To wonder how to sell my house and buy another?

[MoiraNotRuby]

Its been 15 years since I last moved and everything seems different now. Wtf is going on with 'offers over'. How much am I meant to pay? Do I get a local estate agent or an online one? Do I need to tart up my slightly run down house first? Am in England and slightly overwhelmed....

Our estate agent recommended we do ‘offers above’ the bottom price we would accept just to get people through the door (Stamp duty window over) and because of the way the pricebands are on Rightmove, also because two immediate neighbours were selling much more done up/extended versions of our house, so he thought we might get offers from those outbid on the other houses.

Some people bid a thousand above the ‘offers above’ price, others many multiples of that. It sold, very quickly, for 30k above the ‘offers over’ price.

We did use a reputable local estate agent -we’d used them before and been impressed — and went with their advice on what needed doing before listing. In fact we did the minimum — just a full clean, and retouch of areas of paint gone tatty. (The house was empty.)

Ignore the different wording of 'offers over' etc. Offer what you're willing to pay. Our last house was 'offers over' £x and we paid £12k under asking - we didn't need to sell our property to buy and the owner was keen for a quick sale so we trumped the other buyers who offered full whack.

There is no harm in just offering and seeing what they come back with. When you look round a house you can ask if any other offers, what's the position of the vendor etc to get a sense of where to start in negotiations.

W.r.t. your own house, get a few EAs to look round and give thoughts on if tarting up is worth it. Usually a declutter and sorting anything obvious or unsightly is worth it but you may be in a property hotspot and it not be worth the bother. Ask them all for their fees and ask friends and family for recommendations. Also look at their current listings and how good the photos/listings look and you should get a sense.

Also second ignoring ‘offers over’. I paid £10k under which was accepted because it was a cash buy and hassle free which they wanted. So you can put your house up for whatever price you want but many will only offer what they think is appropriate.

I think we made sure our estate agent was very clear on the fact that ‘offers over’ in our case was a clear signal that we wouldn’t consider offers under that amount and anticipated higher ones. We would have taken the house off the market and rented it out if the only offers had been under.

Clean and deciliter your house
Take your own pictures to give you a sense of what the estate agents phots will look like
Paint if necessary
Clear tops of cupboards and wardrobes!
Clean light fittings
Contact 3 estate agents for their price guide and gleam information about current market

When sold look at affordable properties

Estate agents and solicitors will guide you

Yes a local estate agent is good, they normally have a decent feel for the area and what goes for what price so I think a better option than online (although purplebricks etc are cheaper but from what I understand a bit of lottery for how good your assigned agent might be as they’re not trying to land commission).

As for offers, I think as others have said you should offer what you think something is worth. Go over if you can and want to but don’t get too caught up and overstretch. I think it’s always worth putting an offer in if you like somewhere as you never know what’ll happen, even if you think you’ll be outbid. We offered 2k over asking for our current place and got significantly outbid, however that buyer couldn’t get a mortgage as the lender’s valuation said it wasn’t worth the price they wanted, so they pulled out. The sellers were were really keen to get going as they had the house they were buying lined up and their sellers wanted to move fast. So they asked us to reoffer and we did at the same price, and they accepted.

We’ve just sold my late Dads very run down house. Local estate agent is managing the sale. Only advice was to declutter so viewers could see the size of the rooms. The carpet was threadbare and the windows need replacing, as do kitchen and bathroom. So long as it was clean, that was the best we could do!

We had a sale price but as siblings we decided amongst ourselves what our minimum sale price would be. EA organised two open houses (one evening, one Saturday) and we ended up with a bidding war. We got over the asking price - and much more than we would have accepted. Local EA was definitely the way to go for us.

Thank you all. Local it is. Last time I felt much more confident about everything and this time I feel a bit wobbly but determined to get best financial results I can. Feeling rather mistrustful of everyone except mumsnet

I'll share something I discovered this week.

Sold my mums house in September for 625k. Nice house, nice place, desirable location. Most of rest of road has been significantly remodelled as gardens are big and the commuter train is 2 mins away. This house was in good nick and prime candidate for going from 3 - 5/6 beds plus large kitchen extension.

Same hisue just sold for 730k
New owner did NOTHING except: remove all pots and mature shrubs from garden, cut down a tree in the front and put the most bland furniture in with no ornaments at all. He literally put terracotta pots with shrubs in in a skip.

He then put in for and got planning permission for a generic extension and attic conversion on a hand drawn plan. (I also happen to know the staircase would not fit as drawn). That's it.

Planning usually costs 5-15k if you use an architect and have a profession ally drawn up design and access statement - but it still would have been worth our while before selling!

Next time I sell I will do no work on the house, just move everything out but beds and chairs and tables, and get PP for potential extensions.

Oh girlwhowearsglasses how annoying for you, that is so infuriating. I'd be so gutted.

@Clangerschick1

I hate ‘offers over’ and it would put me off even looking at a house. Just say what you blooming want for the property and I’ll let you know if I’m willing to pay it.

Why on earth wouldn’t you go and see a house you liked because it said ‘offers over £450,000’ rather than, say, ‘£465,000’? How it’s listed is not going to make any difference to what it’s likely to sell for, only possibly to how many people might view. The market decides either way.

I wouldn’t view an offers over property either.

That’s not how we shop!

@BluebellsGreenbells

I wouldn’t view an offers over property either.

That’s not how we shop!

People keep saying this, but not giving any concrete reason.

Because it’s cheeky. Nobody wants to over pay, nobody wants to get into a bidding war, no doubt wants to make the highest bed because that still feels like you’ve ‘lost’

It’s either worth x or it isn’t!

I’m not prepared to play games with huge numbers.

@BluebellsGreenbells

Because it’s cheeky. Nobody wants to over pay, nobody wants to get into a bidding war, no doubt wants to make the highest bed because that still feels like you’ve ‘lost’

It’s either worth x or it isn’t!

I’m not prepared to play games with huge numbers.

That makes no sense. You offer what the property is worth to you, regardless of how it is marketed. If the asking price is a firm £450,000, rather than ‘offers in excess of £450,000’, and you offer £430,000, the vendor is still going to decide whether to accept that offer or not. The only difference with OIEO is that the seller is signalling their own bottom line.

(Though as some people on the thread have said, sometimes sellers do accept less, presumably if a house has been on the market a while.)

The trouble is with 'what its worth to you' is that I don't know the going rate.

Its like house buying is this willy waving game of poker where everyone ends up feeling they have been ripped off. I wish there was a price list or formula for introvert non game-playing people. X£ per square metre in Y neighbourhood. Plus 10% for a drive way and £5k for a nice view of the sunset.