Today we are taking the plunge...

[Buglife]

Just finished epic clean/tidy. Estate Agent coming at 3 for pictures. House goes on the market next week. We are also putting in an offer on the dream house we have fallen in love with. We can’t match the asking price so we have some tough negotiation on, but ours will be the first offer in the 5 months it’s been on so we are optimistic. Also EA just called and asked if we can do a pre market viewing at 4 today as they have people who want 3 beds in our area. I am very nervous and panicking (if we don’t get dream house and we sell quickly, we can’t see anything else we are too fond of in the market!) but also very excited! This was out first house so we’ve never sold before.

Also I’m 20 weeks pregnant which makes things a bit and also getting the mortgage we want is a bit time sensitive as our son starts private school in September and our mortgage advisor has said that lenders are very skittish about private school fees so we’d be looking at borrowing a lot less. So time pressure is a factor!

Suppose I just want to have somewhere to talk! Anyone in similar position/have good tips on how to get through this?!

Good luck! We had similar circumstances (put ours on the market very quickly to buy one particular house we wanted). Luckily we sold within a week, our offer was accepted, and we've recently moved in :)

Congratulations! I keep thinking that I’m a few months we could have everything we want, but it seems dangerous to think like that when so many things have to fall in to place/happen first. Knowing we can’t pay asking price (our top offer is probably going to be £20,000 under) is a worry. I’d love to feel we could just say “we’ll take it!”

Good luck for 4pm

go for it! i dont want to be negative as this is a very crazy time for you but just be careful you dont take any old offer!

we put our house on the market for a specific house ... unfortunately two other couples did the exact same so we had sealed bids in the end. it wasnt a cheap house to start off, top of budget when relying on just one of our incomes with - we ended going a lot over the asking price and using savings that we had had no money to replace the worn out kitchen and family bathrooms which were dated and poorly installed.

sod's law under 2 weeks later, another amazing house came on to the market and was sold in 24 hours not even a chance to look at it!

We had our pics done today and going into Rightmove Monday. We've got an open day in 2 weeks but as we're selling to get a specific house, we're hoping for viewings ASAP.
I keep checking RM to ensure the new house hasn't been STC - I know of at least one other couple (my old neighbours daughter) in the exact same situation, wanting the same house....

We are selling with the same agents who are selling the house we want and are in close communication with the EA and he seems keen for us to get it. We know there’s been no offers on this house yet and the vendor is desperate to sell to downsize. It’s on with 4 agents. I feel like surely is overpriced if it hadn’t gone yet in 5 months and I’m fairly confident the agents will be communicating to her that our offer is reasonable...

I felt like if we sold with the same agents we were buying with they would be motivated to progress the sales, hope that’s true!

Hopefully it'll make it all run smoothly - good luck

Photos are taken and the viewers came. Seemed to go well, they were positive. EA has agreed to put in a lower offer for us and thinks the vendor will want to negotiate up but we might well get it for what we want. We have another £20,000 to play with before we hit our ceiling. Funny situation, our vendor wants o view our house as this is the kind of house she’s looking to downsize to! Imagine if we do a swap...

We’ve had our offer accepted! £25,000 under asking price so very pleased! Now we are on the market but not yet on Rightmove and we have 3 viewings lined up this week. Positive but scared

That is amazing news

Any feedback from the weekend viewers?

They said they thought it was lovely but they wanted something more open plan and spacious. Our is a Victorian house with stairs in between the living and dining rooms so no option to knock through. We are moving because it’s small but for a first time buyer it should be fine. Both people looking today are currently renting. It’s on for £285,000 which is basicallyforst time buyer price in this area. Or family with one child might like it. It’s a 3 bed so it should be ok for a family with two kids but it is small downstairs.

Oke doke

Good luck with the renters this afternoon

Good luck OP

Just had a thought

I know it is too late for today .......

but is there anybody that can lend you their garage or hire a storage unit so that you can get some of the "stuff" or furniture from downstairs so that when people come to view it doesn't look too cramped and but feels spacious to walk into

Even easy things like putting all the coats and wellie boots etc into your car so the porch looks/feels spacious

Clearing all the things from kitchen counters into a plastic box and into the car for viewings

If you have more time/energy get some packing boxes and pack things away ready for the move

If you have loads of toys out (that aren't being played with atm) can they be boxed up and put in the car or storage unit?

If you say the downstairs is small by square metres then some tricks might make it seem bigger

If you do not have a wardrobe but one of those hanging rails then box the clothes away or just in the car or storage unit cos on house buying programmes people never seem to notice there isn't a wardrobe in the room but when I see a hanging rail I think "ah, no room for a wardrobe" even if there is

We’ve been decluttering like mad so we’ve sent a lot of boxes and bits away already! I also had half my belongings outside for the agents photos :) DS has a cramped bedroom but it’s a box room and nothing to be done. It’s not tiny tiny but it might put some people off not to have one big room. We are a cheaper house on a very nice street though, and this location is very popular.

Maybe a bit outing but here’s the link

m.fennwright.co.uk/homes-for-sale/search-homes-for-sale/100989055030/beaconsfield-avenue-colchester-co3-3dh/

Should be on rightmove tomorrow. Bit of wide lens photography going on

Basically “quirks” of the house are the front door is blocked off as you can see from living room photo but there’s a side door that serves as a front door that leads to the stairs and off to living room and dining room. It benefits the living room in that you don’t have a door straight in and can have another sofa there. But some people might find it weird! The garden is very long and we’ve never been able to do any work on it but I’ve cut back shrubs regularly. I’m trying to think what else might seem weird! When you live somewhere you get used to it! We’ve only been here just under 3 years so haven’t really done much.

It's a lovely starter home, lots of gorgeous character.
Hope it all goes smoothly for you op 😊

Garden could be amazing, so much potential.

Lovely house and garden but photos looked very weird and stretched out on iPad at first then I turned it round to portrait and looks better

Yes the garden could have been great but alas never got the time to do it properly. We had thought we’d be here for a few more years but circumstances have changed so we can afford somewhere bigger and DC2 is on the way...

Bit bizarre that EA has taken such wide-angled pics. Makes it difficult to see the rooms properly. Why do they do this?

I think it looks worse on the website on certain devices as I’ve had a couple of friends say that but it’s not so wide on others? I hope Rightmove will load better! We’ve had 3 viewings so far and one booked for Saturday so I hope it goes ok.