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

[InTheCludgie]

Hi everyone here is the new thread for those of us who are about to, or are currently trying to, sell our homes!

So we are now back on the market and have a viewing tomorrow morning, plus one for early next week. This week is a bit tricky as it's DS's birthday so have had to say no to a couple of suggested times for viewings.

How is everyone else getting on?

@nellyelloe that sounds hugely frustrating. I wonder, would you be able to get your solicitor to contact their solicitor? They might be able to get a clearer picture? When I was waiting to complete last October, my solicitor really stepped up a gear to help progress the sale, and I got a more complete picture as to what was going on/going wrong…

Thanks so much everyone. It's also really positive to hear that other people had delays like this and it worked out in the end. The main issue is our buyer is so hold to get hold of, and we haven't been given any reason for why it's taking so long - we are in the dark and not kept informed. I'm going to send an email today (although I was ignored yesterday) and be stroppy and insist that we get an honest and open update of what is really happening, and ask for a date that their mortgage offer will be in. It's just ridiculous that we are so in the dark. I wonder if other people in the chain know what the hold up is.....

@Melminiani that's a really really good idea. Our solicitor can be a dragon when she wants to be as well. I'll contact her too

Glad to see some of you are progressing! We've been on the market since early December.

We've had several viewings the week before Christmas and a few more lined up this week. No real feedback, some said it wasn't quite what they wanted and others that they're still looking at other properties. We have someone coming for a second viewing today with her husband. She saw the house with her sister last week. Fingers crossed they're interested. We did a second viewing on a house we liked yesterday. It needs more work than expected but it has the potential to be a great house. The agent mentioned they won't take any offers until our house is sold so I don't want to get too attached.

@nellyelloe 4 months for a mortgage offer sounds tedious. I never understand people who drag their feet with purchases. I was itching to move last time and I'm sure I'll be the same this time.

Just got a reply from the solicitor who said 'I suggest you chase this up with the estate agent'. Great and very helpful 🙄

@superdupernova that's great news you've got a second viewing.
It's so hard not to get attached to a house though isn't it?!

Oh that's so disappointing from your solicitor. I wonder if the buyer is scrambling to get a mortgage after a rejection. Our mortgage broker told us she'd speak to the estate agents at the offer stage so they know the mortgage wouldn't be an issue and could contact her during the purchase if they needed to.

Yes I did wonder that, but surely we'd be having another mortgage valuation? None of it makes sense at all. Still no contact from the estate agent either

Hi all, can I join? Our house has been on the market for 2 months with not much interest so far. One viewing in the first week, there should have been another but they cancelled. Nothing since then! It's a larger house so we're expecting it to take longer, but we need to sell this year and downsize. Not sure when to speak to the EA about reducing the price - we've not heard from them since the New Year. We haven't looked at any houses to buy yet.

We didn’t hear anything much before Christmas, just that they were getting their mortgage finalised. Then after new year was asked if we could complete on 20th Jan!

They also did an electrical survey last Friday which apparently was because their mortgage/solicitors wanted it… the estate agent said they don’t care about it as they’ll be redoing the house.

hopefully all good news!

Good luck @paddingtonbear1 Welcome to bell 🤣

@Peoniesandcats that's such good news 😊

We had an update today - our buyer has not given any timeline to the whole chain, but is now saying his lender is asking for even more information which will take him a few weeks to gather. 4 families are depending on him. It's beyond a joke now. Everyone is literally ready to exchange bar his mortgage offer.

@nellyelloe with one of my house sales, the chain was held up because the FTBs mortgage was taking forever. Turned out they had issues due to part of their deposit being gifted, but to this day I don't know why that held up their offer by 3 months!

Every mortgage I've applied for has been sorted within 2-3 weeks. Keep on at the estate agent and don't lose heart, I know it's so frustrating.

I've got a slight update - one viewer from last week has messaged to say he is considering an offer (OK...?) and the other viewer who had a second viewing has just booked for a third visit.

Ohh, could I join too?

Our house went up for sale Boxing Day and we had viewings last week. Had more than one offer, all FTBs, so EA suggested letting it go to best and final offers.

It's our first time selling and with all the bad news about the property market, we've been pleasantly surprised by the response.

Viewing a house tomorrow that could potentially be 'the one', it just came to market yesterday. Feeling very anxious that the market is still very competitive and we won't even get a look in.

A third offer sounds very promising @RubyPip

@sageandrosemary where abouts do you live? Things have slowed down here though not disastrously so. Even still, it sounds like it's moving much faster where you are.

Our agent seems positive about the people who returned for a second viewing today. Apparently they asked lots of questions, talked about doing an extension. They have a couple of houses to see this evening on the other side of town before they decide.

Hi all hope you don’t mind me joining - this is our second sale and a house we didn’t expect to leave . However a bereavement has given us a small cash injection which we want to invest. Congrats to everyone exchanging , completing and moving in! We have been up for sale since end of nov and reduced at start of Jan . Houses in our road sell quickly in normal times and ours is priced accordingly and newly renovated . One up the road sold this week now we are waiting (impatiently) for it to be our turn!

Had a successful few viewings this weekend and 2 offers of asking price and over but neither party have sold!! So frustrating. We have found a house we love but can’t do anything until ours sold so waiting on tender hooks everyday hoping it doesn’t sell.

Hi all!

I finally found you. Spotted this thread earlier and then couldn't find it. I hope you don't mind me joining. I started another, but since I found you.

I am selling the house soon. So far I am in the polishing stage as we haven't redecorated bedrooms for a bit (it is not a polished turd, it's just a refresh 😁).

I am a first time seller, no upward chain (moving abroad), getting ready to put house on market February/ early March. Hoping for very quick turnaround! Due to finances (every penny needed after), I am thinking advertising via Strike agency. Have anyone done it? How was dealing with the buyers? I am thinking doing group viewing so I don't lose much work time...

Currently being properly spammed by various solicitors since I stupidly put my real number into one "find local conveyancer" website which looked solid🙄

@FTStheFirstTimeSeller

I'd be inclined to ditch the plan to redecorate, and get it on the market sooner rather than later. Unless you have massive patches of paper hanging off, or creators in the walls, honestly, a refresh isn't going to help.
If you go via strike (and I recommend going with someone local) be exceedingly careful with photos. Photos taken by professionals and photos taken by self-sellers are often miles apart.

The estate agent for our purchase kept the whole chain together. I'd say the value in it is the sales progressor and the photos, the advertising is standard.

Hi @FTStheFirstTimeSeller welcome to the thread.
I agree with @LionessesRules if you want a fast turnaround then get it up now. Decluttering is more effective than redecorating and professional photos will massively increase initial appeal, they make everything look much fresher due to better lighting etc even without fresh paint.
A good local estate agent is worth every penny, definitely check that you will have a dedicated sales progressor. There are loads of sites where you can see online reviews to help choose and also look for their listings on Rightmove etc to check out quality of photos and descriptions.
Good luck - I hope your journey is short and stress free!

Thank you both! I really appreciate the advice. I will look at the one we bought the house through. They were good.

Unfortunately, one of the bedrooms does have ripped part of a wallpaper so it does need doing, but I already got someone booked in and it's a quick job (quoted 2 days for both rooms).

Market where I am still looks ok, but it has the Christmas slow down. Hoping it will pock up asap.

Thank you and good luck to everyone!

Damn. The couple who came for a second viewing have offered on a different house. It was so hard not to get my hopes up.

@FTStheFirstTimeSeller we did some decluttering and painted one room that had a lot of scuff marks. Then when the agents came to do valuations we asked them what needed doing in their eyes. The answer from all four was not to bother painting or fixing the broken decking. Most of the paint was fresh enough. That question ended up being how we decided on the agency to use. One who went through every room and suggested small things for staging that would really make the difference. Things like moving a table so it's not in shot or where to add a plant or a throw. He was taking photos on his phone from the angles the photographer would use to show us.

I had an awful experience with Strike, but my friend had a great one!

I went with Purple Bricks in the end. Last time I sold a house, the high Street agents were useless, and made things worse, so I wanted as much control as possible for this sale! (Doing viewings myself etc).

In my opinion the most important thing is getting a good solicitor. Try and get a local one, who has been recommended. You really do get what you pay for.

Sorry to hear that @superdupernova - it's impossible not to get your hopes up. Finger's crossed for more viewings.

Thank you all. Still mulling everything over. Have few weeks to prepare. Thought about using same solicitor as we did when buying this. Lots to think about.

Very grateful for all responses and @superdupernova such a shame. I hope it happens for you soon!

I’m so sorry @superdupernova it just is so disappointing and it sucks. Fingers crossed a new buyer comes along really soon and offers well and buys it, all without any complications! (Am wishing the same for all of us on here btw!)

I’ve had my first offer since putting it back on in early November (after the collapse of my first sale) and it’s £15k under my asking price. Luckily my lovely EA told him to come back with a more serious offer, so now we wait…

(… I’m really bad at waiting btw, although this whole process has been a steep learning curve in tolerating disappointment, frustration and tested patience…)

Well all your well wishes have worked a lot faster than expected, thank you! We have had a second offer from someone who viewed before Christmas and made a low offer. He went AWOL for a while but came back and spoke to our estate agent for a good hour today. He was very open at the time and said he preferred our house but had made the same offer on a house around the corner that was on for 20k less. He had a change of heart and has now offered 20k more for our place. It's about 5-10k more than we expected so we've accepted. Now we just need to have an offer on our dream-ish house accepted tomorrow. It needs a bit of work but could be amazing.

That’s fantastic news @superdupernova 🤞that your offer is accepted and things start moving.
We are inching towards exchange, I still won’t believe it until it actually happens. We are moving next week into a rental anyway so I’ve been able to burn off nervous energy packing and making many trips to the recycling centre. I love those places, I think I get more of a thrill out of clearing things out than buying stuff - I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere!