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Original poster

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

980 replies

MovingThisYearHopefully · 08/08/2018 14:50

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?

OP posts:
TulipsfromAmsterdam · 29/09/2018 09:43

We found out our buyer has withdrawn offer because he was sick of EA asking him to bring in proofs and MIP! Turns out he has done this a few times to different vendors over the past 2 years. He did seem a bit odd but did believe he was interested.
Have come off the market and a new EA is coming this week so hopefully back on next weekend.

Original poster
MovingThisYearHopefully · 29/09/2018 12:44

Oh FFS Flamingo & ditto Tulips. What on earth is wrong with people? I have a little saying that is proved right far too often for my liking. "Assume everyones an idiot until they prove otherwise" They very rarely do.. Hmm Did you get a copy of the report yet Flamingo?

Just to add to the craziness we had a message from our EA yesterday. Our buyers are still after the £750 for an indemnity policy they simply do not need & we have already, very nicely said we won't be paying for. They also say they want to look at completing 2 weeks yesterday! Shock What the actual fuck? It smacks of game playing or a naive FTB, but this FTB is an EA & has a partner who has previously bought a property, so they would KNOW its not as simple as that. We are nowhere near thinking of exchange dates yet, let alone completion! They also know our ongoing purchase is not ready yet so we would need to look for somewhere to rent. Its ridiculous talk. DH & I were so gobsmacked we haven't responded to the email yet!

Good luck to everyone having or going on viewings today. Its such a terrible time to be doing this & its only getting worse with Brexit looming!

OP posts:
twinkydink · 29/09/2018 13:52

@flamingo that is crap from your solicitors, do you think the person you spoke to will be on the ball to get stuff moving? Different people have different ideas of chasing, I'm a calling/emailing until i get an answer kind of person but some people think one email will get them answers! I would say thoigh 2 days to wait for an update on the report doesn't sound too bad, frustrating yes but hopefully you will get an update on Monday.

@moving people just pull completion dates out of thin air, but weird that they are estate agents, they should know how it works. Unless they literally deal with sales. At my EA they have a separate team who take over when chains are complete and they deal with the solicitors. Maybe your EA is one of those and actually has no experience of the full buying process? you are under no obligation to agree to that anyway, it should be about finding a date that is suitable for everyone not just one person in the chain.

Our buyers are having their mortgage survey here on Monday so fingers crossed for that. We have been trying to get all out paperwork in order in order to do our mortgage application on Monday. So nervous!!

harriethoyle · 29/09/2018 13:57

Oh ffs @tulips and @moving... how vexing!

@tiddle will you take an offer or will you hold out for asking price?

Viewings seemed to go well this morning and horrid neighbour kept his beak out and his mouth shut... am I cynical to think that's because my 6 foot 4 built like a brick netty bf did the viewings and I took the dogs out?!

harriethoyle · 29/09/2018 13:58

Good luck with the application @twinky!

twinkydink · 29/09/2018 14:22

@Harriet glad they went well! Fingers crossed for some positive feedback!

flamingofridays · 29/09/2018 15:06

moving i did. 940 odd quids worth of work apparently. Theyve sent it to mortgage company but not heard back yet. Got a second opinion last night he agreed with what they said but said it was nothing urgent and if we can to just give them the cash to do it when they move in rather than us do it as it will be messy.

twinky i hope so! Ill be keeping on top of it now as i have 0 faith left in anyone!!

TiddleTaddleTat · 29/09/2018 15:40

@harriet We have reduced today as we have a baseline price in mind. It is about 5% under sold prices 1 year and even 6 months ago but it is a stagnant market now. We want to get a buyer ahead of Christmas, and are fearful of the impact of Brexit. I reckon we have about another good month to try and get it sold for this figure

jgm · 29/09/2018 18:17

Sorry to everyone having a bad time. harriet glad the neighbour kept away!
We saw a house today that has lots of positives, but didn't tick all the boxes (I have a lot of boxes!) and I'd want to change the layout etc. Loved the location. How do you know when it's the right house? Do you really just 'know'?! Two more to look at tomorrow (although one is up for £80k more than their neighbour sold for last year, same style house, no renovations so I've no idea where they got that figure from)!

twinkydink · 29/09/2018 19:37

@jgm for us we just know when it's the house but during this process we have offered on a couple of houses that I wasn't set on. I think the fact they fell through just shows everything happens for a reason. And now we have hopefully found pur dream house. If this falls through it will be a he'll of a lot harder to deal with!

I would make a list of what you are willing to compromise on and what is a complete necessity. It may not be your dream house but could you make it into it? Or would you always be thinking there is something better out there?

jgm · 29/09/2018 19:48

Thanks twinky, the main issue is the small bedroom sizes, so nothing we can do about that really. The rest of the house I either love or can fix (although I didn't have that 'must offer on this now!' feeling I have to say...)

flamingofridays · 29/09/2018 20:39

jgm we just knew.

The house isnt perfect. We will have to knock walls down etc but i just really liked it.

jgm · 29/09/2018 20:50

Thanks flamingo - I'm a nightmare! It took me forever to name my second child, I just talk myself into and out of decisions Grin. I do really like it. I just don't love it (yet)?

twinkydink · 29/09/2018 21:00

see small bedrooms would be a no goer for me as like you say there is nothing you can do about it. we looked st one place that had small rooms but we would have been looking to add an extra loft room as a master so I could have lived with it but in hind sight I'm still glad it fell through!

Auntpetunia2015 · 29/09/2018 21:51

We’re in surrounded by boxes but here. It’s a lovely feeling. Would be nicer if the house sale had gone through already but hey am lucky enough to be able to leave it and move in here for the month as it goes through.

spinabifidamom · 29/09/2018 22:15

I started apartment hunting four weeks ago. My first buyer is coming on Monday to see the place. I’ve found the thread on useful tips on selling your property really useful. My estate agent is a friend. I’ve also looked at prices of local properties on the market that have sold locally in the newspaper and online.

Is it a good idea to make a leaflet on my apartment to distribute with pictures?
I’m waiting for the offers to come in now. It is so hard sometimes isnt it? I’ve visited a few different properties with my family in tow.

harriethoyle · 30/09/2018 18:01

@jgm I'm dreadful for acting on gut instinct 🙈 I've spent more time buying dresses than deciding to put offers in on the houses I've bought!!

jgm · 30/09/2018 19:23

I sometimes wish I could be like that harriet! I'm far too logical!

TiddleTaddleTat · 30/09/2018 20:55

@jgm like others, we just know. I saw a house I just knew would be perfect last week. Unfortunately the people that put a low offer in on our property have mysteriously vanished (according to the EA).

I'm having dreams about that house!

April2020mom · 01/10/2018 07:13

We are currently looking at properties in the area on the market. I want to sell my house by the end of May 2020. But I will give myself a little bit more time if needed. What estate agent have you used and why? Do you recommend them?
Just to clarify I moved back in 2010 into the current house. We have slowly started a family since moving here as well. My only child will be 3 in December, she is at a babysitter during the day time for 2/3 hours a day.
I was eighteen years old when I moved out of my parents apartment for the first time ever. Been here eight years now but slowly getting bored of living in the rural countryside with nothing to do during the winter. I want to live in a city.
I prefer a apartment now because I’m getting older. At some point during the next two years we want another child.

twinkydink · 01/10/2018 08:54

@tiddle the disappearing buyers seems to be getting more common. I can't imagine offering on somewhere I was sure about, it's so unfair on the sellers. I really hope reducing will get you the offers you want.

Brexit was a big concern for me, I really want to move before it all happens as the uncertainty is sure to have some impact on the housing market.

@april there aren't really that many national estate agents so recommendations would need to come from people local to you.

flamingofridays · 01/10/2018 09:15

morning everyone.

I have just emailed our solicitor (purchase) to make sure he has done what he said he would do on Friday. if he hasn't I think there is a real possibility the sellers daughter will throw her toys out and they will pull out which will leave us in a really difficult situation!

I also need to speak to FTB guy, independent guy who came to look at damp agreed with what they said but also said if we weren't moving he wouldn't bother doing it, but as the mortgage company want it it will have to be done, he said in his experience they wont drop it until its done even if its the tiniest thing.

So need to feed that back to FTB guy and ask his buyer to pull their fingers out and find out what the mortgage company want. I would so much rather just give them 900 odd quid and say here do it yourself when we move but I don't know if the mortgage company will go for that!

TiddleTaddleTat · 01/10/2018 09:37

@twinkydink reassuring that disappearing buyers are common at the moment. I am terribly cynical about EAs and don't trust that they aren't telling me the truth, maybe the buyers went with a different property of theirs.

I think everyone is concerned about the impact of Brexit and I'm keeping an eye on the news as a no deal as we approach March is the worst possible situation if you are trying to sell.

twinkydink · 01/10/2018 09:40

I know of a couple who accepted an offer on their house and then it turned out that the buyers had offered on 3 different properties at the same time and decided to go with one of the other ones. I could understand if it was a fast moving market but it really isn't around here!

@flamingo I really hope you get some answers today. it's so frustrating being in limbo and relying on other people

flamingofridays · 01/10/2018 11:30

thanks twinky!

I am so stressed, I hope it will all be worth it.