WWYD - house not selling

[OMarina]

We put our house on the market in the summer. Lots of viewings. Had an offer very quickly which was then abruptly withdrawn within days. The EA told us to reduce, which killed interest stone dead. About six weeks later we finally got another offer. They had a survey done within a week and then radio silence. We assumed all fine whilst we carried on trying to find somewhere. The market is dead where we are with very little coming to market. Our agent has been in very intermittent contact but knew we were viewing
places and had (unsuccessfully) made offers on a few houses.

Fast forward to now. EA casually mentions our buyers have enquired about another property they’re marketing. We tell them we have just made another offer on a house and are waiting to hear back. Within 24 hours our buyers have viewed, offered, and had it accepted. Cue them pulling out of ours.

I can’t shake the feeling our EA did nothing to protect the sale. No deadline for us to find somewhere, no attempt to keep the buyers on board. Our house is now back on with zero interest whatsoever at our previously agreed sale price. We are no longer proceedable so have had to leave our offer on the table for the house we wanted to buy. I can’t understand why you’d commit to money to a full survey and then walk away from purchase without at least giving an ultimatum or warning.

We are absolutely screwed as we need to apply for school places in January and are hoping to move to a different part of the city, so completely different catchment areas. I suspect the agent will push us to reduce again which will make an onward purchase next to impossible. I’m so tired to hearing it’s the budget and Christmas!!

I don’t know whether we should come off the market and try again in the new year, switch agents, or give up. It’s the school application which is really worrying me the most probably.

Sorry for the rant!

I’d take the house off and re market in January with a new agent and new photos.
It sounds like solicitors weren’t instructed and the process hadn’t begun so it is a little naive to assume your sale was moving ahead. Nothing could “move” until that work was underway.

yes leave your offer on the table for the house you want to buy, but that’s just doing what your potential buyers have done to you - you don’t like it one way, why is acceptable the other?

agree some timeframes, offer a little more for them to take it off and give you x time to get an offer on yours. Etc

most EAs are quite terrible. I’d look at which agent is selling most the quickest near you, but honestly the best way to tell who will represent you and your home best is to view properties and see which EA you feel is the best, most knowledgeable about the property, area and circumstances and most genuinely proactive arranging viewings, following up and so on, it just ticking boxes.

I agree with @TMMC1

yes leave your offer on the table for the house you want to buy, but that’s just doing what your potential buyers have done to you - you don’t like it one way, why is acceptable the other?

No op hasnt done the same as what the other buyers did. Op has put a genuine offer in and wants to move, her buyers had a survery done but then went off to offer on another house. Like what are u banging on about.

How long has it been since the survey? Think about it from their point of view, you haven’t found anything yet and they want to get moving 😣

Off the market and switch agents. Ideally relist in spring but there might be a bit more competition as spring is prime time really for people who want to come on the market. Definitely change agents and check the contract you signed (sole selling rights?)

You have my sympathy. 9 years ago ours took 3 years, 4 different Estate Agents, hardly any viewings and no offers until the one we accepted and finally got moved. It was such a stressful time I vowed I'd never move again lol

I agree your EA is rubbish. Their paid not just for showing the houses but for making sure the sale goes through. They should have been hounding the buyers to get solicitors instructed, figuring out what the problems the buyers may have.
They are paid by you, not by the buyers, so they should be working for you.

Oh wow 3 years 😮. Did you drastically reduce the price or was it simply a waiting game for the price you wanted?

The agent isn’t at fault here. They can’t refuse to show an interested party another property they’re marketing (I imagine you’d be angry if you found out your agent was refusing to show interested viewers your house because they were trying to keep another seller) and they’re legally obliged to pass on an offer to the sellers. If your buyers have been waiting for you to find somewhere to offer on from summer until now, they’re understandably annoyed and the agent can’t force them to wait or give you an ultimatum when perhaps they also have things just as important as a school application they need to move for.

It’s frustrating, but on the basis you aren’t going to be in a position to make a January catchment application anyway, I’d take it off the market and try again with a new agent in spring. Different photos, which may generate more new interest.

Get some new agents in over the next couple of weeks to value/take photos etc with a view to listing on boxing day, as apparently that is the day that generates most interest. Christmas is out the way and everyone is looking to their next step. Don't panic about the school, if you have to apply in your current catchment area then change later so be it

You aren't going to make the January deadline at this point so take a step back and consider what your best option is from that starting position.

I'd probably take it off the market and relist in spring next year.

If your agent didn’t push you to find somewhere quickly, then they probably should have, but to be honest it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out that your buyer won’t wait forever.
Pull your house off the market for now, but when you decide to try again, make sure you have your solicitor ready and waiting, and view seriously the moment you get a proceedable offer. I’ve seen SO many sales (and long chains) fall through, because sellers are completely unrealistic and self centred when it comes to finding their next home. I understand that you want to find the right house for you, but equally others are also on a timeline, and they were probably risking their own buyer in addition to the money they’d spent on solicitors while waiting for you to pull your finger out.

A distinct lack of communication. The Estate Agent may well have been placating your buyers for some time. They want a sale. They don't want to lose a buyer.
You do have to crack on with finding another property when you get an offer. If you don't then realistically, carry on with the sale, put your stuff in storage and rent for a while until you do see something you want.
But nearly half a year without successfully offering on a property is not good. And will send all the wrong messages to your buyers. I note you were unsuccessful in several offers.
Seriously think about the reasons why those offers were refused.

Do you know what came back on the survey? You would think it would be a negotiation point, but perhaps not always. I also wonder if the time it was taken was making it look like you weren't that serious.

We had a few things happen when we last bought/sold. We had a buyer pull out due to the rental valuation, so they pulled out and put another offer in somewhere cheaper without talking to us. We also continued to hunt when it took our vendors over 4 months to find somewhere, was half hearted, but we couldn't afford to lose another buyer and would have put an offer in if we'd have found a house we liked. The whole move ended up taking over a year and we were moving from quite a sought after area to somewhere slightly slower.

I think it makes a huge difference if you ever get an opportunity to exchange contact details with the people rather than the agents/solicitors. Though not everyone would be ok with that, it's nice getting a direct honest update. Our estate agents were not the most honest.

I'd agree, relist early in the spring. I think you were cutting it fine for school applications and I'd make the application where you are with a view to doing a late one when you move. Hopefully lower birthrates may mean more chance of a place

Sadly this is all part and parcel of moving. The agents may have been keeping your sale going, not a lot they can do if the buyers are looking elsewhere. Odd to do this after paying for a survey, but people can have a change of heart. Sadly they may have wanted to move quicker and not wait for you to move.

Moving on from all this, viewings over December are no fun, you could keep it going but say you only want viewings with people that are either on the market or under offer (EAs don’t like this as they feel all viewings are potential buyers), you can always be freeer after NY.

A new agent could give a fresher outlook, but the market is dire all over at the moment so be prepared for more ups and downs.

Perhaps the other house they have offered on is chain free. So if a definite rather than a hopeful. It’s tough but they could have had the buyers further down the chain hassling them to get the chain up and running.

No, they had an offer and survey, it just never got progressed beyond that. The progress is appointing solicitors or having a plan, it sounds like there was no plan so the buyers have moved on.

Exactly, and if you are committed to selling and finding your 'perfect for the next phase' home, sell while you can and rent for a short while.

I had an email from Right Move saying that Boxing Day is one of the busiest days for people looking for houses!?

We put our house up last May and had plenty of viewings but no offers and interest dwindled. Randomly the first 2 weeks of December we had quite a lot of interest and it sold on 14th December so don’t completely write off December.

Sounds like your EA could definitely communicate better but equally there’s nothing stopping you ringing up and checking in with how things are progressing either. Especially knowing that you’re struggling to secure an onward purchase.

Going forward I definitely think you need to be a bit more proactive and realistic with the houses you’re looking to purchase. No buyer will hang around indefinitely for you to find somewhere to go.

If your offers on properties have all be unsuccessful then maybe you need revalue what you’re actually going to be able to get with your current budget. Perhaps your expectations for what you can get for the price aren’t as realistic as you first thought.

Good luck though. There’s nothing worse that trying to sell a house. I really hope it all works out for you.

We gradually reduced over the 3 years and did eventually sell at a loss. However, by the time we accepted the offer and were in a position to put an offer in on another property, a house had come onto the market which was amazing and everything we wanted and needed, so I believe everything happens for a reason

How long ago did you accept your buyers offer,? It sounds as if it's months ago.

It sounds like your EA hasn’t communicated with you well - it sounds like the buyers were initially very motivated to exchange quickly if they got a survey done within a week, and were then getting increasingly pissed off by the lack of progress, and gave up and looked elsewhere. Your EA should have known that, and should have been warning you.

Remarket in spring, and yes use a different agent.

@OMarina how do you know that you not finding a place is the reason they pulled out? If they paid for a survey they are very very unlikely to pull out without telling you first. More likely they didn’t like the survey, have you asked to buy a copy?

OP it sounds like you messed them around - you kept them hanging months while you looked for somewhere to buy, you can't do that!

Why would they plough money into instructing solicitors and doing searches etc knowing you aren't actually in a position to proceed as you haven't found somewhere?

The aim is to be looking at houses while yours is on the market so that as soon as you get an offer you're ready to offer on something yourself (realistically offer, not make a load of low ball offers trying to get a bargain) and get moving

Absolutely ridiculous comment, you don’t ‘hound’ a buyer when the seller hasn’t committed to a purchase! Unless the seller agrees to move regardless and break the chain, that buyer has absolutely no certainty the sale is going ahead if they’ve not found somewhere to buy. They were obviously committed as paid for a survey, but it sounds like they waited literally months for the sellers to find somewhere. I don’t know what the sellers expected to happen, you can’t just leave people hanging indefinitely. Of course the buyers will start getting itchy to get moved. The agent has done nothing wrong at all