Selling your house in 2024? Join me in house sprucing!

[Yemelade]

Been scouring for a similar thread, but not seen one so far!

I'm planning to get my house on the market this year, hopefully by May 2024. There's a couple very noticeable things that will put people off straight away if we don't sort out prior to listing (fascia boards/uPVC drainage near roofline is broken and has holes in and looks a mess, plus also no hand rail on the stairs) But also some cosmetic things we need to spruce up to improve curb appeal, as well as the need to declutter.

Tasks on my list also include sanding and reoiling our oak worktops (not been done since they were fitted in 2019) as well as finally getting around to putting a door back over a cupboard opening. The biggest one is sorting out our garden and putting gravel in the driveway that we lined with railway sleepers and membrane last year but never filled with gravel!!

Anyone else care to join me and list what you're hoping to achieve prior to sale? Part of me thinks "I'll just list it as is" but I know not doing these things will go against us financially, plus I'm keen to see how mortgage rates change in the next few months so I'm not in the biggest of rushes!

Please join if you're in the same boat 😊

How is everyone getting on?

@Yemelade what is happening with the two houses you have offered on? Have you made any decisions or got any more info?

@OverwhelmedAndUnderprepared Did you decide whether to put an offer in or try to get an architect round for a second viewing? I think projects are a lot of work (and money normally!) but in the end you will get to have everything just how you want it.

We've just accepted an offer on our place! Just under the guide price but prices are really getting reduced in our area and our sellers have no chain and are happy to work to our timetable which is a big bonus with us emigrating so hopefully it'll all go smoothly 🤞

We’re under offer too, which is great. It looks like we’re near to sorting out our lease issue as well. We’re relocating, so going into rented for a year, so there’s no chain - hoping for a speedy transaction 🤞

Wow lots of "sold" updates, well done all! Do you think house sprucing helped?

I have no updates. I feel absolutely lost with what to do next. The 2nd house we offered on we will not hear back from until next week. We didn't know when we provisionally made the offer, but it's going through "probate". We are waiting to hear back from the executor, who is on holiday until early next week, if the offer is acceptable. It's a bit over budget, but offers a lot more space than any house we've seen. Weve also since found out it's heated by lpg vs mains gas, but I've since found out it shouldn't be too expensive to connect it. Council tax and epc rating are really rubbish/will be expensive to run and heat. However it could be so lovely and is in the perfect location. Hubby spent a lot of time examining for any signs of subsidence etc (once bitten, twice shy!) And it appears to be structurally sound, though there are massive trees less than 5m to the house on someone else's property so I am concerned about that too. I think I have too much of an anxious disposition to be able to cope properly with trying to move house! There are so many what ifs etc. Every single house we look at has huge amount of possible issues. But this one feels like such a good opportunity, I hope we get it.

The first house we offered on is a lost cause. No further updates from them. We shared the report and they've gone totally quiet.

Sold in May, my solicitor said around 3 weeks to completion a fortnight ago. On Saturday buyers let us know they can't get a mortgage . Back up for sale we go! Hoping the previously interested buyers are still interested.

Just reading through this thread and for what it’s worth, in my opinion you should withdraw from house 1. It sounds like it has multiple issues and the current owner is not properly motivated to get round to sorting them out. Maybe he is in denial or overwhelmed.

House 2 sounds interesting though probate can take a while so you need to get more details about how far into the process they are. If it’s going to take ages would you consider renting for a while so your sale can complete in a couple of months?

Reading this thread with interest. We are planning on selligg by non the Spring. We’re going to sell this year but just didn’t get all our ducks in a row. Have done quite a few things to get the house ready but still need to massively declutter and sort the loft out. Get carpets cleaned etc. quotes for carpet cleaning have been so high it’s off putting. I will have to do it myself with one of those rental machines but am dreading it.

Hi! Welcome.

Yes we have mentally detached and withdrawn from property 1. We are yet to formally withdraw our bid, morally because I think at the very least he should be doing this exploratory work regardless of who ends up buying his property. Withdrawing immediately would mean he would have had the option not to do anything, but it does sound like that is the case anyway at present.

We have totally fallen in love with property 2. I called yesterday and apparently the family are mulling over the decision. I initially thought it was the "executor" who would be making the decision but admittedly I know nothing of what this process is and what it means for me as a buyer! Yes, we are currently exploring rental properties because we do not want to risk losing our buyers who have jobs and schooling to think about ready for September. We have some viewing lined up for those, but the rental market seems to be just as crazy as the selling and buying market at present!

How is everyone doing? Any updates?

We decided to withdraw our offer on property one this afternoon. We've left a voicemail and emailed the estate agent. It's been 2 months since our offer was accepted and the seller has made no progress regarding the work that we asked him to complete (and he agreed to do!).

We are still yet to hear back from property 2. Starting to get itchy feet. Have rang estate agents a couple times who assured me they're chasing the executor every day for a decision but family are yet to agree. We are wondering if we should turn up the heat and give them a deadline we expect to hear back otherwise we withdraw our offer as I'm worried they will use it to negotiate other possible offers, however I feel that's a risky play.

Have a good weekend all!

@Yemelade glad you have formally withdrawn your offer from property 1, I think it would have been a nightmare. Hope you get news on property 2 soon, it must be very frustrating. Is your sale all going along ok? Are you still thinking renting is the way to go.

Not much to report here, sale going along ok and still a lot of sorting, selling, recycling and tip runs ready for emigrating!

@Yemelade can I join in listed on June and had a pretty consistent stream of viewings several now are we love it and we want to make a offer but aren't under offer ourselves 😭

Re house number two - I would put a deadline on it. If this is how long they mess you around accepting and offer I can only imagine the stunt they will pull with surveys and generally be a nightmare.

There's something to be said about they could be waiting for the September bump to see if they get anymore interest but if that is the case tbh I would cut my losses.

Moving house is hard 😭

Did you mention further up the thread where you are emigrating to? You don't have to share, but I do hope it's somewhere lovely and hot! It's really surprising how much you throw away when moving. I knew I had a lot of things but didn't realise the scale until doing tip runs!

We are hoping to sign a 6 month rental contract for a house to tide us over until we can get sorted with property 2 (or another property entirely if we can't negotiate a price). We are hopefully paying a holding deposit next week. We have about 3 months of the rent already saved so im trying not to think of it as a waste of money, but we dont really have much choice. It was also funnily enough the only property we could find that was cat friendly and a 6 month contract. Everything else was disappearing quicker than we could organise a viewing or wasn't pet friendly! I do really hope we can purchase property 2. I'll keep the thread updated, and then no doubt start a new one for property renovation when the time comes!!

I didn’t realise ‘house sprucing’ was this much of a thing, my eyes have been opened! I’ve had a full paint job throughout the house and replaced the consumer unit as it was literally hanging off the wall, lol. Under offer but it’s progressing quite slowly :(

Congrats on your offers, ItsCrazy and Drawers. Hope the sales are progressing smoothly so far.

Loobyloo sorry you lost your buyers - have you found a new buyer yet?

Yemelade I'm glad you've withdrawn from house 1, definitely the right call. Sorry you haven't had a response yet about house 2, very frustrating! Are you still looking in case they end up rejecting your offer?

No update from me, sadly. Still sad about the house we loved and didn't get. There was a house that we viewed months ago, before ours was on the market, that we loved but obviously didn't get as we weren't in a position to buy - well it turns out their buyers have lost their buyer so the agent came back to us. We went to view it again and it's still beautiful but since then we've done more research on the areas and schools and have decided it's not the right location, we want a different area and school. Sad though because we love the house.

I'm feeling anxious that we'll lose our buyers - they're expecting a baby in December so I'm feeling the pressure to find a house and move by then. I really hope there will be more houses coming onto the market in September.

The school we want currently has space for DC1 but has just been rated outstanding by Ofsted (not the reason we want it but the glowing report definitely matches the impression we got) so I am worried people might move their kids there and we won't get DC1 in :(

So stressful trying to get all the ducks in a row!

Gone back on the market, 2 viewings booked for tomorrow, here we go again!!

Good luck!

@Yemelade with a property in Probate you just have to hang on until everyone involved decides they want the money now, rather than waiting. Sometimes upping your offer will tip the balance but you can't really tell. It will probably work to your advantage to be fairly aloof and not appear too keen.

@OverwhelmedAndUnderprepared how are you doing with getting your ducks in a row? It does certainly sound stressful!

How did your viewing go @Loobyloo68 ?

@Delphiniumandlupins it's coming up to 3 weeks since we made the offer. I sent a very bold email this morning advising we would need to consider withdrawn of offer as we cannot have an indefinite period of waiting. It worked, they responded within an hour and rejected our offer but did counter at a sensible price so we agreed!!! I've been on cloud 9 most of the afternoon! Still have a niggling feeling that something is going to go wrong.

Now trying to work out the type of survey to go with for this type of house. It's described as sold as seen, but seems in good structural condition though does need a lot of work doing to it. Anyone have any advice?

I also wonder if we will get the keys before Christmas...

We've just signed a rental contract to take us from end of August to February. So we have lodgings regardless!

@Yemelade
"I sent a very bold email this morning advising we would need to consider withdrawn of offer as we cannot have an indefinite period of waiting. It worked, they responded within an hour and rejected our offer but did counter at a sensible price so we agreed!!!"

Well done and congratulations! That's excellent news Fingers crossed it all goes through smoothly.
How old is the property? Did it seem to be in good condition when you viewed it? I'd probably go for a Level 2 survey unless it's old or you noticed anything of potential concern when you viewed it.

Great news about the rental, too. Where are you at with progress of the sale of yours?

My ducks are most definitely not in a row and they won't be until we've found a house we want to buy! I am going to wait until we've exchanged contracts before applying for a school place for DS. It's a big deal for him (autistic) and I want to be sure we are absolutely definitely moving before setting the wheels in motion for a school move.

Ideally we'd have exchanged contracts by January though because I have to apply for a reception place for DC2 by then!

Glad you're on the way, hope it's plain sailing. Got 2 offers both dependant on them selling, had 6 viewings since Saturday, another on thursday

LoobyLoo
Sounds as if there has been plenty of interest, that's good! When you say dependent on them selling, are they under offer or no buyer yet?

Both got to sell, hopefully they one be long!!!

How are we all doing?

We move into rented accommodation on the 30th. Very grateful we got rid of so much when prepping the house, but there is still so much I am finding and getting rid of. Today's job was clearing out the pantry cupboards, and I'm disgusted to find food that expired several years ago!!

I feel really sad about moving into rented. It feels like a backward step. Especially since because we're proceeding with probate house and there is very little progress there, and no clear time frames for anything as we are still yet to determine if the application has been granted yet or not.

Our rental is roughly the same price as our new mortgage payment would be though, so even though I'm loathed to pay rent/someone else's home, at least it gives us time to acclimatize.

Hooe you all have good bank holiday weekends. It's my wedding anniversary today but DH couldn't get it off work so house stuff it is for me this weekend! DH has already half filled our storage unit with furniture and boxes so I'm decluttering and cleaning. Which I find painstaking.

X

Just updating to let you all know I completed my sale yesterday!! Very tired and it's all very surreal (and our rental property leaves a lot to be desired) but we are one step closer to moving into our forever home. Will be chasing solicitors next week for an update on our next property!

Congratulations!

That’s fabulous congratulations 🥂