Selling your house in 2006

[noddyholder]

How many of us have our house on the market atm ?We were advised not to put ours on in December as it is so quiet but we wanted it out of the way and are now hoping to sell in the New Year Is the market still really slow?

We were told to put ours on in January as there is a "surge" of buyers after xmas.

I think we will wait till April/May time though.

The market is dead in the water here. We've had ours on the market since early Sept (on 12wk+28 days notice contract). Our notice period expires in a week or so (6th Jan), we'll be putting it back on with a new agent in the Spring/Summer.

We've withdrawn it from the market because a) we're not happy with the agent and b) the market is so slow round here that even if we did sell ours, we're struggling to find anything that we'd move to - not because our budget is unrealistic but because there are very very few properties in that price bracket available right now. Thankfully our current house is perfectly adequate, size-wise and is very comfortable to live in, we just fancy a change and a shade more space and character.

Well I have failed miserably to sell it in 2005 so can only live in hope that we manage in 2006 .

I am about to give it the once over with a critical eye so that we maximise our chances although decluttering all the xmas tat will be a nightmare!

It's not a great time of year to be selling. Feb onwards is a bit better as people tend to feel poor in January (after the Xmas splurge, and because people tend to get paid earlier in December). One of the potential downsides with putting your house on now is that you could end up being viewed as a "house which won't sell", and as a result is harder to shift (bizarre I know but does seem to happen).

Estate Agent coming to measure on Friday.

Ours has been on 4 weeks but have had only one viewing

Ooops - xposted with glitterygook who seems to be unfortunately demonstrating this phenomona.

When I was last sold I was told that it shoud either shift in a month, or else we need to do something (eg major declutter incl furniture or quick makeover job).

We had 2 estate agents out to value ours.

One of them said that we should stick it on just under the stamp duty mark and that they would advertise fortnightly rather than weekly to avoid people thinking we were desperate to sell.

I've posted it before. There is nothing to declutter as there is nobody in it! It's minimally furnished so it looks like a home but there's certainly not a load of rubbish in it as it's all here!!!

There is not one single person - estate agent, neighbour, friend, mumsnetter - who can see one single reason why our house has not sold! Honestly - it's a complete mystery, especially considering the neighbouring houses that have sold.

I can't wait that long!I am hoping the proximity of excellent schools will help shift ours quickly

Glitterygook - I think that just the fact that it has been on the market for so long will put people off - it certainly would put me off as I would assume that it kept failing surveys etc. It is no longer a factor of what the house is like, it becomes the fact that it hasn't sold to date - sadly self-perpetuating.

Oh, GDK
I've been thinking of you and your house.
I was going to start a thread asking how if going a few times but didn't want to dedge it all up again.
I just can't believe it still hasn't sold yet. I'm gutted for you.

I really will be sending you a bottle of bubbly when it sells.

Agree with ladymuck. Have they updated the photos ? I'm a bit concerned if they take one on Friday it will be obviously now, what with snow and so on, so if we haven't sold by Spring then it will already look as if it has been a round a while. There are some in the paper I know have been on the market since July.

We have been on the market since April '05 and haven't had even a sniff of an offer, despite dropping the price 3 times. Have been getting very, very low about the whole thing, it is particularly frustrating as I spend so much time doing stuff with dd1 miles away from where we live. We are now making radical plans to landscape the garden (we live on a hill) in the hope that this will encourage buyers.

We will never, never move to the country again - we've been here almost 6 years now and have had happy times but the isolation is, frankly, depressing. Roll on 2006 and hopefully a sale!

We had ours on the market since april & was losing hopr thinking of remortgaging to be able to rent it out then all of a sudden about 3 weeks ago we had 2 offers & 2 veiwings booked
the buyers have got a real bargain but er were so desperate to sell
Keep positive - your houses will sell!

We put our flat on the market in December and we accepted an offer within a couple of days((Two viewers and two offers). I did have my doubts and thought it was a bad time of year, but it sold. Plus we could just have been lucky and in the right area. I don't see the point in waiting as you can always hold out for the right price as long as it isn't costing you money.

Good luck for all those selling. having spent most of 2005 in this process I know how stressful it can be. Hope you all get buyers soon.

we have had our house on market since sep with no viewings since oct! i think the market is horribly slow right now.We r changing agents in the new year and have been told by quite a few people that things generally pick up with gusto around easter time. good luck to everyone selling- fingers crossed for the new year!

our has been up for sale for 6 weeks and in the run up to xmas we had quite a few viewings. one person very interested, so our fingers are crossed.

Noddy - We put ours on the market in November (despite being told the same as you) and we had an offer 4 days later, which we accepted. But there were hardly any houses on the market as so many sellers are waiting until January. So I suppose it can work 2 ways..... less houses on the market in December means less choice for buyers..... therefore you may get an offer quicker.