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Original poster

Is anyone else preparing to put their house on the market?

418 replies

Clettercletterthatsbetter · 17/01/2021 18:20

I know, I know...we should have done it last year when the market was crazy busy but finances, family circumstances and whatnot meant that wasn’t possible and so we’re looking to sell our house and move this year.

Is there anyone else in the same boat who fancies a support thread to get us through?

We’ve had our place valued by 4 agents, have chosen one to go with and are currently doing a few minor bits to the house to get it in tip-top condition (filling old screw holes, a bit of touch-up painting and a good declutter) before we have photos taken.

Who else is looking to move in 2021?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
kirinm · 26/02/2021 23:05

@normanpricesmother

Can I join? We went to see a house today, which I really liked and now I really don't know what to do.

Problems are that our house isn't on the market yet. This is for the following reasons:

The cooker currently isn't working, it's brand new and hasn't worked properly since we got it but I've been trying for months now to get a replacement or my money back and the company won't even call me back 😢

We have some capillary action in the front doorway. We have accepted a quote to rectify this but I haven't got a date for the works to start yet.

The house we like is offering p/e but would they overlook the above and reflect it in the price?

The estate agent suggested not bothering with p/e as the market is good and we'd probably get more for our house but we can't proceed without the work above being done can we?

Plus since it's not in the market yet it's so daunting getting valuations, solicitors, surveys etc quickly enough to make an offer

I've never sold and bought at the same time before as our current house is our first and i just don't know where to start!!

You can put your house on in any condition. Those problems might be reflecting in any offers you receive. The cooker one is a non issue in my view. I don't really know what capillary action means.
d1157959543599b000178 · 27/02/2021 05:57

Ok JudgeRindersMinder, I had heard the system in Scotland was better.

Great news on the viewing, very exciting.

Blimey Wanderlove thats insane, 30 viewings!Eek.

Up nice and early to crack on again, the tip is only taking bookings at the moment but finally managed to get two slots for next week.Not sure how much I will get in my small car but got to start chucking some stuff out.

wapphighwood · 27/02/2021 06:18

We are hoping to move this year. Upsizing from a four bed semi to hopefully detached with a better garden. We've already instructed agent and had photos etc but not on market yet. We want to wait until we find something to buy because there aren't many properties in our area that tick our boxes and our current house will probably sell in a week (good location and condition, all agents who came to value think it will sell v quickly) We have had agent refusing to let us see property because we haven't sold ours, are others having this issue? We don't want to mess others around by creating a chain that will collapse because we haven't found something to buy. We don't want to move into rented as have two small DC so want to minimise moving disruption. We did this before DC when we moved to current house.
Think our search will take a while as aiming for this to be 20 year house, want to stay near to friends.
Need to do some decluttering and bit of touching up but not much really, could blitz it in a couple of days.

JudgeRindersMinder · 27/02/2021 09:21

@wapphighwood

We are hoping to move this year. Upsizing from a four bed semi to hopefully detached with a better garden. We've already instructed agent and had photos etc but not on market yet. We want to wait until we find something to buy because there aren't many properties in our area that tick our boxes and our current house will probably sell in a week (good location and condition, all agents who came to value think it will sell v quickly) We have had agent refusing to let us see property because we haven't sold ours, are others having this issue? We don't want to mess others around by creating a chain that will collapse because we haven't found something to buy. We don't want to move into rented as have two small DC so want to minimise moving disruption. We did this before DC when we moved to current house. Think our search will take a while as aiming for this to be 20 year house, want to stay near to friends. Need to do some decluttering and bit of touching up but not much really, could blitz it in a couple of days.
I think it’s not unusual for you to not be allowed to offer if you’ve not sold yet, our solicitor told us that our offer was only accepted without us having sold because of where our current house is, it’s likely to go quickly. It’s very difficult though, as we didn’t want to sell before we found somewhere as we didn’t want to make a panic decision on a house.
Persipan · 27/02/2021 10:42

@wapphighwood

We are hoping to move this year. Upsizing from a four bed semi to hopefully detached with a better garden. We've already instructed agent and had photos etc but not on market yet. We want to wait until we find something to buy because there aren't many properties in our area that tick our boxes and our current house will probably sell in a week (good location and condition, all agents who came to value think it will sell v quickly) We have had agent refusing to let us see property because we haven't sold ours, are others having this issue? We don't want to mess others around by creating a chain that will collapse because we haven't found something to buy. We don't want to move into rented as have two small DC so want to minimise moving disruption. We did this before DC when we moved to current house. Think our search will take a while as aiming for this to be 20 year house, want to stay near to friends. Need to do some decluttering and bit of touching up but not much really, could blitz it in a couple of days.
At the moment because if covid a lot of agents are only allowing viewings for buyers who are proceedable. I do now find myself feeling rather fraught about having to find somewhere, but I guess the upside is that everyone's in the same position and so should hopefully be somewhat understanding about it.
Persipan · 27/02/2021 10:46

@normanpricesmother I really wouldn't see any of that as an impediment to putting your house on the market. Those aren't even really things I'd worry too much about pricing to take into account, since you're getting them sorted anyway.

RainingBatsAndFrogs · 27/02/2021 11:58

We have had agent refusing to let us see property because we haven't sold ours, are others having this issue?

Yes - EAs round here weren't doing viewings except for people whose house was under offer, cash buyers or FTB with mortgage in place. Due to COVID. And because it was very much a sellers market. And no one was accepting offers that weren't immediately ready to go, because of the SDLT deadline.

It is difficult for people waiting for 'just the right house' that is a rare find.

Maybe it will ease off a bit now.

Persipan · 27/02/2021 13:32

Was supposed to be viewing a house just now but got there to be told the agent already has 3 offers on it and is doing 12 viewings today, so I didn't even bother looking at it. It was really quite dull anyway, and a bit more than I'd want to spend, so it's no great loss in that respect, but this does rather reaffirm that I'm better off looking at quirkier things!

normanpricesmother · 27/02/2021 14:19

Thanks, think we are going to arrange some valuations next week and a solicitor at least get things rolling even if we miss out in this particular house. It's only the second we've looked at.

Would you recommend getting a valuation from the agent who is selling the other property or using the same company to list our own property as I would be using to buy? We have a solicitor we've used before for house stuff and they also do listings.

Original poster
Clettercletterthatsbetter · 27/02/2021 20:45

Sorry I’ve been a bit absent from the thread I started! Welcome to all the newbies and congrats @Persipan on the offers!

We’re still stuck in limbo - we’ve sold ours STC and there’s still nothing for us to buy. Absolutely nothing coming on the market either...

OP posts:
Persipan · 27/02/2021 21:03

I had fondly imagined that selling would be the hard part and searching the fun part, but alas...

d1157959543599b000178 · 28/02/2021 10:41

I have not viewed any properties yet, not allowed here until able to proceed. Plus not to sure what my actual budget is yet.

Hopefully will finish painting the kitchen today, bagged up quite a lot for the tip. I am trying to be ruthless, dont want to take it plus wherever I go will be a lot smaller than here.
Hoping to mow the lawn but not sure I can fit it in today.

Hope everyone has a good productive day.

d1157959543599b000178 · 28/02/2021 10:43

@Persipan its a good position to be in though. Hope something nice comes on the market.

notinthestarsigns · 28/02/2021 14:17

Is anyone else who has a house on the market, or is about to, worried about selling theirs but not finding one to move into? Ours is going on the market this week, and all the agents we had out to value seem to think it will go quickly, but there is just so little coming on the market at the moment and we don’t want to panic buy our next house for the sake of it just because we have a buyer for ours! But at the same time, particularly at the moment with covid and with houses going so quickly, it does seem that you need an offer on yours to be in with a chance of getting anything that does come up so just got to hope for the best I suppose. This time last year there would have been 4 or 5 houses that were worth viewing at any one time, whereas at the moment there is only one that is worth looking at, and I have a feeling that house would only be ok.

Original poster
Clettercletterthatsbetter · 28/02/2021 14:34

@notinthestarsigns that’s exactly what happened to us. We got ours on the market and it sold much quicker than expected. We’ve agreed an offer and the sale is progressing but we don’t yet have anywhere to move to as there’s absolutely nothing coming on the market.

OP posts:
Arlington45 · 28/02/2021 15:37

Hi everyone! We're preparing to get on the market in the next few weeks. 2 bed flat in North London. We started de-cluttering today, some stuff is going into storage which on the one hand feels like a ridiculous waste of money and on the other hand feels entirely necessary!

Onebabyandamadcat · 28/02/2021 17:27

Can I join? We're putting our house on the.marketnin a couple of weeks. Got both gardens sorted this weekend. Just some painting and a carpet to clean. A house we love is currently for sale but I'm sure it'll be gone by the time were in a place to put an offer in which I'm gutted about but hopefully something else will come up.

Snoopy10 · 01/03/2021 08:14

Pur bal - there is nothing like doing it all at once is there Smile Muttering Darkly - Just about to put mine on the market. Only moved here a year ago but have a new job 40 mins away now which was unexpected and don’t want to commute. So it’s up sticks again! Love the house I’m in so I’m a bit gutted but in the long run it’s the right decision. Dreading the endless cleaning before viewings. Good luck with it all this week, anyone who’s going through it. Flowers

Thatstoast · 01/03/2021 13:18

Hi all,

I'm really interested to read about your experiences, especially those who are not able to find anywhere to buy. I haven't viewed any properties yet because I'm hoping to get on the market within the next fortnight.

I'm currently trying to decide a price after 3 valuations. The mid point comes out at exactly where we need to sell. Do people thinks it's better to price realistically or go with the higher valuation (10k more) and be open to offers?

Snoopy10 · 01/03/2021 15:47

Thatstoast - I would go higher unless it puts you into a different price bracket for the search, ie 335-345 will come up in searches between 300-350. Have you compared with other houses near yours to see options buyers will have in comparison. I'm always amazed at how random house pricing actually is.

normanpricesmother · 01/03/2021 19:59

I could actually cry! things going ok today, set up a second viewing on the property we like, set up some valuations and now water has appeared through our living room ceiling. The spare en suite is above it. It's never used and was used tonight for all of two minutes. Now looking at the upheaval of a plumber pulling the flooring up to investigate. Couldn't make it up could you

spaghettiwest · 02/03/2021 14:25

@Snoopy10 Sorry to hijack, but have a question about brackets.

Our agent wants us to price our house at either £325k or £350k. He wants to discourage us from pricing somewhere in the middle (£340k), as we "won't show up in a search for £325k".

Is that right? I feel like most people put in a range — say £325-350k — in which case it would be fine?

Snoopy10 · 02/03/2021 15:11

Hello Smile I’ve bought and sold many times (5) in the past 10 yrs and I always search between brackets. That sounds odd to me. Most people look in a range as they will usually put in an offer after viewing - eg. if the survey comes back with a report of needing work, or a radon test etc... they will usually argue the cost of these things from the asking price. If your agent is suggesting a 25k difference just based on searches then ignore everything else they tell you. It’s early in the year and not much is about so I would go for the higher price for a month or so then adjust after the first flurry of viewings subsides if no one bites. It make sense if you do reduce to then hit the next bracket down.
I would work out what you need to move and stick to it. Ie if you need 315 and you get it, take it and run. I’m always amazed at the number of people who don’t work out what they would accept in advance and then lose sales by turning down offers after pinning their hopes on an arbitrary amount suggested by an agent. There’s a great free tool on onthemarket.com who do an easy online valuation. Maybe you could use that as a guide along with the agent’s? Very good luck - it’s all a huge amount of work isn’t it! Shock

spaghettiwest · 02/03/2021 16:19

Thanks @Snoopy10!

You're right, it's an absolute minefield. I don't really "need" a specific sale price (not looking to buy another house for a couple of years) so really it's just my greed getting in the way!

Persipan · 02/03/2021 16:58

Went and saw one property today. I didn't dislike it, but I'm unfortunately one of those people who wants to fall in love with a house and it didn't give me the feeling. Will keep it on the maybe list.