Anyone else waiting for a buyer and feeling fed up?

[CuddyMum]

Have been on the market a few months. Had a steady trickle of viewers. No negative comments - feedback usually is they have a house to sell, aren't on the market etc. Latest viewer had 5 children and needed more space (which he won't get with a 450k budget in this town). Anyway, I just feel really fed up today and wonder if we will ever sell. On the plus side the two houses we could downsize to are also still on the market.

Absolutely. We went on the market earlier this year and sold quite quickly. Then couldn't find a place to buy so were panicking a bit. Then found a place and lo and behold our buyer pulled out due to mortgage difficulties! Since then we've gone back on the market but things seem to have slowed right up (except for properties we want to buy-they've all sold!).

We don't HAVE to move but my feet are so itchy it's killing me!

I know what you mean about itchy feet. It's like the whole family are in limbo!

Absolutely. We returned from abroad and still have a house to sell there which is losing value by the day! This is making resettling a bit more difficult than we hoped and makes me pretty fed up sometimes. Notheless glad to be back. Hopefully we'll all sell soon.

Very. We,ve been on since June and sold quickly - twice. One fell through due to a stupid and OTT survey and the other person couldn't get a mortgage. Haven't checked Rightmove recently because too depressed - twice we have got our hopes up and twice it's led nowhere. Only bright side is we hadn't got as far as getting surveys done etc.

Couple viewed on Friday and loved it but their parents (who are paying - in cash) came last night and we've heard nothing so assume they didn't concur. Feels like we are doomed. The whole family in limbo thing says it all really.

You already know we're in the same situation, CuddyMum. Been trying to sell for a year, but at least we're getting viewings now. Which is more than our previous EA was managing!

Totally relate to the limbo feeling. The house doesn't feel right anymore, we've decluttered to the point where it feels like we're living in a holiday house rather than our own home.

It's a good job my DH is in control of the money, as right now I'd be tempted to give the house away just to get moving and start feeling like we had somewhere to live again!

We have two potentially interested buyers, so hopefully one of them will offer. One had an offer on their house but it fell through because their buyer couldn't get a mortgage, so is having to wait until they can sell before they make a move.

The other is viewing tomorrow, has already sold their house, and needs to move within six weeks. The house we're in love with interested in is chain-free, so hopefully she'll like our house and choose us because we should be able to move within the dictated timescales!

I've lost feeling in my fingers they're crossed so often!

All the best with the viewing. I'll cross my fingers too!

No go. :( Just had a call to say she's not coming. Apparently she offered on a different house and has had the offer accepted.

Very annoying... We spent the last two evenings running round frantically to get everything spotless. We renewed our mortgage in principle to show we were seriously able to move as fast as requested, bought fresh flowers and changed plans to cater for the fact that the only viewing time she could make was right in the middle of DD's (2) dinner/bath/bed routine too.

The other couple that were interested have apparently now sold their house, but in the meantime have found some other houses they prefer to ours. So that has fizzled out as well.

So, we're back to square one. No viewings, no interest, no hope. :(

Anyone else having better success?

Sorry to hear that Spirael-especially all the cleaning /rearranging for a no show-that is infuriating!

I think someone walked past my house on purpose last night to check it out-so will wait and see if we get a phone call about a viewing now. Trouble is all the houses we liked have now been sold anyway, so my motivation is at zero for tidying up.

Ah, sorry to hear that. How annoying. We have had new shots taken yesterday and are reducing the price by £15k - hopefully will be updated on Rightmove later today. We had a viewer at the weeken but they have FIVE kids and felt downstairs too small - but they want to live in this area and won't up their budget. All previously interested parties are now not interested. A house we like has just reduced their price too but I'm worried someone else will snap it up now.

How are we all getting on? Any good news to share? Nothing here, unfortunately... All our viewers have dried up and no new ones have appeared. :(

Spoke to the EA yesterday and apparently there just aren't any buyers looking in our area right now, rather than there being a problem with our house/price.

On the plus side, there has been zero interest by anyone besides us in the dream house we're hoping to buy. So I guess it's a mixed blessing that the market has flatlined!

The weather is meant to be nice this weekend, let's hope it encourage people to get out there and house hunt!

And until then, I'll get another Euromillions ticket for Friday...

Yes - it's doing my head in! We have a one-bed flat in East London and it's been up for sale since about May.

We've had lots of viewing and two buyers. The first buyer fell through very early. The last one pulled out 4 days before we were due to move so all our stuff was packed up and we'd given away some of our furniture! That was a very bitter pill to swallow

The problem is that I'm 6 weeks pregnant and desperate to move out of London - I really don't want to end up having the baby in Whitechapel hospital!

Good luck everyone!

How awful that your buyer pulled out so close to exchange. I dread that situation when we eventually sell. Houses that appear as sold seem to come back on to the market some weeks later in this area.

Novia, that's precisely why I haven't packed (half the house is already in boxes from an abortive sale back in March and had been packed since about Jan), this time I refuse to do anymore until we exchange (hopefully today....)

Did that mean you lost the house you were planning on moving into, Novia? :(

Hope your exchange goes smoothly, Blackduck!

If we ever sell, our packing is going to take about 10 minutes as we've decluttered so much!

Thanks guys - it was heart-breaking at the time as we'd rushed things through for the buyer (while we were on honeymoon!) and then he started stalling on the legal side and not signing the contract due to little things. It kept getting closer to the completion date and finally he pulled out on the Thursday when we had movers/cleaners booked for the following Monday.

Blackduck - it's a good plan. We won't make the same mistake again! Hope it all goes through for you.

Spirael - it wasn't too bad as we were going to rent for 6 months while we found somewhere we liked. Luckily it was a friend's place and they let us off paying rent that month. Could have been worse - we could have committed to 6-months on a property via an estate agent which would have been a disaster! The most annoying thing was that we bought a car as the new place had parking. Unfortunately the current flat doesn't and so we've been stuffed on where to put it.

If your house is not selling then it is simply priced too high. It is not rocket science but, sadly, many people are in complete denial about this.

If you are looking to buy another house you simply have to start offering low offers on those - i.e. if someone offers you 20% below your asking price then you go and offer 20% below the asking price of the house you wish to buy.

But if you are not getting any offers then, obviously, your asking price is way too high and you must lower it.

Problem is, most house sellers are in denial about house prices - only yesterday the Daily Mail was saying that house prices are over-valued by 20% and in today's Independent a US economist is saying that British house prices are 60 percent over-valued and are about to crash to get back into line with reality.

Dropping your asking price by 10 or 20 percent compared to losing 60 percent doesn't seem so bad then.

Best of luck in selling your houses.

I can definitely sympathise. We tried to sell our house 2.5 years ago when I was pregnant with dd#2, and after 9 unsuccessful months we took it off the market. Put it on the market again this Christmas, and finally had our first and only offer about 6 weeks ago. Scrabbled to find something we liked in the local area, and now we're waiting... but reading the threads on here it all sounds so tentative. Very worried, as we're expecting #4 in about 5 weeks and in an ideal world we'd be moved in by then, but so much can go wrong. I absolutely hated the constantly having to get the house ready for viewings, and feel that we mentally all moved out of this house months ago. Now we're packing several boxes a day because the longer the pregnancy goes on the less I'll be able to do, so am really keeping my fingers crossed that the sale goes through. Good luck for everyone else waiting - it really is such an emotionally draining process.

Apparently have a viewing tomorrow - as house in Spain have to rely on the agent. Luckily she is v. experienced & knowledgeable. It's now so cheap surely someone will make an offer soon. However, I am not holding my breath - if I were I would be long dead!

If only it were so simple, tawse57...

What about in a situation where there are lots of very similar houses at very similar prices all trying to sell in an area, and only a few buyers who are willing and able to buy? Given the struggles to acquire mortgages and the doom and gloom being reported putting buyers off.

There's no way the few buyers are going to purchase every house for sale. So what do the house owners do? By your system, they'd keep reducing and reducing and reducing to try and make sure they're the one chosen.

Where do you draw the line? When you run out of equity and moving becomes unfeasible? Or when the house goes below the cost of materials and construction? Or when you're giving it away for free?

Yes there are people out there who are delusional about the worth of their property and price unrealistically, but that's not always the situation.

Spirael I think you over-dramatise.

Surely there is a point somewhere between the current asking prices and the price at which the buyer will buy and, more importantly, the bank will actually think the house is fair value and hence give a mortgage on.

People are in denial and are still blaming the banks for not lending - they are in complete denial that it is the asking prices that are ludicrous. Sorry to be blunt, but that is the reality.

The house price rises of the past 10 years were a financial bubble which,. as we all now know, bankrupted the banks and brought the world economy to its knees. The banks are not going to lend on silly priced houses again for generations to come.

Now, if you have the misfortune of having bought a house during the boom and paid a ludicrous price for it then, yes, I think such people are screwed and are no doubt in negative equity already... and it probably will get a lot worse for them.

But if someone bought before the house price bubble began - say around 2000 or before - there is no need or reason for them to be asking 3 or 4 or 5 times what they paid for their house. That is just pure greed - end of story.

This chap US economist Dean Baker says that UK house prices are hugely over-priced compared to wages and that nothing will stop a huge collapse in British house prices. Surely the sensible thing now is to reduce your asking price and sell otherwise in 6 months or next year sellers might be forced to drop their asking prices even more.

Too many sellers in denial are either not dropping their asking prices or dropping them so slowly that they are merely chasing the market down.

Sorry, I will say it again - it is not the banks fault. It is the fault of people who got greedy and who listen to estate agent valuations. If you want to sell a house drop the asking price and someone will buy it when it is at a realistic asking price.

A road where numerous houses are not selling merely indicates a road of vastly over-priced houses and a road full of sellers in denial.

As I said before, if you have to drop your asking price 20% to sell it, or even 30%, then you offer that much less on the house you want to buy.

I'm tempted to argue it's the price. Even if you were priced well when you went onto market - prices have fallen since then so it may no longer represent a good price?

According to Rightmove there is a £60k reality gap between asking prices and sold prices on the average home at present (cue lots of stories about how your house, street, town etc is different and the exception to this rule). Hence the current Mexican standoff, and also hence, why things priced well - sell and sell super quick. There are lots of buyers out there but they are frustrated by unrealistic prices.

Falling prices are only really bad for downsizers but we never hear that in the media. Think about it - you're in a 100k house and want to upsize to a 200k house - if the market falls 10% you're house is worth 90k and the target house £180k - so the difference you have to borrow has fallen from £100k to 90k. It's bad of course for bankers and mortgage providers who would much rather we were debt slaves forever... hence why we only hear that falling house prices (cheaper cost of living, more money to be able to be spent into the real economy) = bad news.

We're about to put ours on the market, we'll go with the middle EA quote (not the top one as many only give you a daft high price to get your business and flatter folks' egos) and we will keep an eye on the house price indices every month (sold prices not asking prices - they're just fantasy). If these indices fall - we will cut our price to keep it competitive.

If we've not had real interest within two months then we will cut the price by 5% until we do. A friend in the industry reckons if you're not getting any viewings it's usually because your house looks bad in marketing materials and / or is vastly overpriced - if you are getting viewings but these aren't commencing into proceedable sales - then you might just be slightly overpriced and with a slight adjustment would allow a sale to proceed. The banks are being cautious because they know they inflated a massive bubble and are trying to deflate it without going under.

It depends how much you want to move I guess, but there is no way we personally are going to hang around to catch a falling knife in the vain hope that things will pick up in the next few months or years. According to the Bank of England things aren't going to get better until the end of the decade and we can't wait that long to move and get on with our life - this recession is getting deeper and more painful, the banks are in a far worse state than in 2008, there are no real pay rises on the horizon, inflation is still high, the cost of living is crippling most folks and the austerity cuts have yet to really bite.

I know lots of people say they can't drop their price because of NE but that isn't the fault of potential buyers. And where folks are in NE because of spending mortgage equity on holidays, extensions, new kitchens etc (not saying that's you OP!) to expect some 'greater fool' to come along and pay for it is just greed. If someone paid too much for their house - that isn't the fault of any viewer who can recognise the real value of a house today. Many are canny and checking out sold prices from the Land Registry (so will know what you bought for) and also Property Bee which allows you to track changes in listed prices and when houses go to SSTC and back onto the market again.

I know people say 'I'm not giving it away' when faced with offers lower than they'd like, but sellers aren't 'giving their money away' either - it is a buyers market and money is harder to come by than a house these days!

It is the price. People waiting for the recovery are going to be in for a shock. I have studied the financial situation for years probably more than I should tbh! and I have seen the govt come up with hair brained schemes time after time every time the housing market looked like it may correct. Only now have they nowhere to go and I really think better to reduce now and try and move the reduction up the chain or stay put! I have been viewing about 2 a week since last sept and of all of those about 5 or 6 have sold and I am in Brighton which is one of the biggest bubbles ever!

I am not prepared to buy up someone else's debt and I think there are many like me

Hear hear Noddy. I don't expect anyone else to buy up my debt either, which is why when we sell we don't expect to make a profit from any renovations made - as they were done to our taste not to the buyers, so to assume my taste adds spectacular value is crackers! (though that has been the norm in the UK for the dumbass bubble years, folks adding a 40k kitchen and expecting a 100k uplift in price - how's that work then?)

We were on the market for five months, in a fairly buoyant market, but over Christmas. We started off at a price we expected to have to drop but were talked into testing the market by our EA. It was 25k above the price we actually wanted. After a month we dropped the price by 15k. We got over 60 viewings in the time we were on, but not a single offer. We repeatedly asked the agent if we should drop the price further but they said it wasn't the price that was the issue. They had no idea WHAT the issue was. We were desperate to move and lost four houses along the way owing to our failure to sell.

Finally we decided to change agents. As soon as we told the original agents, they recommended that we drop the price by 20k as that seemed to be the 'natural selling price' for flats around us. I was prepared to do that if it was necessary but decided to try the existing asking price with the new agents as you can't put the price back UP! The new agents sold the flat in ten days and we got the price we wanted, 10k under asking.

The house we bought had dropped the asking price by 65k during its time on the market (about four months) and we got it for 35k less than asking, so 100k less than the original ask. We also paid 15k less than it sold for in 2007. So our experience was both sides of the issue really.

I've just sold my father's house for 90% of asking price by pricing it realistically. It was on an estate where lots of houses come up and it's very easy to compare them - which needs work, which has an extension etc. The first offer came three weeks after it went on the market. That fell through and we got a second offer at the same price the next day from a developer. It was a bit tempting to see if we could get more but given how quiet the market is, we decided to go for the existing offer and not hang on for a few more thousand that could get eaten up in running costs on an empty house that might not materialise anyway.