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Buying and selling a house for the first time - please help!

12 replies

caffelattetogo · 15/09/2024 17:42

We've only ever owned one house. Now we need to relocate for work. This will mean selling our (much loved) house and buying across the country. We will also have to move the DC schools and a million other life admin jobs.
Could I ask for your advice, tips and a bit of a handhold please? We have no idea how this works!

OP posts:
Twiglets1 · 15/09/2024 18:05

caffelattetogo · 15/09/2024 17:42

We've only ever owned one house. Now we need to relocate for work. This will mean selling our (much loved) house and buying across the country. We will also have to move the DC schools and a million other life admin jobs.
Could I ask for your advice, tips and a bit of a handhold please? We have no idea how this works!

One step at a time ... the first step is to declutter like mad, get your house tidy and invite 2 or 3 EAs round to give you a valuation. If you get your own house on the market you will be taken more seriously if you then try to book viewings at your new location.

NewName24 · 15/09/2024 18:06

Do you know the area you are moving to ?

Generally, (if you didn't have dc) I would suggest renting somewhere in a new place for 6 months before committing to buying in an unknown town / city. However this is more of a challenge of course if you are needing to settle dc into a new school.

Do you have people you can talk to at the new job, who could talk to you about areas / schools etc? We've done this a few times for people moving to work with dh.

caffelattetogo · 15/09/2024 20:00

Thanks, that's great advice. It's where DH went to university so we know it relatively well.
Good shout on the decluttering. There's so much to do. I'm in a bit of a panic. I always thought we'd live here forever.

OP posts:
LadyLapsang · 15/09/2024 20:40

Is there a big rush? The one with the new job could go on ahead and rent a Monday - Friday ( or less if wfh) room giving you time to sell, sort out the children’s schools, getting a new job (unless not working) etc.

caffelattetogo · 15/09/2024 20:55

That's true, thank you. Is there any kind of guide to how ping it takes to sell a house in a best case scenario? We had no chain either side last time.

OP posts:
LadyLapsang · 15/09/2024 21:05

We have accepted an offer within four to seven days when we have sold, but I get the house ready and price competitively so people want to complete quickly because they are getting a good deal. If you are going to price ambitiously and argue over every 5-15K it could take a long time.

kitchenhelprequired · 15/09/2024 21:10

Get removal quotes including packing - dancing around moving boxes for weeks is not fun. Packers are very efficient and it's not as expensive as you might think.

Get personal recommendations for conveyancing - prices and service vary massively.

Propertyshmoperty · 15/09/2024 22:42

Ours took just over 3 months from offer accepted to completion, chain of 4. But one of the buyers put a deadline on completion which got everyone to get a wiggle on.

I will say I had 2 previous chains fall through though, first after 3 weeks second after 2 months. It was 19 months in total from when we first went on the market and we had a 6 month break and changed agents after the second chain fell through.

(Not to scare you but just so you know what to expect)

Advice is to research the agents, look at listing's of each individual agent in your area and see who presents houses better. Ie best pics, detailed floorplans etc do your research and get recommendations if you can. I cocked up with our first agent who were a bit useless. Second agent had it sold in a fortnight.

Declutter massively but I also bought some brand new white sheets for the beds that I could just chuck on freshly ironed for photos and viewings. I never slept in them. I also got some cushions and bed runners and lots of nice house plants.

I had a tiny kitchen and I removed the toaster microwave and kettle from the worktops on the photos to make it look like there was more worktop space. 😅 And moved the bins out of view.

I also took all shampoo bottles, towels, toilet rolls and bath mats etc out of the bathroom. Only having a couple of plants on display.

I literally chased the photographer around the house moving stuff out of rooms so they looked decluttered (without looking depersonalised) so I had colour on the walls, books on shelves, picture frames, art and "some" toys in my childs bedroom but just made sure there wasn't laundry or junk on display or boxes and boxes of toys that proved we were bursting at the seams. 😅

I also paid for a gardener to do a good job on the hedges and borders and bought a couple of brightly coloured hanging baskets and green potted plants to frame the front door and to give it a little pop of colour.

Good luck OP. Xx

Twiglets1 · 16/09/2024 07:40

caffelattetogo · 15/09/2024 20:55

That's true, thank you. Is there any kind of guide to how ping it takes to sell a house in a best case scenario? We had no chain either side last time.

3 months is generally considered roughly the amount of time it takes to sell a house from offer to completion, as long as there are no complications.

NewName24 · 16/09/2024 11:00

Twiglets1 · 16/09/2024 07:40

3 months is generally considered roughly the amount of time it takes to sell a house from offer to completion, as long as there are no complications.

I've seen that written on MN before, but, having been involved in / aware of multiple people buying houses for 35 years (including 8 in the last 3 years), I'd say 5 months is FAR more realistic.
I know of only one purchase (out of dozens and dozens) that completed in under 5 months (1st time buyer, buying off a company that had bought the house of the previous owners, condition of offer was that you would complete in 28 days, and actually completed in 3.5 months).
I know of two that took over a year.
Overwhelmingly 5 months has been the 'norm'.

Twiglets1 · 16/09/2024 11:52

NewName24 · 16/09/2024 11:00

I've seen that written on MN before, but, having been involved in / aware of multiple people buying houses for 35 years (including 8 in the last 3 years), I'd say 5 months is FAR more realistic.
I know of only one purchase (out of dozens and dozens) that completed in under 5 months (1st time buyer, buying off a company that had bought the house of the previous owners, condition of offer was that you would complete in 28 days, and actually completed in 3.5 months).
I know of two that took over a year.
Overwhelmingly 5 months has been the 'norm'.

Well I’ve obviously been lucky then because I’ve bought & sold a few properties over the years and 3 months has been the norm.

To take over a year is most definitely unusual and the transaction must have been complicated by other factors.

I think if people suggest 3 months on Mumsnet that is based on their personal experience but other people can have different experiences of course.

speedmop · 07/10/2024 07:23

Whatever you do Op, don’t do as your DP thinks… best and final before you have any idea of interest would be…. daft

😊

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