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Original poster

Is anyone else finding it really hard to sell at the moment?

63 replies

mumblechum1 · 10/07/2014 12:41

Just that really. Been on market 5 weeks, a bit of interest in 1st week and nothing at all since.

Agent just says it's like a light has been switched off throughout SE due to new mortgage requirements and media talk of interest rate rises, but I am quite concerned now.

Is it just us or is anyone else getting 0 viewers?

OP posts:
SpringyReframed · 11/07/2014 11:25

I'm just inside commuter distance ie on or two in our village commute, and do a lot of working from home - going west from London - and I've just sold but didnt have many lookers and lowered the price after a month. I thought my agent was too ambitious and I was proved right.

My house was valued exactly 2 years ago by 3 agents as part of my divorce shenanigans, and the price I've got is only 9% higher than the average of those valuations. That is no way a boom, even though the agents clearly thought it was back in April when my house was first marketed.

SpringyReframed · 11/07/2014 11:29

Oh, and I'm moving North, not near you Ratfans but a city in the NE where it is hard to buy one in the popular areas - they've been flying up since April, and by the time I've managed to get to view they've gone. Buying at a distance is proving a lot harder than I thought.

ChickenFajitasAndNachos · 11/07/2014 11:57

If you don't mind me asking Mumble why are you moving?

Original poster
mumblechum1 · 11/07/2014 12:03

Chicken, we want a house with land. Ideally about 4 acres inc a small lake.

OP posts:
ChickenFajitasAndNachos · 11/07/2014 12:06

Wow, that sounds lovely. Will you grow stuff?

Original poster
mumblechum1 · 11/07/2014 12:10

Nah. That's what Waitrose is for. Did attempt tomatoes once but they were a failure. Just want to be able to have lots of space around us and look out onto green fields/woodland.

OP posts:
Original poster
mumblechum1 · 11/07/2014 12:13

Something like one of these: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29447517.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29495952.html?premiumA=true

would be lovely.

OP posts:
ChickenFajitasAndNachos · 11/07/2014 12:17

Pure Envy

Original poster
mumblechum1 · 11/07/2014 12:23

They're both a bit over budget btw, but there's nothing wrong with looking Grin

OP posts:
mandy214 · 11/07/2014 12:56

Things are still moving quite quickly here (NW) but I agree with other posters that 5 weeks for a £1mill+ house isn't that long. Good luck!

TurquoiseDress · 11/07/2014 17:08

I'm in SE London and I'd say that things seem to be slowing down (am not selling anything myself).

A close work colleague lives in Bromley- they had a bidding war over their flat back in April, accepted offer for nearly 80k over the asking price after a total frenzy, with a dozen viewings lined just a few hours after going on the market.

All sounds fabulous...however, their buyers pulled out just a couple of days before exchange...apparently they couldn't get the mortgage they needed.

My friend was devestated- her and partner had to then pull out of their house purchase, it was perfect for them and their young son but they had to let it go as they hadn't sold.

They then put the flat back on the market early summer but they are struggling to sell now...she's really bitter and says that they 'missed the boat' in terms of making a huge profit on their property but admits that maybe it was too good to be true.

All they want is house and garden but she is angry they are still living in their 2 bed flat...plus baby number 2 is on the way soon. It's such a shame though I doubt they are the only ones this has happened to.

I think people are struggling to get mortgages compared to earlier on in the year...this has put the brakes on runaway price rises.

Not a bad thing in my opinion, but then I am a wannabe first time buyer...dreaming of buying our own home, but realising it's very unlikely any time soon!

ExcuseTypos · 12/07/2014 07:51

We're in the same position. It's been on sale for 7 weeks, we've had 6 viewers, but nothing in the past 2 weeks. We love in a lovely village in the south, where houses usually sell very quickly. Two other houses are up for sale and they are getting little interest too.

I think it's due to the new morgage affordability requirements. I think house prices will fall.

We talked to the agent about reducing the price and she recommended we reduce the price by £45K to £599k for a quick sale. The point is they recommended we put it on the market at £675k only 3 months ago, but we felt that was too high so settled for £645k. I'm just please we don't "have" to move, or it all be be so stressful.

EatSleepLove · 12/07/2014 09:43

Ours took 6 months with not very many viewings. But it only takes one person to fall in love with it. Even in central london it seems that houses over 1m are hanging around for a lot longer than they were 12 months ago. My friend sold a similar house to ours in 2 weeks, then we went on the market and all the buyers vanished for 4 months! Very demoralising but you'll get there in the end

settingsitting · 12/07/2014 10:00

Is there a pattern to house buying? Though an older person, I am a newbie to house buying.

settingsitting · 12/07/2014 10:00

That it all kicks off in March and pretty much shuts down at some point for winter?

ChickenFajitasAndNachos · 12/07/2014 10:11

I think Jan, Easter/spring and September are the best time to put your house on the market.

polkadotdelight · 12/07/2014 10:12

Our first baby is due in September so you can bet thats when we get more viewers!

upyourninja · 12/07/2014 10:20

Sorry you're having a hard time selling OP - though hopefully it will make things easier/cheaper for you to buy in the long run. Would you be in a position to sell whenever you can, rent, and then be in a brilliant position to buy, chain free? It would allow you to move much faster when the right house comes up.

We bought and sold last year, not a million miles away from you and in an Oxon area that has lots of £1million+ houses. We sold in a small town where a 3-bed bungalow with a tiny bit of land went for £675k Shock but it still took us 5 months (about 6 viewers I think) to actually sell. We had offers which fell through. Our buyers were first timers and desperately wanted to move in, and we had bought our new house and desperately wanted out of our old one - is still took forever!

Isitmylibrarybook · 12/07/2014 10:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lelivre · 12/07/2014 11:09

We are sale agreed. It took about 10 weeks plus a price reduction. I was disappointed with the viewing numbers. Also disappointed with our agent. I felt they were letting the house generate it's own interest. We have notice, suddenly lots of viewings and two asking price offers on the same day. I felt the agent upped their game.

Lelivre · 12/07/2014 11:16

'Gave' notice

upyourninja · 12/07/2014 12:09

Oh yes and I wanted to say that we bought our last house in 2007 (Confused) and did about £35k worth of improvements as we expected to stay longer. We were assured the house would sell easily and near asking price but in the end we had to drop £25k and only got £2.5k more than we paid. I was gutted at the time, but we fixed our price in May last year, bought a house which we're making major improvements to, and apparently prices have gone up 12% in this area. So ultimately we should be better off - you may find that a downturn benefits you more than it hurts you if you are scaling up.

upyourninja · 12/07/2014 12:10

Oh yes and I wanted to add that we bought our last house in 2007 (Confused) and did about £35k worth of improvements as we expected to stay longer. We were assured the house would sell easily and near asking price but in the end we had to drop £25k and only got £2.5k more than we paid. I was gutted at the time, but we fixed our price in May last year, bought a house which we're making major improvements to, and apparently prices have gone up 12% in this area. So ultimately we should be better off - you may find that a downturn benefits you more than it hurts you if you are scaling up.

A friend's parents sold in W. London and were told to price at £1.4 million. They had a huge flurry of interest and a failed buyer. Then almost no interest unto eventually an offer under £1mill which they had to accept. Tough times.

upyourninja · 12/07/2014 12:11

Oh yes and I wanted to add that we bought our last house in 2007 (Confused) and did about £35k worth of improvements as we expected to stay longer. We were assured the house would sell easily and near asking price but in the end we had to drop £25k and only got £2.5k more than we paid. I was gutted at the time, but we fixed our price in May last year, bought a house which we're making major improvements to, and apparently prices have gone up 12% in this area. So ultimately we should be better off - you may find that a downturn benefits you more than it hurts you if you are scaling up.

A friend's parents sold in W. London and were told to price at £1.4 million. They had a huge flurry of interest and a failed buyer. Then almost no interest unto eventually an offer under £1mill which they had to accept. Tough times.

upyourninja · 12/07/2014 12:15

Sorry - connectivity issues.

And good luck OP!

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