About to put our house up for sale.. anyone else?

[DomusAurea]

We are taking the plunge and it's happening - we are selling our house (and relocating 200 miles away but that's another thread I guess) - anyone else? I could do with a collective handhold!

This is where we are now:

• finishing the last small jobs such as painting a ceiling
• having meets with estate agents for valuation
• nervously searching rightmove for possible houses in our relocation area (there isn't a lot!)

Are you going for sale soon? Tell me how it's going!

(we are in the South East)

@Doubleraspberry would it make a difference if end of chain, i.e. if it was not would you reject the offer?

It would depend how long the chain is. Retirement property could be at the end of a long chain. But I want to know what completion date everyone is working towards or how long conveyancing has been happening. It’s not an accept or reject, just wanting more information, as we’ve been told more than one thing.

I’m not hugely keen to take it off the market if we find out we’re fifth/sixth in a chain that’s just starting, but we have no other offers!

So it looks like they are selling the unit back to the company or home so there's no chain. The agent who'd been dealing with them has gone on holiday and the other one is not really sure what's happening but this seems to be the situation. So we have grabbed the offer! Fingers crossed it just goes ahead without massive issues now. It went on the market in February.

How exciting for you @Doubleraspberry ! I have everything crossed for you.

Hi all just popping in to send some positive vibes to everyone.

'it's all going to be alright in the end - and if it's not ok then it's not the end!'

Lots of good wishes to all from me - be strong 💪

I thought I'd write a little update. We are in a chain of three houses.

1. Our buyers. Sold to FTB: survey done, waiting for mortgage offer. Our buyers will use funds from the sale plus savings to buy our house cash.

2. Us. Will buy cash from funds of our sale.

3. Our sellers. No chain up as this was an investment property and currently tenanted. Tenants have been served notice at the beginning of June.

With hiccups, delays and a good deal of faffing (not from us!) things seem to be moving and we have a loose completion date for end of August.

I am very aware that things can (and may well still) collapse any minute.

The only thing we can do is attend to our side of the admin as much diligently and quickly as possible.

As I said before, these proceedings are so fragile I do not dare to breathe. I almost do not dare to write it not to jinx it.

In the meanwhile we are getting rid of unnecessary things, planning new furniture, organising a skip and a garage sale to get rid of our surplus.

Tell me, how is it going for you?

The feeling that it might fall apart any minute is horrible isn’t it?! Our buyers rang agent to say the building society had had valuation and they are expecting mortgage offer in 7 to 10 working days. Their first mortgage fell through so I am not counting my chickens.

If it does come through allegedly the conveyancing is done. There is talk of exchange as soon as possible and completion mid August. I will believe it when I see it...

Planning to put my house on the market soon. I just can’t do painting myself. Previous attempts have been an absolute nightmare. Is it really worth getting the house painted just to sell? Things like the front door and garage door need to be done too.
wouldn’t new owners just want to redecorate themselves?
I would get get the house professionally cleaned, the oven done and carpets cleaned. Try to sort out the garden. Declutter. Painting would cost a lot and be very disruptive.

@FootontheHeartbreak it depends on how bad it is. I found our rooms looked fine with a wipe over and then various bits touched up.

I really couldn't be bothered painting whole rooms but I was surprised how much better it looked after a packet of wipes, some pva glue and a couple of tester pots. Made me slightly ashamed I hadn't done it sooner!

@Volterra ' 'The feeling that it might fall apart any minute is horrible isn’t it?!' YES absolutely - this happened the last time we moved home. The sellers withdrew at the last minute before exchange. No reasons given. They just no longer wished to sell. We lost money and lost the property we wanted.

The market was different then and there were alternatives available, such as the house in which we live now, which had come on the market since, and was, arguably, better (better priced, larger, in better location even if it had less curb appeal).

If something like this happens now it would be much more of a problem as there is so little available. We can only hope for the best and keep going.

We are having a 'measuring visit' this weekend. I am trying hard not to buy too much for the new place as it's too early but it's impossible difficult not to.

@FootontheHeartbreak - it depends - we have painted the parts in our house which needed it but the house we are buying had not been done to sell. It depends what is the market like where you are and if you think your house needs a 'lift'.

I am trying so hard to be level headed and calm but YES this week we are going to seethe house again and take measurements.

I love the area and cannot wait to move there.

Please house gods be nice to me.

I had so much shit luck thrown at me 2017-2020. Now it's time for tide to turn.

Please house gods, please.

Not sure what the original colours are as the previous owners painted it. We have had some rooms done in the time we’ve lived here but other areas are looking a bit tired .

@FootontheHeartbreak that's a shame. We have no imagination sothe whole house is dulux Jasmine white. A bit boring but easy to touch up.

I still think a good wipe down is more important as really I don't think people notice much when they look around and it's more the room size and layout that's important.

We put an offer in on a house just before Easter and DH has absolutely no recollection of what it looks like.

@FootontheHeartbreak, I don't think it matters too much - the house we are (hopefully) buying was tenanted and had not been done up to sell at all - but we chose it for its size, location and the myriad of original features. So unpainted is not necessarily scaring people off. Let us know how it goes

Hi all - it's such a strange set of circumstances waiting to exchange. Weeks of silence, weeks of waiting, and then bouts of frantic activity, crises, threats and the feeling it could all collapse so easily.

We went to measure the new house this weekend - as I probably mentioned before we need to rethink and reconsider our furniture because, although we are not downsizing (if anything the new house will be bigger), the property in which we are living now it's mid-century modern, lots of glass and white open spaces, has got a garage and large front and back garden, whereas the new property is a victorian house, with very different spaces, with hardly any garden and very little storage too.

I am delighted to move and I am not regretting having chosen this house: inside is just perfect for us, and has got these amazing good bones - original covings, high ceiling, fireplaces, floor and stained glass - and I love the area too, although the street is not the greatest and I am sad about the lack of front garden and tiny back garden. I am saddened to leave so many plants behind (although will be glad not to have to weed/mow/fight against the ivy and brambles).

Hoping the house sale fairy is being nice to you all.

@DomusAurea you're going through exactly what we were going through a month ago, with mixed emotions and even the saddened leaving the plants behind part. I took cuttings of most of the plants in the garden 1-2 months before our expected moving date, some rooted, others didn't but I have a few healthy baby plants ready to pot up now. Still feeling nostagic and missing the lovely garden we had. I love gardening, the house we have moved to has its garden all decked so I've started a container garden now (I can say this is my only compromise when choosing this house, other than that everything else is perfect for us). My husband is very happy though, he hates garden work LOL.

You're almost there. All the best with the rest of the journey, and thank you for starting this thread. It's really helpful to me and I believe it is as well to many others. Hope to hear your good news next week

Thank you so much for your kind words @LenJoseph, what a lovely post to read

Isn't it peculiar what plants do to us... I have some mid-century furniture pieces that are now worth a bit, yet I do not care at all about giving them up because they won't fit in the house. In fact, I am completely at peace selling them, I'd even be happy giving them away to the neighbours... but my plants, even if i paid a few pounds for them... leaving them breaks my heart. I know, I know, I need to get a grip.

I loved your idea of taking cuttings and I am glad some are doing well - A decked container garden sounds lovely - and you are right, there will always be a compromise in a house.

@DomusAurea we sold to an investor so I just hope they won't replace the whole garden with slabs or decking like many BTL houses I've seen. It's been 10 days since we moved, and I keep checking RM for rent everyday waiting for our house to come up. One more day I don't see our house there and I can't stop thinking they are taking their time doing something to make the garden low maintenance. What a roller coaster of emotions even after exchange 🤦🏻‍♀️

Good luck with selling up your stuff. I sold our lawnmower, a sofa and a few other things on Fb marketplace and eBay before we moved. All good in the end! 🤞🏻

I can so relate to leaving the plants. I got someone to dig up a few in the winter so nw have a fruit tree that DH had for his 40th, a plum tree and what I call Mum’s rose in pots. Managed to split some perennials and the rhubarb that was on my first allotment and came to my next 2 allotments then to current garden.

Current house is 60’s and we are going to a Victorian with high ceilings. Taking the DC to see it at the weekend. The garden is smaller and quite shady as a large tree and a very old apple tree, full height grey stone wall at back and half height at sides . Would love to get them built up higher as always wanted a walled garden. We need some screening on one side as neighbour has cut down some conifers. Our attempt at downsizing hasn’t worked and it is a bit bigger.

Our buyers have now moved out of rented and in with family now. Really hope for all our sakes their mortgage offer does come through.

Oh gosh, it all sounds so stressful!

We're waiting to hear about our buyers mortgage and then I think we're good to go. I'm now hoping for mid August to actually move but who knows.

I'd like to take a fern with us and I will miss all the wild flowers from the dingle. We do need to take a maple and two bushes of some sort with us as they were DH's mom's.

We went and did a bit of measuring up last weekend. The sellers are a lovely older couple and aren't moving far. I think they're going to struggle to empty the house but by this point I don't care, we can deal with whatever they leave behind.

Incidentally, how much would you offer for a 10 year old dual fuel rangemaster? We're not in love with it but it would be a pain to replace and I have no idea how much to offer. They seem to be £150 to £1200 second hand online but obviously mega bucks to buy new.

Good luck everyone!

@Volterra 'Current house is 60’s and we are going to a Victorian with high ceilings.' Hahaha we too! But the (walled) 'garden' in our future house is the size of our patio here. It's tiny! In the garden here (old wall at the back) we have a chill out area under a pergola, a cafe type area under the trees and a more 'formal' dining are on the patio, whereas in the new place we'll fit just our hanging chair from the chill out pergola, a couple of pots and that's it.

Your garden sounds amazing, love the description of the wall and the old apple tree.

Like you and @CornedBeef451, we are also waiting to hear about the mortgage offer (of our buyers' buyers). Like you, we also hope it will happen soon for everyone's sake.

@LenJoseph - that's what happened to our old house, it was a little cutie Victorian cottage and we planted the back garden as cottage garden, a labour of love with a rose arch, climbing roses on a pergola, 15 different types of clematis, poppies, geum, rosemary and fatsia, a crab apple, wisteria and a flowering cherry.. honestly everyone who visited commented on the garden - I was really proud because we had established it from scratch from just a patch of turf... and we sold the place to a buy to let person (cottage was near the train station so it was attractive to commuters) who promptly destroyed everything and turned into.... a patch of turf. I am still a bit upset about it. If I knew I would have moved the plants - or at least some of them. My roses. My clematis. I hope it does not happen to you.

@CornedBeef451, yes absolutely it is stressful - was talking to a colleague of mine from Italy (I work for a company with offices round the world) and we were comparing the 2 different systems, in Italy and offer on a house is legally binding whereas here it's not over until it's over... anyway it is stressful but it's for a nice thing! I do not buy the idea hat buying a house is more stressful than other dreadful life events. Yes, it's a pain in the neck and expensive but I think it's also a celebration of life and human spirit and our desire for change and improvement... I am trying to stay positive in this sea of uncertainty.

@DomusAurea our new one has lots of potential but is going to take work as a mess at the moment. I was looking at pictures of small gardens and it’s amazing what people have fitted in small spaces - and so much less time worrying about maintenance! Do you need to do much inside ? Ours is going to take a fair bit of work to get how we want.

@Volterra , yes, absolutely you nailed it when you mentioned the maintenance, we got really into gardening either when our children were small, and the garden was like an Eden for them, and then a few years later in lockdown when there was not much to do - we will be ok with a small garden I hope! We'll do other fun thing or go to the park which is very near.

Regarding the house renovation the answer is yes and no, the house is in a well-to-do area which then became a bit rough in the 1970-1990s so the property was untouched for a long time, and this neglect meant that many original features were untouched. Then it was renovated very sympathetically in 2015 - so no artex or anything particularly nasty - I am not in love with the kitchen, or with the carpet on the stairs and on the second floor; the second bathroom is bit clinical, and there are a couple of things that will need fixing, but is all liveable and a lot if it is lovely. We'll paint the walls, take out the stairs carpet, and install wood floor on the second floor asap. In time we'd like to renovate the kitchen and second bathroom. What about your new house? What do you need/want to do?

Today we received some good news: our buyers' buyers got their mortgage offer. So all the financials should be in place now.