Ahh we're on the market! Anyone else?

[jamtart30]

Well, we've had photos and floor plan done today so fingers crossed we'll be online tomorrow. We had a wide spread of valuations spanning £75k so have taken an average; hope we've not made a mistake. Anyone else in the same boat? We've found a house we love so fingers crossed we'll be in a position soon to offer. This will be our third rung of the ladder. Be great to chat through with others in the same boat.

Friends, wwyd?

We've had to drop our buyer. They're being way too flakey things like "we're offering x" and then two days later "we're just going to view three other properties"...

Bye!!

In the meantime I feel we've done a total 180 and would really appreciate some thoughts.

It went "under offer" at 770 (from 790). All the next ring houses are £1.2million done or £1-1.1m requiring work. It's one postcode away, 2miles away but "naicer".

We're currently mortgage free so would obviously require a bit mortgage. We love the top two floors of our house as our rooms are "super king size" according to the agent.

Are we nuts to do a large kitchen extension and stay put instead? Work/school is 10mins away for me and kids and 30mins for husband.

Our road is tree lined and very pretty. We're in a 1900sq ft detached which would go up to about 2200sq ft if extended.

I think I've talked myself into it.

Am I stupid?

If everything else about the house is right, the only thing you want is more space and you're in the position of being mortgage free with an extension to think about I reckon its a no brainer. Stay put, build the extension and save yourself the stress of moving house if it's really not necessary 😊

@jamtart30 I think if I were in your shoes I'd do the extension and stay put. The market is so unstable at the minute and you need to ask yourself do you need to move or do you just want to.

Myself and dh last night realised that unless we get an offer - a sensible one, within the next 4 weeks we will need to re rent out flat out. It's been empty 5 months now and we financially can't carry on like this. It's upsetting for us as means we are still renting ourselves and in limbo again for the foreseeable future. We have a viewing today but agents say it's very slow.

We wouldn't need planning permission would we? I think it's out 3m within permitted development? If we do do it it'll be the entire width of the house to make it worthwhile which would probably mean knocking down some internal walls too.

This is our downstairs. We'd knock out the conservatory and and go out all along the house as far out as the end point of the conservatory iykwim.

Oh Jamtart! That's disappointing about your buyers being flaky! I would definitely say that if you love your current house and it's in a good location then extending is a very good option. The obvious one, really, to avoid this whole business entirely. Of course, extending will be stressful, but probably not like moving can be! We are in a slightly more relaxed frame of mind now we have a buyer, but it's probably not the worst over with yet. Let us know what you decided and good luck with it!

tripped just read your update, that’s fantastic news, you must be feeling a lot more relieved now.

Our situation is dire and I’m not sure how much longer we can continue.

@Ellieboolou27 - hang in there. Any viewings booked for this weekend? Any odd jobs you can do round the house to make it look better and make you feel like you're doing something.

Life has to go on. When we were first on the market I was obsessed and couldn't think about anything else. I felt much better when I started running again and we booked our holiday.

@Trippedupagain - congratulations! Come and join us on the buyers/sellers thread- you'll get lots of moral support on the shared pain of waiting to exchange.

Hi @sandybayley and thank you, I will do that!

Can I join? We've been on nearly 2 weeks, only had three viewings, none of whom liked the place. Our third attempt at selling after two failed goes in 2017, we are on a busy road so I knew this was going to be a long slog but I still find it incredibly tense and stressful! The market here in E London is strange, apparently things are selling if priced correctly but our place is a bit unusual so we just have to wait for the right buyer. We have really outgrown our flat now that DC2 is becoming mobile, but love the area (and definitely can't afford to upsize locally) so I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing. Ugh!

Ellie oh what a nightmare for you. It is so stressful when you feel forced into a corner. It will probably all work out in the end, one way or another, but that is no consolation when you can't see how or when that will happen!

Jamtart oh stay put for sure! The extension wouldn't cost as much as the move and mortgage, would it? If this would make your house liveable for the next ten/twenty years you don't even need to worry about making your money back if/when you do sell.

@jamtart30 totally do an extension. The money you’d save on stamp duty will pay for a lot of the work!

sandy the flat is empty and 20 miles from where we live so it’s all spruced and ready, I put some nice orchids and cushions on the sofa but there is not much that needs to be done - viewing today at 2pm so fingers crossed 🤞

sorry totally off topic but sandybayley how funny my coping mechanisms with selling have been lots of running, and I booked two holidays (which was a bit alarming when my sale fell through and I had no means of paying for the final balance!).

jamtart the totally low stress option would be to do an extension and move out during it, the stamp duty you'd save would pay for you moving out for a few months into somewhere small! You'd probably end up doing some work anywhere where you buy to make it what you want, but then not be in a position to live elsewhere.

ellie not much to add but just to say I feel your pain, I was also selling an empty property, while it was better not having to tidy for viewings it was also awful just wasting so much money.

@tootyfruitypickle rubbish isn't it! We've had so much bad luck that I'm sure we are due some good luck now, we can't get any lower so surely the only way is up!

@FreiasBathtub - welcome to the club! It's difficult when you have young children and your selling.

Mine are 3&6 and keep asking why it's taking so long to move, pointing out houses that have for sale boards up and saying mummy we can just buy that one 😂

Dh thinks 1900sq ft (as current house) is small (!!!). An extension would take us to 2200/2300sq ft which - in my opinion - is plenty big enough for a family of four.

Good luck to everyone awaiting offers!

@Ellieboolou27 oh God totally! DD is 4 and all her nursery friends seem to have moved in the last few months so she is taking it as read...I can't seem to explain to her why it's not quite so simple (nor does she understand the relationship between moving house and keeping her bedroom tidy and presentable 😭)

Sorry, you may already have said this, but are you dealing with new schools/nurseries when you move?

@FreiasBathtub it's looking likely we may need to move schools as we are getting priced out of our area. We are selling in north London and live in Hertfordshire which is where we want to buy, plus side is as the flat is empty there is no tidying up,

Our flat is harder to sell as it's ex local authority and just on the cusp of an area which a one bed flat would set you back 350-400k

Joining in as we had photos done yesterday, waiting for the write up and floor plans, so hopefully we will go live on Tuesday or Wednesday next week. The house is amazingly clear and tidy, just need to re do the silicon in the shower and we are ready for viewings.
We are not in a rush to move, so have gone on the market higher than I expected, but the estate agent justified it well, so we will see.
We are moving back to Brighton after 13 years in a country village. Looking forward to regular bus services and a better social life!

So we went live on rightmove today and I have seen a couple of houses I would like, one far more than the others.... fingers crossed for a rush of viewing requests tomorrow!
How is everyone else getting on? There seems to be quite a few new properties coming to the market in Brighton and Hove...

Hello everyone! How are we all today? We had another viewing over the weekend, exact same feedback of love the house, hate the location. I think perhaps the estate agents need to record that so they can just auto play it to us after every viewing!

@Ellieboolou27 oh that's tough. We are thinking we might move into Essex and as far as I can tell from a cursory glance prices are falling round us and rising just outside London. Typical. We bought in 2012 when prices were going a bit nuts so although not top of the market definitely not the bottom either. How did you make the decision about where to go? We are really clueless!

@Fern204 good luck! Really great you are seeing things you like the look of. We still haven't even settled on an area to move to - partly because we've absolutely no idea when we will sell, or for how much, (even agents are cagey!) so don't want to get too excited about the idea of moving somewhere we can't actually afford in the end!! But sounds like you know what you are after. Hope it all goes smoothly.

@FreiasBathtub we bought in early 2013 so pretty much the same boat as you. We've been renting in Broxbourne Herts for several years and ideally want to stay in the area. Kids both in good schools and not too far out of town. We might be forced out further if we don't go under offer soon!

Feedback from our viewings are sane as yours regarding area. Fingers crossed so e good news will come our way soon

@Fern204 - it's nerve wracking when your property goes live isn't it! Sending positive vibes for viewings for you