Sellers roll call part 2. Who is still on this treadmill?

[MovingThisYearHopefully]

I thought it was about time to start a new thread as this one is close to 1000 messages.

Who is still here & what is your story?

Heres me: I have been trying to move since April last year. Had a buyer, buyers lost their buyer in October & still haven't got a new one. We remarketed at a low price in November in order to continue buying the house we were at point of exchange with, but were unable to get enough to move on & lost the house in February.

Prices are definitely falling here in Surrey. Realistically we're looking to get 10% less than our original asking price, if we're lucky. Getting viewers has never been an issue, regardless of price. This process has been stressful beyond belief & almost split me & DH up. Surely our luck must change soon?

One thing that seems to be helping us get more interest than other properties is that we have now agreed to go chain free. Is this a possibility for any of you struggling? If offered significantly less than asking price then as far as I see it you are within your rights to say chain free was based on near to asking price & not affordable at a significant amount under! Worth considering perhaps?

We've had feedback from our viewers. They loved the house but feel the garden is too overlooked. Kind of think you can tell that from street view/google earth. Heyho lets hope things improve from here.

Reduced my flat after 6 weeks and accepted an offer. Also had an offer accepted on a house which was a bit smaller than we originally wanted but in a much nicer area.

First time buyer purchasing ours and our vendor has agreed to move out once we complete even if they haven't got a property. Fingers crossed everything will go smoothly. My friend sold her flat in same complex as us last year and due to an error in the original paperwork the whole process dragged on for 9 months. I've made my solicitor aware of her issue and so hopefully I can pre empt any difficulties and have a smoother process.

Typical, Beautician Its a start though. Hopefully things improve soon. Do you have anyone viewing this weekend? Don't be disheartened if you don't. Its the last bank holiday before Christmas so people will be making the most of it.

Glad you got an offer Sally. What on earth was the problem that held up your friends sale so long?

Moving none booked this weekend. I'm kind of thankful as DH is working all weekend. Next week the children go back here so it will make viewings a lot easier.

Sally I'm intrigued as to what the problem was too.

The flats were originally sold on shared equity (the old help to buy scheme) so we needed mortgage (minus deposit) for a 75% share.

We then had 10 years to sell and give the developer 25% of the sale proceeds or after ten years remortgage including the 25%.

Basically there's some clause in the original deeds not picked up in the original conveyancing that if picked up by a solicitor reads as though the subsequent buyer is also only buying a 75% share. I think with my friends the sols then argued between themselves as to whether a deed of variation was required and communication wasn't great. I've a feeling that she didn't use the same solicitor as before so the original solicitor also had to be involved.

Either way I've gone back to my original solicitor, forwarded all the info my friend had regarding hers and my original conveyancing file is been reviewed, even though I'm currently only at the DIP stage and don't have my mortgage appointment until Tuesday.

Please cross fingers and send good vibes that it won't take as long for me as I am the only person in my chain selling and buying

Helloooo can I join? We are selling two properties and buying one together. My partner has sold his house and the solicitors instructed and valuation and survey done so well underway, and I've accepted an offer on mine last weds but the FTB still haven't confirmed their solicitor and the sale details haven't gone out and no news on a valuation or survey. Chased the agent again yesterday who chased the buyer who finally gave them the name of a firm but not an actual solicitor and so still no actual movement forward. So now I'm freaking out that she's not really that serious and is dragging her heels with the intention of pulling out... or whatever. I don't know. It's harder because we have also had an offer accepted on a house because both properties have sold and I'm so stressed that it's all about to fall apart.

How long has everyone else waited for these things to happen? Am I freaking out for no reason or does it sound like they're dragging their heels?

Hopefully you'll get some viewings next weekend Beautician.

That sounds a bit concerning Sally & a tad worrying tbh as our buyers are selling a shared equity property too. I'm guessing it was all ironed out in the end though some way or another & your friends information will clarify things.

Welcome Bubbles. By last Wednesday are we talking 22nd? If so it is incredibly early days. Even if it were the previous Wednesday its still pretty early. I can see that a FTB may have been a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing & suddenly found themselves in the process of having to research solicitors, which granted they could have done earlier, but many don't. We had a sale agreed on our place last Monday (just gone) & I would be expecting to hear about a survey within the next 2 weeks. In all honesty, I'm in no rush because we're buying a new build that won't be ready until Dec/Jan & I'm not keen on moving into rented while we wait! I'd rather do that than lose our sale though. Because we had a sale fall through last year we already knew which solicitor we were using & had done ID etc. We have already got contracts & sellers property information to sign etc because our solicitor is online & they already had lots of info. We also had the memorandum of sale on Thursday. If you're not using online you need to wait on post for everything, which can cause delays. Fingers crossed we both get some news next week about surveys!

Thanks @MovingThisYearHopefully - it was agreed the Wednesday before - so it's been a week and a half now. I guess I'm just anxious, There are a million things to go wrong here and the house we are buying is owned by a couple who don't live in it and aren't that bothered about selling it it feels. It had been on for a while as they just weren't interested in lower offers or anyone in a chain and so it feels like if anything goes wrong from our side they're likely to just send us on our way...

Moving is too stressful! I'd be happy if the memorandum of sale went out at least but the EA can't send it until they have their solicitor to send it to. Although to be fair I had already researched solicitors before this process started and chosen one as we are selling the house too, so I guess it's not inconceivable she's just sorting out all her options and trying to pick the best one

How is everyone else's going?

Mortgage appointment for us tomorrow. Currently on mat leave and waiting for HR to confirm my income which had been a ball ache.

I've received memorandum of sale and drove past new place yesterday and the signs now been changed to sold

I bet they're just freaking out a bit Bubbles. I'd expect to get the memorandum of sale this week though, so keep on at them.

Hope your appointment goes ok Sally. Its so exciting to see the sold board & know its you thats buying it. No sold board for us because we're buying a new build. We do have a little blue sticker on a plan though. Very exciting.

We went to the development yesterday & had a walk around. Can't get anywhere near the actual house yet but keep drooling over the show home, checking out the fixtures & fittings etc. The show home is very different to the house we're buying. There doesn't seem to be a show home of the one we're buying anywhere, so we're buying very much off plan!

Hope everyone has a productive week.

Hi all

So frustrated. Bought our house 8 years ago. Since then done alot of work on the house. Have seen another house and out offer in which was accepted. That week we put ours up with an agent. Were on the third weeks it's been on And so far we've had 5 viewings and two offers. The house was on sale for £130k we reduced in the first week to £125k. We got an offer first for £105k and one today for £90k. Im scared the house we put on offer on won't wait any longer

Well miracles I have a viewing tomorrow!! Fingers crossed this is the end of the summer holidays and hopefully a few more booked in. Have decided regardless we are out of here mid to late September so if it ends up empty it does. Need to be moved to flat for dd starting college. Finger crossed. Flamingo love the sound of the service you used where did you find them? If you don’t mind me asking.

Nuzz how much do you need to get minimum?

We've had no more viewings. It's been on with the new agent for 6 days and was on at £10,000 more with the other agent for 5 weeks. I'm worried we are never going to sell. Our neighbour put their house up and sold in 48 hours. Although completely different property (3 bed mid terraced town house). We've found our dream house around the corner and with no chain

Beautician I think it's still very quiet out there, I know lots of people have gone away this week and tagged it onto the bank hol so don't lose hope. At least I'm telling myself that as we've had no viewings for three weeks! (someone drove up and down our road looking at our house yesterday so I stupidly got my hopes up for a call from the agent today but nope)!

Thanks jgm. We've had people drive and walk by having a good nosy too. We are thinking about replacing all our fencing along the back of our garden at the weekend as it's mismatched and some really old and tired looking. Also we might take a corner off our front lawned area so that two cars can fit on the drive.

We haven’t had a viewing since June (North London/Herts borders!). I am guessing it is a bit price related but literally no houses selling in our area. We are going to drop our asking price by £50k next week (£80k less than an offer we accepted earlier this year!) in the hope of getting an offer but we would need quite near the asking price in order to make the move work. I hate all the uncertainty

we were using Natwest for our mortgage and they changed their lending criteria on 21/08 with regards to childcare so I now think we can't move anyway as it's made a huge difference.

@beautician is there no one else you could go with? could a mortgage broker find you someone with different lending criteria?

Twinky I might try a mortgage broker but I've used all the high street lenders intermediary calculators and none will lend enough

Those are crazy offers Nuzz. unless you are significantly overpriced to start with based on recent sales? What does your EA say? We ended up having to accept 40k less than our original price, which equates to around 9.5%. Do the owners of the dream house know of your interest? Have you tried offering based on what you have been offered yourself?

Hope todays viewing went ok AuntPetunia A lot of the problem at the moment is with it being school holidays. Im sure you'll all get a lot more interest in a couple of weeks.

I hope you can find a lender Beautician. Have you tried Kensington? They have lenders prepared to lend where others have refused. Might be worth checking out their website or giving them a call.

Its all going quickly here. Our mortgage broker works like lightening & the developer will hear tomorrow about getting the valuation done. Not got a date for the valuation on ours yet. I expect we'll hear about that soon. We're not in a rush anyway, given our new build won't be ready till Dec/Jan.

@movingthisyearhopefully

I think people are trying to low ball us to be honest. A house round the corner from me went for asking price of £135k smaller than ours. I do think summer holidays has something to do with the low offers. Let's hope it picks up next week.

@beautician we need £120k minimum. But the more the better obviously.

Hope everyone has better luck

Thanks moving but they firstly rearranged for Saturday and I’ve juat now seen an email from agent saying they’ve cancelled for Saturday! All within space of 4 hours. Anyway got another viewing booked in for tomorrow afternoon so fingers crossed. Have to be honest I’m more focusing on getting the flat finished so we can move in before end of September. Then this will be empty ..not sure if that’s good or bad for selling but better for us to be in and settled. Good luck everyone.
beautician hope you get something sorted. And lawyer fingers crossed all picks up for you.

@beautician definitely speak to a couple of brokers, they have access to different lenders and deals and will have knowledge of each lenders criteria. Ask on Facebook for local recommendations. Avoid estate agent brokers and I would say look for someone where you dont pay they make their commission from the lender. We are both self employed and if you put us through on a normal lender we would have no chance but our mortgage broker has access to a wider range.

I would say look for someone where you dont pay they make their commission from the lender

Definitely don't pay, you won't get a better deal if you do so there's no point.

@yikes I never really understand why people pay. the guy we use is brilliant and has so much knowledge of the market and he gets his payment from the lender.

I'm happy to pm you his details as he dies all his conversations by phone and email so doesn't matter if you aren't local.