Is 4 in a chain average?

[lavenderpekins]

Hi there,

Would love some wise mumsnetter advise..!

Our house has been on the market for about 2 months, about 20 viewings & 1 fallen through offer quite close to the asking price..

Have a new offer today but a lower one and they're in a chain of 4.

Our ea's reckon that's average.. Is it? Or do we hold out another week or so. Have a few more viewings booked for Saturday.

Thanks in advance.

[wowfudge]

We are in a chain of four properties, five parties, so three of us selling and buying. The length of the chain was less important than whether we could get the house we wanted by getting a reasonable offer on ours which made that possible.

[lavenderpekins]

Thanks for that fudge.

We haven't been seriously looking for a new house yet.. Wanted to be under offer first...

[wowfudge]

We spent time looking online and after ours was consistently getting viewings (I'd say it's a reasonable market - if you're priced correctly you will sell, but it's not a hotspot), we arranged a full day of viewings of a range of places ourselves and everything came together over the next couple of weeks. You should start looking if you're not in London or the SE because if you accept an offer you're under tremendous pressure to find somewhere just to keep your buyer.

[lavenderpekins]

We're looking..! On rightmove most days :) we are in se so reasonably priced properties sell within days..

Just don't think I could face more viewings if the chain breaks.. Perhaps it'll be ok..

[bearbehind]

I'm confused- are you saying your upward chain has 4 parties but, as you haven't found an onward purchase you've no idea what your downward chain might be?

If so it doesn't really matter how average a 4 house chain is as yours might be a lot longer when you find a house to buy.

I wouldnt cancel the Saturday viewings- these buyers aren't ideal as its a lower offer anyway. You never know- they might up their offer in the meantime.

Large chains aren't neccesarily a huge problem, one dickhead in a tiny chain can cause way more hassle than a large chain of sensible people

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

4 is about average. It might be a lot longer when you've found though depending on their situation.

[Lweji]

I'd hold on for a bit and start looking properly.
You may even get better offers if you do have put an offer on another house.