they too high, they complain u lowball lo

I get your point Bro. That's why there must be a benchmark. The best currently will be the transacted price isn't it? If everybody is selling at 600K in tour block and you list your flat as 700K, do u think buyers will buy your flat at 700K? These are the seller's that really gets on the nerve and seem like trying to push up the prices of the market...

 

[kwon33]

The option of renting out is always there if price is not right

Yes. And pray hdb price drop faster than your rental expenses

 

[runforyourlife]

if they got new hdb then have to sell off old hdb.. renting is not an option lah..

Transfer e name ma, got grand parents den ok liao

 

[runforyourlife]

I get your point Bro. That's why there must be a benchmark. The best currently will be the transacted price isn't it? If everybody is selling at 600K in tour block and you list your flat as 700K, do u think buyers will buy your flat at 700K? These are the seller's that really gets on the nerve and seem like trying to push up the prices of the market...

Yes there will be. If u look at history you know there always happens, esp if it's a prime area plus prime location

 

[Some-one]

I get your point Bro. That's why there must be a benchmark. The best currently will be the transacted price isn't it? If everybody is selling at 600K in tour block and you list your flat as 700K, do u think buyers will buy your flat at 700K? These are the seller's that really gets on the nerve and seem like trying to push up the prices of the market...

It's a willing seller, willing buyer market. If all the units are transacted at the same price as what happens in the neighbourhood, the price would never go up. As such, sellers would increase their selling price. Some people find it ok, some people are not and sellers are looking for people who are ok with the price. By the way, the advertised priced is seldom the transacted price. There is always room for negotiation. If you don't wish to negotiate and take it as such, you can't blame the seller.

Thus, for your example

"If everybody is selling at 600K in tour block and you list your flat as 700K, do u think buyers will buy your flat at 700K?"

Even though it is listed as 700K, the seller may be willing to let go at $650K You need to negotiate with them. There are some flats with really really nice renovation. I saw one in Tanglin Halt before. Listed at $580K but transacted at $560K.

 

[Meemoosaa]

I get your point Bro. That's why there must be a benchmark. The best currently will be the transacted price isn't it? If everybody is selling at 600K in tour block and you list your flat as 700K, do u think buyers will buy your flat at 700K? These are the seller's that really gets on the nerve and seem like trying to push up the prices of the market...

But don't be surprised that there will always be the few odd buyers who are willing to pay any amount that is asked for. Some don't do their homework and some let emotions take over their logic when they see a nicely renovated interior perhaps or by all the amenities in the area ? Or some have huge inheritance from a parents property or profited handsomely from a previous property speculation. Surplus disposable monies sure can cause people to do some crazy things. It's only those who toil sweat and blood in exchange for every cent that they have tend to be a little more careful. If you gained something easily, it's likely that you'll let it go just as easy too. Just human nature.

Didn't one of the landed down-grader swept up a $1m ++ maisonette not too long ago only? He sold his landed home. If say he sold it for a couple of millions, putting out $1m is nothing for a nice home. Great for him, the rest of us just have to play "catch up". (Just realised that the super rich are allowed to downgrade and play in the resale market when the "high income" earners are not allowed to play in the BTO !!)

Anyway, don't try too hard to figure why some sellers are still putting out high prices. If they are sincere sellers, they'll sooner or later realise it's not realistic. They'll either adjust their pricing or withdraw from selling. Or they may also get lucky and get an offer !

 

[Sat Tan]

I wonder what is the seller's agent's role in all of this. Surely the agent knows what a reasonable price is or has advised the seller accordingly.

If the agent is still advertising sky high price for the seller, either he is as greedy or he does not mind doing the advertising work at little expense. I don't know what it costs to advertise in PropGuru for example but advertising in ST is not negligible after a while. Plus all the work of attending to viewers with little buy interest in the end.

 

[Meemoosaa]

Even though it is listed as 700K, the seller may be willing to let go at $650K You need to negotiate with them. There are some flats with really really nice renovation. I saw one in Tanglin Halt before. Listed at $580K but transacted at $560K.

That's true. TS - try and go in with what you have in mind and see if the seller bites the bait. If not, nothing lost on your end. At least it's a buyer's market at the moment, had it been prior to all the cooling measures, don't even think even trying to negotiate as most are likely to ask you for COV instead.

Just go ahead and do some hands on ground work. Start viewing and negotiating and feel for yourself what the market is like for your interested area.

Saying that, a $20K reduction based on latest transaction prices doesn't sound all that attractive to me at the moment.

 

[Some-one]

I wonder what is the seller's agent's role in all of this. Surely the agent knows what a reasonable price is or has advised the seller accordingly.

If the agent is still advertising sky high price for the seller, either he is as greedy or he does not mind doing the advertising work at little expense. I don't know what it costs to advertise in PropGuru for example but advertising in ST is not negligible after a while. Plus all the work of attending to viewers with little buy interest in the end.

seller agent represents the seller and they take 1.5% to 2% commission + GST off the transacted price so of course they would want it to be sold as high as possible. It is the same on the buyer agent (i.e. 1% + GST of transacted price)

In fact, may I also say that even the seller agent would not know what is a reasonable price. It is a very subjective matter. corner unit fetches a higher price. Some people like it, some people don't like. Some buyers are desperate to get a house and would offer higher price, some just wait and see. It's the same on the seller side. Some is desperate to sell and don't mind getting lower. Some don't.

 

[Meemoosaa]

Resale transactions are far and few in between nowadays. So I think resale agents are going through a dry spell at the moment. (Just try checking the resale transaction on HDB website!)

So if I am an agent, it's likely that I would have preferred my client to sell it at a competitive rate so that a deal can be cut quickly and I get paid for that month than running dry! It's better than waiting for that one super rich buyer to come by.

I think it's more likely that it's sellers who are insistent on a particular high price as it is heart wrenching to think of your own property spiraling downwards. If they are not in a rush to sell, they will just wait it out and withdraw if it doesn't work out. It's only those who are desperate to sell who may come to a more realistic compromise at a later stage.

 

[AceyourMaths]

few new flats will enter resale market because HDB increased minimum occupation period in 2010 from 3 to 5 years.

 

[Meemoosaa]

Went to another round of resale viewing again recently..... still disappointed by the prices and the state of flats.

Those units that are 20 years and older are mostly occupied by the older generation and the upkeep of the interior is really dire. I think the older generation is a lot more frugal and was scrimping on the maintenance of the home. One look at it knowing that I have to throw in another 40-60K of renovation totally put me off liao.

Those with younger owners are more enthusiastic in selling it off, they are often selling it as hard as their agent as most are either rushing to upgrade or move closer to parents. The younger owners' unit are usually in much better condition.

Those with older owners are not in a rush to anywhere and have even been declining offers. Apparently according to agent, other offers have been low-balling them but they refuse to take it, for one of the units the asking price was $630K and was low-balled at $550K. I thought that was quite a garang low-balling huh.

Those that are right next to the MRT are still asking for sky high prices - we checked the latest transaction and it seems like they are jacking the asking prices up on purpose in order to have room for "negotiation". But by doing that, it's just false negotiation... and see already also totally lost interest.

Another unit further away from the MRT stations has been changing it's asking price every other day on property guru. Lol . Apparently, they started off with a sky high number which I didn't even want to view. Later they lowered it to something that I might just about consider, so I rang for a viewing. On the day of the viewing, the price went up a little. According to agent, he suggested the lower realistic pricing due to current circumstances but was kena low-balled by someone else, owner got upset and insisted the price to be back high up again.

And the viewing game continues...

 

[Zze121]

Fact about pricing will depend on financing from bank n taxes impose.
Regulation on PR is 1 great factor, a seller holding power is another factors.

 

[AceyourMaths]

Because there are still many people willing to buy in this climate...don't buy now, you may regret as price may keep rising.

 

[Meemoosaa]

Because there are still many people willing to buy in this climate...don't buy now, you may regret as price may keep rising.

You mean prices may keep falling ? Not "rising" right ? hehe.

It's not as easy as the good old days anymore.

The stringent borrowing policies and the decreased in the number of eligible PRs has meant that buyers have a lot more to choose from now. It's now a matter of how much the buyer sees the value in paying for a particular unit.

Before that, it was basically a scavenger hunt for everyone competing with crazy COV amongst each other over limited supply of resale units. So even those in dire location and bad condition can still get sold because buyers were desperate.

There are still desperate buyers now, except that they have a lot less money that they can borrow, more choices to choose from and a lot more time to sit back and take their own time to decide which is best for them. So if the owner have an old flat, bad interior, un-ideal sun direction, far from amenities etc..... they may have a more difficult time selling it off.