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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Begging for some advice on how to get our house to sell... I need a miracle.

225 replies

FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 21:25

We have been trying to sell our house since April. The bloody thing is taking forever. I am beyond impatient now and don't know what the heck to do... I want our house to sell ASAP.

Side note: House is on at £550,000.
We've had 3 buyers. All chains collapsed.
6 offers between £543,000 and 575,000.

Reduced the house to £550,000 from 575,000. Thinking of reducing again to £535,000 but EA saying wait.

The house across the road sold in 3 days!

Changed EA once as well... apparently the house is perfect, neutral colours, tidy, clean... etc.

HELP ME...

OP posts:
FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 22:27

@Blueoasis that's why I want to! But the EA is saying hold off as we have others interested but haven't sold. I just want to drop the price and sell Sad

OP posts:
Merryoldgoat · 01/09/2019 22:27

@FeeFee832

So when they withdraw do you give them a chance to find a new buyer? Do they ask or do they just withdraw?

Nimello · 01/09/2019 22:27

In fact, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced about this. I am going to buy something else now, with the cash from my sale. More or less the first question any EA asks when I ring to arrange viewings is what my position is. As soon as I say "cash", I can see their faces light up, even down the phone. EA and vendors love cash buyers.

FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 22:28

@Nimello yeah, I genuinely do trust them. They're good people and all lovely in the office. We actually changed agents from a well known UK wide agent who which was full of 21 year olds... privately educated, did not help us!

OP posts:
DogInATent · 01/09/2019 22:28

As you've had six offers, three getting as far as progressing as far as chains collapsing their isn't an inherent problem with the listing, the price, or the general appeal of the house. Other than, clearly, you're living on the wrong side of the street.

The problem sounds like your house is perhaps "Nice" without being "Wow!". As you won't share the listing we need to make guesses.

Is the decor dated?
Are things a bit cluttered?
Is the decor too individual?
Are things to minimalist?
Are you presenting it too much as the way you live in it rather than the way someone else could be living in it?

Book a coffee appointment with your estate agent and ask them what needs to be done to get a sale. Or hire a sales consultant.

problembottom · 01/09/2019 22:29

OP it sounds like you’ve had a bit of bad luck. We had DP’s house up for sale last year and we got a few asking price offers but they all fell through and we took it off the market.

This year we put the house back up again and it sold the same day for over the asking price. No changes had been made. 12 weeks later we moved into our new home.

There are some beautiful houses around here which I see coming back on the market before completion, some more than once, I do think it’s a strange time to sell.

Blueoasis · 01/09/2019 22:29

I would tell the agent to drop the price to get a sale, as long as you can afford to take the hit in the drop.

Look at it this way. The chances are thanks to brexit, prices in houses may fall, even a little. They are at least unlikely to go up. So you'll get the best deal you can now before that happens. Then if prices drop, you'll get your next house cheaper than you thought you would. If they don't drop, then you're no worse off really.

Drop price and sell.

orangeshoebox · 01/09/2019 22:30

are you answering email queries about the house?
have you checked your tone?
when we were looking we discounted many properties when the seller gave pissy answers to our (very reasonably) questions).

FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 22:30

@Merryoldgoat they seem to just withdraw - they never ask to hold on. The EA is the one who directs this.

One lady is so lovely, she is selling due to divorce and was so upset when her chain collapsed. She is desperate to buy ours, but we had to go back on the market. We keep in regular contact - but her house is really expensive, top end and will take a while. The other couple have been trying to sell for a while too and email us regularly to see how we are getting on.

OP posts:
Bringonspring · 01/09/2019 22:31

I blame boris Johnson! He said he would overhaul stamp duty so people are waiting for the announcement. It might be this week in the 5th. If they provide clarity on changes then that will help.

I’m also trying to sell a house!

Nimello · 01/09/2019 22:33

Final thought from me, OP. I bought my own house for 60K under the asking price. It had been for sale for a while, and needed work. The vendors were a bit reluctant to sell for that price, but I was a cash buyer, and it was the best 'package' they had received (other offers had fallen through due to long chains). Hence my willingness to take a hit when selling one of my BTLs to someone in the same situation.

You may strike lucky and find someone willing to pay the full asking price (or close to it), and whose chain works out. But it's a bit of a gamble, and it depends on your priorities (confidence re selling vs sale price and potential insecurity). It's definitely a difficult market ATM, though - in most areas, at any rate.

Derbee · 01/09/2019 22:34

If I were you, I would tell people the couple of mile radius of where you are, and the price range. Any property sleuths on MN that were inclined could look at what’s on Rightmove, and offer feedback about what is tempting or not.

You wouldn’t have to tell anyone which specific property is yours, but you would have more detailed feedback of the market in your area etc etc

FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 22:34

@Blueoasis that's really good advice. I just see it that we drop the price and we could still get a good deal elsewhere.. so not really taking a hit?

I just want to sell, the house is nearly mortgage free so we've still got a nice deposit. I just wish someone would offer and it would stick!

OP posts:
FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 22:35

@Blueoasis that's really good advice. I just see it that we drop the price and we could still get a good deal elsewhere.. so not really taking a hit?

I just want to sell, the house is nearly mortgage free so we've still got a nice deposit. I just wish someone would offer and it would stick!

@orangeshoebox what do you mean? Our EA emails the viewers and tbh, we don't get asked that much. It's usually via the phone! Our EA has a lovely manner so I'm sure they aren't pissing ppl off?

OP posts:
colourlessgreenidea · 01/09/2019 22:38

If your neighbours sold in 3 days, assuming they have a similar sized house and garden, then you're doing something wrong.

They’ve ‘sold’ the house three times, I can’t see that they’re doing much wrong.

scoobydoo1971 · 01/09/2019 22:39

I have dabbled in property development over the years. I buy up houses in need of a revamp and sell-on. I only buy chain-free properties because I am a cash buyer and don't want the complication of hanging about waiting for other people to find alternative accommodation. I appreciate you need the capital from your house to purchase another, but if your estate agent advertised it chain free then it may attract more buyers. You could move into short-term rental property upon exchange of contracts, for example. It may seem a bit of a hassle, but it is a buyers market at the moment. Landlords are selling off buy-to-let stock because of Osborne's tax reforms, and lots of people are finding their homes unaffordable in the Brexit world. From my experience of selling, it can take ages for a mortgage offer to come through (it took my last buyers 4 months to get finance last year), and often buyers are under the impression they can borrow more than is possible...until they apply and get a shock.

Blueoasis · 01/09/2019 22:40

It's only sold once complete. Doesn't count if people can back out.

Hope you sell soon op.

SoyDora · 01/09/2019 22:42

scoobydoo1971 the OP has said that she is moving into rented and therefore the chain ends with her.

FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 22:42

@scoobydoo1971 This is really interesting, how can they advertise it as chain free?

OP posts:
Nothingcomesforfree · 01/09/2019 22:43

Everyone wants to move by Brexit near me. Houses are going up everywhere and selling straight away.
Assume this will accelerate until October when everything will stop until we know the outcome.

InvernessAdventure · 01/09/2019 22:46

God, I completely get why you wouldn't want to post a link. People can be such assholes. Plus, y'know, then everyone here will know where you live and potentially who you are. Nothing hard to understand about that.

As for why it isn't selling, I think there are a few things. Firstly, it sounds like you're in the middle of a fairly long chain, which may be unavoidable because of the kind of price range you're occupying. But it does mean that you're more at the mercy of everyone else's problems.

Also, if you're likely to be in a long-ish chain, I think it's extra important to be very flexible about dates and logistics, and generally make it easier for everyone else to be accommodated, so make sure you're not fucking things up by being very b&w about that kind of thing, be prepared to move into rented temporarily in order to secure your sale, for instance, and also be as sure as you can that your solicitor isn't being an asshole to everyone else's.

In terms of the market, I think that Brexit uncertainty may be particularly affecting FTBs, who are having to raise a stupendous amount of money just to get on the ladder in most places and who are therefore the most susceptible to ideas about the possibility of prices plunging if they wait a bit. If the problem is mainly your buyers' buyers, this might be the issue. Not much you can do about that, except try and pitch to cash buyers or FTBs with vast resources, which may mean rethinking your price following advice from someone who really understands the market.

Finally, I'm wondering about your agent. Did the people over the road use the same agent or a different one? My only experience of this kind of situation isn't current, so may not be relevant, but I was once involved in a house move that took a stonking 12 collapsed chains to accomplish. We were about ready to die of the stress by the time it went through. LIke you, the problem wasn't the property we were selling, which sold easily - again and again and again. But we kept losing buyers and every time we did, we'd lose our purchase too. The market was a bit overheated and the agent, I now know, was playing buyers off against each other, trying to get people to offer over the odds and gazump each other, in order to push their commission up. They were also trying to get people to sell through them too, in order to have a shot at buying the house they wanted. And much else besides. It was very sharp practice, but we had no idea until a spurned buyer knocked on the door and told us how the agent had treated them. I think that kind of marketing can lead to shaky chains, as people offer through the nose to get the house they really want but then have weeks to rethink whether they've made a good deal or not. So maybe think about that and ask yourself whether the agent's really acting in your best interests. We changed agents from a pushy, top buck type to a low key family firm and the next chain held.

I hope your luck improves. I know how abysmally stressful this must be.

FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 22:46

@nothingcomesforfree where is this?

OP posts:
madeyemoodysmum · 01/09/2019 22:50

We are thinking of selling and the estate agent admitted to me that many people are holding of and watching the market due to brexit so it may well not pick up until next year

He said the only buyers are tending to be those that have to or really want to move.

It a buyers market right now for sure.

dontcallmeduck · 01/09/2019 22:51

Would you accept part exchange on a house of a lesser value and then wait it out to sell that one if needed to avoid a chain? My SIL did this very successfully after a while trying to sell.

FeeFee832 · 01/09/2019 22:52

Thanks @invernessadventure.

Sounds very similar, we have changed agents from the big London well known agent, to the local family friendly and they are great.

I have noticed tonight that our house has old pictures of it from a rental 5 years ago, (we've had the house 12 years). The photos are HORRENDOUS. They show the house in a terrible state before we renovated the whole place. Can I get these removed via Right move? It even has the ghastly old bathrooms... and just looks shit! Maybe this is putting people off too as I know the photos are from when we rented via RM, but it looks like we tried to sell in 2014 and were unsuccessful. This isn't the case!

Also... our house on Street View looks nothing like it does now and neither does next door!!!! Should we get this removed?

I feel like our agent should see these things...?

OP posts:
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