Anyone fancy starting a Sellers support thread?

[Sooperswooper]

Just that really!

Just had a call from estate agent. Our buyer has decided to proceed at original price. I've just emailed our solicitor and asked her to exchange as quickly as possible

good for you Lists, stand firm!

Just an aside - when clearing, we have come across solicitors correspondence from 1976, when we were buying our first house, our vendor sold it to someone else behind our backs! Sneaky rats were alive and well then!

Lists our original buyer did the same with his survey. Just sent little extracts from the survey. Such a time waster. I'm relieved we didn't sell to him in the end. I bet he was furious after spending a bomb on a mega survey.

Luna I am wondering if they didn't get their mortgage agreed by the first lender they approached so they are playing for time while they shop around. I assume your estate agent has seen proof of funds before allowing you to proceed? I don't think they are being entirely truthful with you. Interestingly if you go to First Direct's mortgage site, there is no mention of a special rate on the page...

Exactly lists, FL were reasonable when our guy searched yesterday but not bustingly so! All the mortgage companies are giving out great rates because of the base rate being awesome. Also, they could get another surveyor out,surely .

I think this must be fairly common in today's mortgage market. We are having a second valuation now, have been given a reason for it but the first mortgage application could have been declined for all I know. Odd that porting a mortgage wasn't mentioned until this week (and that can't happen before April in this case).

My buyer's solicitor seems to have done nothing in the last month (we have signed our contracts), they are stalling for some reason.

I am not sure how easy it is for an EA to see proof of funds, I gather that a mortgage in principal means less than it used to because of the additional due diligence carried out now.

I am holding onto my Dad's words for now but I will be putting it back on the market after Easter if we are not a breath away from exchanging.

Back to the decluttering ....

Glad your buyers saw sense, lists.

That does sound like a fairy story, Luna. I agree you're in a fairly strong position to think again if you got an offer from your second viewing.

We're still looking for somewhere to buy. We saw something that could work today. It's not perfect, but we could make it pretty awesome. It needs a new kitchen but we could afford that. It was also absolutely filthy, but that's what cleaning companies are for. It's been on the market for 8 months (during which time an identical model, with a much nicer kitchen, has sold for the magic £45k less than this is on for). The EA said the vendor would take an offer though. So we've now got two to look at again.

Honestly, there are so many houses on the market around here that are on for exactly £45k more than they're likely to be worth. Why don't people check the sold prices in their local areas? And it's not that the market round here is rising fast, it is very much Not London all the way up here. Prices have been fairly stable in the last year-18 months really, and ours went for a price pretty much in line with sold prices in this street during that time period. Apart from anything else, no one will be getting a mortgage for a house that's over-valued by £45k and cash buyers aren't all that abundant round here (nor are they likely to pay £45k over the odds).

Step our estate agents insisted on seeing proof of funds or a mortgage offer. They advised we COULD proceed without them satisfying themselves on these points but that they strongly advised against it. I suspect it saved us a lot of hassle of a different sort to what we're experiencing now as one person made a full offer but were totally unclear about how they intended to pay so the agents advised us against accepting.

Oh dear I was worried you'd say that they were having us for fools, as I suspect so too. I want to believe everything i'm being told but I'm just getting a bad feeling. Plus, this morning we got a really stroppy note from their solicitor basically suggesting that we're not being very helpful and are not providing information etc...we've provided everything we have within 24 hours, and what we don't have, we don't have! Anyway the mood I'm in today I'm going to refuse to reply to their letter until we get the survey booked in. I'm going to call the EA this afternoon and tell them that if the survey isn't booked in by 5pm next Friday then the house goes back on the market. And I will ask about proof of funds too, useful tip. Even if they are telling the truth about First Direct, if they really wanted this house then they'd take whatever steps are necessary to make things move...there's always a way, you just have to shout at the right person.

I think the issue with the £45k over priced houses round here is that it won't matter if you can show proof of funds or a mortgage in principle (as you won't have an actual offer until you know you're buying the house) if the mortgage valuation for the house is simply going to come in £45k under the price (assuming you offer the asking price). Even with a very big deposit, £45k is not to be sniffed at.

There's on on our street that's definitely £45k over priced. It's much the same as ours except that they've got swirly carpets and artex ceilings. So the offers we've had are likely to be indicative of how much it's actually worth too. Our EA did suggest that mortgage valuations may become an issue if we accepted the attempted gazumper price, which was only just over the highest price ever achieved in the street. So anyone buying the much higher priced house is really not going to be able to get a mortgage company to agree on anything like the price they're asking. No house on this entire estate has ever achieved anything like what they're asking (and they started off with an even higher asking price).

Luna you are right to put forward the threat of putting your house back on the market. Our EA will not remove properties from the market until the survey is booked.

Step it's annoying the price thing. We have offered the going price in cash, for a house that's been on the market since September and the vendor has said no! Even though they've gone elsewhere!

It will probably stay on the market until next September and then they'll refuse the price! We'll be long gone.

*reduce not refuse! I pad.!

Buyers want to be in on the 14th march. We have a van booked for next Fri. Suppose I should start packing! Solicitor just rung looking for boiler service book which only has one entry in. Plumber didn't fill it out when the boiler was fitted and I can't magic services out of thin air!

Our buyers have signed their contract today, apparently exchange will be next week. But they want to complete on 15 th March. Removers need two days to pack for storage and can only do 31st March.

Like you Row we can't conjure up removers, and we've still got loads of things to ditch!

If you can afford it and have space JT05 I highly recommend hiring a skip. Its amazing how much easier it is to dump stuff if you dont have to consider loading it in the car and driving it to the tip. It can be out the door and binned in seconds and if you're lucky you'll wake up every morning and find someone has been through it and removed a pile of stuff leaving you even more space to get rid of stuff

We signed yesterday exchanged today I think and complete in ten days which we didn't believe was possible!
Hiring a van firstly to save money and secondly dh was in the trade a few years so it's like having my own personal moving person. Have taken three days off next week to pack/ move.
DD is having her first sleepover tonight and I'm itching to pack but will have to wait.
Not a big fan of stuff so don't need to sort much but can see DDS room requiring a skip. Oh, and the shed.

Row: You must be relieved to have exchanged and have a moving date.

Your buyers will need to get a move on, but great to be within spitting distance of exchange.

We're getting our boiler serviced and the relevant paperwork to say it's safe and works fine next week. We don't have a record of regular boiler services either, because it's not a bloody car.

Congratulations Row you're almost there and it will all be like a bad dream.

We've just been to see a house that has just come back on the market. We loved it! Downsizing and it was a combination of two houses that we had lived in, in the past. Spookily the master bedroom was almost identical! We can't wait to put an offer in when the EA opens tomorrow!

Thats fantastic news JT. I hope you get it.

JT05, fingers crossed this is the house for you!

Can I please join in? I'm usually a pretty level headed person but this house selling business has got me unhinged and my house has only been up for sale since Wednesday. OH doesn't recognise the woman I have become. We had our first viewing today and I got the house as clean and tidy as I could with four kids, but I've just been cringing ever since imagining the 3 woman walking round and JUDGING ME AND MY HOUSE. yes I know it's ridiculous. They arrived 20 minutes early as well, just as I was filling my car with baskets of washing and miscellaneous crap, and they just sat outside and waited....and waited....until the estate agent arrived LATE. I've got another viewing tomorrow at 10am (there goes my Mother's Day lie in) and I've got to show them around myself as the estate agents are closed, which is a daunting prospect. Will I survive this process with my sanity intact? #prayforPauline

I'm afraid that's what happens! And it can get worse! Sorry.

Our offer on the next house is being considered even though we have cash and they want a quick sale.

So another week end in limbo.

It will be OK, Pauline. People tend to keep their judgements to themselves as you show them round and then (presumably) share them when you are out if earshot. When we look at houses, we're mostly looking at the space, layout and light levels, rather than the seller's stuff or taste.

Does your EA not have people who do Sunday viewing for them? The ones round here tend to, but they don't appear to actually be EAs. Our EA just seemed to proceed on the basis that I would be doing all the viewings (and didn't offer to do them or ask for keys). I know they do viewings for people as they've shown us several houses, so I'm not sure why they didn't even mention it as a possibility. Maybe they just thought I'd be brilliant at it (unlikely).

We've booked second viewings for both the giant and lovely but overpriced house and the filthy and needing a new kitchen but could be workable house for next week. I think we're leaning towards the second one because (a) it's much cheaper, (b) we could do it all how we want it pretty quickly and (c) there's no upper chain. Apparently this viewing will be with the vendors of both.

Row congrats with the exchange. Perfect news!
10 viewings since the open day (within one week) and no offers at my side. My house was already priced the lowest, it is nicely decorated and nothing needs doing but a bit untraditional. So I was scrolling on Rigthmove last night, saw a dream house that dropped in price and became just about within my budget, knew from the photos it was a dream house but went to view this morning and confirmed my thoughts 120%.
Then called my agency and instructed to reduce my price by 15k in order to sell quickly. God knows if it will work. 3 bed house in London zone 5 for 350k anyone? (catchment of a brilliant secondary)

Good luck with the price reduction cat.

I'm glad you've found something you love. I hope you get it.