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Original poster

Anyone for a 'trying but failing to sell my house thread'?

101 replies

BlardyBlaaaaa · 06/08/2014 09:30

I'll start...

This time on Monday I was on cloud nine. Just taken on new EA, had one viewing. The couple 'loved our house', put in an offer later, their buyer cash buyer, so all good.

The thought of no more viewings (we were on with online agent before so I had to conduct viewings), no more tidying, no more being in limbo.... Well, guess what? The couple changed their mind about relocating to my town and have retracted their offer, so back to bloody square one again.

Added to that, the EA for the house we want to buy is an arse extraordinaire and never returns my phone calls or emails.

I hate this whole business. Anyone else want to rant with me?

OP posts:

Loveleopardprint · 31/08/2014 18:51

Hi, I am trying to sell my cottage in a small village in the south west. Been on the market since April and only had 5 viewings. Really fed up with tidying and rearranging rooms trying to make them look bigger or less cluttered. All the same houses seem to be sitting on the market with no offers around here. Praying for a miracle in the Autumn. Bit stuck Roth agent as we paid for an expensive brochure and only get the money back if we sell through them. Feeling a bit frustrated and fed up. It has never taken us this long to sell a house.

Pipbin · 31/08/2014 23:39

Can you get the agent to retake the pictures and somehow manage to realist it on Rightmove?

Selling houses is something like getting pregnant. When you think about the chances of the planets aligning and everything and everyone being in exactly the right place and time are huge. Yet it happens. Not that this helps you!

What feedback have you had Love?

Loveleopardprint · 01/09/2014 10:00

Everyone loves my garden but says the house is cramped. I have four bedrooms and three receptions. They also say the ceilings and doorways are two low but it is a 18th century cottage so not sure what I can do about that!! One even said they wanted character but we had too much character!! I have been clearing rooms and making as much space as possible. It is a very specific property so I suppose somebody has to fall in love with it.

LizzieMint · 01/09/2014 10:15

Still no progress here, all the agent says is that it's down to the summer holidays so we'll see if it picks up. Only 2 viewings in 4 weeks.

Original poster

BlardyBlaaaaa · 01/09/2014 16:14

LizzieMint it only takes one person to like your house (and all it's character). You did, so someone else will!

This is my new mantra... We've had 6 viewings in the last 6 weeks. 2 offers, one retracted and one ridiculously low. EA reckons this is an 'above average conversion rate'! Ha. Still not sold though, is it?

Another viewing lined up for later in the week; let's hope things pick up now schools are back (tomorrow for my little darlings).

Oh, and the house we wanted to buy definitely gone now, so back to square one on that front too....

OP posts:

LizzieMint · 01/09/2014 16:26

We haven't started viewing houses yet (for various reasons) but almost don't dare in case we find our dream home. It's such a stressful process!

sunshineandhappy · 02/09/2014 19:18

3 months in now, there are 4 other houses identical to mine in a radius of 200 yards! Why did I buy a new build. Can anyone explain if mine is the cheapest of the 5, by 2.5%, all same decor, same colours, same kitchen units etc, the one that is most expensive has sold in 3 weeks, whilst I haven't even had a viewing in a month? Feeling slightly desperate now.

maxipink · 03/09/2014 11:13

Yes please I want to rant. We live in N. West Ireland, where property values are certainly not peaking like much to England. Our house and holiday cottage beside, have been on the market for 5 months with just 3 viewings. We have lost out on 2 potiential properties so far and are getting more fustrated by the day. We just feel in limbo. We watch some of the relocating programmes and know our house is valued at a fraction of the price of many other areas. Sooooo unsettling!!

mrsleomcgary · 03/09/2014 11:29

I completed yesterday :)

have caught up with this thread and completly agree with previous poster who commented on my photos being shit,they absolutly were! I dont know enough about the property market to comment on the norm when it comes to upfront fees but when we changed agents nobody we spoke to took one,and were amazed remax worked with upfront fees and no commission (did I mention it was no commision in my last post?). anyway,if I ever sell again I would seriously consider using an agent that worked that way.

mumblechum1 · 03/09/2014 14:17

Well done, so pleased for you! How long did it take to get an offer?

mrsleomcgary · 03/09/2014 15:10

when we changed agent two weeks and one viewing!

LizLemon · 03/09/2014 19:51

Just catching up with the thread, and hope to spread the love. We got an offer of asking price the first weekend with our new agent, and had an offer accepted on a house ten days later (on the same street!). It needs work but that the only way we could afford to stay in spitting distance of school.

Neither buyer nor seller has a chain so things seem to be progressing at a clip - fingers very firmly crossed. The only downside is that everyone seems to want money from us now In amongst all that we've got birthdays/visitors galore, and DS starting reception on Monday. It's feeling a bit frantic but in a good way.

I agree with finding a person you get on with - my agency doesn't have the best rep in my area, but I believed the agent when she said she had someone who would love it, and true enough he bought it. I was talking to my hairdresser about the pain of selling, as she'd just bought a place, & she mentioned that this agency had been the most proactive in finding her places to look at, so I took that into account too. They got 8 people through the door in one weekend, which was more than the other lot achieved in 8 weeks. The only sad thing is that we missed out on an amazing house because the other lot couldn't sell our flat, so I'll be mourning that for a while.

RandomMess · 03/09/2014 20:56

By accident a work colleague found out who is buying our house and they said the house was much bigger than it looked on the photos on line - very interesting!!!

Our house is a bit of tardis though, looks small but in real life quite roomy...

Still they are excited to be moving into it and I'm looking forward to giving it a thorough clean before I leave for good knowing that someone is looking forward to living in it.

Original poster

BlardyBlaaaaa · 06/09/2014 09:28

Congrats to all those who've got offers/sold. Please please please pass some of your luck along to poor old Blardy.

Sadly for me the market doesn't appear to have burst into life here, given that it's now the magic month of September. We had one viewing last week that 'went well', but have heard nothing since, so I'm assuming it's a no.

To add insult to injury, I stupidly went to see another house which was perfect in every way. I even had that feeling when I went through the front door (like I did with this house). Booked second viewing to go back with builder only to be told a cash buyer had come along that morning and made a good offer....

I cried. A lot actually, but have PMt too which I'm sure contributed.

OP posts:

Apatite1 · 06/09/2014 11:19

The market in my bit of London is also very very quiet. Lots of supply, no one seems to be buying.

newtothenet · 06/09/2014 16:18

Can I join in too please? We're trying to sell our two-bedroom semi due to baby number two arriving at Christmas. The house is the nicest (most modern, biggest garden etc) in the area, and the cheapest too now as we recently reduced the price. Nine viewings in two months, two second viewings, but no offers, as they either prefer another house or decide not to move. It's difficult keeping such a small house tidy with a toddler and I'm dreading the prospect of trying to do so with a newborn too. Trying not to worry, but it does get me down sometimes.

Lil83 · 08/09/2014 19:46

Hello there, having the same problems. Our house has been on 8 weeks and we ve had a few viewings but none for the last 3 weeks!
EA says that the market is quiet during august and it should pick up soon but hard not to worry.
Has anyone seen an increase in viewings in the last week or so?

LizzieMint · 09/09/2014 15:34

We've dropped the price of ours (by nearly 10%) because we've found a house we want. New price went live today and we've got one viewing booked in already so fingers crossed things will move now. I really don't want to miss out on the house we want!!

Isthatwhatdemonsdo · 09/09/2014 15:58

We accepted an offer on our house 7 weeks ago. We still can't find a house to move to. I'm starting to lose the will.

LizzieMint · 17/09/2014 13:07

Anyone having any luck? We dropped the price on ours last week and got 2 viewings off that but neither of them wanted to proceed. Now busily thinking up plan B, as we have to move (for job) by Christmas and it's getting increasingly unlikely.
Another house on our estate has been on the market a few weeks and they've had only one viewing.
Buyers seem to have just vanished!

Lil83 · 17/09/2014 21:00

Same here, reduced our price on Monday, no viewings yet. There are a number of properties for sale where I live and only 2 have sold in the last 4 weeks. Hoping the buyers pick up soon

CantSleepWontSleep · 17/09/2014 23:07

This looks like a good place for me!

Our house has been on the market since December last year!
We have dropped the asking price by 10% in 2 stages, and have finally had an offer (now 13% below original asking, but their opening offer was 17% below), but it's from someone who hasn't yet even put theirs on the market!!
They are putting it on this week, and our agent reckons that it should go quickly. Let's hope so as we've offered on another, but they won't accept until the chain is complete.

Although we've had to drop it, the price wasn't really the problem with ours. Our problem is that we are very rural, and as such we appeal to a very niche market. We've had a good smattering of viewings, but the feedback is always that they love the house but it is too remote for them.

roneik · 26/09/2014 12:53

The market is at the beginning of a crash , insane prices paid will leave a lot of people in a bad way. Now is the time to drop price of property before you are in a race to the bottom. That could be a long drop,this mother is gonna go bigstyle
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11121726/House-prices-have-finally-started-to-fall-after-two-years.html

roneik · 26/09/2014 13:39

There will now be a musical interlude and any buy to fret can air guitar if they like

Apatite1 · 26/09/2014 13:53

Oh dear, that's not good news if you're trying to sell! As I said previously up the thread, I didn't think this was a seasonal slump. We usually see an uptick in the market in September. It hasn't happened this time, particularly in London. I think in the next few months, it will become much more clear. We are at the crest of a wave. I'm not sure anyone can say with complete confidence where this is going. However, my personal opinion is that we are now the way down. Time only will tell!

I'd urge everyone who really needs to sell to be pragmatic about thier asking price.

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