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Original poster

Selling my house

82 replies

MrsBallen · 22/02/2022 22:10

Hello.

Just wondered if anyone had any advice or opinions.

I've got my house on the market at the moment with Strike, an online estate agent. I was considering a private sale but figured I needed to get it on Rightmove so this type of estate agent was a good option for me.

It went on the market 2 weeks ago. I had quite a few viewers in the first week but not so many in the second week. Two people have made offers but neither of them is ready to proceed as they haven't sold their houses yet. My house is not a first time buyers house, it's a 4 bedroom family home.

I am starting to worry because of the lack of viewing requests. I spoke to a couple of estate agents before settling on the online one. However the estate agents that I spoke to have come back and tried to get my business by saying I should have sold my house by now and they will put my house on the market etc etc.

It's really stressful and I don't want my house to be on the market forever! I thought houses were selling really well at the moment. My house is in very good condition, it's clean and well maintained, nice area, good schools nearby, and reasonably priced compared with other houses in the area. So I don't understand it. Is it still too early to start worrying?

I don't really want to change estate agents as this will just cause me more stress and worry. Just looking for some opinions from people who have been through this recently.

OP posts:
Ginger1982 · 22/02/2022 22:18

If you're brave, post a link.

Primrosecottage · 22/02/2022 22:47

I agree, post a link if you can. Houses are selling the same day or after in my area. I won’t view houses with purple bricks, is strike similar? Maybe that’s the issue?

GreenClock · 22/02/2022 22:50

What’s the quality of the Rightmove description like? The photos?

A family home near good schools that’s sensibly priced should sell I think.

mrsed1987 · 22/02/2022 23:02

Our house sold 2 days after being on the market, and that it pretty much standard at the minute.

Are you 100% confident it is fairly priced? It's sometimes hard to judge when it's your own pride and joy

Kite22 · 22/02/2022 23:24

Things are mostly going within a week here too.
However, I guess it varies, region by region.
I am a bit wary of on-line EAs, but if it ticks all the boxes and is really priced right, then (around here) it would go quickly.
How does the price compare with the prices suggested by the other EAs ?

FiftyStoriesHigh · 22/02/2022 23:29

If it’s any help, as a buyer I was massively out off by Strike who rang every single day following the viewing trying to up sell their services, they were a nightmare. I noticed the seller pulled not long after and went on with a commissioned EA.

FiftyStoriesHigh · 22/02/2022 23:30

*put not out

Starseeking · 23/02/2022 01:28

Houses in my area are always sold once they've had their first big day of back to back viewings. How have you marketed the property so far? Are you doing all the viewings yourself?

It could be that the majority of buyers in your area are looking for 3 bedrooms, rather than 4 bedrooms, so things may take a bit longer.

Also, price. Did you get 3 agents in to value? How have you settled on asking price? Did you go for lower or higher end?

Whinge · 23/02/2022 06:35

@mrsed1987

Our house sold 2 days after being on the market, and that it pretty much standard at the minute.

Are you 100% confident it is fairly priced? It's sometimes hard to judge when it's your own pride and joy

I agree with this post. It seems daft but in the current market a property that has been on 2 weeks without a sale is unusual.

In lots of areas people aren't even able to view houses if there's isn't sold, as the market is moving that quickly. The fact you've had offers from 2 people like this would make question if the people who are viewing your house are actually looking to buy, or just fancy a nose around your property.

Finally how do you know it's reasonably priced, is that your opinion or did you get several valuations?

flashbac · 23/02/2022 07:34

Strike tend to overprice houses in my area.

burnthur5t · 23/02/2022 07:42

It would have sold if the price was correct or, it's a poor advert not enticing people to view

ABCDEF1234 · 23/02/2022 08:01

Strike puts off a significant number of buyers

Chestofdraws · 23/02/2022 08:03

If you’ve had two offers why not accept one? That’s normal. It goes into a chain. Putting a rule you won’t accept unless they’ve already sold is going to make it very difficult for you.

FAQs · 23/02/2022 08:06

I wouldn’t accept an offer from someone not in a position to proceed, waste of time.

stuntbubbles · 23/02/2022 08:08

My house is in very good condition, it's clean and well maintained, nice area, good schools nearby, and reasonably priced compared with other houses in the area. So I don't understand it. Is it still too early to start worrying?
Post the link and we’ll judge whether that’s all true Grin

Smallinthesmoke · 23/02/2022 08:08

As a buyer, I actively avoided properties marketed by online agents. There is benefit to the seller in terms of fees, but only increased hassle for the buyer in terms of having to do all the running that an agent would normally do (in terms of the chain).

Whinge · 23/02/2022 08:10

@Chestofdraws

If you’ve had two offers why not accept one? That’s normal. It goes into a chain. Putting a rule you won’t accept unless they’ve already sold is going to make it very difficult for you.
It's not normal, especially right now. You can't even view houses in our area unless you've sold. If they haven't even bothered to put their house on the market then accepting an offer would be a waste of time.
mugoftea456 · 23/02/2022 08:10

As a buyer I withdrew an offer on a strike property.

They are horrendous for trying to upswell all their products.

Strike sellers also tend to take pictures them selves which are usually awful.

Get a professional to sell. Worth their weight in gold !

Twiglets1 · 23/02/2022 08:26

I’ve very recently been both a seller and a buyer and as a buyer I avoid online agents like Strike unless I absolutely love the look of the property as they are often painful to deal with so I would never choose them myself.

As a Seller, it took me months to sell my property in central London despite being with a very good agent. The market has been very slow there for the last couple of years so it’s not necessarily true that properties sell quickly everywhere just because they do in some regions. You have to know the market in your own area to know whether places are generally selling within a fortnight or taking much longer on average

Chestofdraws · 23/02/2022 08:28

@whinge the op doesn’t say the houses aren’t on the market. She says they’ve not sold. Which is very different.

Whinge · 23/02/2022 08:38

[quote Chestofdraws]@whinge the op doesn’t say the houses aren’t on the market. She says they’ve not sold. Which is very different.[/quote]
Apologies you're right. I perhaps wrongly assumed they weren't on the market as many houses are selling within days of going on the market, although I acknowledge this isn't the case in all areas. Perhaps they're on the market and also struggling to sell. However, I stand by refusing viewings to those who haven't sold, it's a waste of time.

Primrosecottage · 23/02/2022 09:01

@whinge in a fast market it’s not a waste of time and I am glad our vendors allowed us to view. We had no intention of selling but spotted their house. Got ours on the market the next day and it sold that day. We are about to exchange, it’s taken five weeks.

Lastqueenofscotland · 23/02/2022 09:06

I would never in a month of Sundays but from online agents again. Bought with purple pricks and yopa and both were so unnecessarily stressful. I wouldn’t view a property with strike as I couldn’t be arsed with the hassle and it taking 6 weeks longer to go through than needed because you’ve been talked into using their shite panel solicitor and the sales progression team change every week and no one knows what’s going on

BammBamm · 23/02/2022 09:10

I sold my FTB property with Strike (then Housesimple) 2 years ago and it sold within a week for full asking price (which was above the price local agents valued it at). They actually valued it higher but I wanted a quick sale. I liked the buyer and she was chain free.

The photos were as good as the ones done by local agents but I have seen some dreadful ones.

The estate agent from our onward purchase were very good and probably had to do more work as a result of us using an online agent, which is something to consider. However my sister sold her property through them with no onward purchase and everything went through pretty smoothly.

In terms of upselling, they do do this but I politely declined and that was the end of it.

AmandaHoldensLips · 23/02/2022 09:12

A decent estate agent will vet prospective buyers to make sure they are in a position to offer and that they have the funds to back it up. It cuts out all the viewing tourists and tyre kickers.

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