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Listing, viewings and offers thread 3!

997 replies

Fortheloveofscience · 06/06/2017 10:17

We filled up our old one, hoping I'm not posting out of turn by starting the next, it's the only thing keeping me from going nuts with the endless cycle of no viewings - viewings - feedback - no offer - no viewings - viewings etc!

Hope this is the thread where we all sell and get our dream houses. I'm working from home and doing 'backseat cleaning' - nagging my poor OH who has the day off to do everything for our second viewing this afternoon from the only couple to have shown serious interest.

OP posts:
KitKat1985 · 19/08/2017 20:54

Welcome MrsJW15!

LazyDailyMailJournos - I'm also very much liking the sound of the Mumsnet estate agency. Grin

Hope you get a better offer soon Fialor.

We had a viewing on our place today but haven't had any feedback. We do however have some paintwork around our bathroom window that has bobbled a bit over the past few years due to condensation around the window. I do appreciate it probably needed re-plastering around the window anyway, but our viewer has kindly poked holes in the bobbles so now it has several finger-print holes in the paintwork, so now it looks even worse. Quite pissed off about that.

Also did some viewings today. One house didn't really work for us (3rd bedroom too small, and further from the primary school than what we thought from looking at the map on Rightmove). One was in 'move in' condition but not that big. One was a bungalow that would need some work doing to it to make it what we needed, but would be a big house when finished, so plenty to think about.

LuLloyd · 20/08/2017 10:29

Happy Sunday everyone.

KitKat I cannot believe they did that! When the surveyor came on Friday his poking, prodding and knocking was really irritating.

PartyintheKitchen · 21/08/2017 16:08

There you are - I have to do a bit of a hunt for everyone!

So, the buyer's survey is happening tomorrow. DH is shitting himself. Since our neighbour's drains exploded into our cellar he has been on eggshells. It is all sorted now and buyers are aware of all of the issues -
we're not hiding anything from them. Hopefully it will go smoothly. They still haven't pulled out (again) so hopefully they are in it to stay this time.

KitKat can't believe asshole viewer - who does that?

Love the sound of this MN EA. It could be called "Not Dicking Anyone About Estate Agents".

LuLloyd · 22/08/2017 12:47

Party our buyers home buyer survey was done on Friday and now we're waiting to hear back. They have pulled out of two previous sales so I'm on egg shells waiting!

I hate waiting! Good luck with yours Smile

prettygirlincrimsonrose · 22/08/2017 15:01

Want to scream.

Vendors now haven't found anywhere and are planning to take their house off the market. Finding out if we can lower our offer and wait for them (which still isn't ideal) but I think they've decided.

Struggling to find anywhere we really want that feels worth leaving our house for, but having gone to a lot of work to sell ours, I do still want to find somewhere and move area. Rental market doesn't look great atm from what I've seen.

Dont know whether to see if market picks up in September, or just find something that works for now (there are some ok options and due date is getting closer), or stay put and do it all again next year?

KitKat1985 · 22/08/2017 15:28

Hope the survey goes well today Party and that you hear back soon from your buyers survey LuLloyd.

PrettyGirl I can't believe the vendors are doing that, after all the stress of putting you through sealed bids only last week! Angry Surely they must have had had some idea of where they wanted to move to / what was in their price range when they put their house on the market? As for what you do now, if it was me I think since you've got a buyer I would proceed with the sale for now. As for whether you move into rented or buy somewhere (even if it's not exactly what you want) I think would depend a bit on what house prices are doing in your area. If the prices are still going up I'd buy now, as inevitably you are going to be distracted for a good few months when your baby arrives, and if you don't start looking again for 6 - 12 months you might find that you get less for your money than what you are getting now. If however prices where you live are remaining steady or dropping I'd go into rented and bide your time until something you really like comes up. Sorry you're going through this. Flowers

drspouse · 22/08/2017 16:41

DH and I are discussing sorting out our mortgage conditions so we can rent out our house.
Would make selling more complicated but it wouldn't be empty.
Has anyone rented out while their house was on the market?

CurrentlyNothing · 22/08/2017 16:45

Can I join? We have found the house of our dreams in Devon so have just today put our London house on the market. The estate agent was very upbeat saying he will get us an asking price offer in a week as so few houses are on the market, but I have heard other local people really, really struggle to sell recently. What have other peoples' experiences been of selling in London recently?

prettygirlincrimsonrose · 22/08/2017 16:52

Thanks KitKat, that helps. I'm tempted with renting so we can move now, get things set up for baby and be in area for parent groups, meeting others with kids etc.

drspouse · 22/08/2017 21:42

You've got to laugh...
The viewer that came three times, loved the house, but can't afford it, apparently put in an offer on another place which fell through after survey.
They have come back to us with their original offer in case it is magically somehow acceptable now (it was £225 and we are asking OO £240 now, we can't take less than £242 really).

Gizlotsmum · 23/08/2017 06:42

Well you have to admire their optimism dr spouse

drspouse · 23/08/2017 08:06

I think it's called bare faced cheek!

Gizlotsmum · 23/08/2017 08:19

That too! 😄

KitKat1985 · 23/08/2017 08:25

Yeah that sounds like a good plan Prettygirl. And you never know something you really like might come onto the market soon.

Drspouse could you speak to your EA about advice on renting your house whilst it's on the market? They might have a better idea of which renters you would need to pitch it to, as inevitably a lot of renters might be put off by the fact that it's on the market and therefore could get served notice potentially very soon after moving in. Possibly might be good for students or similar though? Oh, and your viewer has a lot of optimism!

Good luck Currently. I've no experience of the London market (I'm in East Sussex), but crossing my fingers for a quick sale for you. That's going to be a huge life change going from London to Devon. You must be excited.

We've got a viewing on our house again tomorrow. A bit of an odd one as the buyer themselves is abroad for work until October, so the buyers' Mum is viewing it on her behalf. I'm not sure how seriously to take it really. Part of me thinks she must be keen if she's liaised with the EA from abroad to go through all their pre-mortgage / housing association checks and organised a viewing by proxy as it were, but another part of me can't imagine anyone seriously buying a house that they hadn't viewed themselves (unless we're still on the market in October, which I sincerely hope we're not)!

drspouse · 23/08/2017 08:37

kitkat We've got some details of a charity scheme - won't say more as it's quite identifying.

PartyintheKitchen · 23/08/2017 09:01

Good luck Currently, we're under offer in London (SW z2). I have to say we had the same spiel from our EA (we'll have you sold within 4 weeks!) but then 5 months later and 5 price drops we finally went under offer. I think initially we were absolutely over priced which is our own fault, we had an offer that the EA scoffed at and assured us was "ridiculously low" when in hindsight it was a higher offer that we ended up accepting. I would say ensure you are correctly priced, it is the most important thing you will do when going on the market. A house with a reasonable price tag when first on the market will sell quickly with the additional attraction of being new stock. London is tricky at the moment, prices are a little lower than 2 years ago, but if priced well will sell. The advantage also is that there are less people selling so with reduced stock means demand stays at usual levels. On the other hand people are less inclined to throw their money at houses with all of the political and Brexit uncertainty. Best of luck to you!

DrSpouse yes we were going to do the same if we had not had an offer by end of Sept as we didn't want our house empty over Autumn/Winter. We had only started looking into it but it is definitely possible. We talked to a mortgage broker who had given us some initial indication on costs etc. Best of luck.

Pretty - wow, cannot believe they have done that to you. Honestly it should be illegal. Selling houses in this country is beyond ridiculous. I would advise doing the maths carefully before renting our and renting out your own home. Remember all rental income is taxable and with a buy to let mortgage you will likely pay a higher % interest rate. Best of luck Flowers

MrsJW15 · 23/08/2017 09:50

@CurrentlyNothing we are putting our london flat on the market in September. Not really sure how the market is going, but i think pricing is key. We've seen a couple of things come off the market quickly and others hang around for ages and sellers bringing the price down. We've boldly gone for a higher asking price on the basis people will only offer lower not higher but this could prove to be a major error. I think this market does rely a bit more on your EA to push buyers in your direction, particularly if you don't sell in the first few weeks. Good luck!

YogaDrone · 23/08/2017 17:03

Honestly PrettyGirl how totally crap Flowers

KitKat shocked at your viewer prodding the paintwork!

I have no experience of renting like this so can't help there, nor are we buying/selling in London (we're in Berks) so I can't help there either #totalfailure Wink

But I do have good news as we have had an offer today which is at the level we wanted and we have accepted Grin also we've made an offer on our favourite property and this has also been accepted. We're really thrilled. Our purchaser is a cash buyer and our vendor has already moved out so fingers crossed for a smooth chain!

KitKat1985 · 23/08/2017 17:06

Oh fantastic news YogaDrone! Grin Fingers crossed for quick and easy conveyancing for you all. x

Gizlotsmum · 23/08/2017 18:02

Yay yogadrone great news

YogaDrone · 23/08/2017 19:09

Thanks to you both Smile We're on a bit of a high at the moment. I'm breaking my diet with a celebratory Magnum!

We're on holiday next week so it's lovely to have this offer come through before we go away.

fialor · 23/08/2017 19:36

YogaDrone, that is wonderful news.

LazyDailyMailJournos · 23/08/2017 21:29

Congrats yogadrone - hope you have a stress-free and smooth sale!

News from us; valuation came back today and all OK. Lender has confirmed they're happy with it. Haven't got the full report yet but no major issues that would need loan retention, so I'm happy. We've cracked open the first bottle of champagne. Next step is formal mortgage offer. I'm ridiculously worried about the lender scrutinising my bank statements and judging me for the amount of money I spend in M&S every month...

Wine all round for everyone

LuLloyd · 23/08/2017 22:29

Congratulations Yoga!

Lazy glad to hear you cracked open the first bottle of champagne!

Good news here too, our buyers survey has come back and they're happy with it. We're now waiting for the survey on the house we're buying, although we went for another viewing with a builder yesterday who picked up a few minor things but nothing worrying. Sale agreed signs have gone up on both houses and we're pushing on!

PickAChew · 23/08/2017 22:32

After half a dozen viewings and kissin a fair few frogs, last week, we ent for a second viewing of a house I've loved since it came on the market, this evening. It's been on since April and come down in price twice - now at the price the owners bought it for - which is 20k more than a slightly less nicely extended and decorated one sold for, next door but one, a year ago.

It must have been beautiful when it was first extended and has the potential to be that way again, but it' been badly neglected (plus, I suspect, a little abused, judging by the holes in the plaster board and the chip in one of the loos) and is a case of death by a million £100 repair jobs.

There's no onward chain, which is a plus, as the owner wants to rent nearer to work (currently has 1 hour commute) until they find the right place. Give the sheer amount of work that needs doing we're going to make a fairly low offer but be prepared to make some big jumps, because we really want that house but are under no illusion that it's in move in condition. We've seen a couple of damp patches. One is almost certainly guttering - it's a dorma bungalow and some of the lower guttering is full of silt so goodness knows what state the high stuff is in - there's a faint streak down the outside wall under the patch concerned, under the edge of the gutter. The other is at floor level in an alcove but 18" above external ground level, so is a little bit more baffling as to an obvious don't need a full dpc cause.

So our inclination would be not to use all of our cash as a deposit because I suspect we might need some to cover mortgage retention and immediate repairs.