Anyone else trying to sell their house?

[Permanentlyfrazzled]

How many viewings are you getting?

Fourth time on the market in 9 months due to multiple chains falling through and feeling very disheartened. This time we've gone on at a 50K reduction from our previous asking price (which we achieved multiple times) but we recognise that the market has changed.

Despite a massive reduction viewings seem really slow. We've had 4 viewings in just under four weeks and one second viewing, but no offers.

How is everyone else getting on? Is it just the market at the moment? I'm trying to tell myself that it's the mortgage rate rises and the summer holidays.

We can't afford to reduce again as we won't be able to buy. House prices in our area aren't coming down as quickly as we've reduced.

We are in Surrey. Thank you!

https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/market-surveys/uk-residential-market-survey/RICS%20Residential%20Market%20Survey%20July%202023.pdf

Check out the data and comments relevant to your area and act accordingly.

Ok that makes me feel better about accepting the low offer, I'm in the worst / at best bottom 3 area 😮

What does everyone think of open House viewings? Or in this market do we risk noone showing up!

Hi @Skipskipperroo might be different for others but we personally don’t like them. Had one at our previous house when selling 8 years ago: 8 people turned up and no offers. Then no more viewings ! When I asked the EA what they would do next to drum up viewers he just shrugged!
imo they are a lazy way for the EA to try and get a quick sale. If it doesn’t work they move onto the next new property they’ve taken on.
The lady they had at our house to do the show arounds on the open day had never even seen inside before — so knew nothing about its selling points. infuriatingly this same EA then held an open day at a less nice house around the corner from ours on the same day, at the same price. They achieved full asking price on the day. We eventually changed EA and then had to accept a much lower offer.
our current EA offered an open day to us but we declined. Of course it might work for some people!

It was a tactic EA's used in a rising market to create FOMO.

It's not worth doing now unless your home is super-competitively priced and desirable. In that case it can save ton of separate "readying" events.

@XVGN we run an estate agents and I can assure you it wasn't to create fomo. It was because it was busy and it was easier for the owner and EA to have as many viewings in one day rather then going back and forth. As don't forget most of the work an EA does is completely free, we can try and sell a house for months and someone can pull out and we would have spent money and loads of time for nothing.

It depends how popular you think your house is going to be. Worth it for a sought after house in a good location. Saves you having to keep it viewing ready for ages. I'd say it was still worth it, as long as the price is right.

Let me guess they probably work for somewhere like purple bricks.

Just read your thread OP, it's awful isn't it. We were in this position last year.

Honestly I would accept the offer you have now. Things aren't going to get better. People can't afford to move so it's a buyer's market and offers will keep dropping.

The main issue for EA's that I see is that they only mange to get, what 40%?, of listed properties through to a completed sale (Is that right?). They need to do a ton of work to improve that metric. Do that and you'll be more efficient and productive.

As a Seller I have always liked Open House viewings. It enables the Seller to get the house really tidy & uncluttered then disappear for the day with the kids if you have them and let the EA get on with doing their job. It’s an efficient way to get several viewings out of the way with less disruption than if they were spaced over several different days.
But in this market an Open House could be disappointing of course so I would take your EAs advice on whether they think it could work well with your property or not.

Am a new one!

Finally got my house ready to sell and looking to engage the right EA. It seems that first month with the right EA can be very helpful.

I tried to be ‘ahead of the game’ by getting a couple of EAs around before the new kitchen was fitted and painting done, so the house was looking worn out and tired. They gave very variable but also quite low valuations, and didn’t seem able to give a ‘projected view’ for when the work was done. And now they almost seem ‘stuck’ on what the house looked like!

@HopefulSeller that’s disappointing for you. We got 3 EAs to value after we’d done all the work on the house apart from repainting and carpeting the 4th bedroom — EAs said not to bother as it was fine as it was. So I guess it’s always worth asking an EA if it’s worth doing stuff like decorating or putting in a new kitchen before you spend £££ on it.
we’ve spent quite a lot doing up our house over the years but not to make all it back - we mainly did it to enjoy living in it.

Thanks @Jacquel666 for me it was about the market - as it was my house was only going to be attractive to investors. But sprucing it up at not a huge cost, makes it also an option for FTBs, who are the main market in my area. As an EA I guess it doesn’t matter to them, an investor who pays lower may be quicker for them but priced a lot lower.

I'll be honest as someone looking to buy the houses where people have spent a fortune doing them up are usually the worst.

I would rather buy a 1960 acid trip granny house with avocado bathroom and paneling that hasn't had a thing changed in 50+ years than the grey 'live laugh love' recently open planned 'hun' house with the kitchen diner etc... because honestly, I'm gonna rip it all out, have to put the walls back and redecorate it all most likely.

Its unlikely to add any value in fact its actually made me offer lower on the house like that because I have MORE work to undo to get back to the 'starting point'.

Taste is so subjective that you have to assume no matter how its done whoever buys it (as a forever home) is going to gut it to a blank canvas anyway to add their own stamp (so new decor, new kitchen, new bathroom, new carpets etc... useless) unless you are hoping to sell to a buy to let-er.

I think just making sure its 'clean' is far more important than decorating. I'm thinking then great I don't have to scrub out nicotine stains or deep clean greesy kitchen or try and rid the smell of cat piss walls and that makes it a 'blank slate' to start on not having a new 'subjective' taste kitchen.

@JusthereforXmas I completely agree. It's even worse when someone's installed the cheapest kitchen/bathroom they could find because they're planning to sell anyway, but then because it's "new" they price as if they've done a huge high spec renovation.

Where I live only grey LLL houses with perfect gram level decorating are selling. I’ve just had a viewing where the couple looked at me with abject pity once they’d seen the patchy white paint on the bathroom ceiling! They couldn’t get out quick enough.

Our dream house has come on the market (first time it has been sold outside of the family). We've put ours up for sale to try and go after 'forever house'.

I know it's like asking how long is a piece of string, but how quickly did people get their first viewings after going live on Rightmove etc?

Love them. Only need to clean once and hopefully sell on the day. My first one had 17 (last year), my second open day was 10 (last month).

Need to sell a relatives house that's been neglected for years. Will go as a renovation project. Estimate will need about £50K worth of work (without considering possible extensions etc). This would include new kitchen and some internal remodelling. Property is habitable but very tatty.

Desirable village location in South Yorks, easy reach of Sheffield.

Do you think it would be better to go straight to auction or try traditional EA first?

I would try a traditional EA first as some people seem to like renovation projects or at least like getting a lot of house for their money.

Just make sure you price it realistically rather than optimistically.

I concur.

Don't spend money on it but strip out carpets if it'll make it look "cleaner" and less dated. A "clean" loved home should sell easily at the right price - no matter how outdated it is.

And read this:

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/property-and-mortgages/estate-agents-house-market-less-means-sell-for-more-2534199

Whats the renovation projects? £50k is a LOT, sound more than cosmetic.

If its just new kitchen, carpets, decor, maybe something small like a new boiler thats fine.

If it need the foundations pinning, damp proofing, new roof, fully rewiring etc... that might scare some people off.

Our rental has damp caused by a leak in floor of the downstairs bathroom, it has been left untreated by the landlord and damaged all the downstairs rooms. That will cost approx. £30k and is the reason we aren't buying this house.

If it wasn't for the damp issue we would have bought it even though it hasn't been decorated/updated in 30 years (it makes me nostalgic so I kind of like the dated-ness). It needs new carpets and new kitchen etc... but I would have been happy to do that anyway where ever I move to.

Rewire and new windows as an absolute minimum. The kitchen is small and very dated but useable. Could do with repointing at least one wall and replacing a flat roof on a single story extension (not leaking but ugly and coming to the end of its useful life). With a property developers head on I can see massive potential, but i worry about the costs putting it out of reach of many potential buyers. There's only 3 beds (all doubles, good room sizes) though potential for a decent sized extension to give 2 more. You could end up spending an absolute fortune and reach the limit for the area as its brick built. Stone built character properties fetch much more.

I couldn't work as an EA I can see too many negatives!

Its structurally sound with no damp issues.

@GloriaVictoria I’d try EA first, you’ve nothing to lose. Auction gets less doesn’t it? I think… It doesn’t sound that bad to be honest. My house could do with a rewire and some new windows, but I’m going through EA. Could someone move in right away? It sounds like they could?