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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this is a ridiculous way to sell a house?!

43 replies

PenguinBear · 31/12/2012 14:35

My SIL is trying to sell her house. She has the neighbours from hell. She hasn't reported to council as apparently you have to declare this to potential buyers.

She has decided that she will get an offer for hers and then look for somewhere to move. Hmm.

IMO, that's silly as she has a huge list of requirements for her new home that are very specific.

We've advised her to look at the same time but she won't as she claims this is 'unfair' on those she is buying from/selling to.

I'm my experience, estate agents push your house more when they know you have a sale. especially if the house is on with them as they want their commission.

Surely it's worse to accept an offer and then hold up their chain while you look?!

OP posts:
MrsKeithRichards · 31/12/2012 14:38

Why look properly when realistically her house could be on the market for months on end?

CunningPlan · 31/12/2012 14:40

We have had offers rejected before because we hasn't sold our place. So actually, she seems to be going the right way about things.

Why do you care though?

itsmineitsmine · 31/12/2012 14:42

Round here you get an offer before looking seriously. People will not accept an offer from a buyer who hasnt sold, generally.

PandaNot · 31/12/2012 14:42

Agents usually want it the other way round. They usually don't advise vendors to accept offers unless the buyers house has sold. She's doing it the right way.

DrGoogleWillSeeYouNow · 31/12/2012 14:43

We have always waited until we have an offer before looking.

Nothing worse than finding your dream home and then seeing it sold to someone else who is already sold up and ready to move.

insancerre · 31/12/2012 14:43

ime estate agents won't accept your offer if you haven't had an offer on your own house, as you are not in a position to proceed.

lurkerspeaks · 31/12/2012 14:44

She is doing it the right way IMO.

Several friends have done it this way and moved into temporary (rented) accomodation so that they could become chain free buyers too.

MrsKeithRichards · 31/12/2012 14:45

I mean I'd keep an eye on what was around but I think it's nuts to even consider putting an offer in without having sold, are you even allowed to do that?

Why are you advising her at all?

GozerTheGozerian · 31/12/2012 14:45

She sounds sensible to me. She can do plenty of research now, but I wouldn't be viewing or making any offers until mine had sold.

Original poster
PenguinBear · 31/12/2012 14:45

I stand corrected! Shock. When we sold recently, we looked at the same time as advised by our estate agent. She's in a different part of the UK and what she is doing is obviously the norm.

OP posts:
Original poster
PenguinBear · 31/12/2012 14:46

She asked us Mrs Keith!

OP posts:
chris481 · 31/12/2012 14:47

Logically, the optimum would for everyone in a chain to do the same thing at the same time. They will all have the same completion date, so anything other than simultaneous action at every other stage of the process means they will have less/more time than others for that stage.

MrsKeithRichards · 31/12/2012 14:48

it must be soul destroying looking at places that disappear before you can buy them.

ILoveSaladReallyIDo · 31/12/2012 14:50

Depends. Took my next door neighbour 18 months to sell, other neighbour has had hers on the market for months. No point falling in love with another property IMO if you won't sell yours for months. Depends on the market she's selling in

CunningPlan · 31/12/2012 14:54

It used to be the done thing to do both at the same time before the shit hit the fan but with thing taking much longer to sell now, the advice is to do as your SIL is.

ILoveSaladReallyIDo · 31/12/2012 14:55

also if I was selling and someone wanted to offer on my home but they didn't have an offer on theirs yet, I wouldn't be taking bellow asking price and would have a time limit on it for them to get an offer.

If someone was all set and ready to go with an offer I'd take less than asking price

so by offering now she'll probably have to offer higher and wont get any bargains

SugarplumMary · 31/12/2012 14:56

Well I might not do viewings but I'd be looking round rightmove and other sites to see what was out there and what I could get for our money.

Moving into rented is expensive - 2 lots of moving costs and depoist finding ect so I'd be trying to avoid that if possible - it's not always going to be.

Tailtwister · 31/12/2012 14:59

We have always sold before buying. However, we have always put an offers over price on our properties, so it makes sense to sell first and see how much you have to play with. It's a huge risk to buy before selling, especially in this market.

LynetteScavo · 31/12/2012 15:00

Well, if nobody ever looks at a house before they've sold, then no wonder the market is so slow....put your house on the market, look around for the perfect house, then soon as you've got an offer you're ready to go.

Her house will be on the market for months on end if the people who might buy aren't looking, because they haven't sold...and on and on....

LynetteScavo · 31/12/2012 15:04

They wouldn't be buying before selling, they would be offering...an offer which may or may not be accepted.

People are more likely to offer on a house if the owners have found somewhere ready to move to, especially if they have a buyer for their house already.

vj32 · 31/12/2012 16:12

People are more likely to offer on a house if the owners have found somewhere ready to move to, especially if they have a buyer for their house already.

I wouldn't be more likely to offer on a house where the owners had found somewhere. I would know that I could offer less though. As others have said, know the market and where you want to go, but you are foolish to make an over the top offer and then get your heart broken when you don't sell, or have to take a low offer on your own house to move in time.

LynetteScavo · 31/12/2012 16:17

I wonder how many times people on this type of thread have actually moved.

MsVestibule · 31/12/2012 16:18

We sold our house then moved into rented for 6 months, and that's no picnic either! Our buyers were stalling, and of course we couldn't commit to signing a six month lease until we exchanged.

Eventually, on the Friday before Christmas, they said they wanted to exchange and complete on the next Monday, potentially leaving us literally homeless (as we couldn't sign a lease until we'd exchanged, and what if the rented house we wanted went over the weekend?) or paying a mortgage and 6 months rent (if they'd pulled out at the last minute). We threatened them with pulling out of the sale unless they exchanged that day, and that worked, so we had the w/e to sign the lease and finish packing.

Hope some of you followed that... BTW, does anybody know if it's normal to exchange and complete on the same day? Our estate agent says it is, but surely a 10-14 day gap makes far more sense, to pack and arrange a removal firm?

DuchessofMalfi · 31/12/2012 16:26

It does seem to be becoming more normal to exchange and complete on the same day MsVestibule. I used to work for a solicitor and it would happen quite often. I ended up having to do a simultaneous exchange and completion on my sale and purchase 11 years ago. It was a complete nightmare as I had to book the removal firm and pay for it before exchange was confirmed.

itsmineitsmine · 31/12/2012 16:35

[Hmm] lynette. I've moved, thanks, more than once. Just have had different experience to you. It doesn't make me an ignoramus who doesn't know what I'm on about just because I've experienced things differently.

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