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Original poster

Selling house. How to keep going???

23 replies

hksi · 23/02/2011 16:00

We put our house up for sale 2 weeks ago as we have 4 children and want to upsize. After an intial flurry of 4 viewings have had nothing in more than a week. I feel like I've been on a first date and waiting to be asked out again!!! How do you keep going? I'm loosing the will already!!!

OP posts:
feedthegoat · 23/02/2011 16:09

By not giving it much thought unless the agent rings!

I think in the current market you'll burn yourself out if you worry too much after 2 weeks.

Then again, maybe the market is better where you are.

We have been up since October and have only had 3 viewings. We are also the cheapest (and not the worst!) amongst the direct competition. There are houses here that have been on market for 2 years plus so I'm taking the long view! We aren't in a rush mind so I'm not putting any pressure on ourselves.

IslaValargeone · 23/02/2011 16:13

"Losing the will" after only 2 weeks.
Good God woman, you'll just have to grin and bear it, I'm sorry to say. House sales are tragically slow at the moment, what with the recession, job cuts, no money........

Fiddledee · 23/02/2011 16:46

hassle the agents

lalalonglegs · 23/02/2011 18:19

Two weeks is a bit soon to panic but look at your contract and see how much written notice you have to give the agency (usually four weeks). If they don't produce many more viewings in the next month (and if you think the house is reasonably priced and presented) then make sure that you send them a letter terminating the contract so you don't get tied to them for too long. As well as freeing you up this often gives them a rocket up the arse and they suddenly find a buyer.

HollyBollyBooBoo · 23/02/2011 20:25

Did the agent give you and feedback that the 4 viewings gave him/her after seeing your property?

Do you want to post a link to your property on Rightmove (or wherever) and MNers can give you any feedback on the property? Know it has worked for others on here and resulted in a sale!

2 weeks is seriously nothing in this climate, you need to just keep the house in pretty good order so that at a moments notice you can do a quick whip around with the hoover, quick tidy and then you're ready for a viewing and then just get on with life as per normal.

Ormirian · 23/02/2011 20:29

I can almost guarantee the first few viewings were people who've been looking for ages and jump on any property that comes on the market but never seem to buy! Ou agent explained that was what happened and not to get our hopes up as our first 2 were like that. Once they are out of the way the serious viewers arrived.

Just try to forget about it. Easier said than done I know.

chocolatekimmy · 23/02/2011 21:42

We've just taken ours off the market after four months - the house we wanted sold and there isn't much out there right now. We are going to get a loft conversion and spend probably half the money we would have done if we had moved on other improvements.
Everything seems overpriced and it seems to be the same houses week in week out. The people who expressed interest in ours hadn't sold anyway so all fairly pointless.
We have a lovely house in a really nice village area that would probably sell easily in any other economic climate.
Hopefully things will pick up in the next few months due to it being Spring. In the meantime, try not to think about it but above all don't set your heart on a property until you are proceedable yourself otherwise you will just be disappointed.

MumOfAPickle · 23/02/2011 21:53

2 weeks??? Ha!! We've been on since last August and are now looking into renting it out and renting where we're relocating to. I wouldn't mind but our 5 month old is in with us and getting noisier all the time Grin

Honestly, just don't obsess. Easier said than done I know but unless you're selling because you're about to re-possessed or something then just relax about it. There are worse things happening to people at the moment.

Original poster
hksi · 24/02/2011 07:39

Thanks for all your sensible replies. Really feels better to not be alone! The feedback from one was not sure about enbloc garages next to us but liked and will 2nd view when under offer. Next didn't like outside and last feedback was don't want to move to this area after all. last people no feedback as yet! Will post link and please be honest!!!

OP posts:
Original poster
hksi · 24/02/2011 07:41

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32734055.html

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lalalonglegs · 24/02/2011 08:24

Wow, top marks for clutter-free kitchen. Some people aren't that keen on caravans on the drive but they're pretty hard to disguise...

I suppose you have to be honest about whether the price seems correct - how does it compare with other places on the market and, more importantly, the prices other local houses have sold for recently?

Fiddledee · 24/02/2011 08:26

Move caravan, children's play swing/slide takes up all the garden, I would take it down and store it elsewhere (i dit the same). Sorry but I really dont like the yellow/brown reception room, I would paint it a neutral colour.

imkeepingmum · 24/02/2011 10:33

I think the house looks lovely inside and really like your yellow/brown lounge, so just shows how opinions can be at opposite ends of the spectrum! All looks tidy and well kept, caravan wouldn't put me off (shows plenty of parking available) nor play stuff in garden as it's clearly a family home. Layout great for a family too. Garages might put me off a bit...but depends on the area (which I don't know at all) and the neighbours keeping their own garages up together as to whether it would be a deal breaker.

2 weeks isn't that long though, but feel for you, it's horrible waiting!

DameEdnaBeverage · 24/02/2011 10:52

I really don't get why some agents advertise the price in a range i.e 210k-240k. Surely everyone would just offer the lower price? Can anyone explain the benefits of advertising in that way?

mrsravelstein · 24/02/2011 10:54

we've been on the market for nearly a year now, it's been a total nightmare, had 2 offers but both fell through, now finally got a buyer and a complete chain behind us and all seems sorted, but guess what? we can't find a house to buy! (or, more accurately, we have found a house to buy, but vendor is in cloud cuckoo land about what it's worth)

crapbarry · 24/02/2011 11:07

if we were buying in that area, we'd be snapping it up (we're in Herts, and just had a 3 bed house purchase fall through, which was VERY annoying)! can you add a photo of the bathroom maybe? we've found a lot of places don't have photos of the bathrooms on rightmove, then we view the place and see why. (I mean, who has a 3 bed FAMILY home without a BATH?!)

your house looks gorgeous though!

Original poster
hksi · 24/02/2011 15:56

Thanks for all the lovely comments!! Our house is 2 mins walk from an outstanding primary school and in catchment for good secondary and grammar schools. Think it's good value for size but someone has to overcome the garages I think..........Nothing today - think I need to start hassling the agents if no viewings this weekend..........

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Pisky · 24/02/2011 17:12

It took about 3 months before we got our offer & we exchanged yesterday (another 3 months later...) and move next week.

I actually did the viewing for the ones who have bought as it was a weekend and the agents were "busy" - I do wonder if this had any impact on the sale as I could point out the good bits better than the agent (we have lived here for 9.5 years).

Good luck and try to chill! Your agents have to give notice of viewings so don't try to live in perfect tidiness constantly, just be ready to declutter before each viewing.

Original poster
hksi · 24/02/2011 18:25

Well.........maybe spoke too soon. Had a last minute viewing tonight and another booked for tomorrow. Maybe the start of the week is slow.......... ponder ponder!!!

OP posts:
DameEdnaBeverage · 24/02/2011 19:07

Ooh - good luck.

MissMarjoribanks · 24/02/2011 19:21

The first thing I noticed was that your lawn was encroaching onto the path at the front. Run along it chopping it back with a spade. 10 minutes work, will make all the difference as a first impression.

I would also buy a couple of ready made pots for the garden if you're still on the market in late March. It's very bare. Then again, although the garden is all important to me, it's a functional space to many. We loved ours on sight but by the time we got in it was an overgrown mess as the vendors neglected it once they had sold.

Interior looks good. It's not decorated to my taste in places but nothing that a serious buyer couldn't look beyond if they were interested.

porcupine11 · 24/02/2011 19:33

May be repeating other comments, but as someone who is currently buying a 3-bed after lots of viewings I thought I'd pitch in!

Paint the yellow part of your lounge very pale cream or off-white - will make a big difference.

Paint the wall (garages?) that border your garden. That would really put me off, but bricks can look nice if painted and stick some cheap trellises (sp?) over the painted bricks - a Victorian walled garden effect! Loose the trampoline.

Your kitchen is beautiful!

Paint purple bedroom wall neutral, could leave the wallpaper. I personally hate those strong colours in bedrooms and would think 'that looks small' and 'I'll need to redecorate' -= whereas actually the house is so lovely and neat it should be sold as a 'move in and do nothing' job

Remove the second kitchen/diner photo from Rightmove - it makes it look smaller - you want to tempt buyers in

Cheap decking over hte concrete in the garden? I'd also get photo retaken when the tree next door is with leaf, if you're still on the market

allatsea1 · 24/02/2011 21:21

2 weeks!! Took us a year to sell. Utter nightmare. You've done very well to get so many viewings.

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