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?

Unfortunately that’s not it. I’d noticed it was marked under offer last night and did wonder. It’s the fact that agent couldn’t see that that was feedback ! Anyway am going to reduce tomorrow and let them have till the end of the month. Our tie in is 2 weeks!!
I’m moving out on 28th if this month so if it’s not gone may get a decorating team in to give it a lick of paint and then remarket with another agent.
How do people feel about empty house photos ? That’s my worry if we remarket ?

Can I join?

We're buying a new build which is ready for completion October/November, we know their end of year is December so got a decent amount of extras thrown in including a part ex on our current house with a clause of us staying here until our house is ready. Apparently that doesn't work as they buy our house and then sell it, they've agreed full valuation and they'll make up the shortfall if it goes for less.

So the pictures were taken today and I have to pray the house sells before our house is complete as they have threatened to delay completion with us until after Christmas and I'm desperate to have Christmas in our new house! Argh sneaky buggers. Not a missive in sight with TW until our place sells according to the estate agent. We're in Scotland.

Sorry to hear that Auntpetunia. Damn frustrating. Why on earth any EA would not consider your viewer offering elsewhere as relevant information is beyond me!

Hi Madhatter. Sounds like you negotiated a good deal there on your new build. I don't get their idea of part exchange though. You may as well be doing it yourself. What stage is your build at? Have you been in to see it yet? I hope you don't have to wait too long to find a buyer so it all ties in. We are also buying a new build & have got 3/4 of our stamp duty paid & flooring throughout. Our expected completion is Dec/Jan. We sale agreed 2 weeks ago & our buyers want to be in next month so I'm shitting myself as we said we'd go chain free if necessary, but since we dropped 20k to accept their offer it may not be possible now. I'm hoping their solicitor is slow. They told our EA last Friday that searches have been applied for but not heard a thing about the valuation on ours yet, so so far they're not rushing. Fingers crossed we can tie it in with our purchase or only have to go into short-term very expensive accommodation for 2 months!

It's just past first fix, we've not seen ours yet but been in one that's being handed over soon and love it.

We just went in to look as we were keen on a rival builders and were up front so they threw in stamp duty, flooring throughout and part exchange so it works out a good deal as it's in a good location and much bigger than our current house plus ready a year before the other house will be released.

We were adamant that we weren't going into rented and they said that's fine etc and are going to start marketing our property this week but I'm not sure how it'll work really, they said they're a guaranteed buyer for the full market price they offered us (in Scotland we have a home report before the house is marketed to show the valuation so they have that) so if a buyer offers what they offered we proceed with them, if not we still get to move as they'd be buying, but they can make us stay in an extra 8 weeks according to their sales staff (although this may have been a scare tactic as we were reluctant to get it on the market until we had the full mortgage offer).

I'm really confused actually, we've not actually signed anything to get locked in so someone could offer 15k more and we could just pay the EA and take the extra? No idea!

I had a friend who was in the same position as you, they got a caravan for two weeks and then travel lodge (got a deal on a longer stay) for the rest of the time, wasn't ideal with two kids but it worked for them, maybe look at air bnb even? Their stuff was in storage with the movers until their house was ready. I think stamp duty is a huge bonus, you definitely got a good deal too, I think we're lucky in that our build should be ready in time to get a sale through so we shouldn't have to stall too much. Fingers crossed for us both!

We are just at first fix. We went to the development on Saturday evening & managed to catch a glimpse of our house from a long distance behind a barrier & got a few pics. We haven't been into any house thats anything like our one yet. Its completely off plan, which is a bit scary, but exciting too. Our current house is tiny & the new house over twice the size so it will be amazing to have so much space, plus an extra toilet. Thats what I'm looking forward to most lol.

I am in SE England & the market here is stagnant/dropping so because we were struggling to sell we thought going chain free would help swing it. It did & i'd highly recommend it to anyone struggling to sell. I just didn't realise that short-term lets were such a rare/expensive thing now. I honestly thought we'd quite easily get a 3 month let that we could extend month by month if necessary. We are now looking into the likes of Air B&B, but its all so expensive here. You're talking almost the entirety of DH's take-home pay every month, which we can afford for 2-3 months maximum. We have 2 autistic teenagers & a cat to cater for too so I'm really worried. If our build is on time it is doable, but if its delayed then we can't do it. Going to see if we can find something privately. Thats our best bet I think.

just a lurker as we sold two years ago no idea why i'm still emotionally invested in other people's moves

but we went into rented to break the chain as we had an unusual property to sell, were worried about the market and had buyers who were desperate to get in. Meant that it took 7 weeks from going on the market to completion which was bonkers. the estate agent who we were selling with also did rentals and found us somewhere to go. We thought we would be in for less than six months so worried about break clauses etc but in the end we were there for over a year

so @movingthisyearhopefully you might be there longer than a couple of months so might be able to negotiate a lower rent OR the estate agent may well know of somewhere that would accept tenants for a short period. otherwise airbnb or holiday let is probably your best bet. Depending on when it is it might be a quiet period so they might well take a longer let on a reduced rate as they get guaranteed occupancy.

My MIL runs a b and b and holiday cottage and in the winter she lets out the cottage to local contractors on a long let who are working nearby. Not your typical let but might be worth approaching some of those who might take you up on it? Whereabouts are you?

Met with my solicitor on Friday and found that the lease paperwork for my flat is also incorrect (took my friend nine months to get hers sorted)

However, it's been recognised earlier on in the process (still waiting for my formal mortgage offer), plus as Hera was eventually sorted my solicitor has a process to follow now. Also as I have gone back to the same sols who did the original conveyancing they have confirmed really it should have been picked up in the original conveyancing so this will be reflected in the cost. Just hoping the land registry will accept a deed of variation.

My buyers survey has been done and my mortgage company have sent a surveyor out to the new house so at least things are ticking over. Hopefully I can get completed before my current fixed rate ends

Also noticed someone down thread had been looking at online affordability calculators. Take them with a pinch of salt. After getting out Decision in principle Nationwide confirmed they would have been able to lend us £40k more than what the calculator said.

Bit annoying really as I had repeatedly asked (in branch and over the phone) for someone to go through figures with me and was always directed to the calculator. Had I known I could have borrowed more I would have been able to look at houses in a whole other area but hey ho I like then one I'm buying and you live and learn

@flamingo have you had any luck with your step dad finding a new mortgage?

We randomly have a different estate agent bringing round a potential buyer this afternoon. Apparently he saw our house on line a few months ago but wasn't in a position to proceed, he now is and is desperate to see the house! Not getting my hopes up though!

Sally its not so much the mortgage calculators, its when they come to do the final checks. They want detailed bank statements now to back up your stated monthly costs. Just been through this with TSB for a remortgage. Getting a decision in principle was fine, its when it went to the underwriters the fun started. Maybe TSB are particularly strict so if you can find another way good luck! This is one of the reasons we decided not to remortgage and just sell up.

We are also going into rented so we can be chain free. We want to try out our new area before we buy as well so this time we are really sure on what we want. It has made us attractive to buyers so might be worth it if an extra nudge is required.

So the wonderful offer we had accepted is still there, but it turns out our buyers buyer hasn’t sold! So now the fun begins. Glad we didn’t take it off the market. I’ve told estate agent to keep pushing it whilst we wait for the others in the chain to catch up. Sounds harsh but I’m only doing viewings with people who have sold or are in a position to buy now. Fed up with all the time wasters we’ve had who are ‘thinking of selling’. That’s great but in this market thinking isn’t enough!

Not checked this thread in a while. I’ve not caught up fully yet but I’m sorry to see some of you are still here and/or having issues.

We’re still going through the process. We sent our signed contract back to our solicitor last Monday but they’ve not uploaded to say they’ve received it yet. DH sent an email earlier this week that’s had no response so one of us will ring to chase.

I think all we’re waiting on is any issues to be raised (hopefully none) before the contracts are exchanged. Seems to be taking an age though. We’ve been out of the house for 6 weeks now, so it’s just sitting there empty. Hoping that we get some movement in the next few days!

Need a bit of advice / other opinions. So I accepted an offer on my house in May and had an offer accepted on a house in June. Just about to exchange 2 weeks ago and my buyer pulled out.

My house is back on the market at the same price as it originally was, unfortunately it looks bad as though it looks as if it’s been on since May and nothing has happened with it. Estate agent is encouraging me to drop it by £10k because money is tight for a variety of reasons which I won’t go in to I can only afford to take £5k under the current asking price.

EA says because it’s fallen to page 4 as it was originally put on in May it won’t get much interest now and I need to drop the price which will lead to an increase in interest. Is it not a bit stupid to drop it to lower than I can accept!? He pointed out a couple of properties sold in my area very recently over asking price.

Part of me thinks I should put my trust in him as this is his job he knows what he’s doing then part of me thinks it’s crazy to set a price I can’t accept

@waiting there is no point in my opinion putting it on at lower than you can accept. I dont know what area you are in but around here nothing is going for over asking. I think you have to drop your price by 2% for it to show on rightmove.

An alternative is to go on with a new agent. What is your agent proactively doing? I've received emails saying a property has come back on the market, have they sent something like that out to all of their customers? Also have they contacted everyone who viewed it first time. I would want to know they had done all of that before I dropped the price. An estate agents job is more than just putting it on rightmove!

He's being daft. You get an asking price offer and then say, no, we need £5k more. What tosh.

He needs to find another way, or you do.... have you lost the one you're buying? If you drop, can't they?

@Waitingtomove I think if you have a premium listing on Rightmove your house will show at the top of searches regardless - not sure how much it costs but our agent package included a week premium - might be a way of getting your house seen without reducing? It won’t be sent out to people again but it might help?

Thanks, it’s been on a premium listing for a week this is about to come to an end this when this ends is when we have been advised to reduce the price.

Going to call them in the morning to find out exactly what’s been done in the past 2 weeks, thinking of changing agents but reading the contract we have to give 28 days notice. I’m assuming that if we give them notice they may stop putting any effort in at all and we will have lost a month.

At the moment the house we were buying is still SSTC as he is hoping we can continue but it won’t stay like this for much longer.

Our situation is a nightmare. We are sold but finding a property has been impossible. Barely anything on the market. Made an offer on one property that had been on for a year of 15k below asking price only to be told they won’t accept anything below.

Hoping more comes on the market soon.

unicorn they clearly don't want to actually sell! Totally nuts

@waitingtomove - we're in a similar situation. Our house was under offer and we'd found a place to buy (both NW London) but our buyer lost her buyer the day before exchange and the chain fell apart. Have put back on the market and had an offer - but at £80k less than the price we agreed to sell for to the last buyer which means we cant fund the purchase of the place we were buying. Total nightmare!

And our estate agents are encouraging us to drop the asking price on our place by £100k...

waiting I definitely wouldn't put it on for less than you can accept, that sounds crazy to me, if I offered asking and they tried bartering me up i would think they weren't serious and get red flags for the rest of the transaction. Stick to your guns and maybe put it down to what you can accept?

Unicorn maybe they can't accept less to move, is the listed price the same as the valuation (or are you not Scotland? Sorry I assume everyone has access to a survey like we do!)

We are meant to be doing a part ex with TW and they've started marketing our property today and already have a viewer for tomorrow (I couldn't make today), she can't make the Sunday open house as she has one too so I'm assuming she's not proceedable and wondering why they're sending people to look if they can't place an offer, is that normal?

On the plus side my house has never been so clutter free and clean rethinking if we need to move at all now.

twinky yes he has (thank god!!!) Got mortgage in principle applying today/tomorrow.

Sellers estate agent hounding me about why i havent sent forms back to my solicitor even though they know we've not been at home to receive / send the bloody forms!! She was really arsey with me as well. Get home sat so will send them off straight away!

Buyer has booked in valuation of our house for the 12th.

Well I’ve had an interesting day. Was brasses off with agents after Monday I phoned and told them I was giving notice. I only have to give 2 weeks. Girl was a bit arsey and tried to tell me they’d been doing loads I said it wasn’t obvious to me. Next thing boss phones and tries everything to make me stay but I wasn’t changing my mind as he didn’t had anything else he could offer just more of the same and that’s been rubbish. So I’ve called another agent and he’s coming to give me a valuation tomorrow he knows I’m still tied in and said they will secretly market so no right
Move or Zoopla but on to their buyers list and their mortgage list! Hope that’s legal! Anyway 3 weeks tomorrow we move out so fingers crossed ! Good luck everyone for the weekend

No not in Scotland. A similar one sold for 30k less than they want so think our 15k under offer was pretty fair!

Aunt I'm sure they wouldn't do anything that could get you in trouble as they'd be in it thicker than you!

Well house been live from today and have two viewers for tomorrow even if one of them isn't proceedable and some confirmed for the open house Sunday so fingers crossed.

I read our home report and it looks decent although the gutters got a 2 along with kitchen fittings as the worktop has warped a little near the sink, hope that doesn't put anyone off. Seriously feeling for everyone where this has dragged on, I'm on the first day and just want it done now.