Listing, viewings and offers thread 3!

[Fortheloveofscience]

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.

Bloody hell, I've been checking the 'I'm on' list and thought things had gone quiet

No bloody news this end. Our EA is shit and I emailed them in a pissy mood to tell them as much - that they were far too passive etc. and so they are coming over on Monday.

I wish I'd gone with the first EA I'd seen as I much preferred him but the one I went with was a bigger, regional chain whereas the the one I actually like was a national chain. I was put off by the chain (Sequence) but with hindsight, I should have gone with them as this EA clearly grafts for his clients - I've spoken to him more than my own.

We've been on 3 weeks and only had one viewing. I've only spoken to the EA once in that time and it was chasing for feedback.

I'm viewing what is potentially my dream house with the EA that got away tomorrow and I'm petrified that I'll love it but can't sell our house due to shitty EA, that we are tied in to for 20 weeks 😈

Dragon oh how frustrating. Same situation here - tied in for 20 weeks (4 down, 16 to go).

Hopefully your meeting will be positive.

Can I join you? Not on the market yet, had 3 estate agents' valuations and am having the 4th tomorrow. How did everyone choose? Objectively - looking at numbers etc - or more if you liked the agent?

All 4 I am having over to value are local and independent, there were just too many to choose from so I picked these as I thought they would be knowledgeable about the neighbourhood. One was waaaay off the mark and charges a lot more commission than the others, so I guess that one's out. But other than that, what is important? Argh, I'm already stressed out

Congrats on the recent sales and good luck to everyone having viewings soon - fingers crossed.

We picked the agent that was selling the house we wanted, and didn't get any other valuations (possibly a mistake but never mind!).

They had a very low fee compared to the others, were on both RightMove and Zoopla (some are only on one, crazy), did floor plans as standard (you MUST have a floorplan), had nice photos for other houses on their website, and are open for phone enquiries evenings and weekends (they are a local EA but for our neighbouring county if that makes sense - so local offices here and around here but Head Office in the next county where the call centre is - it's not that far away but the accent is different to here so I am always getting these phone calls in what, to me, is a comedy accent!)

We booked 2 agents to value and one cancelled 2 hours before just by email asking us to call to rebook. Didn't bother as I felt they were making me do all the leg work. The one that came gave info that matched my research, we liked him and price was fair so we didn't bother messing around. I'd also looked at recently sold/under offer on Rightmove to see which agents were selling and the one we chose was way ahead of all others.

He sold our house in 3 days.

We've had to contact the other agent to view houses we were interested in and quite honestly they were rubbish.

Lina

I didn't go with the cheapest agent. I went with the agent that had the highest listing to completion rate. The other agent had a higher instruction rate but this made sense because their fees were cheaper.
Basically, I decided that it was worth paying the extra fees to an agent which - on paper - looked as if it was statistically more likely to achieve a sale for me.

My agent also gave advice on paying extra for a private photographer (they have a contract with someone), which was compelling. - especially as the brochures from the other agent featured photos which I didn't think looked very good at all.

However - in hindsight, I would weigh up the 'reach' of the agent. I didn't realise at the time but mine is a franchise, so there is very little interplay between branches. That's fine if your property is going to be popular and you're in a good area. However I'm in a commuter belt so it's very possible that people might overlook searching here - and that's where a branch network is very handy. There's zero incentive for my agent's branch in the next town to promote my property, because they won't get paid for it. However if your agent has non-franchised branches then it's worth their while.

If we don't find a buyer in the near future then we are considering going on with another agent as well, to give us that additional 'reach' that we don't currently have. Oh and make sure your agent is going to be proactive with giving you feedback, market intel and RM stats - mine is not!!

Viewer's just rung up to cancel. Has decided she doesn't like the area. Now sitting here trying not to cry.

Thanks everyone, very insightful. I liked today's estate agent, he seemed very knowledgeable about the area - they are the leading agency around here, I see their boards a lot! -, gave me all the info about the ones he's sold this year in our estate and what is, in his eyes, achievable. Yesterday's one said "the house will sell itself", which sort of it me off a bit: if I wanted the house to sell itself I would use an online estate agent and save me the fees. I want someone to sell it for me, if it makes sense. I think it will be a race between the first and the last, they charge the same fee for basically the same service, but valued about 15K apart. Maybe I'll send the husband to talk to them and we can compare our thoughts and pick one.

Today I started the final decluttering, all excess furniture is going into storage. I'll be making loads of trips: I drive a Fiat Panda Aiming to go on the market by the end of next week, all going well. Fingers crossed!

Oh no, Paul One of the agents I spoke to said they were expecting things to improve from next week. Fingers crossed for you.

Oh Paul that's totally rubbish, so sorry to hear that. Bast**ds. I'm sure you live in a fantastic area, remember there's nothing as queer as folk. Over the weekend one viewer came to our house and announced to the EA that the décor was "horrible" and he would have to "spend a fortune fixing it". Idiot, it's all neutral colours! In the end I chose to ignore him. Don't let that one person ruin your day.

Oh no PaulD I'm so sorry. I know how you've had to wait to even get this viewing so sorry must be such a blow! Hoping you'll get more booked in soon. Feels like the market is picking up a bit now.

Paul have you zoopla' and you move'd your house valuation? Our agent way over priced us compared to those, we dropped the price as per other houses nearby and sold in 24 hours.

Paul - I can't imagine how frustrating this must be. I'm pretty sure I'm not in your area so if it would help to get an 'independent opinion' on how your ad is coming across to buyers then please feel free to PM me.

Shit Paul sorry to hear that.

Sure it's not a huge consolation, but we've just had the quietest week we've had since dropping the price 5 weeks ago. EA says lettings have picked up since the election, but not sales.

If there's not a pool of buyers there then it won't sell, regardless of how appropriately priced and well presented it is .

Thanks guys. It was a bit of a blow - I'm still feeling a bit despondent but trying to put it in perspective as there's folk out there worse off than me, especially with the awful events in London today.

I'm trying to think positively about someone taking the brochure - especially as the other place that he is interested in is massively more expensive than us (as in tens of thousands more!).

Our area is much more of a family street feel. Kids play out, there's not much traffic and it's not unusual to see bikes and scooters left leaning on the wall when they go in to bed. I like it - it's safe, low crime, good community feel and I'd rather hear the noise of kids playing than traffic!

Sorry - meant to add I think you're right Science

The agent did say that they are getting hardly any enquiries for apartments and flats, so as you say it's all irrelevant if there's nobody looking for that type of property at the moment. Hopefully things will pick up again over the next week or so. I'm conscious that we need to try and get some activity ASAP as everyone says that the market dies in August due to the summer holidays.

What kind of property are you trying to sell Paul?

Can I join?? I was briefly on one of the old threads as we were on the market Jan/Feb but we came off to install off-road parking (every viewer said they loved the house but hated the shared drive, hence we split the drive with our neighbour and now have a parking space each).
Like you Paul we are finding everything totally dead at the moment - we are not too far from you (other side of the water!) and every Rightmove notification I get seems to be a price reduction! Is the feeling that it is due to the election and that it will bounce back?? We are already deflated after 3 weeks on the market and only 3 viewings, all of which happened within a couple of days of us coming on. Absolutely nothing has happened for ages now. We don't know whether to drop the price or hold out. Agent suggested holding out for a bit longer and that it is too early to reduce unless we have seen a house we want to buy, so we are following that advice for now. I am NEVER moving again after this!!!!

New it's an apartment. I know they often take longer to sell as they appeal to certain types of buyer, but it's awful waiting and hoping.

Emsy welcome! It's frustrating isn't it? Hopefully the market will recover once the governmental shenanigans settle down.

PaulD surprised they cancelled because of the area then it sounds lovely!

I have everything crossed for you. Took 4 months for us and it was sooo stressful.

IDK really. I suppose it depends what you're looking for. I'm sure I spotted her when she drove round. The agent said she visited in the evening and I saw a woman driving very slowly round the streets having a good look, when I was out with the dogs. There were lots of kids playing out and some teens sitting on the pavement chatting and listening to music at the top of the council estate, which is just opposite.

Doesn't bother me - the teens weren't doing anything wrong and the kids were just playing (although being noisy!), and our place is at the back so we don't see any of this, or hear much at all. However if you're someone that wants a retirement type environment then I suppose it might put you off. I did wonder whether she'd looked at the teens and decided against it. They're all trackie-scruff types rather than the dolled up to the nines insta-crowd. But they are all nice and fairly polite. I'd feel a bit sad if she had been put off by them - they're teens, not criminals!

Yes I suppose it depends on the person. Shame if it was the teens - like you say they are teens not criminals! People are often quite happy to label and assume the worst.

I do hope it all picks up soon for you - hang in there!

I'm now in the midst of scraping money together for survey fees etc. It's a relief to finally be selling but all this paperwork to do with a 2 year old and 3 night shifts this week is going to be fun!!

Ooh - it's the really tough bit. I know it's no fun hanging about waiting for enquiries, but I must admit I'm really dreading the bit between getting a buyer and exchange of contracts. You have to lay out so much money with absolutely no guarantee that it will all go through - and the idea of it makes me feel so nervous, so I really don't envy you! Fingers crossed that it all goes smoothly.

Top tip for anyone still waiting for viewers/offers and who needs to tart up the front garden/flowerbeds for added 'kerb appeal'...

B&Q seem to be selling all their bedding plants off cheap for a quid per tray - all the stuff that you're supposed to plant by the end of May. I went last night and spent 20 quid and got a bootful of marigolds and lobelia. All quick growing and quick flowering - chuck some water on them and they're relatively low maintenance. I'm going to stick them in the main public flowerbed in our street, which is looking a bit unloved because the council has no budget for gardening anymore.

Yes whilst I'm thrilled its also making me feel a bit queasy. Already laid out £850 on fees, a survey and a gas service and certificate. Our brokers have given us free buyers protection insurance but doesn't cover it all!

Ooh thats a great tip!

Can I join this? I'm brand new to Mumsnet and just joining the joys of moving (currently watching back to back relocation relocation to get me through)

My house goes on the market next week, but I've already seen my dream house. It's bound to go. Help!!