Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Other subjects
Original poster

Selling houses

40 replies

Hayls · 09/01/2006 12:05

OUr house has been on the market since November and I'm now getting really stressed out by it all and wondering if it's all worth it. We had 2 viewings between then and Xmas and have had 3 since last Friday and it's hit me now that we might actually have to move. The thought of packing and unpacking our tonnes of junk scares me.
We had an offer this morning at 5k under asking price that we refused but I'm wondering now if we should have just accepted it and stopped the stress! They might still come back to us and I know they really liked it plus they are chain free so should we have agreed?
And there are no houses that we like to move to!!!

Anybody in or been in this position welcome to rant with me

OP posts:
Gizmo · 09/01/2006 12:22

Ummmmmm

That sounds stressful. Whereabouts are you roughly? Is the housing market strong where you are?

If it is, and you've only got 2 viewings in two months, my first thought is you've got your pricing wrong.

Sorry, you probably don't want to hear that. Did your agent show you any comparable houses and talk about the prices they were fetching when he suggested a price?

noddyholder · 09/01/2006 12:24

5k under is quite good Ours is on the market too and I would jump at any offer as really want to move.The local property paper starts again this wednesday so fingers crossed.Did your agent not try to get them to increase their offer a bit?the first offer is not usually the final

otto · 09/01/2006 12:24

This time of the year is always slow. We took out house off the market this time last year and put it on again in March. We also changed estate agents which really helped.

starlover · 09/01/2006 12:26

i don't think i'd worry TOO much about the pre-christmas bit hayls... i don't think many people are looking to buy a house just before christmas.
you might find it picks up now...

have you had a look to see what similar houses in your area are going through? have you had yours valued by several different people to see if they differ a lot?

Hulababy · 09/01/2006 12:30

You may find a second, slightly higher price is forthcoming this afternoon. People do generally put it a better offer, after a first offer. Although, depending on where you are, you may need to be prepared to take an offer below asking price - the market is not great in most places right now. And being chain free is a big plus.

You do then need to find somewhere yourself. have yu been to look at some? Any idea on your requirements?

We moved last year, after about a year or more of nightmare sales falling through (we had a very dodgy initial buyer). However the moving itself went really well.

LIZS · 09/01/2006 12:32

I'll be over the moon if we get within 5k of our asking price ! Have a horrid feeling we've priced too realistically and will get cheeky offers, if any, but dh was adamant. We have instructed the estate agent and are now awaiting the details to approve but tbh I hate them already ! All I can say is I hope they have to work blooming hard for their fee or I'll be on their case. Even the agents for the area we like can't seem to send us anything close to our specifications but suppose it is early days.

Original poster
Hayls · 09/01/2006 12:32

We had ours valued by 2 agents and set the asking price at halfway between the two. Two houses in our street have sold for similar prices in the last year and ours is all newly decorated, new bathroom and has 2 receptions (others have 1). We had a second viewing yesterday and they have offered 152k but the very min we'd accept is 154k. I think the market is picking up a bit now and don't know if we should hold out for moer money and/or other viewers/offers.

We're in Glos. WE have actually just given our esate agent 4 weeks notice as we were so unimpressed and had planned to go with another (more expensive!) agent so if we accpeted this offer it would mean we didn't have to do all this...

OP posts:
Original poster
Hayls · 09/01/2006 12:35

We have put an offer on a place but they wouldn't accept it before we sold ours. Dh is chuffed that we might now get this house but I@m getting cold feet- I didn't get the 'vibe'
It all seemed so easy as newlyweds moving into a house from rented accommodation compared to doing it now with chains, additional mortgages, cheeky offers, schools nearby, parks nearby and most of all dd!
Maybe we should have raised the asking price so we got closer to what we were actually looking for?!

OP posts:
starlover · 09/01/2006 12:36

would what they have offered you still mean you could get the place you want?

if yes.. then take it.

it's only 2k difference and if it saves you a lot of hassle and means you get the house you want then it's worth it!

Original poster
Hayls · 09/01/2006 12:40

Hmm, would need to think about that one Starlover. We probably could if we took it from savings rather than put it on our mortgage (To cut a LONG story short we extended our mortgage to buy a flat as a renovation project so there isn't much flexibility on it now)
We basically want a house in the position ours is in with same number of rooms but generally bigger. Seems too much to ask though

OP posts:
Kittypickle · 09/01/2006 12:44

I think 5k under the asking price is pretty good at the moment, especially as they are chain free which I feel counts for a fair bit when it comes to moving. I agree with Hulababy that they may well come back with a higher offer though. If you can't find anything that you really like, I would make any acceptance of an offer to be on the understanding that you are not hassled to find a house to give you a bit of time.

LIZS · 09/01/2006 12:46

Perhaps you could negotiate some fixtures/fittings separately to make up some of the 2k if not.

lucykate · 09/01/2006 12:59

i'm afraid i think 5k under the asking price is quite a big drop, but i suppose it depends what percentage of your asking price 5k actually is, its all relative. our house is up for sale for £149,950 and we also refused an offer that was 5k under our asking price. the house is def worth what we are asking and houses are selling here, ours is the cheapest 3 bed in the village, so we feel we're in a good position to stick to our guns. to drop 5k, would have given us difficulties in moving to the area we want to go to. as we're hoping to move up the property ladder, every penny counts

Original poster
Hayls · 09/01/2006 13:04

We're on the market for 157k and the offer was 152k. I'm in a silimar situation to you lucykate in that I think the house is reasonably valued and houses seem to be selling now.
Just checked on the house we offered on a while ago and it's now been sold. Don't know if I'm relieved or disappointed- dh will be gutted but I was never sure.
Fingers crossed they come back with a higher offer later on. They really did like it but if they have a budget that's all there is to it I guess.

OP posts:
SwimmingUpHillThroughCustard · 09/01/2006 13:12

if they come back to you..tell them your reasons for wanting xxx proce, explain all the features you have on here.
i would consider renting if you havent found anything as we have moved twice now and made the wrong descision, so well be doing it again in march..get as much as you can..if they can get £152, chances are they can get the extra few thousand..plus as you say, theres nothing theyll 'have' to do in your house!!good luck..i know how horrible it is

rey · 09/01/2006 13:13

I don't understand estate agents, we had ours valued today and the 3 agents have differed by as much as 150 thousand, that's a lot isn't it! What do we do now? Need to get house on market quickly and now don't know what to do!

SwimmingUpHillThroughCustard · 09/01/2006 13:18

Try here

my other essage wouldnt come through, theres this and another site that will tell you what your neighbours houses sold for, hopefully with give you better knowledge and bargaining power

Hulababy · 09/01/2006 13:19

This is the site where you can look up properties and see what they have sold for.

SwimmingUpHillThroughCustard · 09/01/2006 13:21

thats the other one

lucykate · 09/01/2006 13:27

have had a look at the net house prices web site hulababy, its really useful. will def check it before we're ready to put an offer on a house

NomDePlume · 09/01/2006 13:50

I'm selling my property at the moment and have just accepted an offer of £5k below asking price, although admittely ours was on the market at £235k (in Worcestershire). If I'm honest I don't think that £5k below ask on a property of £157k is unreasonable in this market, it is a buyers market, afterall.

We're awaiting news on 2 offers made, we think they are both going to be accepted, the vendors are certainly very optimistic (spoke to one vendor direct and the other is a developer in a financial mire). Our offers are £10k below ask on the vendor property (still only less than 2% of the asking price), and a HUGE £50k below ask on the developers property (very cheeky, I know, but we are in an excellent position to bargain/barter).

If I were you and the offer was made I would have a really good frantic look for possible places to move to, arrange as many viewings as is humanly possible and if nothing comes up refuse the offer. If you do find something then I'd accept the offer (good buyers are few and far between atm) and barter with the vendor of the place you want to buy in order to recoup the £5k you've dropped on your own property.

Original poster
Hayls · 09/01/2006 17:29

Agent got back to dh and said it doesn't look too hopeful- the potential buyer said she would have to think about it and get back. This was mid morning so not holding my breath.
150k Rey? That's amazing

OP posts:
NomDePlume · 09/01/2006 18:42

I can understand the difference if you are selling a high end property, Rey (£850k+).

LIZS · 09/01/2006 20:53

Agree with NDP once you go over the 750k mark value becomes quite subjective You really need the right buyer to fall in love to get top whack. There was a Property Ladder where this happened to a renovation near Hastings. There was a ceiling for that type/size of property in that particular location which they just could not break. In another area nearby they could have had 100k + more.

Skribble · 10/01/2006 00:50

If you have only had 2 veiwings I would perhaps wait a little. No one wants to think about moving at Christmas. You might find more interest in the coming weeks. Make sure tha agent is doing his job and your details are visible in the window, the website and the paper, more house will come on now too.