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?

Blitzen Two years . I really hope you sell soon. It is true people do want something for nothing. Our house should be priced cheaper if you compare what we paid for it but it was an absolute hole when we bought it last year. I don't want to sell for cheaper than the 3 bed detached houses go for around here especially when we have a really good plot and it's all newly done out. As it is I think we will have to go into another do upper house

I know Beautician, same for us, in that if we DO sell, it's a project house for us. I can't believe it's been on the market for so long to be honest. We just haven't the funds to do the kItchen extension that it needs, so thought reducing the price would take care of that. Anyone would think we live in a derelict building the way things are not going! Okay it doesn't have a WOW factor but there is potential. Maybe thats the problem!

That sounds so stressful Blitzen. Have you had many viewers / any offers in that time?

Yes jgm a few offers which we couldn't accept. Very stressful indeed as desperate to move to be near family.

wow blitzen I hope you get a sale soon, have you tried switching estate agents, or new pictures? (sorry if I am stating the complete obvious!)

I am getting some quotes for this fence.

meanwhile I mentioned the company who get mortgages for those without a desposit. I met with him on Thursday, he explained how it works and he said he has someone really interested, who would put the fence up himself. This guy has not viewed our house, he has sorted him a mortgage based on £98,000 and he said the company pay our legal fees. it almost seems too good to be true.

However, like I say the guy hasn't actually viewed the house but does know the area.

going to speak to the guy again today and try and arrange a viewing for this guy, if he wants to go ahead then I will take his offer of 98 and sell it him. I will still have to pay the estate agents commission though. I am not sure how she will take it but she hasn't sold it and she'll still get paid if it all goes through.

Also, a woman messaged me on fb asking about the house. She is super keen, again hasn't seen it, but wont see it until she can get a mortgage in principle. She tried with her own bank and they wont lend her enough. I have pointed her in the direction of seeing a broker so we will see if anything comes of that.

this guy has basically said once he's committed he's committed so lets see...

moving. Yeah normally price would be my thought for no viewings but a quick check on right move shows houses on same estate different avenue coming on in last week for same as mine and they need seriously more work than mine does. Within .5 of a mile below 250k there are 9 some have been reduced and others haven’t. I do think we are just catching summer holiday break. I’m giving it till begin of September and then taking 15k off.

Had an offer in May - buyers told us they were nearly completed on their own house sale. Their solicitor is utterly awful and us and our house purchase are ready to go, our buyers are not. They said we’d all be ready to go in August and they aren’t at all. Their solicitor is hard to get hold of and has now said they don’t know when we’ll exchange or completed. Maybe next week for exchange. Our seller is a teacher with kids, I have three kids (two have Sen and one is going to a new school) so we really had to move in August. We’d put off a holiday as buyers said we’d be good to go. We’re not and I’m incredibly fucked off!

I need your advice.

if this guy comes through, and the person he thinks will buy it does want to buy it - wtf do I do about the EA?

Do I pay her? I feel like I should pay her, she has done a lot of work. But then £1200 is a lot of money when its someone else that has found the buyer in the end.

The house is off the market right now, but we agreed to let her re market it when the fence is back up.

The thing is this guy might be willing to put the fence up himself (better for us less £££ spent!)

so if he offers and we accept (though this other guy who is not the EA) then wtf do we do about the EA we have actually enlisted?

I feel like we have a few options

a) be semi honest with her, tell her we have found a buyer but make it out like they just approached us or its a friend of a friend, and so we have agreed a private sale. Assure he we will still pay her commission, leave her a good review etc (which I would because she has done quite a bit of work)

b) be totally honest with her, tell her about this company and that they have found us a buyer, that they advised us it was totally fine to do this whilst in contact with an EA (true) and again still pay her, leave her a good review

c) say absolutely nothing, go back on the market in September and then terminate contact (I don't really want to do this as i am not comfortable lying at all ever and it just feels dishonest!) but then we could be waiting until October to have actually sold! which is a long time and makes an xmas move likely - we don't want this. We also don't want to lose the house.

i am veering towards being totally honest with her but i don't want her to kick off at me, which she might. As far as i am aware we have done nothing wrong!

I need to read my contract again.

sorry just to add as well, if I fully come clean, should I do the viewing through the EA or just myself?

I don't know what to do I feel like an awful person but I really need to be sold.

This guy isn't an EA, seems like a glorified mortgage broker, who works with some EA's (not mine) to find buyers who would not otherwise be able to buy. So it's not like he is in direct competition with her, but I don't want to fuck her over.

I'd be honest flamingo, house selling is stressful enough without worrying about tripping yourself up! Does the guy see the sale through to completion?

I know, and I am inherently against lying! The guy thinks we should just terminate our contract and say nothing but he is just trying to save us money I think.

Yes he does.

I am due to speak to him later so I will try and clarify a few things.

I would be very careful about selling through one of the quick buy companies Flaming. The offer of 98K will no doubt be subject to survey & you can bet your arse they'll find something & be looking to drop you another 5k. If you do decide to go for it make sure that you have it in writing that you are accepting it on the understanding that there will be no further reductions. I doubt they'll accept on those terms though. If you don't sell through the EA then don't give them any money. They didn't introduce the buyer, its not their sale. This is the risk they take!

they're not a quick buy company moving they're just a middleman! He basically sorts deposits and mortgages for those without one, or with not enough deposit, he's a mortgage broker essentially that does a bit extra. It's not them buying it.

we are still in contract with the EA and she's got it written in her terms and conditions that its irrelevant who finds the buyer, if we're in contract, we pay. It doesn't matter to me that much.

If we get the 98 we have agreed with this guy we can afford to pay EA anyway.

They didn't introduce the buyer, its not their sale. This is the risk they take!

I think you'd find yourself in th small claims court with that attitude.

We've given up and taken it off the market until after brexit. We were on for 6 months, about 15 viewings. Almost without exception had the same feedback from each - loved the house and the character but thought it was just too small for them... As an 18th century cottage it was never going to be big! We were happy to drop the price quite a bit but the estate agent said they didn't think it was worth it as the market is so slow near us and better that we try again next year. Still not sure if it was the right decision but at nearly 6 months pregnant with a toddler and a dog I'm massively relieved not to have to accommodate viewings any more!

Its basically the same kind of thing though really Flaming. He's an individual who acts as a middleman, which these companies do. Have you googled him? Just be aware that they will most likely want to reduce you further based on the first offer when they get the survey done. These people want to make money. I'm just trying to present you with worst case scenarios so you are aware of what can happen. If you tell them you can't reduce further & they agree to having that put in writing then everyone is a winner!

I think you misunderstood my comment sidney. When I said "thats the risk they take" it was in relation to taking on a property to sell. Some they sell & subsequently earn a commission on & some they don't & won't make money on. Unless they're an online EA where the vendor pays upfront of course! Sometimes the EA may have a dodgy clause which states you owe them money regardless of who introduced the buyer, (definitely worth checking) but usually they won't so don't get paid for someone they didn't introduce!

how is it moving? he's not buying my house to sell it on to someone else. He is literally just putting buyer and seller together to make his commission and whatever else he gets from the buyer.

he's not buying the house, he has no financial interest in me at all.

I am not entirely sure how you think he will make any money by lowering the offer at all? All he is doing is arranging someone else's mortgage and making money out of them. I assume a bigger mortgage would award bigger commission also so I don't think it would benefit him to knock us down.

if the buyer wants to knock us down after a survey - that's his prerogative however, it wouldn't be accepted anyway and we will be making that clear.

I have googled him, read reviews on trust pilot etc etc. His website also says they have a price guarantee and once they have agreed a price (or acted as the middle man agreeing a price between seller and buyer) that they will not drop it. They have no reason to!

I am confused as to why you think its similar to national homebuyers et al...?

definitely have a reread of your contract @flamingo I'm sure ours says something about while the for sale sign is up anyone who approaches us counts as being found through them.

I wouldn't worry about hurting anyone's feeling but I would be careful about the wording of your contract

twinky yes ours is the same, while we're in contract with them we have to pay them their fee - i'm fine with that I was going to pay it anyway so not losing anything!

Also I'll be honest I have never heard of the type of middle man you are describing but it does sound slightly different to a we buy your house company.

neither had I twinky until I met this guy!

the house buying companies are obv going to offer shit all as they sell on for a profit but this guy isn't buying it so isn't selling it on at all....

we pay him nothing, he makes his money out of the buyer.

As long as you're aware of & happy with things then that's all that matters Flaming. The middleman/mortgage guy makes money by arranging the mortgage for the buyer. The buyer will quite likely look to reduce you post survey. It pays to be aware of the possibility, that's all. Was just trying to be helpful by giving worst case scenario. Chances are it won't happen but it's good to be aware, that's all I'm saying. Don't mean to upset or worry you.

he can try but we will make it clear that we wont accept any less than 98, which to honest is bloody cheap as it is! we have only lived there 4 years so i'd be surprised if anything comes up on the survey that I don't already know about.

I am not going to accept any offers without seeing a mortgage in principle either!

you're not upsetting me don't worry I genuinely wanted to know why you thought they'd reduce, but yes makes sense. a lot of people try their luck after the survey.

It's Friday. I have been waiting for the Estate agent to get back to me since Monday afternoon just to get my house on the market! He was going to phone on Wednesday morning, then this afternoon. He's seen it and was very positive at the time. This is not going to go well if even the agent can't be bothered. It's a really cute house. I fell in love with it, desperately hoping someone else does.
I'm going to have to find another agent, aren't I.