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)

Removals booked for middle of next month. Will take as little furniture as possible in case it needs to go on the market again but empty cupboards then take the rest after exchange. I need to lie down in a dark room 😀

Our buyers don't have their survey back yet but have commissioned an electrical survey. This feels like a positive move as they're committing to it and sinking money into the process but is also mad FTB nerves as it's got an electrical safety certificate done nine months ago! The agent said he'd tried to tell them... I so suspect some freaking at the survey though.

In what may be a very silly move, we've offered on a house and been accepted. It's a gorgeous house that we saw before it went online, and the owner did a second viewing with us - she liked us so much that she's taken an under asking price offer from us and stopped all other viewings. I'm nervous that we've gone and complicated things, but we're living comfortably in our rented house, so our sale and our purchase don't need to be linked other than we need to sell before we can buy! Otherwise no urgency for completion on the house we're buying.

The market here has definitely quietened down a lot. The house we've offered on would have gone to best and final offers over not long ago, and we've viewed quite a few places in the last few weeks that are sitting unsold.

How exciting@Doubleraspberry , good luck !!! How lovely she liked you so much 🙂I have a bone to pick with you - why are you posting links to gorgeous kitchens out of my price range 😀😀

I wonder if a good joiner could do you something like that using IKEA or similar carcasses?

Hahaha. I torture myself too.

I'm not sure how easy it's going to be to find joiners, or even fitters, at the moment (or in six months' time when this will be getting done) so I'm looking for the easiest options.

I can see that, have posted a suggestion- not sure if anything will be suitable.

I like it! But obviously the expensive ones are just fabulous.

An update: our new buyers are officially chancers who have haggled the price down and the they could not even get a mortgage approved principle - why are people so unreliable?

In other world news another house in our little close has just come on the market

--for some things this house is better than ours:
2 garages, we only have one;
(marginally) larger back garden;
newer bathroom (but only with shower, we have a bath/shower).

--for some worse:
we are semi they are end of terrace;
we have a much larger front garden;
a newer, nicer kitchen;
a utility room;
real wood floors and larger rooms

So this house is valued at £50k more than ours 😮 - unless there is an oil well in the garden I cannot see how that is worth that much more 😮

Can I join please? We've had a nightmare with our lender who took forever to process our application and now finally have a valuation booked in the next few days- to say I'm bricking it (have been down this path before) is the biggest understatement ever. I'm petrified we'll receive a down valuation as we've maxed ourselves out and won't have the funds to make up the shortfall if this happens.

@DomusAurea- I'm sorry to hear this. We've had this with a 'cash buyer' who was anything but. The rage I felt. I'm hoping you get someone reliable coming through soon.

hi welcome and best of luck <3 hope it goes back at the value you want 🙂

I think I am past the rage stage and just being sad now 😞

God, I am glad I have moved and now settled in. Why do people lie on both sides. Cash buyers who arent. People who view and start making stupid comments presumably to think you will reduce the price.

One of the things now I see is that viewers are checked before being allowed to see your house. Of course some will be miffed but if you are genuine why would you have an issue with this. I hated the time wasters. I had one women who came around 4 times. She clearly didnt want to move - her partner did and I told the agent after the 4th request for viewing that we needed to sort this. She made comments about my choice of school for son (boarding) and the garden ended up being a big selling point because it backed on to some ancient woodland. Not for her - She thought someone might be hiding in there.

It was all a bit silly and she was clearly a timewaster.

Our cash buyer which was sorted very quickly actually meant he needed a mortgage but of course in his view he would get it 100% so he counted himself as a cash buyer. Twat!

Any decent agency would be able to confirm a cash buyer at the initial registration stage so that’s the agent just not doing the job properly.

“Do you need a mortgage?
“Yes”
= Not a cash buyer

It’s amazing how inept some agents are but the last two years have shown that they don’t have to do very much at all to sell houses. Hopefully that tide is starting to turn.

People lie is the problem. Agents also need to have genuine proof of funds. DH once got royally messed about by someone who claimed to be a cash buyer, but it turned out they were only a cash buyer once they'd sold two houses, neither of them being on the market when he made the offer. Several months of lying and messing about later, DH had to find a new buyer.

Agents need to see proof of mortgage offer/DIP or proof of cash funds if not mortgaged. Rookie error if agents are not doing this before offers are passed to buyers but there are some cruddy agents about so best to choose wisely.

tbh when we have bought houses ourselves in the past our proceedable position has been taking as a matter of faith from the estate agents

first flat: 'we are first time buyers': 'oh, ok'

second house: 'we are porting the mortgage from our flat' : 'oh, ok'

third house: 'we are porting the mortgage from our house' : 'oh, ok'

fourth house: : 'we are buying cash from the sale of our house (we have paid off our mortgage)' : 'oh, ok'

At no stage I was ever asked to provide any form of proof before viewing or before offering.

@valuationworry welcome and fingers crossed for you .
@DomusAurea I am so sorry to hear this, what a nightmare. We have found DIPs don’t equal mortgage offer with first buyer, the whole process is a nightmare . Really hope the next week or so brings better news.

We are now officially bailing next month leaving as much furniture here as possible. Informed house insurance, redirected mail, removals booked . Feeling very lucky to be able to do this but feels nerve wracking and it is shortly before DS’s A level results. Also a bit tricky as friends here sending sad faces when they hear and I am at the point where I just want to get out and am trying not to sound too happy about it.

What a pain for you @DomusAurea , no wonder you're fed up.

So that's the house officially up for sale, have a few viewings booked in for Saturday according to the EA app. That's us on holiday now, am hoping we come back having had an offer made and accepted but think it's unlikely tbh.

@DomusAurea When we last purchased (November 2020) we defo had to prove to the agents we had a mortgage offer in principle before they would issue the memorandum of sale.

I’m trying to remember if we had to prove this before our offer was even forwarded to the vendor…

It’s a shame your agents don’t do similar. Such a waste of time otherwise.

Hi All
Have tried to follow the thread since my first post in March so apologies if my question has been answered but have any of us on this thread who are selling actually completed on the sale?
To avoid anybody that is interested having to scroll back, we are selling an empty property and accepted an offer after an open house viewing in March. So four months after the offer, here we are. Still. I cannot face ringing the Estate Agent for this weeks excuse/nonsense/bullsxxxx.
I am just so fed up with it. Every time I mow the lawn I think surely this must be the last time. I haven't been upstairs for weeks, I repapered one of the bedrooms before the viewings, I dont even know if the wall paper is still on the walls or perhaps it fell off.
FFS
Please somebody, anybody, Solicitor, Estate Agent, Buyer(s) end this misery for me now.
Sorry OP that things aren't going well for you at the moment Deepest Sympathies.

It’s rubbish isn’t it @LadyDP 😢Our new buyers are back from holiday and want to bring parents again to look. They said not to worry about boxes as know we are moving out which I appreciated then panicked as we haven’t got anything packed as removal company packing!

Nothing from broker on couple number 1 and now family number 2 are back from holiday I feel very uncomfortable that they are still in the background, if they still actually are and need to think on this. I was taken aback with them coming back with yet again a potential mortgage and this was just about ok whilst buyer 2 were away and hadn’t started but I am really not happy with this scenario now.

@LadyDP It sucks doesn't it. We accepted an offer five months ago and no-one knows what's going on. I've accepted it's going to fall through so I'm just waiting for that phone call or email to confirm, but it is a bit soul destroying. I used to be very proactive and communicate with our agent and solicitors etc, but I've stopped all that now because what's the point if every time you call you just get their vague BS.

Hope yours still goes through! Crossing my fingers for you.

Things were looking suspiciously quiet on our sale (again) but we’ve just been told by BT that the buyers have asked to take over the phone line on the completion date. Finally looks like we are going to move!

congrats @Chemenger - nearly there - we are having wine. Because that's how we are going through this. It's worse than having a baby 😖

We are 8 weeks into the sale, nothing to buy so going to rent. My solicitor told me there is no update as yet, buyers solicitors have told them exchange will be within days 🙄.