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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:
flamingofridays · 12/08/2018 18:29

My fingers are well and truly crossed for you moving.

We should get feedback from our Friday viewers tomorrow. Estate agent said they "loved it" but could say the same about a lot of viewers. Fingers crossed for us too though like I said previously I'm not gonna stress about it.

PositiveAttitude · 12/08/2018 18:35

Can I hop in and join you?

Our house has just going on the market. We have approved photos but it isn't online yet.

We had the house on the market just over 2 years ago, but didn't get a buyer. We knew the house needed a lot of work doing, so we have invested money, got the work down and it now looks really nice and is looking good quality inside and out. When we tried 2 years ago we had seen a place to go to. That place is on the market again (it was rented out for a while after not selling). If we sell ours quickly we will be putting an offer in for that one. We invested £25,000 and the price has increased by £100,000 so all good so far.

Things seem to be moving very quickly here - well, there doesn't seem a lot on the market anyway. I went through Rightmove last night and hardly anything was still for sale that had been added before April, so here's hoping.......!!!

Original poster
MovingThisYearHopefully · 12/08/2018 18:51

Everything crossed for you Flaming. Impossible not to stress isn't it? Much easier said than done. Flowers

That sounds great Positive. You did exactly the right thing & could stand to do very nicely out of it. I honestly hope that things turn out the way you want them to & you get that house. Flowers

OP posts:
jgm · 12/08/2018 18:57

I didn't realise that re: part ex MovingThisYearHopefully - I didn't know your property still had to sell in time in order to proceed? I assumed they bought it off you at a low price and sold it on for profit at their leisure - that definitely seems pointless if it's not the case.

Fingers crossed for everyone waiting for offers tomorrow.

flamingofridays · 12/08/2018 18:59

jgm I know that's the case with some part exs. My mum and step dad bought a new build and part exd his old house. It definitely sold after they had moved in (For more than they bought it from him obvs!)

Original poster
MovingThisYearHopefully · 12/08/2018 19:45

Maybe it depends on the state of the market Flaming? It would make sense that they could afford to be a bit more relaxed about it during busier times when they know properties will sell easier. I wish it was that easy now. We would have moved last year if it were! Sad

OP posts:
flamingofridays · 12/08/2018 20:32

Yes that's possible moving hopefully you will get some good news soon!!

Hercy · 13/08/2018 06:58

Had a productive weekend...went to see 5 houses, loved one and liked another a lot. Unfortunately, our favourite sounds complicated and may not even be for sale?!?

Got several viewings booked in for our place this week, so expect it will be a busy week. I'm already losing my shit with my husband for not leaving everything pristine!

Quick Q - dyson fans. Would you remove for viewings or not bother?

HopefullyMoving · 13/08/2018 08:59

Another week, another Monday.

Good luck everyone for this week.

Our aim this week is to complete by Friday. I will be on the phone every day in order to achieve this to hurry things along.

What about you guys? What are you hoping to achieve by Friday??

jgm · 13/08/2018 09:18

Good luck HopefullyMoving, is it all going smoothly so far? Have you got a date to exchange?

I'm not sure what we want to achieve now! There's nothing currently on the market I'm interested in (going to look at a doer-upper tomorrow but that's more for curiosity reasons!) so I'm pretty laid back at the mo re: whether we sell or not! The guy who cancelled on us on friday is supposed to be rebooking to view this week but we will see - plus the last I heard he hadn't sold.

jgm · 13/08/2018 09:52

Ooooh just been told the house we originally put ours on the market for (which sold immediately) might be coming back on the market...

flamingofridays · 13/08/2018 10:37

hopefullymoving hope it happens for you. Not sure what I want to achieve to be honest!

estate agent has left a message for Fridays viewers who "loved it" - not expecting anything to come of it to be honest!

HopefullyMoving · 13/08/2018 11:29

It's good to keep expectations low flaming!

jgm that sounds exciting! How did you hear?

We don't have a date to exchange but we are ready to exchange on our sale, and we are just waiting for one search to come back and the enquiries. I know the enquiries are done because I'm in touch directly with our seller and we all agree to exchange this week if we can.
I have a funny feeling it will be delayed, though, and I will be furious. It's the professsionals holding this up, not the people paying them. It makes me so angry.

flamingofridays · 13/08/2018 11:51

exactly - I have done far too much getting my hopes up.

hopefully you wont be delayed!

jgm · 13/08/2018 14:46

@HopefullyMoving the agent of the first house is also the agent of the one we liked that sold on Friday, I emailed to ask to keep us informed if either comes back on the market and she replied saying the first one might be and she'll make a note of our interest. Didn't ask why it might fall through but will do if it does come back up for sale and we're proceedable at that point, of course they might not be honest with me!

twinkydink · 13/08/2018 14:47

2 viewings this weekend and 2 nos! to be honest I'm just hoping the people who have made an offer find a new buyer cos I just can't be bothered with any more viewings!

notknotweed1 · 13/08/2018 15:57

I’m feeling deflated! We went on last Monday, had 5 viewings with proceedable buyers booked in for Saturday. I had to do all the viewings and everyone was so positive, one even came back an hour later with their parents for another viewing. We (stupidly) got excited and convinced ourselves that we would get some sort of offer today.

Obviously that hasn’t happened, and feedback has been a bit meh - one said it just wasn’t for them, one said they like it but still have others to look at, one aren’t sure anymore if they’re in a position to buy, and the ones who came twice said they want a quieter road... this is despite them living directly around the corner so knowing full well what the road is like! The last one hasn’t responded to agent so no idea what they think.

I hate this whole process!

jgm · 13/08/2018 16:20

It sucks doesn't it notknotweed1. We had the same when we first went on the market, 4 positive viewings, then either no feedback or wishy washy feedback. Mind you it's made me think how I act at vendor viewings, I'm always polite and enthusiastic as it would be rude not to be, but I've probably inadvertently got people's hopes up. In fact I was probably more guarded at the houses I loved as I was hoping to play my cards close to my chest in order to negotiate?

Hercy · 13/08/2018 16:42

We've been negotiating on a house we viewed on Saturday, and unfortunately, the vendor seems to be very unrealistic. The grounds have reduced by about an acre, yet he still seems to want full asking price (based on the previous boundaries)...in this market!!

With the other houses we viewed, the agents made a point of saying there was room for negotiation. Shame that doesn't seem to be the case here. We've increased our offer a bit, so will see what they say.

Viewing on our house this morning was a non-starter, but have more to follow this week.

@notknowweed did you deliberately schedule all your viewings for the same day? I don't know why that didn't occur to me, but it seems a much better way of dealing with them and only needing to have the show home look one day a week, rather than every other day. Fingers crossed you will get an offer soon!

BayTrees · 13/08/2018 17:10

Sitting in my old house, waiting for the estate agent to phone back so I can get this on the market. I've finally had gardeners in and they've done an amazing job so it's ready for photos. We don't actually live here, DH sold his house and took out a mortgage to buy our dream house and we've redecorated and replaced a floor here. It's a quirky, character 1920s house but it's non standard construction so I'm really worried about it not selling. It's furnished and dressed to suit the age of the house and I think it looks really good. I don't want to go to auction but I can see it happening. Alternatively someone will fall in love with it (I did!) and not mind the concrete construction. How long will it take to get online from here? How much paperwork do I need to do? Aargh - exciting but nerve wracking!

notknotweed1 · 13/08/2018 17:18

Same jgm - it’s really made me think about the people whose hopes I’ve got up in the past! That’s why I think it’s not really ideal for the vendor to be doing the viewings anyway. Nobody is going to tell them they hate it - we’re all far too polite and British!

hercy - we didn’t do it that way on purpose, we were just lucky that that’s when everyone wanted to come. When we were on the market with a different agent a few months ago we had all sporadic evening viewings, which was a nightmare with both of us working and a toddler messing up the house. Good luck with yours!

Hercy · 13/08/2018 17:53

@baytrees should be very quick in this digital age. We had photos taken thurs at 10am and it was ready to go online by mid afternoon!

@notknotweed im only a few days in and already I'm fed up. The thought of having to get the house ready every day/every other day for potentially weeks, months, years??? makes me want to weep. I can see why people always say moving house is stressful!

Hopefully we will all be able to get off the treadmill soon!

BayTrees · 13/08/2018 17:59

@Hercy So quick! Wow, I was hoping for the end of the week! Agent hasn't got back to me so I guess it'll be tomorrow. I am very aware of being really lucky not having to live here at the same time. I am looking forward to having all my furniture though. We've added pieces to the new house as it's at least double the size, but I miss having a wardrobe and a nice dining table.

Auntpetunia2015 · 13/08/2018 18:26

Nothing going on here at all. Have stopped hassling the agent this week as my DS is home from uni and it’s going to be impossible to keep on top of everything with him here as well he’s a big 6ft 3 and seems to leave a trail of mess behind him wherever he goes ! Back on it next week. May consider changing agent

TulipsfromAmsterdam · 13/08/2018 20:59

I am in the North East and trying to sell a 4 bed Victorian semi. Went on last June and got offer in weeks. House we wanted wouldn’t budge from asking price so had nowhere else to buy and lost our buyers. Same house sold as part ex for far less than we offered.
Since then have had very few viewers. One couple are interested but have to sell first.
There are 3 huge new build estates around us which are selling quick so assume HTB is allowing people to buy with lower mortgages than ours would.
We do all our viewings up here.