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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Sellers - on market over Christmas?

16 replies

artyjools · 15/11/2010 09:29

My house has been on the market since the end of August. We have had a few viewers, but no offers. We have dropped the price and would drop further if the houses we are interested in would drop by a similar percentage. It just isn't happening yet. I am guessing there are lots of others in our position.

So, what are you doing over the next month or two? keeping your property on the market or taking it off, either permanently or to see what happens in the spring?

My DH says it doesn't hurt to keep it on but, TBH, I find it all a little unsettling. Perhaps I'm too much of a control freak to live with this sort of uncertainty for prolonged periods .

OP posts:

lalalonglegs · 15/11/2010 09:51

Take it off and put on with a new agent in January - the trouble with keeping it on is that people will assume there is something wrong with it if it just sits there in the listings.

Fiddledee · 15/11/2010 11:18

We have had two buyers pull out for various reasons so have sold it twice this autumn and may have done again today (waiting to hear). We are keeping it on the market until end of November then putting it back on in April with another agent. We don't have to move until September next year though.

I do think that the actual agents get less enthusiastic after a while so switching agents is a good idea.

Original poster

artyjools · 15/11/2010 11:28

Lala, do you really think people think there is something wrong with a house because its been on the market for a while? In this economic climate? Many of the houses I like have been on the market for longer than ours has. I don't think there is anything wrong with them - its just that they are large houses and chains need to be built below them in order for people to be in a position to make an offer. We know which house we would like to offer on, but can't until ours is under offer. In fact, we think there may be a couple who would offer on ours, but they don't have a complete chain below them. Of course, if houses dropped in price from the top down, there would be more movement.

I feel for you Fiddledee - but I think this is fairly commonplace now.

We don't HAVE to move but it does have several advantages and the schooling issue is giving us a limited window of opportunity now. If we don't move before next summer, we will probably stay put for a couple of years more.

Will next spring be better than it is now for selling? That is the big question!!

OP posts:

picklebutty · 15/11/2010 12:10

Artyjools, I'm in the same position as you (on since end of August)and I feel exactly the same way/ A few years ago, it would have worried me if something was on the market for over six months but now I think it's par for the course (Rightmove statistics bear this out - 100 days average isn't it?).

I have a good friend who is an EA and he says that although the run up to xmas tends to be dead, the holiday period itself can be quite busy and people often go looking again in January.

Also, if yours is on the market when others are not - you are part of a reduced supply.

Have you considered changing agent now and keeping it on the market? We've just changed and we'll stay on the market until it sells, I hope. We certainly have a couple interested who simply haven't sold theirs and we've seen what we'd like to buy. We effectively have some sort of chain but we need a buyer further down to get moving.

lalalonglegs · 15/11/2010 12:22

Yes, I do think that: they start to look tired in the listings, people assume that there must be something wrong with them (at the very least the price) otherwise they would have gone under offer. I also agree with Fiddledee that agents lose interest once a property has been on their books a while - they almost resent it.

Fiddledee · 15/11/2010 12:32

Yes they seem to resent that buyers pull out and they can't be bothered to market the house again.

twosandwiches · 15/11/2010 12:46

The house I want to buy has been on the market for nine months. It's perfect for us - we just need to sell ours!

Should I not buy it because it's been on for nine months? I've viewed it twice and I love it.

TBH, I don't think everyone discounts a house because it's been on the market for a while. The more expensive houses require a chain to build underneath them.

A FTB house that's been on the market for ages is a different matter.

Original poster

artyjools · 15/11/2010 13:36

Picklebutty, we have two EAs handling it, so wouldn't want to change that before Xmas. My husband thinks leaving it on over the holiday period is a good idea.

I agree with you, twosandwiches, the more expensive houses are taking longer to sell because of the chain problem.

Ho hum - more patience required from me!!

OP posts:

twosandwiches · 15/11/2010 14:11

My MIL was talking about this at the weekend. She was saying how she's be worried about buying a house that had been on the market for ages (for ages, read six months).

I had to point out that the last time she bought a property was 1971 and she doesn't keep up with the housing market one bit.

MyCatJeremy · 15/11/2010 15:09

People who look for a house often spend longer than a few weeks looking so will notice if it pulled off and then put back on the market again. I have been looking for a few months and noticed that one house I was keen on was taken off the market and put back on a month later, they had given it a lick of paint and put it back on for 10K more!

twosandwiches · 15/11/2010 16:02

That's a good point. I think it looks cynical to keep delisting and relisting it. You have to question the motivation/conviction of the vendor.

If it's correctly priced, why worry that it's sitting on the market over xmas?

KirstyJC · 15/11/2010 16:11

Wow - only since August? Our house has been on the market since Feb and still not sold!

We are a first-time buyers house, in a lovely area with parking (unusual for the village). We have been with 2 EA - the first had not a single viewing in 3 months!!! and the second has had 4 viewings since May when we switched to them.

We have dropped the price 3 times so far - it is the cheapest house in the village now for the size. Still not sold it. We are now wondering whether to keep in on the market over Xmas, but we had a provisional offer from someone via the 2nd EA who want to but it when they sells theirs - so we feel we need to keep it on with the same EA as even if we changed, if this couple buy it we would still need to pay the EA fee as they introduced them, (although I showed them around, the EA never even met them....)

I think if they hadn't made a provisional offer, we would come off the market for a while. Just because it's so depressing having the for sale sign mocking us from the garden....Unfortunately we already have 2 kids in a a 2 bed house and another due in March so we really want to move.....

We have given up on keeping the place spotless in case of viewings though - far too much hard work and with only 4 over the last 9 months frankly I have given up hope.....

dejavuaswell · 16/11/2010 11:24

I certainly don't think you need to keep the house spotless (for viewers like DH and I anyway). But some houses we have seen were so cluttered that is was very hard to visualise what it would be like with our furniture in the house. So some decluttering is a good idea.

What is more of an issue is when the particulars are misleading so that when you see the house for the first time you feel cheated. Gardens imaged with "funny" lenses are almost the norm round here.

SuzieHomemaker · 16/11/2010 11:53

We will have this one to think about soon as we will have soon finished renovating a property so will want to get it back on the market as soon as possible.

As it is empty the tidiness issue isnt there for us. My opinion is that viewers will view whatever is on the market in their price range. So far as I am concerned the more the footfall the better. Even the casual viewer may result in a sale.

We will market over Christmas but I change pictures regularly. As soon as the dafodils are over I get the pictures changed that sort of things so that the pictures match the seasons.

Original poster

artyjools · 17/11/2010 09:15

Kirsty = I feel for you, I really do. I have long since given up trying to keep the house spotless. I think I have rather given up hope too. I'm hoping that things are clearer after xmas. If prices are coming down, bring it on, then we all know where we are!

Dejavu - I take those distorted photos with a pinch of salt. The measurements on the floorplans give a more accurate story.

Good idea about changing photos to reflect the season, Suzie. But I till think many people expect houses to be on the market for a long time now.

OP posts:

Fiddledee · 17/11/2010 10:31

Take it off the market end of November. Appoint new agents and remarket in March. Thats our plan. Existing agents just don't push a property if it doesn't go quickly. God I hate EAs - lazy & inefficient, I'm sure some of them aren't but I need a break from them!

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