Selling frustration thread anyone?

[kiely32]

Anyone want to share their selling frustrations as I feel the need to sound off and I'm sure I can't be the only one!!
My list of frustrations so far...
But first I will start with a bit of info on the house. It's a 3 bed mid terrace in Hertfordshire. The house has been renovated to a high standard but has no driveway - or potential to create one as We are down a steep bank.
We only put the house on the market 3 weeks ago.
So far we have had an EA show people around when he hasn't even seen the property himself.
Cancellations that we haven't been told about - three times!
Having to chase feedback.
On the open morning I waited outside for 30 mins for text to say the viewings had finished, for the text never to come!
Windows being left open by the EA.
And my number one frustration is that when I have finally received the feedback I am told all 7 viewers loved the house but really wanted a driveway 😠

We are in Hertfordshire. We bought this house 5 years ago for 228,000 - at that time we overpaid but that's a different story. The house needed everything doing and we have spent in excess of 30,000 on it. However, it is now valued at 400,000 to 425,000 So it's no wonder the market has slowed down!

I would love to know where the 14 people who have viewed my house have gone because very few properties have gone sstc in this area! ?????

We do have one 'very interested' party. They were one of the first to view ours but their numbers didn't add up. EA suggested they go back to the bank, which they did and they now believe they can afford our house. However they are still haven't put theirs on the market. They believe that it will sell so quickly that they will feel pressured to buy! Unfortunately I have looked on rightmove and there are plenty of similar flats that have been on the market for 2-3 months...

EA has said they are very keen and keep him updated but they haven't been happy with the valuations they have been given so are seeking one who will 'get them more.'

I fear this one will be a dead end!!

We haven't any more viewings booked in - we have previously always had a couple booked in for the weekend before Thursday comes around. Though it is my son's birthday on Saturday which will make it very difficult to have anyone come this weekend anyway.

How's everyone else getting on?

I put my house on the market 14th July. Went under offer to a cash buyer 2 days later. I found a property. Survey and searches done. My buyer pulled out. Other house went under offer to someone else then their buyer pulled out. I'm back in the frame. Other buyer's house goes under offer so they're back in the frame. Mine then goes under offer 3hrs after them but the vendor decides to stick with them as their offer was higher, even though I'd had survey and searches done. Aaarghhhhhhh! I've spent £1600 so far but hopefully if i find somewhere before end of Jan my mortgage offer is still valid plus the surveyor I used offers another surveyor if the first one fell through...

Wow badger. What highs and lows you have already been through!! I hope the rest of the journey runs much smoother for you.

Badger that sounds like a nightmare; can't believe it gets harder than it already is (still on market). However, sounds like you are able to find buyers quite easily.

fialor and kiely a belated thanks for the advice; I haven't visited this thread for a while as I thought I had killed it! I have now changed agents this week and reduced a whole Rightmove price bracket, so let's hope it works. Had a viewing yesterday, one today and one tomorrow. House of my dreams sold today though

I accepted an offer yesterday and they've booked their mortgage valuation for Tuesday (but not the survey). I'm viewing a potential property tomorrow but after all the faffing about it's hard to get excited!

The one I'm going to look at is priced at £385k (needs new kitchen/bathroom/flooring, decorating etc etc) where two doors either side have sold for £10k and £20k less since February this year, both of them being in a better statem Why do agents price things up so much??

Congrats badger. Sounds like things are moving swiftly with your new buyer, which is a good sign.
I guess agents overvalue to get business, but the price of the neighbours' properties are a good basis to put in a fairly low offer if you like it.

A property has come onto the market that I'd like to view, however I had a falling out with the agent it's on with (they had my property on but got caught red handed lying about non existent viewings) and we parted company pretty quickly with a few unpleasant emails exchanged. What should I do??

badger I think you just have to go for it, they aren't likely to refuse. If they were making up viewings, then the embarrassment is all on their part really. Do you have a partner who can make the call to book the viewing instead of you? Might make it a bit easier.
When I parted company with my agent a week or so ago, I refrained from telling them what I thought of their efforts for this reason - I would have found it so awkward to then phone and make a viewing appointment. They don't have anything I want to view at the moment, but who knows next week...
I am getting pretty stressed here. On with a new agent and another price reduction. Have had five viewings since going on five days ago, but still no offers. Starting to feel really depressed that I can't see what is so terrible about my house that no one wants to buy it.

I think I'm going have to bite the bullet. I did email them at 4pm today but no response as yet.

What sort of feedback are you getting on yours? how long has it been on in total? mine has been on since beginning of July, cash buyer within 24hrs, they pulled out 2 weeks later, nothing until last Tuesday. Not getting too excited though as anything can happen. They have the mortgage valuation tomorrow and they want to come in? I though mortgage valuations were drive bys these days....

I feel your pain greyskies! I am looking at other properties in the area that have gone sstc and am at a loss as to why people would buy them when mine is a similar price. Don't get me wrong, there are houses out there that are better than mine but the two most recent sales, I do think my house offers much better value for money, better condition, closer to an outstanding primary... I am also getting very fed up!

Badger I would definitely just go for it. They will be all over you I bet, they want the sale after all! Good luck.

Can I join you all please.....

3 bed semi, been on for a week and had 5 viewings, all feedback has been the same- they love the house but the parking lets it down.

We have an unusual situation in that a car park next to us is owned by the police but we are able to park in it. It's discretionary really as our home used to be owned by the police. Unfortunately when we purchased it there was no option to buy a space.

There are no parking restrictions on our road but other than parking in the police car park they would have to park quite far up the road where the car wouldn't be visible from the house. All potential buyers have stated that the use of the police car park is too wishy washy for them, the would rather a private space.

I can understand this is a deal breaker for the majority but I'm totally gutted. We didn't consider it a problem at all when we purchased although our main concern was that we are very near two tube stations for quick access into London.

Oh and we've found our dream house, they won't accept an offer from us until we're under offer, and I'm scared someone else will get it. Plus we have the secondary school applications deadline looming and dream house is in catchment for the best school.

Arrghhhhhhhhh!

Maybe I need to chill out a bit it's only been a week. I just wish the feedback was something that I would be able to work on, like decor etc.

badger I think most valuations are drive-by, but I think if your property is very old, or has alterations not visible from the outside they sometimes want to come in. Or is it that they are having a homebuyer's survey done at the same time by the same valuer?
I've been on since beginning of June, with just a few days off between agents. I've now reduced through three Rightmove price brackets and I can't believe that no one thinks it's a total bargain now. The feedback is not really very informative, often just says 'lovely house but found something else'. A couple of comments about lack of side access (it's been extended to the boundary); a couple about not enough off-road parking.
hauntedhouse Yes, I have those pangs when a poorly kept or overpriced property sells and mine is still sitting there. Getting difficult not to take it personally!

Hi egg
It's frustrating about parking issues. We are the same in some way: the parking situation did not even occur to us as an issue, but others see it differently (we do actually have a garage, but only a very small off-road parking space, plus parking in view of the house but not allocated). We are just a one-car household so I can now see that if you have two cars it's a bigger issue.
On the bright side, you have only been on a week, which is such a short amount of time really, so it's still really early days. If you have good Tube access, I'm sure you will find a buyer soon .

Thanks greyskies!

Keeping my fingers crossed for all of you.

Gah! Had loads of viewings now. Most recent ones (since price drop) have given us the old 'bedrooms too small' but also 'needs TLC' and 'didn't like the layout'. So frustrating.

I empathise with PP - what's so wrong with our house when other, less attractive ones seem to sell? Ffs, you can see the floor plans online so the size should come as no surprise. We have pretty much decorated the whole house prior to listing. Kitchen & bathroom are 10 years old but in decent nick. We're in the catchment of an outstanding primary & secondary, near amenities & public transport- what more do people want?!!!

I could really do without the stress of preparing for all these viewings when they're coming to nothing but we have our hearts set on somewhere and I don't want to lose it. What's frustrating me most is the fact that the EA said people were desperate to live here and it would fly off the shelves!

Kitty - I feel your frustration! Though it's even harder now that the viewings have slowed down!! I have my 2nd Viewing this evening in 3 weeks...was previously 2/3 a week. Now I just don't feel like cleaning until I know someone is coming 😂

On a better note, the couple who loved my house have finally put their flat on the market 🎉 Though I think their guide price is very ambitious so it could still be a long wait...

Kitty I have had similar feedback this weekend - bedrooms too small/don't like upstairs layout - it's on the floorplan folks! It's now on at a bargain price, but no one seems to want to make even the smallest of compromises in return for the price.

Have viewer number 20 coming on Friday, but I am at the stage where I feel viewers only come to say they don't like it; can't ever imagine getting an offer. Any excitement about moving has long gone.

Haunted Great news about the couple who like your house; at least they are making progress, albeit slowly. The first couple who viewed my house weren't on the market and I thought "timewasters". But they put it on a couple of weeks later and sold it instantly. They have probably moved house by now, and we are still sitting here! Is the "haunted house" you want still on the market?

There are two (period) houses for sale in the town where we are looking without vehicular access. They offer a lot more than most of the other houses at the same price and I think you would need to view to be certain whether this was a compromise you could make. I suspect your feedback, OP has been lazily produced by the EA and that the compromise might have been a bit too much.

Hi all
Reading the thread in anticipation as my place is going on the market in the next few weeks. I'm already dreading it

OP - where in Herts are you? I'm potentially going to be looking Herts but I fear it may be a little out of my price range sighs

heddagab

Bit rough

Greyskies - Yes the haunted house is still on the market, I cannot get back to the area until late October (200 miles away) to have a second viewing and hopefully put an offer in. This hasn't stopped me from mentally knocking down walls, replacing windows and refurbishing 🙈 I am starting to get anxious as after October I won't be able to go back until Christmas so really want an offer on mine by October!!!

I have just had another viewing, spent the whole day in anticipation, cleaning and making sure everything is perfect. They literally spent 5 mins in the house, told me it's beautiful and walked away without a backwards glance 😢

I agree that the houses are priced to reflect the compromise and if my house had a drive it would probably be on for 15,000 more and would have been snapped up.

I just spoke to the EA about one that he had just sold round the corner for the same price. I said I would have bought mine over that one all day long, he laughed and agreed (it needs a lot of work, has on street parking but is an end terrace, where as mine is midterrace) then said that they hadn't seen my house though.

Oh well I guess we continue the waiting game...

Popping my head in here. Have been on the market since early August, but it's a slightly complicated situation as it's a shared ownership property (we own 50% and a housing association own the other 50%) and actually started this process back in June as it took several weeks for the housing association to process various forms and give us the go ahead to put it on the market with an EA. The EA told us shared ownerships in our area were very popular (south-east and lots of first time buyers struggling to get on the ladder) but despite having had a few viewings we've not really got anywhere. One couple who viewed really liked it and picked up an application form (you have to apply to the housing association for the house rather than put an offer in) but it's been a month and as far as I can tell they've not completed it, so I'm going to assume they've changed their mind. I'm an inpatient person generally and all the waiting is doing my head in.

Haunted Didn't your agent show your house to the buyers of the one round the corner?!
I have "moved in" to a few houses since we have been for sale, but they're all sold now! I feel quite restless unless there's a house on the market that I've mentally moved into and am figuring what new furniture I will need.
KitKat I think FTBs are being so cautious at the moment, and fairly fussy. Are you still getting viewings or have they dried up?
I have a viewing this afternoon. Sun is shining so house looks great but it is showing up every little mark on the windows!

Have been Googling other other options for what to do when you just can't sell, but the consensus seems to be either to rent out (can't do as I need the capital in the house to buy the next one), or lower the price (which I've done twice already).

Greyskies - no they didn't. He said it was previously on the market and fell through, someone who liked it before (but were not proceedable at the time) snapped it up when it went back on.

Just had the most bizarre feedback from my viewing yesterday! They said the house was too nice for them, so immaculately presented that they wouldn't be able to do it justice. I am at a loss!