Support thread for house sellers

[Spirael]

Just what it says on the tin, really! I'm sure there must be other stressed house sellers out there? Hopefully we can band together and get some small joy of (hopefully?) seeing our houses sell so we can get a move on!

This is a thread of hand holding and mutual support for the EA dealings, weeks of silence, frantic house tidying, no-show viewings, silly offers and tough decisions. This is not for house bashing and price slating. There are plenty of other threads for that!

I've been trying to sell for a year now. Had a surge of viewings earlier in the summer making the right noises, but all has gone quiet for the last few weeks.

However, we have a viewing booked for later this afternoon from someone who has sold their house and is able to proceed - wanting to move before Christmas. Currently swinging between pessimistic and optimistic, while trying not to look at the house we want to buy!

Anyone else out there? :)

Well I've not heard any more from my EA since I rejected the very low offer yesterday. The viewer is either trying to make me sweat or I may never hear from him again :(

Woooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo have completed!!!!!

There is hope for you all ladies and gents I am sure. Will keep my fingers crossed for you all.

This popped up in most active convos and seeing as just put house on market thought I would join!

Am in Scotland though so the whole thing is done a bit differently here.

House went on market on Friday and have had one viewing, that's it! No more phone calls. Maybe I am expecting a bit much but was hoping for at least 3! But as DP said you only need one buyer. They are coming back today for a second look so fingers crossed. We haven't seen a house we like though which worries me a bit! Keeping house tidy with a toddler and a newborn is a nightmare!

Congatulations FinancialW

Oh CuddyMum I didn't see your post before my completion one. I am sorry, I hate it when people keep you hanging on like that. Fingers Crossed they are number crunching.

Congrats financialW. I hope that's us soon!!!

Iseenodust I think it depends on where you are in Scotland really. There's only a couple of properties going to closing on the islands where I live (Orkney) at present - lots of others are languishing on the market for months with no sign of one offer let alone several. Looking at the RICS report other areas of Scotland haven't seen a closing date in months.

I think it's because we have priced realistically and because we are at the end of the market that is still vaguely in sync with local wages so it's easier for folks to buy. We also seem to suit a range of buyers - divorcees, FTB and downsizers. There is a heap of optimistically priced houses sitting on the market for 3+ years up here which are £300k+ (largely owned by second home owners now looking to downsize and yep, you guessed it, 'not giving it away') that go months and months without viewings - given that the average household income here is 20k there is no way anyone local can afford them.

I do think the Scottish system gives us (as a seller) the very best chance to accept the highest offer - when you get a closing date as everyone has to submit blind best and final offers (sealed bids) - but it can mean that buyers offer too high in desperation at securing a house so in boom times it can make the Scottish market prone to bubbles. Also the home report system is handy as you don't need to pay for a survey for each house you are interested in (unless you are more serious and want a full structural). It also means you get a flood of viewings before the closing date (so compresses the number of weeks you have to keep your house clean!!! )

We have another viewing tomorrow from someone whose name we were both sure sounded like something out of Kill Bill..... Will keep you posted. Wah roll on Thursday!

Cuddymum could be mind games I reckon - they probably don't want to appear too keen. Good luck xx

YellowWellies the Scottish system does sound very good.

Had our photos/floorplan/EPC done this morning and have just approved the brochure text (after making plenty of spelling/grammar corrections, they are rubbish!) so it should go online tomorrow.

Don't hate me though, we've just had an offer in! It's a bit low (though still 93% of the top of the range of the asking price) so we're holding off until after the open house viewing on Saturday in the hopes of more. It just goes to show how different the London market is from that elsewhere.

Sounding promising for you too Woodlands :)

YellowWellies - I think you're right it could be mind games. I bet the man wears the trousers in their household :)

Awesome news Woodlands - good luck for the open house! Proof indeed of regional differences. The market up in Scotland seems to still be busy but it is falling - I think it's because wage / house price disparities are less up here so there is less opportunity for the banks 'computer say no'.

Well it's the end of the day and I didn't receive an increased offer... I'd better keep my fingers crossed for some more viewings at the weekend.

Has anyone else just watched Sarah Beeny's 'Double your house for half the money'? It struck me as quite zeitgeisty! Folks can't afford to upsize anymore (by virtue of downsizers and their 'not giving it away' attitude, and banks not throwing mortgages around willy nilly) so Beany's programme's aim is to prove that it is easier to create your dream home by missing out the middleman and not bothering to try to buy as the step between 'rungs' on the property ladder has now broken. Now what will this trend do to the market if it becomes commonplace? Downsizing will become even more tricky...

Do you mean she's telling you how to build an extension?

Hahaha pretty much but as she's applying the 'property porn' glamour that managed to con a lot of the UK walking headlong into the last house bubble - she might start another trend....

Cuddy any news? If they are playing hardball they might be making you sweat a bit. Was their offer last and final? If you've not heard anything I would be tempted to come back with a counter offer that you would accept (higher than the lowest price you would go - just in case they counter-counter offer) to show that you are flexible and not averse to some haggling? So if they have offered 87% - perhaps come back with 97%? I know that in an ideal world you want 96% but could you consider meeting them half way - say 92-93%? That is the average that most houses are going for at the moment according to estate agents.

I guess that is the thing with the mad high prices down south - even a few % translates into tens of thousands of pounds. Crackers! We'd be on the streets (or have to have a much shitter work life balance) if we lived down there. It must be tough.

Lots and lots of luck to you Cuddy

Thank YellowWellies. EA hasn't heard anything from him at all. She has posted a note through his door today to ask him for his best and final offer. He has only been renting for 3 months and now has a new partner with children plus some of his own that would stay over so he needs 6 bedrooms (which we have) and there are no other houses like ours on the market unless he pays £700k plus. I would like to know either way.

We've just had what I think might be our last viewing before closing tomorrow (I kinda hope it's the last as we've got an antenatal class tonight and I've got a midwife appt in town tomorrow so won't be able to show folks round), it seemed positive but I kinda got the impression that the lovely older ladies I showed round were tyre kickers looking for something to do on a sunny afternoon rather than serious buyers. You'd think with closing tomorrow at 4pm that most folks would have viewed already if they were serious.

Am wondering whether I should ring the agent to see if we have any offers yet, or should I just be patient and wait for the grand unveiling in the solicitors' office tomorrow... gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I don't DO patience very well now I'm updiffed.

Hmm we shall see.

Gosh Cuddy £700k for a house - in my head that's lottery win territory - I don't think DH and I will ever be moving back south - I highly recommend Scotland! :) I would say that with such a big brood to house - you are right he is going to have limited options really isn't he. Good luck. Don't despair xx

Tyre kickers - have had a few of them :)

hello, can I join you? We are just on the market and had our first viewing today. Finding it all a bit stressful already!

Good luck MonsterMuncher :)

Thanks CuddyMum, and to you!

I have just seen that you can see which are the most viewed properties in your postcode on Zoopla .. woo, I'm going to get a bit obsessed by this I think

Off to check that ...

Ah, my agent doesn't advertise on Zoopla - shucks.