Can't even get a house viewing?

[Mamaslave21]

How are people managing to move with the market how it is right now?

Where we are in the South East there is very little coming on the market. What does come on (as long as priced right) is selling within weeks. We have a house that is very likely to sell within a fortnight based on other houses that have gone to market so far this year. It's fully renovated and in a very desirable area. We are worried that if we put it on the market now with very little to buy, we will put ourselves in an awkward position. Rented accommodation isn't an option we would consider.
We feel that if the right house came up we could move quickly but agents are not even allowing viewings unless you are under offer. Is this how it is in other areas too? Since January, there have only been 2 houses come to market that would be a worthwhile move for us, but both garnered so much interest that even if we could view, we may not get the house.
Is this how things usually are, or is it just the current market?

It's the same here, a lot of houses are being offered on in under a week. We put ours on the market and it took a few months to go, I've seen several houses I like, but couldn't view until we'd sold, and by then the houses had gone.

One I saw come in the market on Wednesday, I rang to view it over the weekend, the ea got back to me 9am on the Monday to say the sellers had already accepted an offer

It's the same here but properties where we want to buy are selling in 48 hours and a lot are going for over asking price. We are having to hold off now as my mat pay kicks in next month and I don't think our mortgage offer will be the same based on that rubbish pay. My friend can't even put a reserve down on a new build plot until their house is sold.

This is interesting as where I am you just have to have your house on the market to view a property (or be a FTB), so we started viewing as soon as ours went on. It doesn’t really help though because the houses move so fast anything we liked when we viewed was gone by the time we got an offer - and it took less than a week to sell our house! All that is left at the moment are houses with obvious flaws, so I am hoping something will come up soon.

We moved in 2017 and in the area we were buying we could view properties but not offer on them until our house was sold subject to contract. You have to commit and go on the market OP.

Yes this how they generally work. You could tell the agents you're keeping your house and don't need to sell it to make the move. A bit sneaky but at least it gets you viewings!

I told the agents this as I like my house and am not prepared to seek it until I find one as like you I would definitely sell it quickly.

We sold in middle of January, had an offer accepted on a house in February but a week later they changed their minds and wanted to go to final offers.

From that point on it has just been crazy. Prices up 20/30k and can’t even get viewings. Really fed up and stressed and feel terrible that our buyers are waiting but at the same time I know we’ve let ours go really cheap compared to what we are seeing a few months later. We hate our current house and we were excited to move but it has turned into a bit of a nightmare.

No way we are leaving and renting as I don’t know whether we would be priced out or pay a lot more for a house of a similar standard to what we have now.

This doesn’t feel normal and some of the houses we’ve viewed and have been snapped up have been pretty horrible for the price to be honest. I wonder whether buyers remorse will kick in for some people.
I’m also seeing loads of probate property needing 40k work going for more than beautifully presented ones did in the winter.
I’m tempted to pull out (which makes me feel evil) and see what it’s like in autumn when stamp duty and furlough ends. It’s definitely not normal out there.

Had an offer accepted on a house in February but a week later they changed their minds and wanted to go to final offers.

That's terrible behaviour from your sellers!! I hope karma gets them back for that.

Me too! It was so upsetting and we didn’t want to deal with them after that. Think that might have been our chance to move though so, with hindsight, maybe we should have.
We were on with the same agent so I’ve heard they can’t find anywhere to move either.

Same here. I don't want to move, but our house is just too small. I have very specific criteria about my next house, which is a pisser, as there aren't many houses in the next price bracket. Ours may sell fast,as it's very starter home/downsize. Warm, always sunny, not too squashed by other houses, on an incline so you get some view and lots of sky. Amazing neighbours.

I just need to find the same, but within a mile of this one and a bit bigger.

I’m an agent / due to covid we have been informed we have to be limiting footfall into houses. We are advised only to let proceedable buyers physically view. So just the way it is

@TakeYourFinalPosition

You have to be sold first where I am. No-one will accept offers if you're not proceedable, and most won't even allow viewings... so we listed first, found a buyer, they agreed to wait until we'd found something, we offered and now we're waiting for our seller to find something. It's taken two weeks all in all so far.

Most houses here are selling within a day or two of hitting Rightmove...

It wasn't like this last time that we bought, but I'm not sure that it'll settle back down anytime soon.

This is so true.

Be honest with the buyers. It’s a different story here. Over 100 properties per day going on rightmove, most houses selling within 14 days as a Max. 5 houses have sold on my road since January within a few days. Getting a viewing is impossible because they’re going so fast. We viewed a house 3 weeks ago; there were 67 viewings and it ended up going for 20k over asking.

@checkingout811 what was the 20k as a proportion of asking price? I'm trying to get a feel for the market but so hard to gauge right now.

Leafleting might be an idea!

I’m pretty confident our house will sell fast as it’s a very desirable area/road and not much comes up for sale. Ours is fully renovated and the last one that came up sold in a week. We don’t really need to move but we are in a position to be able to afford to upsize and with the prices the way they are that ship may sail very soon.

I feel a bit aggrieved that prices have shot up 10/15 even 20% in some cases over past few months to save stamp duty.

We are at the Fear of Missing out stage I think. Unfortunately I do think the government will prop up prices in whatever way they can but most people I know are feeling very dubious about the market and unwilling to put their houses up for sale. Kicking myself that I didn’t go for the bigger house in the first place when we could actually have afforded to. We did the sensible thing which has turned out not to be sensible.

@RedPoppy89 10%
It was a doer-upper needing a full renovation; no central heating, full re wire needed. These types of properties seem really properly round us at the moment.

I think this is being enforced at the moment as due to covid only people who show commitment to the process should be the only ones allowed to view so I'm afraid if you want to view, you will have to go on the market. We faced the same thing and we did lose out on some places as we weren't on the market yet and it was until we listed that we could physically view places.

@Notyetthere Same here. Mine goes on at the end of the week, the only viewing I have booked is one that’s sat on the market for a while. It’s in a good area, ex rental & chain free, so I’m not sure why it’s not shifting. Guess I’ll get a flavour on Friday.