Has anyone else given up trying to sell their house? Friggin Brexit

[Bastardanxiety]

Hi,

Our house has been on the market since the beginning of last summer. Had around 25 viewings, so not a great deal in that time.

It's been reduced and we're really at our absolute bottom figure now. We've had three offers. One fell through, the others we couldn't accept.

Feedback generally has been very positive and we've had a lot of almost offers, but a few recently have said they're too nervous about buying in the current climate and current instability of our government.

Our agent has said there's nothing wrong with our house. Good price, good area etc, but everyone is struggling right now with brexit. They must still be selling houses though!

We do really want to move and don't want to take it off the market, but I would imagine that the amount of time it's been on is actually quite off putting too.

Thoughts please. It's really getting us down.

Thanks

Are moving up the ladder? Presumably houses on the next rung will similarly be struggling to get the asking price so if you have to drop your asking price, so will they? Or is that too simplistic?!

It is so frustrating, my sympathies.
Just my opinion but if your house has been up for sale since last summer I would take it off the market. People who are searching and are familiar with listings will only think there's something wrong with it. The EA whatever they say gets half-hearted too after months.
Are you able to wait until say March?

We’ve been holding off putting ours up for sale because of Brexit. Best of luck to everyone!

Ours has been on since late Summer too. One viewing. The agent says it's Brexit. People are too worried to buy. Everything on our street, no matter the condition was selling quickly before September, which is when it all really came to the forefront of people's minds.

If it is No Deal, I can't see how we will sell at all as we will lose a major employer in the area. Plus people won't have any money. F* Brexit to hell. We really need to sell.

I don't know if this is making me feel better or not

Oh well. At least we're all in the same
sinking boat

We've already dropped the price once, but I feel there's no point dropping it again until that shit shower that call themselves a government take us over the cliff or come up with some sort of other plan to prevent smashing an entire country into the ground.

We’re currently FTB looking for a house in Surrey. There does seem to be a lot of people holding out for stupidly high prices still - we saw a tiny three bed that needed total gutting after the elderly residents let it slide. Their children want 450k for it - it’s been up since June. We’re not fussed by brexit but it’s becoming soul searching to look in all honesty. fucking loathe Surrey

It's awful isn't it. We're I the process of trying to sell mum's house. Had to pay bloody inheritance tax on it but won't make the price we've paid tax on now in this shit market.

A 3 bed semi for £450k in Surrey would normally be snapped up.

I know an EA who says that the only properties shifting are worth multi millions; i.e the very wealthy who are unaffected by Brexit. So yeah, good to know that the already extremely wealthy aren't even considering the impact of Brexit and life for them just keeps rolling smoothly along.

The housing market has been very slow in our part of the south west for several years now but has virtually ground to a halt now. It's a shame because we need to move.

I gave up and took mine off just before Christmas. Surrey.

We're first time buyers, with a good deposit. The amount of houses gone on, or reduced to within our budget, in the last 2 weeks is more than in ages, I think round here sellers are getting keen (Greater London near Crossrail so loads of ex-BTL). This influx of houses has actually made us want to sit back and wait it out as theres bound to be better available soon, prices are falling more than we pay in rent so we're not at a loss to do so.

I'd suggest you take a proper look at what you think you can get for your money as if you find a motivated seller you could be pleasantly surprised, but if you're saying below your bottom line makes it not worth the move and that's with you getting lucky on your next purchase then save yourself the heartache and just take it off now as sitting stagnant for months definitely won't get you a higher offer.

I've just accepted an offer after not being on for very long, but where I live is pretty sought-after. That said, it's not gone through yet, there's still time for it to go wrong!

I haven't found anywhere to move to - am putting everything in storage and renting for a bit. I don't think Brexit will have much of an effect down here (south west), at least not at the lower end, as prices still aren't anywhere near 2007 levels and demand is still high.

100% try with a different agent. That's a long time to be on the market considering you've reduced your asking price more than once. Doesn't sound like they're trying their hardest to get you a buyer. Re-marketing with a new agent would bump your property up to the top of the search results, and could create a whole new wave of potential buyers. Is your property one that will appeal to first time buyers or more aimed at people already on the ladder? Brexit isn't going to have a huge impact on first time buyers, as they're still going to be desperate to jump on the ladder at any opportunity. If the price is low enough and the location right, trying to appeal and market your property towards first timers could make a difference. Just a little slogan at the top of your ad "perfect for young families.... calling all first time buyers!.... Get your foot on the ladder...." etc could draw in some new contenders. We sold our house last year, and were desperate for a quick sale to get a house we'd fallen in love with, asked our estate agent how long they thought we'd be on the market, and they said they'd get us a sale within 2 weeks. I didn't quite believe them, but they pulled it out of the bag, and we got full asking price offered by our first viewers. I think your best bet is change agent. Have you been offered to host an open day? They seem to generate lots of interest and quick sales in our area. Also I've seen some online company's that promise to buy your house off of you for the full market value, not sure how legit they are but may be worth looking into if you're desperate to move.

I think Brexit is a bit of a smokescreen although it has had an impact.

Lending is much stricter now so ftb’s just can’t stretch themselves, in the past you had interest only mortgages, 95% mortgages, lifetime trackers etc. These don’t exist or have strict affordability criteria. I also think in many areas of London & the SE the bottom rung is just too high, lots of gains in equity over the last 10 years has enabled sellers to move up but that means that prices have to continue to rise, how can that be sustainable? Today a 2 bed for 500k is not going to sell for 700k two yrs later (unless in a very niche market).

We looked at moving end 2017/early 2018 & decided to stay put as the market looked dodgy in our chosen areas. When you start seeing properties reduced by 250k in 5 months & still not shifting it’s not exactly encouraging!

It’s really slow here and none of the neighbours houses are selling last year. Before Brexit they’d be sold with a month of listing.

New build flats are the worst, look at the reductions on this

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/38831861?search_identifier=b48fb5c936afed7ab155197efa16d732

In many parts of SW London prices have stagnated for 3-4 yrs so invariably this starts to ripple out. Some are now selling at a loss when you factor in stamp duty.

We are first time buyers but are holding off buying until after brexit. We do think prices will drop in our area. We’ve got a big deposit saved and good credit, it seems silly to buy now and risk losing money. I’m sure we aren’t alone. And even if prices don’t drop I’d be happier waiting as I think more properties will come on the market after brexit and we will have more choice.

I would be happy to come off and go back on in the spring, but when can we really say "after Brexit"? Yes, we're exiting in march, but the effects will last for years.

The point about taking it off for a new months OP is that we'll know what is happening with Brexit by then (or at least it will have been delayed, which I think will motivate people who are eager to move to just bite the bullet). Also, if you take it off and then relist with another agent, as a PP said, it will then generate new interest when you re-market it. Your current agent is doing nothing, why are you sticking with them?

I see what you're saying, juneau. I think I'm just worried we'll get stuck here indefinitely It's not that it's a bad house or bad area, we're just desperate for more space!

Regarding re marketing with another agent, I'm pretty certain this is what we'll be doing. Our current agent is very hit and miss. They used to be really on it, but have certainly become less professional over the past couple of months.

Ultimately you have to decide which is more important to you - holding out for the price you want or moving to have more space. Any house can sell at the right price. If you can't afford to take the hit financially, then you can't move. Sorry to sound brutal.

Well I've told our EA we want to come off, but am yet to hear back from them. They've been trying to convince us it's counter productive since before Christmas, but I've made it clear it's now not something we're considering, but something we definitely want to do.