Struggling to sell house

[Ep9993]

Anyone else really struggling to sell their house at the moment?

We've been on since July, southwest London. We've had mostly good feedback. One really cheeky low ball offer and an asking price one that immediately fell through. Already reduced the price and believe it's on at a reasonable price. The house next door sold this year for the price we're after.

Really at my whits end with the constant tidying!

Good luck with getting it all over the line!

God it's so frustrating isn't it! I stressed for months in end honestly. We were about to sign a contract with another estate agent and the offer came through on the last viewing with the current one.

Have you had any useful feedback from the viewings? It might be the agent is a bit crap!

My sister was on the market since July, she's in Suffolk though. She struggled to get viewings and hers was priced alright we thought. I feel areas differ hugely

Very frustrating!! Both viewings said layout not suitable....despite a very clear floor plan! Our agent is very well regarded in the area....apparently

I think the market has fallen and continues to fall a lot more than many people realise in a lot of areas. Certainly, a lot of sellers and estate agents don't seem to have realised as there is so much over pricing and then reductions. The likelihood is that a house not even receiving viewings after it is listed, never mind offers within a few weeks, is very likely to be quite a bit over priced.
More and more people are being priced out and current 20-50 year olds are nowhere near as well off as the generation(s) prior to them. Of course, it depends on the type of house and the area. The expensive, detached houses are struggling the most, unless incomes are excellent in the local area and the job market still healthy.

The job market changes are fascinating if not disturbing. We were lucky to buy in the 1980's. Back then it seemed that nearly every provincial town had banks, building societies, insurance company head offices, etc. That's, I'd guess, 90% gone now. So where are the replacement jobs paying those great salaries (they were great relative to house prices)?

That's the problem. Although salaries in a few sectors have risen masses, they have mostly fallen in real terms. What has increased, a lot, is the amount of debt, both the gov debt and, even worse, the private debt.

That sounds stressful, sorry you’re dealing with that I come across it often.

Seeing a lot of this around at the moment, some places are going quickly, others sticking, and it’s usually down to how they were priced or launched rather than the house itself.

I work locally around the Richmond / Sheen side and it’s been a strange market since summer. Happy to take a quick look at the listing if you want a second opinion – no pressure, just in case something obvious is holding it back.

Yes, even the big developers are now heavily discounting and that never happens unless things get bad. 2026 is going to be a year of heavy discounting for those that need to sell. If the big developers start to do it, that's my marker for a significant decline in prices.

Commuter town in zone 6. Two decent houses on my street have been on sale for months. One has been taken off as no luck.

We bought this house a few years ago for £100k more than the listing that isn’t selling - I’ve just had a look as I thought it was the same size and actually it’s got 1 less bedroom and reception room so I wonder if perhaps it’s on too high.

However, for a decently sized, multiple bedroom/bathroom house it’s not hugely expensive.

Thanks that's very kind!

In fact we did have a buyer and a month down thw line they've pulled out due to issues with the survey. Apparently the roof needs to be replaced and the timbers show signs of wet rot....this is news to us but I guess we must trust the surveyors and see what we can do.

Honestly this whole process has been going on since July and I am exhausted.

Well I spoke too soon and we are back to square one! Honestly could cry. Back to endless vieiwngs and no feedback.

How are you getting on?

Prices have fallen more in the London area than anywhere else over the past few years. I haven't seen any increase in house prices for some time anywhere in England. So probably the type of house you are hoping to purchase will have had a price reduction.

Nothing!! Nowt!! Nadal!! Pulling my hair out...hoping it's going to pick up. What happened to yours?

God it's so rough. Where abouts is the house you are selling? According to the estate agents it's picked up but who knows!

So the buyer had a survey a few weeks ago and we heard nothing so assumed all was good. I was in during the survey so I asked the guy directly if there were any glaring issues to which he replied no. He probably didn't want to hurt my feelings haha

Got an email from the solicitor today to say they're pulling out because of the findings to later find out form estate agent it's to do with the roof. Apparently it's got wet rot and must be replaced. We've lived here 3 years and I've never had issues! Also the wood is bone dry.

I'm so disappointed because we found the house we planned to buy immediately. They've agreed to give us some time to find a buyer but I don't have much hope given it took months before. Also now I feel like we need to sort the roof out - which is fine but I can't afford to spend 10-20k on it!

We down in south wales. Oh God so sorry...perhaps they were trying to backtrack on the offer especially ss you said the timbers are dry. I'm desperate to move up North

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-20/london-housebuilding-collapses-84-in-a-decade-as-sales-plunge

Rents have started falling too I think.