just cant view any fucking houses!

[Getyourarseofffthequattro]

We are about to put our house on the market, due to go live later this week. EA reckons it will sell quick (a few houses on our street have gone within days) but this issue is there is FA to buy. We have wanted to view 3 houses, which weren't even particularly what we wanted and they have ALL sold before we could even view them. They aren't in "desirable" areas either.

I don't know what to do - EA says sell ours and then worry about it, but if there is nothing to buy we will inevitably have to pull out and i dont want to fuck anyone over particularly. Its a nightmare. I thought things would have calmed down a bit by now!

Is anyone else having the same issues?!

[quote lightlypoached]@NewHouseNewMe london. Of course. [/quote]
Of course.
I sold and bought in 2020 and I thought it couldn't get worse. I remember scoffing when a vendor stipulated that all viewed had to be cash buyers before being allowed to view a £2M house. We persuaded the agent to let us view and there was a queue of such cash buyers

It actually sounds more nuts now.

@lightlypoached we are in the Thames valley and suffering a similar problem. People moving out of London making frankly insane offers - that are falling through or the survey is down pricing.
We are cash ( in an instant savings account) buyers the agents tell us that sellers are not listening to their advice about position being important and are being swayed, but what appears to be the big pile of cash which will probably not happen.
We current have a weird system being operated a property goes on the market you phone and express your interest, you get allocated a viewing slot ( you taken the one offered or nothing) a date is set and you make your offer. I am viewing one on Wednesday that will be best as no final on 2/7 and am in a queue for a viewing for another I might get 5/7 which will go best and final on 10/7.

We have made three offers alive the asking prices by considerable amount, but still recopable we felt all unsuccessful.

We are of course blocking the ring below as we have got married, but still living partly in two homes!

Feeling the same! We viewed a house on Tuesday, second viewing yesterday with the view to putting an offer in. EA won't let us put an offer in until we are sold. If we had been told that Tuesday we would have got the valuations done and on the market by yesterday. They knew the position we were in when we booked the viewing and said it was fine. The area we want you don't get many houses come up very often. My friends house sold within 48 hours so we could be the same but then won't have anywhere to go to! We could move in with family but would have to pay early repayment charges on our mortgage. We would do it if we have to but would rather find somewhere first before selling ours but not possible in the current climate!

We have sold ours. Could be out within as little as a week on Wednesday.
5 cats, nothing arranged apart from deciding to move ourselves as most of our furniture is on Facebook market place and the rest is going to be moved into a storage unit.

I know I should be halting the sale but I can’t go through the selling of this house again. I am sure we can get a rental or holiday let arranged. Worse comes to worse we will be smuggling dcats into the local premier inn

checking back in!

Oh all this sounds so familiar. Our buyer is living with parents and says he is happy to wait... but for how long... i really dont know.

We are desperately trying to buy something, tried to view another today and low and behold it was going to best and final offers, was right at the top of our budget so no point at all.

Have enquired about another which has been on a while... will see what comes of that. Not really right area or at all what we are looking for but will view owt at this point.

It's so annoying because before we were sold, there was loads of stuff i would have seen but now there is absolutely shite all.

Part of me wants to pull out and say fuck it and wait for a couple of years but the other part of me really wants to move regardless. I just dont want to buy something we end up hating or something that absolutely skints us and then be stuck there... soooo hard.

Want a cheap doer upper and have a tiny mortgage and wait it out for a couple of years...none of them either!

well we are viewing two houses over the weekend and "virtual viewing" a third whatever that means!

Good luck, hope they go well. Not sure about a virtual one but good you are getting some.

We went on this morning and have one later and over the weekend. I still think it will take a bit of time to go but happy that the price is relatively sensible now.

Good luck @Getyourarseofffthequattro maybe one of those will be the one!

My sellers are struggling to find anywhere, which is fine but I can't wait around eternally (have buyers of my own, who have buyers) , so I'm looking for other things as well. Been to see one today but it just would need too much doing to it. A few more things seem to be coming to the market slowly but surely where I'm looking.

I'm the same, I don't just want to buy anything and resent it. But equally I just want to move, having had a chain collapse 2 years ago and then delayed due to covid.

well none of the ones we have actually been able to see have been any good.

did a massive 180 and started looking nearer my family (40 mins down the motorway)

viewed 6 houses, offered on two, declined on first as it was already sold (why let me view it then?!) and declined on the second because FTB's had offered 20k over asking - well i hope they had a big deposit because i cant see them getting a mortgage on it!!

viewed everything there is to view... bit worried about our buyer pulling out or us having to rent... i dont want to rent...

@Getyourarseofffthequattro - don’t rent. We broke the chain and I am massively massively regretting it. Just stay in your house if you can, it’s a scary shit rental world out there too.

Yep, us.

Our house is on the market now, was told it would ups sell quickly but it’s been on the market for a few weeks, lots of viewers being out off by a house over the road that had a bit of character in it and had left his entire house contents on the driveway now he’s been evicted.

But he’s gone, there a skip and people
Clearing it up now and I’ve started mentioning this. I’ve exchanged numbers with a couple who had a keen interest.

On the FA to buy side. I agree. We had our heart set on a lovely 3 bed but it got snatched before we could pay a reservation fee (new build). Now there is absolutely bugger all around.

At least we’re not in a particular rush to sell now but I am seriously annoyed that there’s nothing for us.

I'm genuinely confused over how few houses there are on the market. There is huge buyer demand, so all these people looking to buy must also need to sell? They can't all be first time buyers surely?
I feel your pain though. We managed to buy at the height of the second lockdown and the only reason we got the house was because lots of people thought viewings wouldn't be allowed (but they actually were) so no one was enquiring. Before that we were getting despondent and felt like we'd never find anywhere.

I'm genuinely confused over how few houses there are on the market. There is huge buyer demand, so all these people looking to buy must also need to sell? They can't all be first time buyers surely?

@ReluctantNomad29 I don't understand either. Perhaps lots of people are moving out of expensive city rentals and into comparatively affordable home ownership?

Second home buyers? There has been reduced stamp duty for them too (such a crap decision by the tories)

Don't think it's second homes near us it's not touristy.

Everyone seems to be a ftb. Offering much more than asking and I'm wondering whether there will be an influx of houses re listed because they can't get a mortgage on the inflated price they've agreed.

In rural areas I blame some of the absolute craziness on the Tories’ stamp duty holiday being extended to second homes (WTF?!)
Meaning in areas with little supply and massive demand wealthy people are just picking off homes they will live in a few weeks a year. It’s shocking.

That’s certainly true here , some houses are being sold unseen

We've been looking to buy, we're mid-life FTBs, and it's still a mad market out there. Houses that we've enquired about, at the lower end of the market, in not hugely desirable areas, and need a bit of modernising (we can't afford to be too choosy at our age), are just going crazy. One house - thirty viewings.. no more being taken; another house today, just on the market, viewings Fri/Sat and expect to sell on Monday. The first house we saw a couple of months ago had several offers - the 'winning' bid, £11k over asking price. We can't compete with this and if this is going to be the 'normal' process these days then we're going to be outbid every single time. And these houses are simply not worth the price people are 'bidding' . It's very depressing. We also don't have time, as in 1 or 2 years, to wait for the market to balance out again as we only so many years left for a mortgage before retiring.

Anyone got an answer to this housing conundrum??

@GoinSouth

We've been looking to buy, we're mid-life FTBs, and it's still a mad market out there. Houses that we've enquired about, at the lower end of the market, in not hugely desirable areas, and need a bit of modernising (we can't afford to be too choosy at our age), are just going crazy. One house - thirty viewings.. no more being taken; another house today, just on the market, viewings Fri/Sat and expect to sell on Monday. The first house we saw a couple of months ago had several offers - the 'winning' bid, £11k over asking price. We can't compete with this and if this is going to be the 'normal' process these days then we're going to be outbid every single time. And these houses are simply not worth the price people are 'bidding' . It's very depressing. We also don't have time, as in 1 or 2 years, to wait for the market to balance out again as we only so many years left for a mortgage before retiring.

Anyone got an answer to this housing conundrum??

I wish I did but I feel the same, we ditched looking for the "perfect" house because in this market it just aint gonna happen, however now it seems like we just wont be able to buy any house at all unless literally nobody else wants it.

We dont have our offers accepted because everyone wants a FTB and no chain but where does that leave us?

We could afford to do what you mentioned and pay more, but i dont bloody want to! Its a nightmare.

I honestly dont know if we will be able to move or we will end up living in our parent's spare bedroom because in a chain we have no chance! Its depressing.

You're not even allowed to view houses until you've got an offer on yours where I am - the market is crazy atm

we found that with certain estate agents... we have sold now and still struggling......

maybe its because we are wanting a house that is typically a FTB house i guess, but then our house isnt a typical FTB house and yet our buyer is one so god knows...

EA will hassle you to move out into rented if you sell first. At the same time make friends with local EAs so that they show you houses before they are listed.

Our buyer has said he is happy to wait... but how long for... who knows.

I have registered with them all and one of them has already shown us a couple of unlisted houses, but with one of them we were the 19th viewers they had! so whether its worth it i dont know.

We saw another unlisted one but unfortunately we just thought it was massively overpriced for what it was. I am sure someone else will snap it up and good luck to them but not for me...

Don't be rushed into making a decision. It's a massive investment and your buyer will just have to wait or find something else. Panic buying is not a good idea and I think many people will come to regret it.

We were in your shoes a few months back.

Put our house on the market, loads of offers and accepted one within a few days, but nothing to buy. We viewed anything that was vaguely feasible and got more and more desperate. Everything we viewed was going to best and final and there was so little coming up in the first place.

In desperation we got some postcards printed and leafletted 3 of our favourite streets. I just did 40 houses to start with and got two replies. One of them was perfect and we completed last week! Now I have 460 postcards to recycle!

Might be worth a try in case someone is thinking about selling but reluctant to go through the hassle of estate agents, viewings, etc.

Good luck!