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? :)

Sorry for just dipping in and out of this thread! One of our two notes of interest has out in an offer of £2.5k below asking price (which is the same as valuation). We are in Scotland. Is it the norm to accept or should I try to haggle them up? Am guessing you always make an offer expecting them to try and negotiate or am I clueless!

The offers submitted at closing are the best and final bids parties want to offer. You can either accept or reject them. When you reject you could intimate that you are open to further negotiations? But generally the bids from closing are the bids you accept or reject and if someone had wanted to offer more they would have already.

But to be honest in many parts of Scotland you'll struggle to get above the HR valuation and in most areas houses are selling at 7-10% under. We got 12% over last week - but I think this was because the HR was undervalued (by a surveyor currently being sued for overvaluing so let's just say he is totally risk averse, we didn't really want to use him but the other local chap fell off a ladder and has broken his knee!!!!) and we were lucky enough to get a bidding war between three buyers. The EA said its the biggest margin he's seen this year - so I count us as very lucky - and far from the norm.

Another viewing on Friday at 4.00 - I will have to tidy the night before and titivate after work. Then drive teenagers and dog around for an hour. More flowers for us too!!

Good luck for Friday, CuddyMum! Hopefully this is a stampede of serious viewers that seem to be materialising, with funding in place and a motivation to move before Christmas. :)

I acquired flowers at lunchtime, chose particularly nicely scented ones to try and hide the curry smell.

Glade candles are good for curry smells! :)

Odours aside - I think you all deserve to go and buy yourself flowers for the sheer stress of house showing!

We found that one of those air fresheners that squirts every 20 mins or so was a great way of masking the cat's sarcastically timed litter tray visits.

No more viewings booked this week...the old estate agents are taking over next week so will have to tidy for them to take pictures soon.

You would think the old agents would do a final push to get their commission before they lose the property from their books...doesn't look like it! Has been very nice being able to be messy for a few days though.

Scottish Woman cancelled! Apparently she liked one of the houses she saw earlier, so is going with that one and is not interested in seeing ours anymore. Argh!!

Argh - from unmotivated buyers to too motivated buyers. (how daft - you'd think she would have seen everything she'd lined up to view unless the other house was really, really, really considerably cheaper? Otherwise you might miss out on something even better? Silly lady...) Argh!!!!

Spirael go out and buy yourself flowers and a bottle of wine and live like a messy slattern for a few days - that should have the viewers lining up x

Tea knowing our cat - he'd be fouling the box to hamper our chances. Our cat hates us but somehow manages to continue to deign to live at our expense.... Silly creature - we're planning to move him further south and back to much more clement weather - he hates the climate up here. He does do a great tumbleweed impression in the Orcadian wind though I'll miss seeing that!

I can believe Scottish woman didn't look at everything! Poor you. Did short notice local man book a viewing yet?

I mean can't believe!

Hope you have more luck with your new agent Marshmallow.

Toomuchtea tea - if it's raining on Friday afternoon I'm taking the kids and dog to the snug in the local pub. I feel crisps and a G&T may be in order!

Thanks Cuddy. We keep seeing 'perfect' houses come up on Rightmove & steeling ourselves not to go and view them...no point making an offer if we don't have a buyer ourselves.

Oh I'm addicted to Rightmove!

I'm the same marsh - we wouldn't have considered selling to someone who hadn't sold theirs. We're off into rented and I'm really happy about the decision as it'll mean for the first six months of the baby's life if anything big goes bang - it's the landlord that has to pay to fix it

I was addicted to Rightmove/Zoopla... But I've stopped looking - too painful! We've been on the market for over a year now.

No news from Short Notice Man, he's still not answering calls. The EA admitted that they thought he might just be messing them around and not a serious viewer. So I've told them if he does call/answer he can just come on Saturday before/after the other viewers, and I've not bothered tidying my house this morning!

So from our four possible candidates at the start of the week, we're down to the Hot Couple (that sounds wrong...) visiting on Saturday. Not looking too hopeful, is it? I expect they, like everyone else, will find another house they like better amongst the hundreds of similar properties available in this area.

I just hope they at least show up! Even if they don't prefer our house over others, at least if they've seen it I'll feel that my efforts for tidying and preparing weren't a total waste.

Hope Hot Couple turn up on Saturday. We don't even have any competition but I sometimes wish we did.

Hope they turn up Spirael. Flowers definitely necessary!

YellowWellies the reason the previous buyers pulled out of this place we're looking at is, as we suspected, issues on the survey. We're asking if we can see the survey to see how bad the issues are - apparently he feels bad about pulling out so may be happy to let us see. We already know there are issues surrounding a 70s loft conversion but if our offer is accepted, we'd have the money to spend putting it right.

But your point about mortgage lenders valuing properties lower is a good one in relation to ours. We've actually now had an even higher offer but I do worry that the survey will say it isn't worth as much. However surely a house is worth what anyone is willing to pay?

Very true woodlands that's the definition of the market I'd use - a house is worth what someone is willing to pay. Which when they are a cash buyer is the end of the story but when they are using someone elses' money i.e. a mortgage - then the bank will also assess that they are not overpaying to reduce their own risk of NE and having an overvalued mortgage book. To some extent the banks are doing what they should have done during the bubble - applying the brakes and saving some folks from themselves by applying reality to valuations. In some ways its good as we are all guilty of plunging in with heart not head and there is nothing more galling than overpaying.

Bloody hell - got another viewer for Friday at 6.30 (will call him Mr Bungalow) but I have to do the viewing myself - bricking it!! So that's three viewers due this week (all not sold though). Am hoping it will kick Mr Low Offer into action.

Was here at the start of the thread but then got very busy & not been in since.

Not read whole thread but hope at least some people are selling and nobody us finding it all too stressful!

We had an offer on our house today, but a very low one. 180 when we are on for 195. have said we want to hold out for as close to asking price as possible, but I reckon we could just about cope with 185 absolute minimum.

ea rang earlier to say the people were going to have a think and come back on Monday if they were still interested, but he didn't sound very hopeful! Essentially told me we should take whatever offer we get as we have only had one, but we have only been on market 2 months!

Incidentally, my dad is a conveyancer and tells me that bairstow eaves estate agents are fondly nicknamed bastards and thieves...