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

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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?

Having originally posted on p3 of this thread back in January, we finally signed with an agent today and are officially on the market!

It’s all been a bit of a hurry as we’ve decided on a new build development 15mins up the road from us on the village DH grew up, but plots are going like hot cakes and we can’t reserve until we’re under offer.

The developer messed us around saying we could part ex and then deciding our house was valued too highly compared to the house we want to buy so we lost time there, but have blitzed the house this week and signed with an agent this afternoon.

They claim to have a long list of people wanting to move to our village (SE, mainline rail to London in under an hour and very little housing stock available) so fingers crossed we’ll be in a position to move forward quickly.

You never know with estate agents though, I may be eating my words in 3 months’ time .

On another note, has anyone else felt a bit weepy/anxious after actually committing to going on the market? We’ve taken a year to make the decision and I know it’s 100% the right thing to do; although I love our house there are lots of things that don’t work for us and we need more space. It’s also where I was pregnant and had my DD and we’ve been v happy here, so I’m feeling a bit conflicted .

@MindatWork I certainly feel anxious but a bit relieved too. I was supposed to sell and move two years ago, but chain collapsed, then I had family issues to deal with, then covid hit and my company made lots of redundancies, so I kept delaying while things were so unstable.

I'm ready to move for certain, but it does feel a bit overwhelming what lays ahead!

@d1157959543599b000178 that's really fab, hope some of your viewings turn into offers!
We have sold - our EA asked for best offers from all three interested parties, two upped their offer to £15k over asking (!) so we went with one of those. Have some viewings booked in tomorrow and Saturday and have a feeling we will need to move quickly if we like anything. DD can't come to the viewings with us so I've shown her the photos online and has given me her considered opinion on them all!!!!

Marking my place as we're gearing up to go on soon 🙋🏻‍♀️

The only thing stressing me is the stamp duty thing - do any of you that recently went on (or are about to) worry that buyers will be aiming to complete before end of June, and when that doesn't happen will mess around on price, or that the chain will collapse?

I wish the SD thing was either ending sooner, or had been extended for longer!

I think it just depends on your price brackets. I’m up north so really stamp duty it only a couple of thousand so I’m not that fussed. However, I appreciate that if you’re lucking at homes £500k plus then yes it’s a big extra cost

@RolloTomassi if you’re not even on the market yet I wouldn’t worry about it - depending on area etc I don’t think anyone making an offer now can reasonably expect to complete before add now (bearing in mind it’ll be April by the time you’re likely to be having viewings). People may try but I think the sheer backlog
With conveyancing, mortgage offers and surveys etc means it’s v unlikely. I’d just make it clear when you accept an offer that you’re unlikely to be able to move by end of June so any buyers should take that into account. Good luck!

Good lord I’ve just notice my appalling typos in my last post, dear me I’ll blame the time of day!

Well I’ve just booked my 8th viewing for tomorrow. We’re going to be wrecked by the end of it but fingers crossed out of 8 there’s got to be someone who would like to offer. We’re the only 3 bed detached house for sale in my small town at the minute so that must count for something

@MindatWork Aw thank you, that's also the way I see it! Glad to hear others think the same!

@MindatWork now we've sold ours and having to look I'm really stressing about it, been awake since 3 worried about the location of houses we want to look at compared to ours, could we make them as nice etc. In my head I know this is definitely the right thing for us but there's a little niggle at the back of my mind.

Argh I’ve got 8 back to back viewings starting at 10am and I’ve woken up to find the dog has throw up all over the sofa sob

@tryingtocatchthewind oh god that's incredible! How annoying. Let us know how you got on!!

Well the 8 viewings turned into 10 as the estate agent rang to add some. The only hiccough was when two turned up at 2pm! Thankfully one waited.
Happily a lovely couple (FTB) loved it so much they came back after ten minutes in the car to ask how much we wanted to take it off the market. So it looks like we’ve sold already!

Eep! Had an offer of the full asking price just have to find somewhere for us!

Hurrah well done @ineedaholidayandwine

Thank you @tryingtocatchthewind

Well done @ineedaholidayandwine and @tryingtocatchthewind that's very exciting news
We viewed an absolutely gorgeous house this afternoon, ticks all the boxes and reduces our mortgage. Have offered £2.5k over asking price but won't find out if it's been accepted until Monday, the perils of viewing after the EA offices close for the weekend!

Got everything crossed for you @TheOnlyMrsW

Lots of great news here, congrats everyone!

We’ve got a viewing booked in already! The house isn’t even in rightmove or the agents website yet but they’ve got a buyer who’s under offer and is looking for a house like ours so they’re booked in for next Saturday. We’d rather have got them in earlier in week but they can’t do daytime and we can’t do evenings because of DD.

I think the agents are trying to get some more viewings to make Saturday an unofficial open so we only have to keep the house tidy once.

The new build plot we want is still available as of today so it’s a race against time

Hi all,

Marking my place as we are starting our refresh prep ready for listing hopefully end of April.
👍

Hi all, I've been reading this thread and hoping to join? About to put our home on the market.

We currently live on the west coast of Scotland in an ex-council 2 bed end terraced house with decent sized garden and driveway, in a sought after area. Looking to upsize to a 3/4 bed semi or detached house within a ten mile radius of here. A home we would stay in for the next 20 or so years, all being well. We have a 3 year old and will be ttc again when we move. Our budget is around 250k and our house should sell for around 110k (likely a little more). This is a huge jump for us financially so I want to be more than certain.

Here's where it gets interesting... Despite our home not yet being on the market we have already viewed one property, twice. DH has fallen head over heels for it. I like it but unsure of its suitability for young children - it's technically a flat! Great location. First floor upper conversion of a 2 storey Edwardian sandstone villa. Private back garden and private entrance both from the street and into the property itself. It has an "interesting" steel framed extension to the side of the original villa which gives direct access into the property and also direct access to the private garden at the back. The villa backs onto a hillside and the views from the top of the very, very steep garden are out of this world - I think that's why my husband loves it so much. There is no driveway, the parking is on street, there is only one WC, and the garden is very steep and not a traditional garden where our son could e.g. kick a ball around - although he had lots of fun at the viewing scrambling up to the top of the garden. It's a period property with a lot of character and will need some significant works. It's been on the market since Sep last year for 250k. I think it's overpriced at this amount. My husband reeeeaaaally loves it. This is my first steps at getting my thoughts written down. Can anyone tell me thoughts/opinions? Are we being stupid considering it?

@imfm I don't think you're being stupid, no. I'm (hopefully) buying a property with a really steep, rather mad garden and my logic is that my teeny person won't be teeny forever, and that although it wouldn't be a kicking-a-ball-around garden, it would be great for going on adventures, building dens, and so forth. And I think there's a lot to be said for character.

That said, from your description it sounds as though it's more your husband who likes this property than you. Another thing to consider is that, if it's been on the market for a while, that may be because everyone except the seller agrees with you that the price is too high - if you're hoping to be able to get it for less, that may not be workable. Also, if it's the only thing you've currently seen it would probably be a good idea to see some more properties, too - does your husband tend to fall in love with houses relatively easily, or is this one genuinely special?

I agree with above @imfm, there’s a lot in your post about how much your husband loves the it, but how do you feel about it? Especially as you’re likely to be spending considerably more time there than him with a little one (and eventually two little ones). It will be you worrying about the garden and struggling in from the car with two DC if you can’t get parking near the house (that alone would put me off having lived with no off-street parking before). Will he be around to manage the works that need to be done?

Obviously it’s up to you and if you both love it then go for it, but it has to be a joint decision. Good luck!

Honestly, I’ve got two boys 9 and 6 and I would hate a steep garden. They are ball crazy and play football, basket ball, tennis and well anything with a ball for hours. What’s at the bottom of the garden? A wall? Path? Just imagine the little ones stumbling and rolling.
The parking would also put me off.
Sweeping generalisation here but men don’t always think about the practicalities of the kid stuff. Is his heart ruling his head?

I have had 3 offers at full asking price this morning. I have 2 more viewings to do tonight and another 23 booked in after today.

EA have advised doing the 2 viewings tonight and then they will go to full and final offers by midday tomorrow.

Cant quite believe it yet so trying to stay fairly normal.