Selling frustration thread anyone?

[kiely32]

Anyone want to share their selling frustrations as I feel the need to sound off and I'm sure I can't be the only one!!
My list of frustrations so far...
But first I will start with a bit of info on the house. It's a 3 bed mid terrace in Hertfordshire. The house has been renovated to a high standard but has no driveway - or potential to create one as We are down a steep bank.
We only put the house on the market 3 weeks ago.
So far we have had an EA show people around when he hasn't even seen the property himself.
Cancellations that we haven't been told about - three times!
Having to chase feedback.
On the open morning I waited outside for 30 mins for text to say the viewings had finished, for the text never to come!
Windows being left open by the EA.
And my number one frustration is that when I have finally received the feedback I am told all 7 viewers loved the house but really wanted a driveway 😠

[IndianaMoleWoman]

That sounds so annoying. We had a couple of viewers who said it was too small, despite the dimensions and floor plans being on the listing!

We accepted an offer on the third day it was on the market, but she faffed about for a fortnight, didn't turn up for an ID check at the EA's, didn't answer the phone or emails, then finally emailed to withdraw her offer on the basis that the lease will go up. It will go up by £30 in 6 years' time, then once a decade after that, so hardly worth deliberating for a fortnight!

We have now accepted another offer and surveys are booked, praying it doesn't fall through again...

[kiely32]

I will keep my fingers crossed for you Indiana 😁 At least you didn't have to wait long. I am already stressed trying to live in a 'showhome' with two kids on the school hols!

[amousehaseatenmypaddlingpool]

I'll join. We've finally accepted our first and only offer in nearly a year. I'm braced for trauma 😩

[kiely32]

Oh, do tell more mouse...

[HeddaGarbled]

My love, if you are getting yourself in this much of a stew after 3 weeks, you aren't going to cope. Moving house is very very stressful. There is no point getting your knickers in a twist about trivialities.

Gazumping, chains falling apart after you've paid solicitors' fees and for surveys, buyers pulling out after surveys, sitting outside your new house with all your possessions in a removal lorry for hours because completion hasn't gone through. Feel free to get cross about those.

Estate agent didn't do a preview visit before he showed people round? Meh.

You seriously need to chill.

[IndianaMoleWoman]

Hedda I don't think the OP is being unreasonable at all. She is paying for the services of an EA, viewings are a pain in the arse especially with messy kids about and I would expect the EA to ensure that viewings are only booked in for people who are interested enough to actually turn up and have been pre-warned about the parking situation.

It's not a competition; just because someone finds something that you deem "trivial" to be annoying, doesn't mean that they're overly stressed out. I'm sure OP is well aware of what is potentially ahead, don't be so patronising.

[kiely32]

Hedda, the fact is you have got your 'knickers in a twist' to respond as you have 🤣🤣🤣

Anyway, back to the original point of this thread...

[PerfectlyPooPoo]

We are thinking of selling in the next few months so I'm just going to keep an eye on this thread if you don't mind.

We're emigrating so dont have 'must sell' pressure but I am a fairly impatient person!

Hope it goes well for everyone

[Fortheloveofscience]

I feel your pain OP, we accepted an offer a few weeks ago but were on the market for 16 weeks and had 32 viewings to clean for before one offered.

Everything you've described sounds like poor service. The EA should have been round to familiarise themselves with the property before viewings, you should have a call the day after viewings either with feedback or to let you know that they couldn't contact the viewer, and obviously they should let you know about cancellations.

Are you in minimum contract period with your EA, because if not seriously consider letting them know it's not good enough and that you're going to give notice if it doesn't improve. And if you are in a minimum period, still tell them it's not good enough! Selling at the moment is hard enough, a shit EA will put buyers off and you really don't want that.

[Fortheloveofscience]

Also - I found the uncertainty of the marketing debacle so much more stressful than the subsequent solicitor shenanigans (at least so far!). YANBU to get wound up.

[UnconsideredTrifles]

Feeling for you, OP. We accepted an offer on the first day of viewings, so got lucky there - compete short chain, all ready to go.

This was in April.

Buyer's buyer dropped out, but was replaced quickly. Surveys fine, mortgage took about 2 months but all sorted. Our solicitor is hard to contact but gets things done. Our EA is brilliant and keen. The other side's solicitors kept procrastinating, then last week said the problem was that our solicitors hadn't sent the responses.

Which they had sent in MAY (I've been copied in so I know this for a fact).

Now the buyers are waiting for the council to provide information which should have been requested months ago, with no timescale to completion. Gargh!

[kiely32]

Oh wow, it looks like this could be the beginning of a very long thread as we go through the process together!

Funnily enough, we haven't signed a contract yet. We have been told it's a rolling 2 week contract - though the paper version says 8 weeks, were told 'We just cross through that and ammend'. The commission is also lower than stated on the paper version and was also told it will be crossed and amended. However, this was left with us to read over 3 weeks ago and hasn't been mentioned since. Not sure how I feel about this!

[niceupthedance]

We've also been under offer since April 😡
Our buyers' solicitor wanted copies of every certificate under the sun before he would let the buyer commission a valuation and survey - still waiting for those appointments to happen.

They've sent us about five billion enquiries which we are not going to bother replying to until they have their survey results back as we suspect they will pull out then as prices are falling in our area.

Oh and they have been taking so long we have had to pull out of our purchase, which was ready for exchange.

Do I win a prize?

[Boredboredboredboredbored]

I sold the last week in January. Took until March to find somewhere, took sellers Solicitor 2 months to send out contract pack (issues with land registry). My buyers pulled out mid June, got new buyers and am now hoping to complete next month. Only this week is my upward purchase complete so it took Solicitors 5 months to pull legal work together. My Estate Agent has been worth double her fees but I just have this horrid feeling it will go tits up. How is it even allowed to be like this in this day and age.

If I move mid September as I am hoping it will have taken me 7.5 months to move (and thats with me selling within 48 hours). Its a fucking nightmare to be honest!!!!

[badgerread]

Can I join?

I put my house on the market (3 bed mid terrace, West Sussex) on 14th July and had an offer from a cash buyer within a week that I accepted. I found a property that was empty, my offer was accepted. Happy days!

Searches and surveys done. My buyer then pulled out 2 weeks after offering as he said there were things on the survey such as, 'there could be asbestos in the garage roof' (typical of a 70's property', the roof lining needs replacing (two rips of about 2" long), roof insulation has been laid over the bathroom spots in the attic (I'll get up there and cut around it then if that's it). I'm sure it was just an excuse but after spending £2k on surveys, solicitors, mortgage arrangement and broker fees I'm really fed up. My vendors were very good and said they would wait as they could how keen I was.

It's been back on the market 2 weeks, 3 viewings, no offers. Had a call from the vendors agent yesterday saying they now want to put it back on the market. 9 days after they said they would wait?!

I don't know why I'm so fed up. I've bought and sold before so should have expected it. If this other house sells I'll take mine off the market, the other place is detached and has a driveway/garage which is the main reason for moving.

[IndianaMoleWoman]

We are selling our first house which we bought as a new build, so this is our first experience of the property market.

Surely there has to be a better way? Has anyone any experience of systems in other countries? This whole non-legally-binding offers thing where you can pull out months (and many £££ spent) down the line is surely not fit for purpose. What's the alternative? Who is benefiting from this madness that it is allowed to continue?

[emsyj37]

We had a similar situation to you OP in that we had a shared driveway, shared with our next door neighbour (leading to garages at the back of the houses). Everyone who viewed said they loved the house but didn't like the shared drive. In the end we spoke to our neighbour and agreed that we would split the drive in half and demolish our front garden walls to create 2 parking spaces, one for each house. It looks ugly but it worked, and we are now under offer! Is there really no prospect of creating a driveway?? Off road parking seems to be a Massive Deal for most people, even though the road we are on is quiet and there is always plentiful parking within 20 feet of our house at most.

[perhapstomorrow]

There must be a better system. Our house has been on the market since March. Original buyer pulled out as they couldn't secure a mortgage. As a result we lost the house we had offered on. Found new buyer and also offered on another property. Our buyer then lost their buyer due to knotweed. They managed to find a new buyer within two weeks and after paying in advance for treatment for next 5 years. Lost their buyer again so they completely withdrew their offer. We now have a new buyer but their buyer has decided that they now want a full survey so we are keeping all our fingers crossed that nothing untoward shows up on that survey. Would be really upset to loose the house we have offered on. It's been so stressful. I have spent the last 5 months thinking about nothing apart from houses and selling.

[kiely32]

It does seem crazy that you guys are so far in to the process and still having problems! I feel for you all and hope that things get sorted and moving quickly 😀

[kiely32]

Just had a call, got a viewing at 1.30pm. Typically I have stripped the beds in my son's room - the set that matches the decor of course. Running around like a blue-arse fly now, cleaning, tidying and willing the bedding to dry quickly!

[user1499786242]

We are in the middle of all of this
And I can honestly say it's the most stressful thing I've ever been through
Mainly because the house we want to buy is our absolute dream house and I don't think we will ever find anything like it
I'm praying it doesn't all go tits up
The constant stress that our buyer will pull out is killing me
Having some issues with our house and building regs for a conservatory that was here when we bought this house....
buyer is ftb and very very cautious about everything...
stress is through the roof, me and OH are arguing non stop!
When will this end!!!
Never ever moving again

[kiely32]

All that effort and the feedback is 'loved the house but it doesn't have a driveway.' Seriously, I wish people would drive by and take a look before making an appointment! To be clear, we have long bay for parking abound 15 cars out front with a car park at each end - one fits around 20 cars, the other about 10. We have 2 cars and can always park in the long bay or the car park to the left (it's closest). The car park is about 60 seconds walk. The house doesn't, nor ever will have a driveway. I wish people would stop wasting our time!!! Rant over. 😁

[Viserion]

Because almost every house purchase involves a degree of compromise. They may think that the lack of drive will be the compromise they will make until they come and look. We looked at dozens of houses before finding one that was 'close enough' to our checklist to decide to buy it.

And I was never bothered about whether the bed linen matched. It is the space, layout, potential to adapt to the purchaser's needs and lifestyle, not the bedding which matters.

[emsyj37]

One of my 'must-haves' was a big utility room. The house we are buying has no utility room and nowhere to put one! But I fell in love with the road, the character of it and the beautiful garden.

[freelancedolly]

It wouldn't bother me at all the EA not having been round before a viewing - there are about 8 that work in the agents we used, I certainly didn't expect them all to familiarise themselves with my property before deigning to come and show people around!

Moving house is bloody stressful and the bit you're experiencing at the moment is stressful right now - those stresses decrease when you get an offer you accept, and for a short period everything feels pink and fluffy and fabulous. Then different stressors start up and you forget all about EAs not sending you texts to let you know they've finished viewings

I completed about 10 days ago and seriously found the whole thing an awful experience. I think a lot of that was just a sort of ginormous fear about the enormity of what I was doing (am I overstretching myself? am I doing the right thing? etc.) as I was leaving London and am a single parent - it all felt, and still does feel, very scary at times.

But now we're in, I love the house, and no doubt in a few years time will have forgotten exactly how atrocious I found the whole thing.

(PS I do think the time when you're having to have your house open to viewings is one of the worst bits. Mine was on the market for 7 months and we had a LOT of that kind of 'oh it's a bit small, we want more than one upstairs bathroom' kind of nonsense, when all of that had been more than clear on the floor plan..)