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Original poster

Anyone not being picky - and STILL can't find anything?

999 replies

PessimisticOptimist · 11/09/2021 12:03

We've been on the hunt for 18 months. In that time, we've expanded our search area and budget. We've offered on four houses - three times we were outbid by developers and one time they decided not to sell. But nothing has come on for us to view in the last couple of months.

I guess I'm looking for a support group on here to commiserate with me 😂

Everyone we talk to says:

  • The market is crazy right now
  • It will settle down
  • More will become available eventually
  • Just be patient

But I worry about getting priced out of the market if we wait too long. How long do we wait for the "right" house?

OP posts:
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6
Momniscient · 26/10/2021 08:14

@areyouhavingagiraffe the viewing at the weekend was a bit of a disappointment. The interior felt really poky and cramped - even the ceilings were fairly low which didn't help. The shared driveway was even smaller than I thought, so it was almost a write-off before we even went inside. I have had previous bad experiences with shared driveways so that's a big one for me.

On the plus side, it made us re-evaluate some of the priorities - focusing on the garden rather than the house itself, or the location. The house was in a fantastic location, access to everything you'd ever want, but the garden was small, the house itself was small... on paper it was good but we'd have outgrown it very quickly. So we need to let go of the location side a little bit.

So, this coming weekend we're viewing a house that was added to RM only on Friday, but which was previously listed in March this year. I don't know what happened (or what didn't happen) and I completely forgot to ask the agent on the phone. The vendors are doing the viewing at the weekend, so I'm hoping to ask them. Wondering whether it just didn't sell (can't see what the original listing price was), or if their chain fell through or..? But it seems to tick quite a few boxes (short one bedroom... but there's a space downstairs I can WFH). It's a quarter mile from a motorway flyover, so I'm a little worried about road noise... but as it's down a hill, I'm hoping that maybe it's not a big deal and maybe they have nice thick windows.

There's no photo of the downstairs loo, and it's next to the "utility" so I'm having visions of that horrendous floating washing machine photo @PessimisticOptimist shared early on in this thread!

We've also now had the draft details from our estate agent to put our own house on the market, so maybe it's all coming together nicely?

@BennyBean if they've been on for a while, any chance of knocking down the price to make them more feasible? Sometimes I up the search budget but sort it to oldest listings... Grin

@dubyalass if you're after gardening space in the back garden, there's every chance any future cats would stick to the garden and not bother with the road out front. Depends on the cat really, but if you adopt you could specify a preference for ones that have lived near big roads so you know they're sensible

ablutiions · 26/10/2021 08:40

I feel you pain OP. 3 years of trying to move for us.

I've kind of given up for now.

Frustratingly we went to see a house yesterday. Had all the things we needed on paper but was seriously spooky. Felt weird. It had been on the market before and I'd seen it and it gave me the shivers. My DD saw it too (without me mentioning my shivers) and said that she hated it and couldn't live there as it had a dark, sad, menacing feel. So I took rational DH yesterday. He couldn't sense anything but the agent commented that several people had said the same thing. How weird is that?

Our current lovely house was probate and the lovely old man had actually died in the house, so I'm not generally one to be put off by old probate places full of peoples' lives now ended. But this place.

So we still wait. I'm not so desperate to make me buy the haunted house 😬👻

ablutiions · 26/10/2021 08:56

@PessimisticOptimist we lost a house to a person because they had £5million sitting in the bank and 'didn't care how much they paid' for our perfect house.

Bastards.

London, of course.

areyouhavingagiraffe · 26/10/2021 09:07

@Momniscient, have you been able to view without putting your place on the market? That must be a sign times are changing. In April this year, I was not allowed to view until mine was on the market, and some Agents would not allow viewings until I was under offer.
Keep the faith, tribe!

Momniscient · 26/10/2021 09:15

@areyouhavingagiraffe we've had a couple of viewing requests rejected for not being on the market, or for not being "proceedable" but as we have the AIP most have been fine

ByeByeMissAmericanPie · 26/10/2021 09:21

Hello House Hunters… Can I join you?

I’m mid divorce but have sold the family house. I have money in the bank. I’m a cash buyer. I’m in rented. I have a solicitor and surveyor on speed dial.

I’m being repeatedly out bid… mainly by people in a chain.

I’m hoping that something collapses and I’ll get a look in.

Am also spending an hour or two a week actually visiting the agents in person. Not sure what else I can do…

Siouxtse1 · 26/10/2021 10:09

@ablutiions
How much do you like that house you saw, apart from the spooky feel? You could ask the estate agent if the seller has thought about getting the house blessed by the Church. If that doesn't work, they normally have someone (or will know of someone) who can do exorcisms? Most churches don't charge for this/just charge operating expenses.

If that's all a bit woo-woo for you, could it simply be the aspect/ acoustics of the house that puts you off? Sometimes places seem dark and foreboding because there are angles that don't get much natural light/ there's no natural through flow for air? Room shapes and ceiling heights can distort the way sound travels too, meaning you feel a sense of foreboding and don't know why (think deeper notes in the musical scores of scary films).If it's like that, then it's probably not going to work because your body picks up these cues subconciously even when you don't recognise that you're seeing/hearing them.

areyouhavingagiraffe · 26/10/2021 10:22

@Momniscient, I also had a AIP, but still wasn't allowed to view as I was not proceedable. However, now when I call up for a viewing, EA's don't even bother to ask
@ByeByeMissAmericanPie, that is awful, especially as I thought chain-free was the dream. I am also chain-free, money in the bank and a mortgage offer (actual offer not a AIP), however still don't have anything. To be honest, I have not been outbid on a property yet, I just don't like anything to offer. I offered on 2 properties, was accepted but I pulled out as there were issues with both properties.

CheltenhamLady · 26/10/2021 10:25

We viewed a house and felt it was seriously overpriced even though it was in our perfect location. It was also a little overlooked in the rear garden which is a big issue for me as currently, we are completely private. The kitchen needs redoing and we prefer open plan living with a couple of separate spaces for multi-purpose use.

The house didn't sell at the price it was on at and we found another one, which although I liked it, was not in our perfect spot. Fast forward and even though our best and final bid won, we were gazumped by a friend of the seller 3 weeks later. Ditto, another house. Our property was sold to a cash buyer and we were desperately searching around.

By this time 5 months have passed since we viewed house number 1 in the perfect location, but with the compromises I thought I couldn't get past. Then, it was reduced and I decide to see it again.

The issue of the garden being overlooked can be solved by planting a large tree and building a gazebo for private dining. We looked at the floorplan and decided we could knock it every which way and make it exactly as we wanted it to be. So we bid under the reduced price and got it for 15k less. We just hit the sweet spot timewise for the seller who just wanted it sold and to move forward after being on the market for a few months.

I think sometimes the ideal property is out there, you just have to be prepared to see if you can overcome the compromises.

ByeByeMissAmericanPie · 26/10/2021 10:51

@areyouhavingagiraffe - just made a booking to see a house and said to the agent ‘what else can I do?’ And he said he had in excess of 400 people looking for a property in my town and in my price band...
Looks like it’s going to take a while 😞

TulipsfromAmsterdam · 26/10/2021 11:15

We accepted an offer in August then cancelled sale after 8 weeks of nothing being available for us to view/buy.
Since then a previously sold property has become available but needs so much work. It's a Victorian semi and could possibly have damp issues so we would need to move to rented until essential work was done. Would anyone consider a huge project with a family? Our youngest is autistic and needs a lot of our time.

areyouhavingagiraffe · 26/10/2021 12:06

@ByeByeMissAmericanPie, I honestly don't believe anything that comes out of the mouth of EA. They are so full of shit. One told me I have no advantage being chain-free as sellers are likely to go with a FTB. What? I am pretty much a FTB, however I have a huge deposit as I have sold. I think they say stuff to make us worry and rush into decision making. But I have been in that position, and it is hard to be pragmatic sometimes. Our houses are out there, we just need to wait

BennyBean · 26/10/2021 12:54

[quote Momniscient]@areyouhavingagiraffe the viewing at the weekend was a bit of a disappointment. The interior felt really poky and cramped - even the ceilings were fairly low which didn't help. The shared driveway was even smaller than I thought, so it was almost a write-off before we even went inside. I have had previous bad experiences with shared driveways so that's a big one for me.

On the plus side, it made us re-evaluate some of the priorities - focusing on the garden rather than the house itself, or the location. The house was in a fantastic location, access to everything you'd ever want, but the garden was small, the house itself was small... on paper it was good but we'd have outgrown it very quickly. So we need to let go of the location side a little bit.

So, this coming weekend we're viewing a house that was added to RM only on Friday, but which was previously listed in March this year. I don't know what happened (or what didn't happen) and I completely forgot to ask the agent on the phone. The vendors are doing the viewing at the weekend, so I'm hoping to ask them. Wondering whether it just didn't sell (can't see what the original listing price was), or if their chain fell through or..? But it seems to tick quite a few boxes (short one bedroom... but there's a space downstairs I can WFH). It's a quarter mile from a motorway flyover, so I'm a little worried about road noise... but as it's down a hill, I'm hoping that maybe it's not a big deal and maybe they have nice thick windows.

There's no photo of the downstairs loo, and it's next to the "utility" so I'm having visions of that horrendous floating washing machine photo @PessimisticOptimist shared early on in this thread!

We've also now had the draft details from our estate agent to put our own house on the market, so maybe it's all coming together nicely?

@BennyBean if they've been on for a while, any chance of knocking down the price to make them more feasible? Sometimes I up the search budget but sort it to oldest listings... Grin

@dubyalass if you're after gardening space in the back garden, there's every chance any future cats would stick to the garden and not bother with the road out front. Depends on the cat really, but if you adopt you could specify a preference for ones that have lived near big roads so you know they're sensible[/quote]
we have looked at knocking them down think we may need to but we haven't viewed any yet it will be beginning of november we go on the market

FanGirlX · 26/10/2021 13:47

[quote areyouhavingagiraffe]@ByeByeMissAmericanPie, I honestly don't believe anything that comes out of the mouth of EA. They are so full of shit. One told me I have no advantage being chain-free as sellers are likely to go with a FTB. What? I am pretty much a FTB, however I have a huge deposit as I have sold. I think they say stuff to make us worry and rush into decision making. But I have been in that position, and it is hard to be pragmatic sometimes. Our houses are out there, we just need to wait[/quote]
If their lips are moving they are lying 😁.

It's an industry that definitely needs some standards implementing. Such a shame that they are so untrustworthy as they do have a lot of knowledge. They should have professional standards and be regulated in the same way that surveyors and conveyancers are.

BennyBean · 26/10/2021 14:03

we can't believe anything they say, i would go with any genuine buyer just need more people to put their houses on the market instead of waiting, that will get us all moving along nicely i can't wait to be settled again

Momniscient · 26/10/2021 17:47

Our viewing has just been cancelled - they've agreed a sale! I'm so disappointed. Trying to keep positive about how maybe more houses like it will go up, but jeez this is soul-destroying.

areyouhavingagiraffe · 26/10/2021 17:49

@Momniscient, fuckers. Better things coming your way

rainandsun · 26/10/2021 18:19

Momniscient - I cannot find anything on at the moment. Does anyone one know why there are so few properties listed?

BennyBean · 26/10/2021 18:41

i was wondering if they think because christmas is coming they should concentrate on that then wait until after the new year but, it's an all year round market now hopefully people realise that and put their's up for sale We need them to around here because ours goes on sale soon but at the minute there is nothing suitable to buy it's very disheartening

Momniscient · 26/10/2021 19:15

@BennyBean I'd agree with you. EA asked if we'd rather wait to put it on the market in the new year and I gave him a Hmm face. There's nothing on sale where we are, so I think there's nothing to lose

Momniscient · 26/10/2021 19:15

Let's hope so @areyouhavingagiraffe Grin

BennyBean · 26/10/2021 19:38

[quote Momniscient]@BennyBean I'd agree with you. EA asked if we'd rather wait to put it on the market in the new year and I gave him a Hmm face. There's nothing on sale where we are, so I think there's nothing to lose[/quote]
If all EA's are doing that then now we know why people aren't putting them on!! they should be encouraging people to put them on our EA has told us it's an all year round market and when i see the for sale sign go up i will just sit back and wait just as i was thinking there's nothing coming on a little gem came onto the market today and i wish we were in a position to view it

WhereIsMyOnesie · 27/10/2021 09:16

I think the market is definitely slow where I am in the midlands, despite the 'sought after location'. I have a 4 bed detached that was valued at the same price by 3 agents and that's the figure it's on the market at. It's been on 3 weeks and I've had 1 viewing.
It's frustrating but equally I can't find anything that I'd even want to view so I'm going to relax until the new year... or at least until the next amazing property comes on the market and I cry because I'm not proceedable!

Peaseblossum22 · 27/10/2021 12:16

Another obsessive rightmove checker here , we are almost mortgage free , have widened search area and are pretty flexible on other stuff but there is just nothing on the market. There have been reductions but they are mostly on the properties which were massively overpriced anyway on the basis that someone from London would buy them not realising the disadvantage that all the locals know about . For example the house next to the sugar beet storage facility or the one almost adjacent to the new village bypass .

JohnStonesMissus · 27/10/2021 12:32

Can I join? We're not selling or buying but houses fascinate me I'm on RM and OTM daily and you're right about houses going insane! There's a mid terrace 3 bedroom house not far from me needs totally doing up, it's listed on at £875,000...and no, we're not anywhere near London, yes it's in a very desirable village but come on that is ridiculous..