New year flurry?!

[wereonthemarket]

Do you suppose there are people who are waiting until the new year to put their house on the market and Jan/Feb will see a flurry of houses joining the market?

We had a viewing yesterday and they pretty much said they'd be making an offer but were concerned that I'd said 'we want to move over the next year or two' and they want to move fairly quickly.

The problem is there currently isn't a single house ticking our boxes! There was about 5-6 months ago so I know that our requirements in our price range are realistic. But I'm now worrying and don't want the hassle/expensive of renting nor do I want to put a buyer off by asking them to wait.

I've sort of convinced myself that in a month or so there'll be loads of activity in the housing market - please tell me I'm right?!

If I went to look at a house and they said they were looking to move within a year or two I’d be deterred from making an offer

I think there will be an uptick in people putting their houses on the market in January & February and more in the Spring and early summer. But I don’t think there will be “loads” of activity because people will still be feeling hesitant given that interest rates are still relatively high compared to the last few years and aren’t forecast to start gradually falling until the Summer.

What you said to the viewers would have come across very negative. It’s a tricky situation though. I think committed Sellers would indicate to Buyers that they would at least consider moving into a rental property if they couldn’t find anything suitable within 3 months, say. But it may be that you’re not that desperate to sell.

If you told me as a viewer that you might not want to proceed for two years , I'd write you off as a timewaster who wasn't really selling.

I think I've perhaps explained what I said/meant inaccurately.

We are in no hurry to move and are happy to stay here for another year or two. But I did explain that when the right offer was made, that's when we would move.

We've intentionally allowed ourselves 2 years for the sale because the house is quite unique and I realise the market isn't great at the moment.

I know people HATE this being said on here for some reason but we will sell only for the price we have set in our minds, otherwise we'll just stay put as it wouldn't be worth our while moving.

But in your OP you indicated that you don’t want the hassle/expense of renting (who does?) so if you said that to the potential Buyers you may have put them off making an offer which could have been for the price you have in your head.

https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2023/12/rightmove-ramps-up-the-hype-on-new-boxing-day-listings

Of course, it could be all hype.

Don't be surprised if they give you a low ball offer because of the risk that you have no intention of moving quickly.

Have you door stepped agents, or are you just looking on Rightmove?

@wereonthemarket I was the same when I put my house on - I had decided to move to live quite close by and don't actually HAVE to move. I decided to try my house on the market for the price I hoped to get for it but wasn't prepared to get into a price reducing spiral as there was no need. I was serious about moving - but only at the right price and if I found the right house.

I'd expect there will be more coming on the market in the New Year, but try not to have too high expectations of a 'flurry'! I marketed mine in the Autumn and was checking RM daily for new listings nearby from about August - I noticed new decent listings seemed to fall off a cliff edge from early November and I'm sure that must be because people are just holding off until the New Year.

When you say your house is quite unique - in what way is that, unique in itself, or for the location etc? Mine is not unique but it is unusual for the location as there aren't many houses of the period available, so I decided to go for an out of area agent to attract London market.

I think there are two separate issues- 1. Hanging out for the price you want and 2. Speed at which you’re prepared to proceed once you get that price.

There’s a general understanding at the moment that chains are taking time to firm up due to a low number of properties on the market but for me that would make it more important that the vendor was fairly motivated.

I wouldn’t offer on a house if I felt the vendor wasn’t keen to get it done because things are slow even with a motivated chain, plus your buyers need to think about their buyer and how long they will wait. It’s not just about them.

In your position you basically need to find a cash, chain free buyer but then you might not get the price you want because they’ll expect their strong position to be recognised.

finally, yes I’d expect new properties to market in NY as no one wants to do viewings in December when the house is full of Christmas stuff but I’d expect a flurry and then it to go back to pretty sluggish volumes.

Not being a forced seller is a huge advantage in the current market IMO. But there is no need to mention this fact to viewers. Fine to tell your EA so they can filter out anyone unlikely to be able to offer enough, and to hold firm on price once an offer is made, with the caveat that if anything comes up in the survey that significantly impacts the value of the property, you would either need to reduce the price, or undertake remedial works and re-market.

I think yes there will be considerably more people selling this coming spring - people will have been waiting in the hope of the market situation improving - an increase in supply at this time of the year is normally expected.
So there will likley be an improvement both in choice and price if your buying. Sellers will need to compete harder for buyers as interest rates probably won't have moved significantly. A good time to buy coming imo, but possibly more difficult to sell unless competitively priced.

April seems to be peak listing time around here. We will be listing ours in the new year. Not a chance I’d put an offer in on a house where someone had indicated they were in no rush to move, I’d be worried they would drag their feet over looking for a new house.

By doorstep you mean have I been into estate agents? No I haven't. I am on some
Mailing lists but prefer to just look on rightmove rather than get sent lots of emails with houses that aren't meeting our criteria.

I understand the emails are annoying but in this market I know of a number of “secret sales” whereby it’s not on RM but the agent will show the house if it meets your criteria, the rationale being that the owner knows it may take a while to sell and doesn’t want length of time on market to become a factor.

Based on a handful of people that I know who want to move, people are now waiting until the New Year to market their properties. I was looking this time last year and there were about 30 new properties that met my search criteria which appeared on Rightmove on Boxing Day, compared to an average of 2 or 3 in November and December so it does seem to be a thing.

Yes, that's what I mean. I prefer the easy option too! But the numbers say that 40% ish of homes sell without ever hitting Rightmove, so if finding a good place asap is a priority, building up relationships with EAs could be the quickest path to getting what you need.