Anyone just listing and want to join a support thread?

[getmemoved]

We are going onto the market over the next few days, photos taken yesterday. We’re in a new build which we reserved in 2020 (completed 2021). Valuations were slightly disappointing but have gone with agents’ advice and listed at £375k.

Our motivation for moving is to apply for DD’s school next September so we are on a 12 month countdown.

Feeling a huge mix of nerves, excitement and impatience.

There seems to be a lot of sales falling through so you never know it might come back to you. I’m really hoping same happens with the house we loved once we’ve sold. Fingers crossed

This sounds really tough. Don’t be hard on yourself, so many people in the same boat. Do you have to move, or could you stay put for the time being?

Had a bit of a chat with EA yesterday as viewing we had this week said the house isn’t for him so we’ve had several viewings but no offers. EA have been proactive with following up after viewings and giving us feedback which is good. Generally positive comments about the house. The negatives have been the size of the garden and the fact that it’s a bit overlooked so all factors we can’t do anything about.

we priced slightly lower than some similar houses to attract the viewers and agents have said we are getting more interest than some on their books but I still think we will need to look at whether we can afford to reduce price (we bought in 2022 so already looking at less than we bought for) but EA doesn’t feel like we need to rush to reduce price at the moment unless we find something we really like. The issue at the moment is the type of houses we like are shifting quickly if they’re priced competitively.

the houses that are priced higher aren’t moving so quick but sellers are not reducing which then means our onward purchase becomes unaffordable if we have to aggressively drop the price of ours.

we don’t desperately need to move but ideally want to.

Going to just sit tight over next couple of weeks to see what happens

We went on the market this week, and have our first viewing booked for tomorrow. I am not hopefully of a sale anytime soon to be honest, but am not convinced that everyone can just keep waiting for the market to improve.

Here's hoping.

Currently own house with the ex. Fixed term c9mes up end of summer. No way they'll give me a.mortgage on this place on my own. So, short answer - yes. I jave to move. Sigh.

I have two more appointments next week so I'll wait till they've all done their pitches, then see what to do at that point.
Might also be worth holding off on the decision until January just in case. There's a big local infrastructure project that might bump prices if they actually ever open it.

Worth asking the mortgage company, at least..... there might be a way to buy your ex out. Is there flexibility to extend the term to bring repayments down?

He earned double what I did. The affordability just doesn't compute. Im looking at houses 200k less than this one.

Well now I'm totally bewildered. Had two more valuations today. One said worst case scenario she'd expect 25k more than we paid, best case scenario 45k more than we paid.
This gives a differential of £95,000 between the lowest estimate and the highest.

The third guy agreed with the first guy (the lowest estimate) but also talked about other agents in the are and specifically mentioned the second agent (who gave the high valuation) as being good at what she does and pricing realistically and they often agree on prices.

So she's obviously not a bloody cowboy who's just trying to win business - she has colleagues/competitors who rate her.

The difference seemed mostly in that the low estimate guys (both guys) were focused strongly on the stats - square footage, price comparisons, recent sales etc... Whilst the high estimate woman was focused on the house as a home, what benefits it offered buyers, what set it apart from other houses, how the place felt.

If she was only a tiny bit higher then I'd probably go with her, because that approach felt more buyer-focused and I liked it, but honestly I am bewildered.

I have emailed to ask what she thinks a realistic sale price might be, but she's basically suggesting pricing high, accept negotiating offers.
The other two are suggesting pricing low to get footfall, then hoping they'll bid each other up.

My personal minimum - so I am in a reasonable position to buy - would be exactly in the middle of the lowest estimate and the price I paid, so 25k lower than what I paid.

So wtaf do I do now? Which strategy seems the best? They were all complimentary about the house, location, decor, improvements everything. It is just what price to enter the market that will determine interest or not.

What would you do?

That’s a tricky scenario. What is your gut feeling telling you? Do you feel that any of the valuations you’ve had are realistic? Have you got any recently sold data to compare against?
We chose an agent that gave us the options. Their advice was either price similarly to another property currently on the market or go lower to hope that offers would compete.

Agents have said that it is a slow market but locally properties are still selling but some properties aren’t getting many enquiries.
it does always come down to price though and what someone is willing to pay

My gut is that I need to clear that middle ground to have the options I need to buy. I am currently waiting to hear back from little miss high-value to clarify her position, but think I'll probably go with the third agent who is a one man band and seems quite engaged and motivated to sell. It doesn't hurt that his % was one of the lower ones, but there's not much in it. I get the feeling if I go with him and say OK, let's price at the lower cost, but I want to achieve at least X price (25k less than I paid) then he would do his best to achieve that.

Anything much below the price we paid will mean my ex walks away with nothing, which I feel awful about because he's done his best to make sure me and the kids are OK and he's not even going to get any equity. But I'm just trying to remember that paying half a mortgage/bills for four years allowed him to save up more money that he'd have been able to if he'd been renting alone all that time and this is not my fault - it's just a shitty market.

When we had our valuations, I also asked each agent about their communication process, who would handle negotiations and who would manage the sale. In the end, we chose the company whose approach and procedures gave me the most confidence.

Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which pricing strategy to follow. In a quiet market like the one we’re experiencing now, even a lower asking price doesn’t necessarily attract buyers.

I went with my gut feeling, and within the first week we had a buyer who unfortunately pulled out later. Nevertheless, our agent negotiated well, pushed the offer up and secured the price we were happy with.

You can also negotiate the length of the contract. I managed to get ours down from 15 weeks to 10. That way, if you’re unhappy with the agent or their performance, you’re not tied in for too long and can switch to someone else.

I would also ask all 3 agents to send you their full terms and conditions. I was quite shocked by how many hidden fees and clauses I discovered when comparing their contracts, including withdrawal fees, ID check fees and marketing charges.
Pay particular attention to the contract length and notice period as well. There can be quite a few surprises in the small print!

A quick update from our side.
We had 1 viewing on Saturday, and the feedback was that the buyers didn’t like the electric heating system and felt it would be expensive to switch to gas.

We have another viewing tomorrow (if it goes ahead), and then just 2 weeks left before we take a break from the market.

I’m already thinking about the best time to relaunch, whether to go back on the market in January or wait until late February or early March, as those seem to be statistically better months.
To be honest, I’m already counting down the days until we can enjoy quiet Saturdays again without rushing around to get the house ready for viewings!

My husband and I have also agreed that we’ll be more open to accepting lower offers, provided we can negotiate a better price on the bigger house we want to buy. Hopefully, it will all work out in the end!

If you price high, then negotiate below that, you run the risk of fewer viewings. More viewings = more chances of an offer materialising. Bad strategy IMO, our first agent sounded just like this and we ended up chasing the market down and with price cuts. FYI we started at £725k and then had no viewings, had to drop to £700k and had 4 viewings in 4 months.

I switched agents, refused to a 90 day lock in on the sole agency and got 8 weeks instead with an agent that said price it as a bargain and get competing offers.

After 10 months, sold at £615k. Buyers dont have the same affordability anymore, pricing high is a bad idea in my experience.

So I'm still waiting to hear back if purchasers are able to get a mortgage or not. Contacted estate agents a few days ago who said lender had requested more documents. Nothing since so had to call and leave a message to call me back today. Estate agents seem a bit too relaxed about it considering they've been turned down for a mortgage from one lender already and didn't actually mention that until I queried why there was a second mortgage valuer appointment weeks after the first
They told me to expect to hear back at the end of last week or beginning of this week and here we are no further forward than we were a month ago after the offer was accepted. Starting to feel pretty annoyed with it all now.

Good advice, price too high and buyers just keep looking now.