Your estate agent may well have told you the first valuation was “a good starting point”. The latest Rightmove figures show what that often means: a starting point you may have to abandon, after months of waiting.
The numbers
Rightmove’s October 2026 report, published on 19 October, shows around 34% of homes for sale saw a price reduction in September. Property Industry Eye, reporting the figures, notes that is close to the 36% peak recorded in September 2023.
The key figure is time. Homes that needed a price cut took an average of 119 days to find a buyer. Homes that did not need a cut found one in 39 days. Across the South East the average time to find a buyer was 74 days. Nationally, sales agreed are down 8% on the same period last year.
And finding a buyer is only the start. Our earlier article on a 214-day average sale put the agreed-to-completion stage at around 150 days. Add 119 days to find a buyer and you are looking at well over eight months from listing to keys, before anything goes wrong.
Why the first price is so often wrong
Agents win instructions by promising a high number. An industry survey we covered recently found 95% of agents believe rivals overvalue homes to win business. You then sign a contract, the property sits, and the agent suggests a reduction at week six or eight. Each reduction tells buyers the home may have a problem. The longer it sits, the weaker your negotiating position, and the more likely a buyer is to offer well below the new price.
You, meanwhile, keep paying the mortgage, the insurance, the bills and carrying the stress.
What the price-cut spiral really costs
Take a home listed at £300,000 that finally sells at £275,000 after 119 days. This is an illustration, not a forecast: the reduction itself is £25,000. Add four months of mortgage interest, council tax, utilities and insurance, and the real cost of waiting can run well beyond the headline cut.
For some sellers the cost is not just money. If you are behind on payments, going through a divorce, dealing with a probate property or a short lease, or simply trying to move for a new job, 119 days is time you do not have.
Your three options if you can’t afford to wait
1. Price realistically from day one
If you have time, ask for evidence: sold prices, not asking prices. Be wary of the agent who gives the highest number. This is the best route for sellers with no deadline.
2. Set a hard deadline for reductions
If you must list, agree a timetable in advance. Reduce once, decisively, at a fixed date, rather than drip-feeding £5,000 cuts that signal desperation.
3. Take a cash sale
A cash buyer does not need a mortgage, a lender’s valuation or a chain. That means no valuation down-grade, no mortgage collapse at the last minute, and a completion date you choose, often in 7 to 28 days. The trade-off is plain: a cash buyer pays less than a perfect open-market sale at full asking price. But a full asking price you never achieve is worth nothing. Compare the cash offer against the realistic net figure after four to eight months of waiting and costs, and decide on that comparison.
Questions to put to your agent before you sign
If you do choose the open market, make the agent earn the instruction. Ask for the sold prices of three genuinely comparable homes nearby, not their current asking prices. Ask how many viewings they expect in the first fortnight, and what they will recommend if there are none. Ask what the contract period is and what it costs to leave early. Ask them to put their recommended reduction date in writing. An agent confident in their number will answer plainly; one who dodges is telling you something about how long your sale may take.
How to compare honestly
Ask yourself four questions. What will I realistically net after agent fees and any reductions? How many months of costs will I pay before completion? What happens to me if the sale falls through? And what is certainty worth to me?
If the answers show you cannot carry the cost of waiting, a fast sale is not a last resort. It is a financial decision.
Source: Rightmove October 2026 report, as reported on 19 October 2026. Sale timings are averages and individual sales vary.
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