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 to hear that Duchess - do you think you will remarket it again next year?

Well done Sunset - that's progress indeed. Do you think they'll increase their offer?

Graven - we are totally slobbing out after our last viewing. Not sure if we'll get any more viewers this side of Christmas but if we do I hope the EA vets them properly!! I certainly won't be changing plans to accommodate any more timewasters. Still, my faux flowers are looking lovely!

Toomuchtea - brrrrrrr!!!!!! Can you not rent a short term let type apartment and put your things into storage?

For the time being, we are staying on the market but only while the house we want is still available. Part of me wonders if being for sale for so long will put buyers off and whether we should just come off and try again next year when the chances are that some people won't realise we've been on the market before. Saying that, I am Rightmove obsessed and know the marketing history of every property in the area!

So sorry to hear that, Duchess. It must feel so disheartening after so long. Hope that the house is manageable in the medium term, whatever your long term plans are.

No I don't think we'll remarket the house again Cuddymum. We've been through several different EAs in town and got nowhere. It's been a stressful and unhappy experience for us, so we'll be staying put unless, of course, we win the lottery :o (have to buy a ticket first).

I'll still lurk on this thread and wish all of you who are selling the very best of luck and every success.

Did you get a higher offer or accept the lower one, SunsetSongster? :) Or are you holding out for a bit longer?

Sorry to hear you're off the market, DuchessofMalfi. At least it means you can hopefully relax a bit, not have to worry about tidying and keeping everything uncluttered!

We've had our first hiccup here, our buyers have finally come back about the survey. We thought we were safe, the survey was done three weeks ago!

First point is a non issue as far as the EA and I are concerned, the garage roof (like every other garage roof in the area) is asbestos, but is in good condition and the garage is dry. However the roof has moss on it. The survey recommends the moss is swept off by an asbestos specialist.

The second is more of a problem... The survey noted some minor discolouration in the roof timbers that might indicate a problem and recommends a roofing specialist check it out. The buyer wants to send a roofer out to check.

Our roof is the original 1930's roof. Our house is dry with no leaks as far as we've noticed, but a roofer is going to take one look, get £££ in his eyes and recommend replacing the whole thing, isn't he? :( When we had the guttering done last year, the builder commented then that the roof may need some 'attention' in a few years. He quoted £4k to replace it.

What do we do? We can't afford to drop by another £4k! Or worse still, our buyers might run a mile if they hear the words 'replace the roof'.

Argh...it was all going so well!

Sorry you're feeling so bad Duchess - hope you enjoy not having the stress over your head anymore.

Fingers crossed your buyers don't get spooked Spirael - surely they must be expecting it if it is an older property.

We said no to the offer and they have decided not to increase at the moment as they are looking at others too. I feel ok about it as we had a bit of a panic about mortgages this week and we could really do with a bit more to make everything comfortable. Hopefully we won't be regretting the decision. We have 4 more viewings this weekend and 1 next week - no second viewings yet though.

We've arranged to see some houses ourselves this weekend (after the excitement of the offer). I think we will still go along so we can move quickly if we do get a higher offer.

Oh crikey Spirael - I wonder why they took so long to raise the issue. Hope it is all resolved swiftly for you.

Wow Sunset - a further 5 viewings is great.

Well, all has gone silent again. I'm hoping the situation is as follows:

The woman buying our house as acted before on the instructions of her father. As in she turned up with a list of questions he wanted her to ask when she had her second viewing.

I think they got the survey, thought it was fine (after all, the roof comment just indicates some discolouration of the beams they might want to get checked - not that it's falling down or anything!) but her father has now seen it and said they need to flag up the two things.

She's dutifully raised it to the EA, to see whether I'd have a knee jerk reaction of offering £X off. I haven't, I've thrown it back to them to arrange someone to check it out if they want. After all, as far as we're concerned our roof is fine. The loft is dry as a bone and we store stuff up there with no problem.

Our buyers have FTB buying their house who have relocated for work and are currently doing very long commutes, so won't want a delay. Meanwhile they want to be in to our house before 14th December. If they kick up a fuss and need loads of checks running, there's no way that's going to happen.

So I'm hoping they've decided kicking up a fuss for the sake of maybe £1k-£2k isn't worth it. [crosses fingers]

We've done all the sums ourselves last night, and by going to the bottoms of our overdrafts we can maybe offer another £1k off maximum. We can also throw in a few bits of matching furniture to try and sweeten the deal.

For a roof worth £4k to entirely replace, that isn't currently leaking or seemingly in dire need of repair, would a £1k offer being acceptable if it came down to it? Or should we be hard nosed and refuse to negotiate any further discount?

There's no chance of us getting anything off the house we're buying, we only just got it from our rival bidders as it was! The slightest fuss and I get the feeling they'll drop us and go back to the other couple.

It's tiles on felt, Toomuchtea. The tiles are fine and as far as we're aware the beams are fine. It's the felt that's basically getting old and brittle, but as far as I understand the felt is just backup anyway as the tiles are doing a perfectly adequate job of running the water off.

So replacing/repairing the roof is a case of removing the tiles, laying new felt and then putting the same or new tiles back. Mostly the cost is workmanship and scaffolding.

I think it would come under one of those amber jobs - something that isn't urgent or essential but should probably be done at some point. Hense my reluctance (not to mention inability) to fund the entire repair/replacement.

The valuation on the survey is for the house without the work done in its current condition, isn't it? So as long as the valuation is the same or higher than the price offered, it's all a fair deal?

I wonder if the EA has seen or knows what the valuation came in at.

Ok, I spoke to our EA and feel a bit less traumatised worried now. Apparently the woman is still eager to buy the house and move in ASAP, even if the roof does need some work, so we don't have to worry about her dropping out or running a mile.

She's going to arrange someone to check the roof next week and as far as the EA is aware, if it's just some minor repair work that needs doing then she'll probably let it slide. Anything more major than that, she might ask a contribution.

So looks like we should still be able to go ahead. [crosses everything] We can manage a little bit more if necessary... We can live without luxuries, furniture, food, central heating, etc, after we move for a while. DH and I have already decided that our Christmas present to each other this year is the house!

On the other side of the chain, it's a game of Chinese whispers going on between our Solicitor, their Solicitor, the EA, the bank, etc. Hopefully we've finally got them all talking now. Solicitors are saying >2 weeks to move, bank are demanding

We've sorted out our rental house so we have a stop gap whilst we take our time and house hunt in Fife. Whoop!

It's a professional landlord - not someone who can't sell and is renting it out instead - though my sister went to see a couple of places for us with landlords in that situation and they were jumping up and down to negotiate the rent down just to get someone in. I'm wary of renting from someone who doesn't know what they are doing and who might not have told their mortgage company that the property is rented (and so invalidating their buildings insurance).

The rent is £100 a month less than our mortgage - so is perfect for us re saving money and also should anything go wrong - repair costs are the landlord's worry. Which suits me fine with a new baby.

I was amused that at one point the agent suggested we would need to go to Fife to sign the lease in the next couple of weeks - which, given it would cost £800 in flights and would involve dragging a newborn 400 miles each way - was a little daft. Thankfully the landlord has agreed that electronic communications exist in this day and age and we can make use of them!

Well we have a viewing...don't know whether to be pleased or worried!

I was stopped in the street yesterday by a neighbour who wanted to let me know that someone had pulled up outside dads and was obviously looking at the house. She knew them and went over to talk...apparently the man was keen to send my neighbour to find me to ask if I would let them in...but the woman had said no that's not fair, that's not how it works and we will phone for an appointment.

I had wondered if that was her polite way of saying she wasn't keen from the drive by....but no - first thing this morning they were in the office asking to view!

ARGH...I have never done this. I live in a rented house.......what do I say and what do I not say!!

I am worried about putting people off by making reference to the faults...do you think saying that the house 'needs a little tlc' would be OK?!

Thanks toomuchtea - the estate agent is attached to the solicitor firm dealing with dad's estate. They could show people round but suggested buyers sometimes prefer the vendor so they can ask any questions they might have...and as I only live two doors down I am on hand.

We will play it by ear and might change to estate agents if there is little interest.

When he phoned to make the appointment the estate agent said the viewer was someone they have dealt with before and left me with the impression that he was buy to let/renovate. He also advised that he might be a little pushy and try to pin me down to an offer....we are in Scotland so he has already had a copy of the home report survey and is aware of the issues raised in that.

The estage agent said to refuse to engage in a conversation about money and advise the viewer to contact them to discuss.

When they arrived there was adult daughter and her parents...they said the house would be for the daughter but that they were financing so thats why they were there.

He asked about the leak mentioned in the report and I could show him where it had been fixed.

Upshot is they are coming back later this week to see the place in daylight...they tried to get my home number to call me to arrange but I managed to pin them down to a time without giving them it. I don't know why - I just wasn't keen on them beign able to phone me and figure that is what we pay the solicitor for?

One good thing...because they had read the report they knew what to expect of the house and that it was going to be a project for whoever buys it! I didn't have to worry about dropping myself in it because they already knew.

Thanks again!

Just catching up on here - congrats to YellowWellies!

Our sale is still chuntering through - we have just answered a load of questions from our buyers. I think they've had the survey back and (fingers crossed) haven't come back with any major hiccups. Still hoping to move by Christmas but I think it's looking unlikely!

Just checking in! Nothing to report here. As expected viewings have now dried up so I'm doing some very minor DIY jobs - touching chipped paint up and filling around doors etc (thanks to teenagers and their fondness of banging doors!). I have started thinking about buying a new sofa and changing the blinds/cushions/rug in the lounge, which is something I was putting off in case we moved as I could like a corner sofa arrangement which just wouldn't go in our current house.

Mentally I have moved back into the house and am trying to come to terms with the fact that the house seems "unsellable"! If I had a reason why the house was not selling (like being on a main road etc) I might be able to accept it better. I had a 12 year old from Wilson Peacock knock on the door the other day and he too said that a large house like ours should easily attract families in this area.

We have agreed to keep the house on the market until the house we want to buy goes under offer.

Sorry cuddy that things haven't changed. It sounds like it's just your area - are other things moving. We are very lucky I guess to be somewhere that there is more demand than supply. We've had another offer (from someone else) and it's better than the last one so may be able to go with it. We've put in an offer on the house we like that we know is too low but are hoping that somehow it will be accepted. We don't really have a plan B though so will have to see how keen the buyers are to move (they are chain free). I'm a bit nervous about renting as I want to make sure our mortgage will definitely go through before we give up this place.
Hope everyone else is ok.

Not feeling the love for our buyer anymore...

Her roofing friend didn't make an appointment but instead checked the roof from outside and has decided the house needs an entirely new roof because the tiles are the original ones (1930s) and they don't make them anymore.

He's quoting £5k for the work and she wants at least half that as discount. We can't afford to discount by more than £1k and still move. Besides, the roof is sound, the house is dry and warm! It's not like it's missing or about to fall off.

The EA is busy negotiating with the £1k discount from our overdrafts and some furniture we can offer. I've also asked the EA to consider lowering their fees to help make up the difference, we're that desperate. We've been utterly shafted at both ends, with them negotiating our sale down and our rival bidders negotiating our purchase up.

DH is on a plane where I can't reach him, I'm stuck at work, I have no friends or family nearby (2YO DD aside) and feel like I'm about to burst into tears. :(

Assuming the whole thing isn't about to fall through, I am so not leaving a bottle of wine, the instruction manuals for the appliances, lightbulbs or anything else not in the contract!

I am also never moving again!

He hasn't even been up to see the roof?
That's ridiculous.
Get your own roofer up there and get a quote.
Bloody Chancers!

Unfortunately we don't have time! We have a short deadline now to move for the house we're buying (repo with multiple bidders) and our buyer has sat on the survey for over a month now before getting any quotes or starting negotiations. She's also threatened to pull out and preserve her chain, saying her sister has a house they can move into.

We've basically been gazundered.

Not sure if it's a happy ending or not, but lovely DPiL have offered an extra £1k. £2k discount has been accepted. So we are still going ahead, but Christmas has been cancelled.

So, now I need all your best ideas for how to legally make our buyers lives miserable when they move in! (Anger better than grief right now, I feel.)

Will be going through the contract with a fine toothed comb and taking anything we haven't promised to leave. In addition:

No lightbulbs
No instructions (inc burglar alarm code)
Gas/Water/Electricty off
No extra keys
No matching furniture
No cleaning
No toilet paper
No hot water tank cover

Is loosening the taps a step too far??

Spirael I'd leave them a bottle of wine. In fact I'd leave them all of my recycling bin full of wine bottles . That's seriously bad juju on their part - some folks are just shits - karma will bite them in the ass in the end.

Prawns behind the radiators?