Selling/buying

[Promise22]

I am considering putting my house into the market now. Is the market completely stagnant? Do you think it wont sell/ppl won't view it until after Xmas? Is it best waiting for the 'boxing day' launch?

It will be marketed at similar price as local properties on the market, it is beautiful inside (obviously biased as I own it!), but all materials of high quality as I didn't think we will be moving again now. Would that help the sale?

I know no one have a crystal ball🔮, but if you are in the same position or sold in the past leading up to the Xmas period please share your thoughts.

It depends entirely on the seller

For the place I bought… first day on market… 4 offers and seller only accepted mine, as I already had an offer on mine

Most agents will be pretty disinterested in you and will convey that to seller of you haven’t even got yours on the market

Some sellers will ever stipulate to agent to only show those already with offers

You can make an offer before yours is sold @Promise22 but the buyer probably won't take it that seriously until yours is sold, because yours could take months to sell.

Have you had yours valued?

Yes, I had mine valued by 4 EAs, all agreeing to a similar figure. I am thinking to go with the local EA as they know the area quite well and they were able to speak to the pluses of my property and differentiate it well from the competition.

Also, just for context, the house I am interested in needs LODS of work, a complete doer upper. A probate sale that has been on the market since June of this year with multiple reductions, so it's not like it will fly off the shelves now! I think the sellers might contemplate an offer even if I don't have an offer on mine yet...

A property that has been on the market for 6 months? That’s a worry in itself.

any offers in that time? Have they dropped the price?

Multiple reductions

oh dear OP. This sounds like a grenade of a property

It was on initially at a very optimistic price for the amount of work that needs doing and the probate wasn't granted at the time. I renovated a worse property before and made it into a lovely family home, so it's current state doesn't put me off. Obviously, I will do my due diligence and take a trades person with me to look around so I have a better idea of what needs doing and how much I should offer.... Plus the usual surveys etc IF my offer is accepted

I would be very careful about buying a property like the one you discribe. It has been for sale 6 months and reduced in price several times. This is happening for a reason. I know some people who can go into a wreak of a house and see potential. I know other people who can't see beyond the 1960s/1970s wallpaper ect.
If a house like this is for sale why has a builder not bought it to do up and sell? Yes possibly they looked at it and realised it needs to much money spent on it.
I know you said you did a house like this up in the past. You now have 3 teenagers and how would you manage as a family living a wreck of a house when you do it up? Can you rent a house when you do this house up? Are your kids coming up to exams or going to university soon?

I have a relative working in the building trade and they said since COVID the cost of all building supplies have risen a lot. It also hard to get good trades people to get certain jobs done. Building work can be more expensive and take longer than you expect as well.
In your case I look at a bigger house than your own that might need a small amount of work but I would not consider the house you told us about. I think you spend a fortune, deal with a lot of stress and it would be hard on your family as well.

Please keep comments coming, interested to know all the pros and cons...

😂Mumsnet advice:
If it’s not getting any viewings it’s too expensive. Lower the price. Still no viewings? Lower the price again. Affordability has gone through the floor. Don’t be delusional. Don’t replace the old kitchen and ghastly carpets: the new buyer will want to replace anyway according to their own tastes. But multiple price drops? Be very suspicious. Fixer upper? Don’t touch it with a barge pole. Building costs have gone through the roof. Why hasn’t a builder snapped it up already to do up and sell? Put the house on the market. Don’t put the house on the market. It’s the EA’s fault but it has less chance of selling if you change the EA.
I’m hoping that most people actually just do whatever they want/feel is the best thing to do.

Haha @NewFriendlyLadybird 😂

😂😂😂

Ok, to recap I guess most people are not keen on doing the work in this economic climate!

No, I would be very happy to do work on the right renovation project, as indeed many wouldn’t, but what you describe sounds…. Well something isn’t right.

To come back to your question OP I'm about to put my house on market now. Yes I know its quieter before Christmas, but we're still only mid Nov, surely enough time for at least one open house before things die down. I'm aiming to go on at a reasonable price, but having put this much effort into decluttering and getting things ready, don't want to hold off for a few months and lose momentum.

I have just put my house on the market and hoping for the best. Worst case scenario if I don't get a decent offer or a nice place to move to, I will just stay put. Thanks everyone for your thoughts!

Good Luck with getting a decent offer and please keep us updated! 😀