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Original poster

Just how hard is it to get a "proceedable" viewer?

53 replies

CuddyMum · 17/07/2012 12:54

Is anyone else struggling to get "proceedable" viewers through the door? I feel that I do the "big clean and prepare" for people to view who are not on the market or have houses to sell etc. It's so frustrating!

OP posts:

Badvoc · 20/07/2012 11:40

Can I just come at this from another angle?
This time last year dh and I were looking for a house to buy.
Agreement in principle from mortgage lender.
10% deposit in bank.
We viewed at least 3 properties where the house needed some work...I.e. new boiler, garden renovation etc and we put in offers of £5k under asking to reflect that.
We were turned down each time.
We have now moved but we ended up buying from a building company who had done a PX with the previous owners.
2 of the properties are still one market and the other went for less than we offered in the end....

Badvoc · 20/07/2012 11:40

I guess what I am saying is ther is frustration from both angles....

Spirael · 20/07/2012 12:51

We'd bite the hands off someone in the position you were in with that kind of offer, Badvoc!

Badvoc · 20/07/2012 13:03

I have to say I was very pissed off surprised at the time!

There was one house in particular (the fist one) that I really liked. Really liked but it was the one that needed a new boiler and work on the garden.

We offered £5k below asking which was £140k. Explained why to the EA. She was also amazed they didnt accept tbh. Some months later they accepted £138k. Go figure!

kensingtonkat · 20/07/2012 13:38

TWO houses have now sold for considerably less than we offered on them.

Ironically if the vendors hadn't been so dismissive of our offers, they could have come back to us and we'd have happily done the deal

Frustration on both sides for sure.

Badvoc · 20/07/2012 13:56

So annyoying isnt it?

The vendors on the property we liked were determined that that was what their house was "worth"....in fact they actually put the asking price up after we offered!!! What on earth do EAs do this for? Surely they should be advising the vendor not just doing what they are asked to do!!!?

In the end we have bought a larger house (sadly much larger mortgage too!) in a nicer area so its worked out ok in the end.

kensingtonkat · 20/07/2012 14:00

Oh well you give me hope then Badvoc!

Badvoc · 20/07/2012 14:05

Honestly, I was in a right tizz this time last year! (I was posting as Becarooo then? you may remember with dread my copious posts?)

We ended up moving into rented accom (we had a no chain cash buyer and, frankly, had to jump through hoops for the bastard ) BUT Its all worked out ok :)

We are now in a detached 4 bed with a nice garden in a quiet area and ds1 has friends who live close by.

But it was a long very stressful few months I can tell you.

I really hope it works out for you x

suntodayplease · 20/07/2012 14:19

We had the opposite problem, We were totally proceedable but every house we looked at, the sellers hadn't found anything. Chicken and egg.

Moving house next week after 9months of looking/selling and I am never doing it again until the forever house appears on rightmove

Original poster

CuddyMum · 20/07/2012 15:01

I'd bite someone's hand off if they offered 5k under and jump through hoops! If someone ever offers on our house and there is nothing left for us to buy, I will move into rented. Why is this buying and selling game so difficult?

OP posts:

StiffyByng · 20/07/2012 15:21

I think it varies from area to area but anyone hanging around here for an asking price offer would just not sell. The only things going for asking price are serious development projects that are fought over by cash buyers. Normal homes will not get asking price unless they are priced low for a quick sale.

Badvoc · 20/07/2012 16:25

Some houses round here are selling really quickly...they tend to be semi det 3 bed for £130/40k or large det 5/6 bed houses with land for approx £5/600k.
Others tend to sit on the market for ages - in fact some houses we looked round 3 years ago are still for sale priced at £2/220k...something to do with SD?

mollythewitch · 20/07/2012 20:30

Like suntoday, we are also in the opposite situation. Renting, have mortgage in principle, seen a house we really like but the vendors haven't found anything to move to. They are an elderly couple and admitted they had been keeping an eye on the market for nearly a year (!) and not been tempted by anything. A suggestion they might go into rented was met with gasps of horror all round! Think we are going to withdraw tbh, as we could be in the same situation at Xmas.

Viperidae · 20/07/2012 20:41

My DB put his house up for sale a few weeks ago and is not even getting viewers through the door yet. It is on at a reasonable price but he's not even had a timewaster yet!

EdgarAllenPimms · 20/07/2012 20:58

i don't mind having unproceedable viewers - although i do mind the cleaning!

ultimately the house is for sale, and anything that ups our chance of flogging it sooner, is good.

and all the houses we have been interested in have sold really quickly (i live on rightmove and bemoan each 'sold stc' when it happens!), so although i agree about not being bullied by EA saying 'yeah lots of interest' - certainly putting in a reasonable and timely offer is definitely a good idea for us.

out of interest: how willing to haggle do you think buyers are?

i am happy to haggle shamelessly as a vendor - do you think people are put off by rejection of first offer, or would they routinely have allowed for that in their mind? i wouldn't put in a first offer i couldn't go higher than....

correct my thinking if faulty please :)

EdgarAllenPimms · 20/07/2012 20:59

i also am happy to move out for the right money, even if unsuited...

StiffyByng · 20/07/2012 21:11

I would always expect a first offer to be rejected unless it were asking price. I have sold both my flat and my father's house this year and rejected the first offer each time, both times from the buyer that eventually bought.

Original poster

CuddyMum · 20/07/2012 21:27

I think it's the norm to reject a first offer but I am more than happy to haggle. Although if someone offered at my magic number I might be tempted just to accept.

OP posts:

jenbird · 20/07/2012 22:06

We are on the market and have been getting some decent viewings recently. We had an offer 3 weeks ago but it was just too low (125k final offer on house already reduced from 145 to 140). If they had gone to 130 we would have taken it.
As a buyer I would never expect my first offer to be accepted and so as a seller I assume the same thing. We have nowhere to move into but I would happily go into rented if it meant selling our house.

notsomanicnow · 20/07/2012 22:26

mollythewitch we have had a very similar situation!

We're proceedable, saw our dream house, but needed to be in situ by a date (due to starting school) that was easily achievable for conveyancing purposes, but would have meant the vendors (elderly) would have to move into rented, as they hadn't seen anything they liked. They were so horrified by this proposition they promptly withdrew their house from the market and are probably still reeling from the shock now!

Badvoc · 21/07/2012 10:09

So you would reject an offer of £5 k under asking just because it was a first offer?
I am starting to see why houses aren't selling!!

StiffyByng · 21/07/2012 10:41

Badvoc, if it were that close to asking AND the offerers made it clear it was their only and final offer, then I would probably accept it. If they didn't do that, I would reject it in the hope they'd go higher. Of course all that would depend on how long I'd been on the market, how keen I was to sell, and whether I was in a place where asking offers were regularly achieved.

Original poster

CuddyMum · 21/07/2012 12:13

£5k under as a first offer - I would literally bite their arm off. I wouldn't want to play games in case they walked away.

OP posts:

Badvoc · 21/07/2012 14:08

We were no chain.
Mortgage agree in principle.
10% Deposit.
(shrug)
Still can't really believe it even now....

jenbird · 21/07/2012 15:02

I would def accept a first offer of 5k under. That is what we would ideally like. We don't expe t full whack.

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