Anyone else putting their home on the market in early 2025?

[newhomein2025]

Just that really - I'm going to be putting my home on the market soon, and hoping to find something to buy too. It's due to divorce, but I'm actually feeling ready to move on and find a wee place just for me and my teenager. I'm slightly dreading the process, and all the associated hassle, and worried that I won't be able to find somewhere I can afford nearby, but excited to start again. Anyone else planning on selling and buying in 2025 and want to keep me company?

I'm from a country where you can buy house in an afternoon. Title change takes 2-3 weeks. That's it.

Our buyers are having a structural engineer round here on Tuesday due to the mortgage company getting cold feet about our slightly sloping floors in one room (300 year old cottage). Has anyone got any experience with structural engineer visits as opposed to level 3 surveyors? I'm almost positive they won't find anything as the house is so solid. No cracks in walls, no bouncing floors etc.
We got a mortgage with no issue.

I viewed two houses today, very different in terms of the type of house. I feel like this is going to be a hard decision. One had an amazing kitchen with utility room, with ensuite upstairs, small dressing area with amazing wardrobes. But not very good drive or garden. Need cosmetic type tidy up.

The other was older, solid house with good windows, gutters etc. the kitchen would need some reconfiguration but great lounge space. I feel like on our budget we would need to decide what really matters and that is tough. The one that needs work is on the kitchen has no chain and is listed for £15k less. Both owners died and the son held the house for someone interested for 4 months but they've not found a buyer for theirs so he relisted Ours is likely to go to a first time buyer, we are listing next week and I have asked if my husband can view the house I saw today asap. So fingers crossed if we want to go ahead that ours gets an offer quickly. Both estate agents said it was a sought after location and they sell well here so that's promising and matches what I've seen from stalking right move. Just wish there was more on the market to view. I find big decisions like this so hard to make!

You know when you have a nice sensible list of criteria, and then a house comes on the market that doesn't really fit that list but you really like the look of it? I'm going to view one on Sunday like that. I'm 55, and my nice sensible list says no more than 1 flight of stairs (future proofing). Also nothing too old (expensive to maintain on a single income). So the one I'm going to view is over 3 floors and was built in 1850. And did I mention the possible flood risk (in a lovely conservation area near a river)? Madness, I know. I'm just going to look, honest.

We put our house on the market last week but have only had one viewing so far. The feedback was positive, and the potential buyers are interested in making an offer, but they need to sell their own home first, which is reasonable. However, I'm concerned about the lack of further interest. Could our price be too high, or perhaps the photos aren’t appealing enough? We've found a house we love and are eager to sell quickly. Have there been any success stories where a slow start still led to a great outcome?

Don't get tempted - I moved into my dream three storey house when I was your age and within 2 years I hated it more than you could imagine because of the stairs.

So hard to know isn't it. My colleague had no viewings for a couple of weeks then only one but that one person put in an offer very close to asking. So just goes to show you only need one. Have you asked the EA? Also worth going on right move and seeing sold prices for other houses nearby to see if your pricing is suitable.

We've been on the market 2 weeks now and had 6 viewings. Had one offer at 20% under asking which we said an outright no to. We tried to price it sensibly and I know the potential buyer can afford it easily so I think they are trying it on. Their logic was that what we are asking is a lot more than what we bought it for 12 years ago (and after big renovations!)

@m00rfarm I totally hear you! However, I'd mostly only be using the ground and first floors myself - the top floor would be the domain of the teenager. So by that measure, it does technically fit my sensible criteria regarding stairs 😊 and then I could eventually use top floor for a future lodger to supplement my meagre pension...

I would say give it a bit longer but if there are still no viewings in a fortnight then reduce the price. Most properties get a flurry of interest in the first few weeks so if you’re not getting that, it’s likely the valuation was too high.

They are being ridiculous.

6 viewings in 2 weeks is not bad in a slow market like this one. Hopefully they will increase their offer or if not, someone else will make a more reasonable offer soon.

We saw the dream house again and decided just to go for it and they accepted our offer! We've got a complete chain of four parties so it's full steam ahead sorting out solicitors and surveys now. I can't quite believe we've gone from no viewings to 'sold' and 'bought' in less than 10 days! Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly now

Are houses quite cheap?

Do they need mortgages?

Excellent @Deucebumps !

Yay @deucebumps

@Deucebumps Amazing! Congratulations.

@Deucebumps that's great news. I hope it goes smoothly for you.

We had the photos taken of our house today, the amount of stuff I hid in the garage was ridiculous! They've said the photos and brochure will be finished Monday for us to review, so likely to go live Tuesday if we approve. Hopefully they can line up some viewings for Saturday for us.

I am going back to view the older house I saw yesterday with my husband next week to see if it could work for us. I am hoping some more options might come on in the meantime so we have some more houses to compare.

Less cheap now, so most younger ones buy with mortgages. My sister bought with cash, at 30yo

Probably why things can be faster. We had a cash buy, cheap deal, close by us. That went through in 3 weeks! And it's the UK!

Not necessarily! My MIL was selling to a cash buyer. She already moved out. Still took almost 6 months.
Difference is that you sign contract at the beginning and this is done via shared solicitor who handles transfer.

The deeds don't have nonsense like 'you must ask builder who built the house, often in 70s, for permission to make alterations'. That builder is no longer around, so can't ask permission. So then you get lawyers going back and forth, possibly buying indemnity insurance.

We lost out on our dream house this week. It went to ‘best and final’ offers and the other people got it. Trying to dust ourselves off and get back on Zoopla but, after three pretty intense weeks, we’ve seen everything in our budget so now waiting for something else to come online! Fingers crossed - and will try not to get so emotionally invested next time. This is hard!

Such a great news! It is heartwarming to hear that things are starting to move for some of us! I hope everything keeps going smoothly for you!
May I ask you how long were you before you got any interest? We are currently in this situation.

@Onethinnyatatime we went on the market on 9th January and had no interest at all. We did ask our agent about reducing the price around the 3 week mark and they told us that they didn’t think it was necessary quite yet and to sit tight. It was hard as everyone wants loads of interest when they’re selling but we had to trust the agent, we’d done our research and they were highly recommended and we know why now! Fingers crossed for you that the right buyer turns up soon 😊

@TwinklyPlumHedgehog Oh, that's so demoralising! So sorry. Here in Scotland the offers over system means it's always bloody best and final offers - I still remember my heartache after missing out on one a few years back, I wanted that house so much!

We have the 'what to compromise on' dilemma right now. At our budget it seems to be you either get a garage or a utility room, but not both. We're quite an active family so have bikes, camping stuff, summer garden things etc. But a utility seems so essential when you have kids and a dog! I don't know how I'd cope with the mess otherwise! We're determined to reduce our mortgage in this next move though, so one of them will have to give. Guess it also depends on what the other spaces in the house are like, finish, condition.

I am also looking at a house with stairs; currently in a bungalow. (Yep, we skipped the proper family home step and went straight to 'house you'd retire in' 😕). There is something about "going up" to bed that appeals. Plus can restrict the dog to downstairs only so the fluff doesn't float about the whole house on one floor. Not to mention it will half the amount of roof space we have to lose heat through/maintain/clean. God the mental load of this house has been so overwhelming this last couple of years. I am really looking forward to simplifying life a bit and just focussing on taking care of ourselves not worrying about the house. This is why I would NEVER get a fixer upper again, too much stress.

I am also starting to accept the likely fact that we will have to go into rental for a bit to take the pressure off buying somewhere in time. We really need to get this move right so think it's worth it if it comes to it. How is anyone else planning to bridge the gap if need be?