The decluttering, cleaning, vacating, pandering, nailbiting antics of the stressed out house sellers continued...

[CuddyMum]

Thought I'd better start a new thread... :)

Yes me too, Streetview, Google Earth, satellite view... name a way of stalking 'our' house and I've done it! But would love to see how it looks different now the season has changed- it was all bare branches and frozen earth last time we saw it, and now I guess it will be... err.. a few leaves and frozen earth . Our current house has an apple tree in the garden and since we accepted the offer it has come into the most magnificent blossom. I almost want to invite the buyers around to appreciate it!

Off to get the school transfer forms stamped by our current school in a few minutes.

I kind of know what the new garden ought to look like in the summer as they were up for sale with another agent then and their pictures are still in Zoopla! What a bunch of stalkers we all are. Thankfully, I didn't have to get any forms stamped by the current school as we are changing catchment area.

Our buyers now have their mortgage papers to sign ( the husband is abroad so will take slightly longer) and then their survey will be undertaken. Good to know that things are happening but so wish that other people were more proactive and wanted to get things done with a bit more urgency!!

Our buyers now have their mortgage papers to sign ( the husband is abroad so will take slightly longer) and then their survey will be undertaken. Good to know that things are happening but so wish that other people were more proactive and wanted to get things done with a bit more urgency!!

Sorry, apologies for double post!

We're moving 60 miles away but back to the place I grew up so I know it well but DH is a bit in the dark and only just realising he is moving somewhere totally random.

Bit of luck our surveyor had a cancellation so is coming today! Should know by this evening whether we have a big problem or not.

I know Dog - some people have no sense of urgency!

Good luck with the survey hinkyhonk.

We're moving 50miles away, but still in the North East just the other end of it.
I sent in the completed school forms last week but god knows where we'll get a place. Village school is oversubscribed and ATM doesn't have a place in DSs year. We've asked to go on the waiting list though and hopefully should be quite high on it as my disability impacts on me getting him to other schools out of the village easily although they will provide transport if he gets a place further afield.
We're in the annoying limbo land of house sale/buying paperwork. We are waiting for other people (surveyors/solicitors etc) to do their bits and there is nothing we can do except cross fingers and wait. We're both hating it.
I spoke to our homebuyers report surveyor's secretary -wife- today and she says it's going in the post tomorrow but I think it shouldn't hold any surprises.
I'm more worried about the mortgage valuation which was done on Friday (no news yet) as not many houses like this have sold in the area and it last sold 25yrs ago so I guess it's harder to guess how the bank view it especially with the conservative nature of valuations.
The sale of our house seems to be going swimmingly although the buyers are paranoid about being gazumped (one person tried but we felt it unethical to accept) so keep checking with EA that we haven't changed our minds.

Very frustrating Wonky - it seems never ending.

At least your buyers are still keen!

Hope you hear about the mortgage valuation soon.

I don't think we are gonna manage to sell our house before the new school year starts. The first viewer who was really interested has now bought something else, the second couple who seemed really enthusiastic are having a second viewing on another house but not on ours.
Heard nothing back from other viewers, and a viewer who had booked in for coming Thursday has just cancelled. There is another one on Thursday, who has not (yet) cancelled, but that's it.

Our estate agent has suggested that we do an open house this weekend. I absolutely HATE the idea, but my partner wanted to do it, so now we are doing it. Which means I won't be able to plan anything because people could pop in at any moment. And I wanna bet they pop in just when the cat decides to have a poo in the garden or something...

Hurrah the engineer says historic! Woop woop!

Oh rubbish tau. It only takes one buyer though.

Oh Tau - that's not great. Not sure about the open house thing but it seems all the rage at the moment. Saying that, I've never been to one. You can guarantee that the cat will curl one though!

Good news hinky!

Good news hinky, bad luck tau :( still, an open house might encourage more people to poke about?

Our latest viewing didn't result in an offer. They liked it well enough but need somewhere cheaper. Funny that, I thought they put the prices all over the leaflets and website .

Given our situation (borrowing from family to buy) I think we are going to reduce the price to try to drum up more interest.

We've had an offer!!
Within an hour of them leaving the house too. EA stressed that it's only an initial offer 25k under asking, but that they absolutely loved it and are going to put pressure on their EA to get theirs sold.
Their EA contacted ours to say they have an open house this weekend and he's confident it should sell quickly going by other similar properties nearby.
He also said he'd spoken to the other EA in the area and they both said ours was overpriced. One has never set foot in the place and the other gave us the same valuation as the one we went with!! I'm tempted to pay them a bit of a visit!
Of course this could just be their EA trying it on.

Unfortunately we still can't find anything to buy.....nothing new seems to be coming on in the area we want.

Tau - open houses do seem to be the thing to do. Personally I prefer to view houses in my own time and be able to discuss options without others overhearing etc.
But having said that, from a sellers point of view, it's probably a good thing and encourages people to get a move on if they do actually like it.
Will the EA not cover the open house for you?

Gah just realised tomorrow is Wednesday. 2 Wednesdays ago our buyer dropped her price, last Wednesday she dropped out (although I managed to convince her back in) and tomorrow I'd Wednesday and we are still waiting for her response on the survey. They say things come in threes right

Morning all!

ruby do you not need to sell to buy then? Thats a fortunate position to be in. Why don't you rent it out?

Turnip great news on the offer, what are you going to do about it? How long have you been on the market for?

Tau open houses are a good idea, better to get your house tidy for one day rather than the constant threat!

Well Worrysome Wednesday has started for me! Luckily I have a few meetings to keep me busy today.

Morning!
Turnip what a strange thing for the EAs to be discussing the value of your house. Sounds like he is softening you up on behalf of his clients. Fingers crossed they will become proceedable soon and improve their offer.

We had an email last night to say our survey has been done and the report will be released on receipt of payment. We've handed over the money so just need to wait for it to clear.

I also found a Plan B last night- a much bigger house for the same price, but in a village outside the town where we are buying. The difference in price is because it's not near a station like 'our' house is. I also don't know anything about the village schools. But it's nice to know that there are other options if we need them.

Our EA stressed that it was only an initial offer to express their serious interest. She said we don't have to consider their offer yet as they still have a house to sell, but that we should be thinking about what we are prepared to come down to.
She said they absolutely fell in love with it and that they were going to do all they could to get a quick sale on theirs. The offer was put in within an hour of them leaving!
I do think their agent was trying to soften us up for a low offer yes!

We really need to get as much as we can for it, as the next step up is a big, expensive one in this area. We will be really stretching ourselves as it is. So we are thinking along the lines of saying we would accept 10k under, but will keep it on the market while we're looking or for 5k under we'll take it off the market while we're still looking.
Does that sound acceptable?

Forgot to say, we've been on the market for around 8 weeks. We went on just as the weather turned crap and snowy, so had a bit of a slow start!

Ruby - I would consider renting it out in your position and wait to sell when the market picks up.

Pendulum- Nice to have an alternative lined up!

Just wondering... is anyone else feeling a bit sick about this whole thing? I spend all day Taking Action to keep things moving, then at night I lie awake in the room that has been my bedroom for the last 10 years, where my DDs' moses baskets lay, and wonder how I will ever bring myself to pack up and leave all the memories behind.

I think the enormous jump in the financial burden we are taking on also has something to do with the sick feeling. There's nothing like poring over an insurance schedule to bring on a serious fit of hypochondria. I have spent most of this morning convincing myself that I am about to die any minute now!

I really need to give myself a kick up the bum, don't I?

Uh oh - just me then