House sale really getting me down

[Rick83]

Hello all,

Just wanted to post on here as I think my wife is sick of me sulking about everything, but genuinely am feeling pretty down, bordering on depressed....

Basically we have been in our house now for nearly 8 years. Its a nice house, but I've been wanting to move for the last few years. My wife has ssid no to moving until our youngest got in at the local school which happened this year.

Anyway, put the house on the market back in March 2020. Only had 4 viewings in 2 weeks, but got an offer 5% below asking price. It was a little less than I wanted, but we fo live in a little village so not a huge demand. Anyway, the day we accepted the offer.... lockdown! During that time, alot of the paper work got done, surveys etc. Lockdown lifted, housing market re-opened, srraight away we got a call from our buyers thtough EA asking if we had found anything. 2 weeks later, there was still nowt on the matket, so we agreed to rent, put down a deposit on a rental... then they pulled out!!! So annoyed.

Anyway, I thought never mind, house sold in 2 weeks, so should sell again. 6 weeks later all we had were a few more viewings, and 1 other offer which was insulting. We have now changed ea to freshen things up, but still hardly any viewings.

I really am getting down about it all. Its hard not to take personally, we've spent so much time/money on the house over the years and it just seems that no one wants it. Other houses in surrounding area are getting snapped up within a week or 2 of going on. Can anyone else relate to this? It might sound silly, but I'm losing sleep over it, and struggling to concentrate on work, plus my wife says I'm walking around with a face on me all the time, but really cannot help it.

Sorry for thevlong post

Rick83

I really hope you get a buyer soon.

It just gets depressing going through the tidying up, the agent coming round, him showing them around.
You cringing at his description.
Then they go away and either get feedback that it is too much work.
(Had a separate EA round to cast a critical eye over everything who said there was nothing wrong with the place)
My EA is really bad and will be getting his marching orders on Monday

@Oliversmumsarmy I’m right there with you. Am so sick of trying to sell my house. It’s been on since before lockdown.
We had new photos done today, and are reducing the price (again) to 35k lower than what it was on for originally.
Sick of the tidying and cleaning, getting hopes up for when there are viewings, only to have little feedback and no offers.
Or offers from people who can’t really afford it or aren’t proceedable.

Or perhaps there are a lot of chancers out there who want something for nothing.

Yes that's the logical answer

pilort

But what could I afford if I sold my house for the price I was offered.
A 2 bed terrace that we couldn’t fit in.

I had one viewer look in complete distain at my house because what they described they really wanted was the house at the end of the road (sold previously for around £30 million) but only had £750,000

I foresee if we head towards a recession and houses become more difficult to sell there will be more and more chancers and time wasters out there.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Rick83 I think you touched a nerve.

@Oliversmumsarmy you said upthread that we buy any house would give you 10% under your asking price if I'm reading correctly? So you have other options, they are just not financially what you want.

Of course in a recession some buyers will make crazy offers & some of them will be accepted. That's life.

I'm not English & don't see house selling as emotive as some. However if I'm delighted that my house has magically gone up 500k in value (only spent 50k on work) then I have to accept it can also go the other way.

pilort we are on for as low as we can go. We can’t afford another 10% off the price.

I really wish I had put it on for the the higher amount and then come down from there.

We are selling it at a rock bottom price
It is the cheapest 4 bed detached in the area by some margin as we wanted to sell quickly and move on.

As that is not happening then I am thinking of taking it off the market. Then putting it up in a couple of weeks for £200,000 more then if someone thinks they want a bargain they could bid us £200,000 less and we could have a deal.

Can I ask pilort how many houses you have sold in the UK because I did get the impression upthread that you haven’t been through this process many times.

is stuff selling in your area though? Are you in the 750k bracket? If so I think this part of the market are buying but have more options now.

I am in my 3rd property & am in my 30s. Never sold or paid asking price. When is the last time you were in the process as you seem older than me? Although I recognise your user name, were you in property? From memory you are in London but the outskirts. I have disagreed with you before about the appeal of outer zones.

There is an article in The Times today about mortgage rates going up as banks are taking advantage of huge increase in demand. That will put off a few buyers as well. I think this is pretty much the peak for current spike in house demand and prices. It will only get harder to sell as Brexit and end of stamp duty holiday approach.

@Oliversmumsarmy- an offer at approx 25% below asking does seem very cheeky indeed. I'm sure you are right that there will be some chancers around. I guess there always are! Equally though, there will be some unrealistic sellers. I think some house owners have been able to take it for granted that the value of their house will rise very signicantly in the past 20 years without any significant effort on their part. Although this will be the case over decades, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be the case in the short term and, as we are now officially in recession, the likelihood is that house price falls are on the cards for the majority. It sounds as if there is currently less demand in your particular area at a time when many areas have seen very significant rises in asking and sold prices. I guess you have to ask yourself if other properties locally are selling and try to analyse why if yours is not and also consider how much you really need to move.

Sorry, was also going to add that any serious buyer (ie the type you want) would notice if you relisted after two weeks with a massive increase in asking price and be totally put off.

I wanted to qualify what I said above re house price rises. The huge gains in the past 20 years have massively benefitted those who were able to buy at that time (or before), particularly those living in London and the SE. Although house prices will rise in the long term (at least at rates of inflation) they will certainly not continue to rise at this rate which is totally out of proportion to salaries and prevents many younger people from buying.

pilort

I have over the years bought and sold too many places to count. Not in the past 4 years because of health issues

I take it you have never spent the day cleaning and tidying to have someone come round your house and expect afternoon tea or tell you that your place isn’t haunted enough or that for the price of a suburban semi they expected a 10 bedroom mansion in 5 acres, or after showing them round they tell you that they wouldn’t ever buy your house as they are going to widen the road. News to everyone. He had mistaken the underground telephone and electric cables as where the road was going to be widened.

So many other reasons.

Including when you are about to exchange the buyer calls the EA to say he can’t go ahead with the purchase as he has died.

If you have never come across any of these type of people then count yourself lucky. They are out there.

I've benefited from house price growth & agree with @premiummoo. It's not sustainable. I know lots of people who have 6 figure household incomes, a ton of equity & are still not able to move up the ladder in many areas.

@Oliversmumsarmy No I've never shown buyers around my property or given them tea but I've had the stress of constant tidying.

I never said those people were not out there but that doesn't mean what I have said is not true. You seem very angry at me but I'm not sure what I have said that's offensive. It's a stressful process but it's not my fault you are struggling to sell.

I wouldn't bother viewing OIOA houses, really irritates me.

Sorry OIEO I mean, hate houses put on like this.