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?

great news @rhubarb007 ! have you offered?

and that's amazing @Eastie77Returns - good luck.

our first offer has been rejected. we've met their counteroffer but now its been a whole day and they haven't accepted it.... argh!

I'm keeping it cool for the minute 😂

We have someone doing a second viewing tomorrow which I’m really hoping translates into an offer. We’ve been on for 3 weeks now and I don’t want to have to reduce the listing price as we’d had it valued at 315-320, listed as offers over 300 hoping to get 310-315 and I think reducing it would put the nail in the coffin of getting more than 300. We’re in the opposite position to many of you where we’ve seen a few places we liked but can’t proceed at the moment!

@ampel hope that second viewing goes well. We had a second viewing in week 3 which resulted in a sale for us. I feel like offers over they might go fairly near that lister price. In the same way if it's guide price unless there is competition people often start under.

@rhubarb007 that's great, I hope an offer gets accepted and for you too @StrawberryThief1930.

We have told the solicitor to start on the sale of our house but still waiting for vendor of course....and typically solicitor is on holiday for Easter but that's fine.

Thanks, I’m really hoping one of these viewings is positive so this doesn’t drag out. The EA uses an app and uploads viewer details in there so we are able to see which ones are cash buyers, in a chain, porting a mortgage etc. We also see all their comments about the property which I don’t think I’m mentally strong enough to read😭

Hope you hear good news re your counteroffer soon!

We are having our home report and photos done tomorrow (Scotland). I'll be banishing the kids for the day! We've found something we like and have had a conversation about price through solicitors and agreed on a sum. The seller has stopped taking viewings but I don't think it's a formal offer/acceptance yet. So, I imagine once our house is on the market in a few days, we will need to firm this up. We are moving over 100 miles away to an area we don't know, so it's all quite a lot to think about. I think the house is ready for photos. It's been beautiful weather for the last few weeks, but was raining really heavily today and rain forecast tomorrow too, which is disappointing as our garden is beautiful at this time of year.

EA has had two offers from buyers who have not even viewed the property. Those kinds of people always intrigue me. I remember the vendor of my current house offered on her onward purchase without viewing. The offer was accepted and I was terrified throughout that she would finally get around to seeing it, hate the place and our chain would collapse!

EA advised that he told both buyers that they will have to make viewing appointments and he is not taking offers until then (one is a cash buyer who I assume will offer below asking).

People definitely need to view the property.

Slightly different scenario but my husband (then boyfriend) once made an offer on a house before I had viewed it as I lived quite far away and couldn't view it for a week. When I did see the house I unfortunately didn't like it as much as him so the offer had to be withdrawn. Eek.

Eight weeks in and the chain nearly collapsed this afternoon. The FTB at the bottom has had a down valuation of £5K from the mortgage company. We have all agreed to take a cut to accommodate this. Can't work out how we have got so far without the FTB getting their mortgage agreed and signed off by the mortgage company. This whole process is a nightmare. Spoke to removals to get quotes and they are saying they are still dealing with the aftermath of the stamp duty increase as alot of people ended up putting stuff into storage.

@gunz well done everyone pulling it back together and looking after the FTB

We had so many offer without viewing in the mad covid era. They were mainly genuine - couldn't travel back then so easily and markets went mental here in Cornwall.

I think they all had to view though before offers were accepted.

One cash only bungalow went up for sale on a Friday and by Monday morning the EA had 500 enquiries!

@Gunz Phew, well done!

Yeah - by this point conveyancing bills are racking up as well as the costs of surveys! Spread the cost and we might all end up in the property we want.

@Gunz well done in collectively bringing the chain back from the brink. Have to admit I don’t fully understand these issues with chains as fortunately haven’t been in one when selling and buying a few years back but I always read about problems “with the bottom of the chain”

@Twiglets1 yeah, people offering without viewing and then withdrawing when they see the property is top of mind for me. The EA’s pictures and video made the house look like it’s in a better state than it is and selectively omitted significant signs of wear and tear. My parents owned it for almost 50 years and last renovated in about 2001! 😱

exciting news here - offer accepted on our onward purchase, so all go. i feel extremely nervous about surveys, our buyer has already pulled out of one transaction because they didn't like the survey. i think they are young and nervous types who expect perfection. My house is rather old... eek. But making progress in the right direction.

EA had 10 viewings lined up for early next week but messaged to say he has cancelled them all and moved them to the weekend as he cannot work due to a family situation. He explained the situation and I do understand although obviously quite frustrating.

He was his usual breezy self though and said he was sure all the buyers would be to wait a few days. He doesn’t want a colleague to do the viewings in his place so everyone has to wait. He is hoping more people will book viewings in the interim. This does mean it will be quite hectic as he wants to do them all on one day and ask for best and final.

We had a FTB fret about the roof that is old , wanted a new roof but 3 years later the roof has not leaked and it has been fine for 10+ years I was at the property. Surveyor comes in says roof end of life, they call in roofer, he says new roof and so it goes. I was disappointed our agent did not manage expectations of the buyer. I would be prepared to a negotiated reduction - whatever you think is reasonable and take that in mind.

I was FTB once and got £8k off the same roof and also mortgage down-valuating the property.

yes @Pred02 thats exactly the sort of thing im thinking. we've accepted a low offer so have no room for negotiation so it will be the end of the sale if they try anything like that. we just have to wait it out and see how it goes. They bought their parents around yesterday which is either a good thing if they being more mature can reassure them not to expect perfection or worse if they feed off each others anxiety!

Parents in are a good sign. I had my over too. This is where agents need to do their job and manage expectations of first time buyers. Unfortunately, given where the market is at it is FTB that control the process.

Hopefully a good thing. If the parents have had a survey in the past they will know they always throw up issues.

Having said that, as a parent I would encourage my children to try to negotiate a little money off a house if the survey showed multiple issues (not to pull out unless it was something like subsidence or bad damp).

Everything up to £5k negotiations I think it's all right, and to be fair in this market would not bat to much of an eye. Do try to negotiate to less but I would keep this amount in mind.

Things like a whole new roof, £20k off unless its a major house that needs rework I would consider unreasonable.

In the grand scheme of things, you got to look at your onward purchase over time £5k is insignificant even though its all the money in the world when moving house.

I barging hard to get £8k off previous owners back for roof and down-valuation in 2013 when really it was a non-issue and the property appreciated significantly over time. I was a FTB once upon time too.

Yes most people want to bargain a bit when they are buying. My daughter got 4k off after her survey revealed the roof needed replacing (this was on a flat where the cost of the new roof would be shared by 3 other flats anyway).

Hopefully your buyers will be happy with a fairly small reduction. I would consider 20k unreasonable too - after all when you buy an older property you know from the beginning that the roof isn't brand new so it's not fair to expect a reduction that pays for a new roof.

@StrawberryThief1930 congrats on having your offer accepted!

@Eastie77Returns I can’t believe people offer before buying! I know some people think it’s fine to offer on multiple properties and then just pull out but feels disingenuous to me. Also, since we’ve started viewing in person we realise the photos vs. reality can be quite different.

We have not been having a great time with our EA. We’ve had about 10 new viewings in the last 2-3 weeks and a couple of second viewings. Getting minimal communication from them when it seems like people are interested (we were asked if we would break chain and we said yes we would for the right offer/buyer) then heard nothing. They booked someone in for a second viewing without telling us it was their second viewing (I know not major but just in general we don’t know what’s going on), I only know they came back because I saw on our ring doorbell it was the same person again. They sent us a bunch of questions from a second viewer (some of which they should have known because it was discussed at the valuation I.e planning permission we got) and since I’ve answered heard nothing - not even to just confirm they had passed the info on which at this point I don’t have much confidence they are doing. They’ve messed up viewing times twice - Saturday we had the house all ready to go and turns out the viewing was the following Saturday (they didn’t confirm in writing) then yesterday someone pitched up for a second viewing without us being told and agent nowhere to be seen! DH ended up letting them in and showing them around and was able to answer their questions - they said it was so much better he was there because the agents didn’t know anything.
DH called them this morning and they said it was the viewers fault but viewers said they rearranged the time over the phone the day before - seems like someone in the office re booked it and either didn’t tell the agent showing or just forgot. I also just don’t feel like they are “selling” the house - I know it’s not everything but we’ve had a lot of viewings now and a few people that seem interested but firstly they don’t seem able to answer questions about the house and don’t seem to be translating interest into offers. That may not be their fault, some people aren’t proceedable yet but overall quite annoying.

The people yesterday told DH they love our house so I’m hoping they offer now - EAs should be splitting the commission with us at this rate.

Our bidding war has finished after 3 weeks, but we are now in the position of having to choose between 2 matching offers and I just don’t know where to start.

Buyer A is sale agreed, their buyer is due to complete on their purchase in May and presumably they will break their chain. Buyer A will be getting a mortgage to purchase our property therefore mortgage valuation will be required (we have offers over asking).

Buyer B is a cash buyer dependent on the sale of a probate property (probate cleared) which is sale agreed in a chain of 3 (FTB, buyer, probate sale), and also a property they let out in Scotland which to my knowledge is not yet on the market.

We haven’t found our onward purchase either.

I think I know which is the more sensible choice but any insight is welcome! This is our first time selling and buying simultaneously.

Stay away from probate. Our friends waited 18 months to get it through.