Carry on trying to sell over summer or wait till September?

[HangerLaneGyratorySystem]

Trying to sell due to divorce. Been on 12 weeks, only had a few viewings, reduced price, still nothing, contract ended this week. Looking for a new agent with some fresh ideas. Due to illness (which I'd rather not explain here but we did tell the prospective new agents) we can't get new photos done or have viewers in until 1st week of July.

We've had a couple of other agents round - one was saying if you lose any time in June that's more or less it, not worth it etc (but had no ideas about solutions) another saying well you could register with us now and then maybe try actual marketing in September? How would a buyer feel seeing our house had been sat on the market for some time already?

Should we go ahead with a July listing, or is the "selling year" pretty much over now anyway and may as well wait till schools go back? As we're divorcing we feel some urgency but I wonder if we should hold our nerve and wait. I wonder what mortgage rates will be by Autumn :( (putting off buyers but affecting us as well).

I no longer pay any attention to how long a property has been on the market because of how many have fallen through this year and last.

When the time is right for you to have more viewings, could they reduce it by 1k so people get fresh email alerts?

I don’t see the point in having your house on the market now if you don’t want viewings until July.
I would remove it from the market and relist it with another agent in July. Of course the selling year will not be over by then.

I'd keep it off until your ready to have viewings again, all the best op.

Those of us who are actively looking to buy would’ve seen your property already. Loads buyers are on the fence to view due to valuations. If price is 100% over ambitious, I don’t even bother viewing. Cant be offering 200k less can I? Talking more about London market here.

Wait until you are able to do viewings to list it. If you put it on now and then say people csnt view they may think you're messing around. People need to move for all sorts of reasons at all times of the year so you never know.

Thank you all, I am going to wait till post op, so by the time I am well enough it will be first week of July (we will get photos done earlier than that so we are "ready to go"). I think the agents were trying to say that its school holidays and this is 3 bed semi so mostly families looking and they don't look during school hols, so if we have to wait till July then we're not going to have any luck? I'm sure I read somewhere that April and September are the busiest times. But that's before we entered the interest rate wonderland.

@Wanderergirl not sure I completely follow you - our previous agent did say its no point changing agents as all the same people are looking at the same thing, but all that agent did was post it on Rightmove and Zoopla. Aren't agents supposed to do something else? (genuine question - I thought they'd have more ideas after all they want the money!)

House was on for £475k (from March), reduced to £465k, now new agents want a further reduction. Anyway, I'm really interested to see more opinions so thanks everyone.

All I meant that most people who are looking to buy would have seen it your property being re-advertised later, so it probably makes very little difference whether you continue to advertise it or readvertise later. I see properties on and off the market all the time, but it doesn’t trick us into viewing them. One thing to note probably buyers are more picky, because the boom is over and there’s really no rush.

Agents try to do extra bits like tell us oh it’s amazing property and will sell in an eye blink, but 2 months later it’s still on the market.

What I notice to be happening a lot is over-ambitious valuations for a lot of properties. Properties priced within means are still selling fairly well. Your price more likely is not attractive for the buyers who are looking for property like this.

I’ve been looking in my area for 18 months. There are houses on the market right now that were for sale when I started looking and have come and gone multiple times. Like a PP I no longer see that as necessarily the warning sign it might have been.

The ones that have lingered and lingered are clearly overpriced. I’ve just seen one reduced to £550k that came on at £700k ten months ago. 100k reductions at the higher end of the market aren’t unusual.

A price reduction from 475 to 465 isn’t a significant enough drop to make any difference. When you move to the new agent I suggest 450k as properties up to 450k is a price band on Rightmove. You’ve tested it at around the 475k mark already.

That’s true, a property we sold for over I Million last year dropped twice in price, by 50k each time.
The agent advised us no point dropping by small amounts at that price point & they were right. They gave good advice generally, apart from at the beginning when they overvalued to try to gain our business.

Sorry - wrong thread! Have reported and asked for it to be removed

I think this has already been said but I would take it off for now as there is no point in advertising it and then not allowing viewings.

Re-market when you are well enough to accept viewings in July but at a reduced price. There is no point in reducing by 2%. If people had wanted to offer £465k or even £450k, they could have done with an asking price of £475k. The market has fallen and continues to fall. You need to price it due to divorce so you have to market it at a price people are able/ willing to pay. Maybe try at £449.99k for a couple of weeks and reduce if not interest. You also need to negotiate on your onward purchases.