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? :)

Congratulations Spirael. Good news for all, more movement in the market. Lets hope its like a snowball and from one small chain the repercussions in some way roll out and get the rest of us buyers.

Great to hear things are going well for some of you, and big congrats to Spireal! And here I was thinking that mid-October and people had already given up until after Christmas. Really happy for you!

Thanks so much all! I can't believe things are finally happening, after 14 months of waiting and waiting and waiting. A lot of was drunk last night. And my house was left incredibly messy this morning.

DH is going to get the solicitors rolling this morning, and I'm just waiting now to continue negotiations for the house we're trying to buy.

I'm really hoping they'll respond quickly, but it's technically a repo after the building firm went bust, so we're dealing with a bank down in London rather than a specific local person.

But I'll take my buying worries over to the buyers thread. Will be keep my fingers tightly crossed that I'll see lots of you there.

I'm not abandoning here though... There's still a lot that could go wrong. I also want to keep cheering you all on from the sidelines, that the offers come fast and high for everyone!

Did your viewer from yesterday give any further feedback yet, CuddyMum?

YAY Congratulations Spirael! Fab fab news!

AWESOME news Spirael you deserved this good news as you've been so realistic and have a great attitude to the process. May your house now be a messy tip, your rads full of washing and your kitchen full of smelly curry - enjoy life off the market - it's wonderful!

I hope all goes well with your chain.

Great news on your dream house. Dealing with a bank /virtual repo is going to be so much easier - they'll not have emotional attachment nor be offended that you are insulting their DIY / interior design taste. Good luck!

No news :(

As I can't imagine ever getting an offer anytime soon, I was just bouncing around ideas (as you do). I wondered about offering some sort of incentive such as stamp duty paid etc. As I'm not close to a stamp duty bracket I don't know whether anyone would go for it. As ever - any opinions welcome :)

Hold your thoughts - as I pressed send the EA called to say yesterday's viewer is coming tomorrow afternoon with her husband.

Excellent news! That sounds really hopeful.

Just a question but why would you consider doing something as convoluted as stamp duty paid - when simply dropping the price would likely gather more interest? I take it you want to stay a good way above the stamp duty threshold?

Anything like this, along with the 'cashback' or 'your deposit paid' schemes just scream 'desperate seller unwilling to drop the price and move with the market / bane of their EA's life' IMHO!

I would avoid if I were you and bite the bullet and look at the price again if you are still umming and awwing in a fortnight's time and are still determined to move.

Obviously you might not have to.

Ooh, sounds good CuddyMum! Will be keeping everything crossed that she's already chosen and is just showing her husband around before making a good offer! :)

From the other side, the EA is already pulling out all the tricks and has gotten us to increase our offer on the house we want to buy. Won't know until the middle of next week whether our offer will be successful though. [weeps]

Oh well, at least things seem to be going smoothly with the solicitors and our buyers haven't pulled out after sleeping on their decision or anything. :)

Anyone else got viewings lined up for the weekend??

I'm going to enjoy living like a slob, and drying my damn laundry!

We looked into asking for stamp duty paid as the house we want is just over the nasty £250k barrier.

We discovered that any incentives (and paying stamp duty counts) will just be marked by a mortgage provider as a discount in house value, thereby throwing off ratios for deposits as they will lend less.

So might actually be more of a hinderance than a help!

I've scrapped the idea of an incentive - I was grasping at straws.

Spirael enjoy your newfound slobbiness! It'll seem a long time to wait for an acceptance of your offer. What is the delay?

Sounds promising, Toomuchtea! Will be keeping my fingers firmly crossed.

Good luck for later, CuddyMum! :)

Unfortunately, looks like we're in a bidding war for our dream forever home. :( We're not at our max yet, so there's still a chance. But ugh... No interest for months and suddenly there's competition!

Sounds good Toomuchtea! I'm currently cleaning like a mad woman but the sun is coming out so that has cheered me up.

Oh Spirael - that's typical and the sort if thing that would happen to us. Hope it works out and doesn't end in a bidding war.

Update here too - he's too fucking tall for the loft rooms! I actually could cry right now :(

we have an offer. Cash buyer at the price I was hoping for.

Fingers and toes crossed we will finally be able to move on to the next stage...now to start house hunting in earnest. Most of the houses we've had our eye on in the past few months are under offer...but there'll be something out there for us, I hope!

Have they definitely said no then, CuddyMum? My DH is too tall for the loft rooms of the house we've offered on, but as those rooms are going to be for DD and (hopefully) other future children, then we didn't see it as a major issue.

Sounds positive, Toomuchtea. Will be keeping my fingers crossed.

Excellent news, marshmallowpies! Does seem like the market is picking up a bit at the moment (right before Christmas, who'd have guessed?) so hopefully there'll be offers all round soon.

Hopefully your house hunting will go well. :) Big pile of stress here, the house we want has gone to Best and Final Offers and we won't know the outcome until Wednesday. Also, because it's England, it's not even binding. So we could still get outbid even if we 'win'. Ugh!

Keeping my fingers crossed the other party aren't that bothered and decide to walk away.

No, there's no where else that meets our rather specific criteria at the moment (looking for our forever home). Though we have seen about three or four candidates throughout the year, so they do crop up relatively regularly.

If we don't get this one, we'll probably rent the smallest flat we can get away with, save more money and hold out until the market gets some fresh properties in the spring.

Have calmed down a bit now :)

Well done Marshmallowpies - that's excellent news.

Fingers crossed for you on Wednesday Spirael.

Toomuchtea - hope you get an offer from Mrs Keen and Mr Cautious!

Spoke to the EA this afternoon and she has said that I should keep the house on as this is the busiest they've been all year. She said the price is fine and there is nothing else we can do to make the house better. I just need the right buyer! So, if there are any short people looking for a house....