Sellers/Buyers roll call part 3. Who is still on this treadmill?

[MovingNextYearHopefully]

A slight name change for me, as I'm clearly not moving this year. Well, I am, but not into the house I'm buying.

Went to the development today, had a chat with the girls in the office & updated them. Hopefully we will be exchanging contracts next week should all go to plan. We found a nice house to rent, but its so bloody expensive I'm petrified! As long as we complete within our 6 month rental contract then all will be well, but if we don't then things will get ridiculously expensive!

Week 17 since offer accepted starts tomorrow, will this week be the week the effing garage gets sorted out?! 🙄

Jumping in to join rather than lurking!

Offer accepted end of Oct
Survey & valuation done a week later downvalued - took 10 days for vendors to agree to reduce based on works required.
Mortgage now approved at lower valuation
Still haven’t been able to start searches etc as vendors haven’t sent their paperwork to solicitors.
Hoping this is the week things actually get moving! It would be good to agree an exchange date as need to give notice (only 1 month but still).

Good luck to all those waiting for movement this week!

Ours is due to come off the market this week, just had a call from agent saying they have someone wanting to view this afternoon.
I'm so over this now! ( although doesn't stop me getting hopes up with every viewing!)
Keeping fingers crossed for all this week. Hope your garage issue finally gets resolved @tokoyo

@TokyoSushi - fingers crossed that things get moving this week for you.

WFH today as we have two viewings so dog needs to be taken out. Who would view houses on a Monday at this time of year if they weren't really serious!

@sandybayley I'm hoping the same thing with viewings! Good luck with your 2

@alifelessordinary - indeed! I've cranked up the heating and underfloor hearing in the kitchen. It's so cosy I don't want to go out!

Just trying to catch up with everyone's news... hope this turns out as a good week for those waiting for exchange / viewings / offers!

I need to call my solicitor to make sure he is preparing the paperwork for our (replacement) buyer. Solicitor isn't very responsive to email, but he's great once I get him on the phone. He's admitted to me that phone calls are the best way to chase.

We had 2 properties with offers on Friday, but have withdrawn from both today. Well - the second one has 4 people bidding over asking price and has gone to sealed bids. But we didn't want it anyway!

Going to see a house for a second viewing this week that is probably the best place we can get in our chosen area & street. We've seen about 30 properties and only now have we really drilled down on what we need (and want; and can & cant afford).

Sigh still no viewings at all on ours. I expect it's the price.
We will be reducing the price but probably on Boxing Day..

@happychange We decided to instruct a third EA; they took photos Saturday, advert up and running mid-afternoon and viewing already booked for Thursday! And we never get weekday viewings, they are always last minute weekend ones.

Perhaps try a different EA; they vary a lot with their approach/ advertising/ client base, so its worth shopping around.

We kind of refuse to drop our price on the basis that its less than market value, and we technically are in no rush to move.

@Ramsey1989 how does it work with yopa? I guess you just burn the fees for them right?

@happychange Well if you did there pau immediately or defer for 10 months on a fixed fee basis then you can insyruct as many other agents as you like (your tied in for 16 weeks if you chose their no sale no fee).

Inevitably you will have to pay YOPA reguardless so its a little like throwing your money away xD. Some EA's offer to pay a sum of money if you disinstruct YOPA and go with them as sole agent (aimed at paying back old agent fees), however your then tied into one agent.

I basically approached a bunch with my situation; asked for fees on multiple agency no sale no fee basis, and i got two at 1% + VAT (they are normally 2-3% for multiple agency no sale no fee).

So not ideal for everyone to have 3 agents but it works for me in getting viewings since they all have different clients.

Rejoining this group after the seller pulled out two months ago. Found something and offer accepted today.

The seller's seller are not buying, so it is a chain of 3 with me at the bottom. Learnt my lesson last time and am not going to rush in and blow money until others start putting money down as well.

How did the viewings go @sandybayley and @alifelessordinary ?

I like your multiple agent strategy @Ramsey1989 I’m going to look at our contact and see if we can do something similar.

Another viewing today, I’m not getting my hopes up. I’m sure it is harder to sell a house in winter on a miserable windy day.

Nothing booked in now so not sure where we go from here. We’ve had lots of viewings but no offers. I don’t know if that indicates that the house looks rubbish in real life compared to the photos!

@ALadyofLetters - one cancelled and a no from the other. But we have two more booked for tomorrow and another on Saturday. So many viewings but no offers! I think we might drop the price in the New Year, seems silly to waste the opportunity and do it before Christmas.

@ALadyofLetters - sounds like we are in the same position. I think our house is nice but it's not fancy and DH and I aren't very into fancy kitchens and bathrooms in the way that many of our neighbours are!

I don’t know if that indicates that the house looks rubbish in real life compared to the photos!

Probably an indication that the price is too ambitious.

Keeping everything crossed for you that all gets resolved this week @TokyoSushi.

Keep the faith those of you on the market, in waiting for exchange limbo and looking for a new place - it will eventually happen.

We move on Friday - am in organise mode and packers arrive tomorrow. Suddenly seems all very real...

It is good to have more viewings lined up @sandybayley

Maybe it is the price but it is competitive compared to sold prices and to what else is available. If it was simply price then wouldn’t we get low offers?

Good luck with the move @dinkystinky

If it was simply price then wouldn’t we get low offers?

Not necessarily.

This was a from an article in a property publication earlier this year which I kept, as I think it summarises the situation rather well:

Keen to get the best price, sellers will often ask what is wrong with ‘going high’, believing that their initial guide price represents the maximum achievable and that buyers can always make an offer. Buyers, though, want the best house they can afford and will not look at anything else. If your house is in their range but doesn’t appear to offer what they think they can get for their money, they will not consider it at any price. Conversely, less wealthy buyers for whom your price is even 10% above their maximum, assume you will be insulted by a low offer, so they will not look at your house, either. Indeed, if your price is outside the thresholds set when buyers search online, they won’t even be aware that your property is on the market. The upshot of this – with one, rare exception – is that ‘going high’ in the current market guarantees that it will take longer to sell than necessary, waste the surge of interest that properties new to the market always attract and, in the process, miss the chance of a premium

Getting so frustrated. Week 4 now and still no draft contract etc from vendors solicitor.

I think this means the vendor hasn’t sent their forms back to their solicitor.
EA said she’s chased but still nothing. I’d like to get searches and things underway before the inevitable slowdown around Xmas

You don't necessarily need the draft contract from the vendors for searches to be applied for. The critical document is a copy of the title plan which can be downloaded from the Land Registry website for £3.

Land Registry

Of course, the news that the vendors and their solicitors have not yet issued a draft contract to your solicitor after several weeks may be an indication of their motivation, or lack of. As such you may not wish to spend money on searches until they demonstrate they are motivated.

@aladyofletters viewing yesterday went well I think. Agent said they were very keen but that has been said before and still no offer!
Had another one this morning who said similar but now wants a second viewing to bring her husband so let's see.

Keep strong all , it'll happen for all of us eventually i hope!

@Mildura - v interesting advice. I think there is something in it. Will mull over!

EA says that if we were to drop price their advice would be to do it on the last working day before Christmas. That way it will get viewed by people after Christmas and before 2 January - leading to viewings in New Year. Is that sensible or more EA marketing spiel? If current EA is not successful we're minded to switch to another in 2nd week of January anyway.

@ALadyofLetters We have the viewing on Thursday and they are first time buyers so here is to hoping they like it as much as we did!

@Fleabag123 i wouldn't suggwst wasting any money until tou know they are commited; i have learnt this the hard way, my buyers withdrew a week or so before exchange - i had paid survey/searches/mortgage product fee on onward purchase and now im stuck in limbo with no buyer plus i had to pay over £500 in abandonment of sale costs for the work my solicitor had already done!