Never sold a house before - any words of wisdom from PH?
Discussion
worsy said:
Wacky Racer said:
Also:-
If it is taking ages to sell.....(six months not uncommon), ensure the agent updates the photographs.
It looks very bad if your house is covered in snow, and there are no leaves on the trees, when someone is viewing in June and visa versa. (Obvious the house has been on the market ages)
Don't expect your house to sell in a month, they very rarely do, especially if it is an "estate" type house with plenty of similar one on the market. You will have to bide your time.
I have bought and sold five houses over the years, every time the experience has been a bit of a nightmare for various reasons, but there are always exceptions to the rule, it's a lottery.
With browser plugins that show the date listed and price reductions, it is best to completely relist.If it is taking ages to sell.....(six months not uncommon), ensure the agent updates the photographs.
It looks very bad if your house is covered in snow, and there are no leaves on the trees, when someone is viewing in June and visa versa. (Obvious the house has been on the market ages)
Don't expect your house to sell in a month, they very rarely do, especially if it is an "estate" type house with plenty of similar one on the market. You will have to bide your time.
I have bought and sold five houses over the years, every time the experience has been a bit of a nightmare for various reasons, but there are always exceptions to the rule, it's a lottery.
I was really meaning photographs in the estate agents window.
Things have changed a bit since we sold our last house, we were still on comp u serve and dial up....
The internet has transformed things completely.
The only other thing I can suggest is to thoroughly vet your buyers as much as possible, we wasted many weeks because our first set of buyers weren't really proceedable and strung things out as long as possible.
Ensure when they offer they have an AIP or similar and that their house, if they have one, is ready for sale. They should know what conveyancer they want to use when they offer.
Once offers are accepted they should start proceedings to get a full mortgage offer, mortgage survey and private survey ASAP, there are no reasons to delay these. Any intransigence on their part should be viewed very suspiciously - get the agent to hassle them on this and make noises about remarketing if progress isn't swift.
Ensure when they offer they have an AIP or similar and that their house, if they have one, is ready for sale. They should know what conveyancer they want to use when they offer.
Once offers are accepted they should start proceedings to get a full mortgage offer, mortgage survey and private survey ASAP, there are no reasons to delay these. Any intransigence on their part should be viewed very suspiciously - get the agent to hassle them on this and make noises about remarketing if progress isn't swift.
Get together every certificate of testing or maintenance for gas/electrics/plumbing you have - we got asked for average gas/elec bill pricing at one point. Any building/restoration work paperwork relating to planning or building regs. Also insurance costs ( you`re hopefully not on a flood plain) - parking permits & any other relevant `it goes with the property` items like deeds.
I hope very much you don`t need to discover the joy of having a chancel charge linked directly to your place.
Very best of luck with it.
PS start collecting cardboard boxes - freecycle/gumtree or banana boxes from the supermarket.
I hope very much you don`t need to discover the joy of having a chancel charge linked directly to your place.
Very best of luck with it.
PS start collecting cardboard boxes - freecycle/gumtree or banana boxes from the supermarket.
We moved last year, and it's by far the most stressful per larva I've been through and have sworn 'never again' 
Knowing you both, I know you'll have done your homework, and from the list it sounds like you've got most things covered.
We used Location, barter on the percentages, the fees are not fixed.
But I'd ring a few local agents posing as a buyer to see how you are treated, how easy it is to get a viewing, what questions you are asked to qualify you as a good buyer, as this will be how your buyers are treated when they phone them.
Locally we had one agent who we dreaded seeing as the selling agent as they were a nightmare to deal with as a buyer.
We did all the viewings, most buyers of these sort of houses are similar working professionals and work the same 'office hours' so most viewings are evenings and weekends anyway.
The solicitor WILL be a nightmare, they all seem borderline incompetent, we chose based on location, close enough for us to go and bang on his desk when he was dragging his heels.
Feel free to pop round for a coffee/catch up and to compare house moving woes.
Knowing you both, I know you'll have done your homework, and from the list it sounds like you've got most things covered.
We used Location, barter on the percentages, the fees are not fixed.
But I'd ring a few local agents posing as a buyer to see how you are treated, how easy it is to get a viewing, what questions you are asked to qualify you as a good buyer, as this will be how your buyers are treated when they phone them.
Locally we had one agent who we dreaded seeing as the selling agent as they were a nightmare to deal with as a buyer.
We did all the viewings, most buyers of these sort of houses are similar working professionals and work the same 'office hours' so most viewings are evenings and weekends anyway.
The solicitor WILL be a nightmare, they all seem borderline incompetent, we chose based on location, close enough for us to go and bang on his desk when he was dragging his heels.
Feel free to pop round for a coffee/catch up and to compare house moving woes.
judas said:
Decluttering: the garage is full of boxed up stuff that used to be in the house, and more needs to go there. Even considering moving all this into temporary storage away from the house.
Do this. A garage full of boxes will just imply there's no storage space in the house. The couple of hundred quid that storage will cost is worth it, and you can always bring the stuff back from storage once the place is sold.Agents are there to make the intro and help close it.
I tend to do the middle bit - vetting their finances, vetting their chain, gaining their trust and confidence in you and what you're doing.
I bought a couple of probate properties and it drove me nuts as the lawyers in charge would only talk to me via the agents and I could never make a judgement on what I was being told.
Much better to have open communications all the way.
I tend to do the middle bit - vetting their finances, vetting their chain, gaining their trust and confidence in you and what you're doing.
I bought a couple of probate properties and it drove me nuts as the lawyers in charge would only talk to me via the agents and I could never make a judgement on what I was being told.
Much better to have open communications all the way.
judas said:
OP's OH here 
Thanks for the advice everyone - very much appreciated
To answer some questions:
not sure why your other half posted their question when they already got you to answer everything.... Thanks for the advice everyone - very much appreciated
To answer some questions:
- Based in north-ish Nottinghamshire; plan is to move to Derby to reduce 2.5 hour daily commute
- All three estate agent valuations have been the same overall, and pretty much bang on our own expectations value-wise (we did our research).
- We'd like a quick sale so will be pricing accordingly.
- Decluttering: the garage is full of boxed up stuff that used to be in the house, and more needs to go there. Even considering moving all this into temporary storage away from the house.
- Decorating: the house has been painted inside and out, top to bottom, in new-build magnolia and white for the most part, with some feature walls in tasteful but unchallenging wallpaper.
- Photos: if the estate agent photos aren't good enough they will be told so in no uncertain terms. For the amount of money they want they can get it right. If it comes to it, I will take them myself - I have a decent camera and pretty good idea what I'm doing.
- Floorplan: likewise, I can draw this up in a couple of hours and unlike the estate agent's, it will be be accurate (or at least have all the windows and doors in the right place).
- Our plan is to make the place look more like a show home - spotless everywhere and ready to move in (it really baffles me that some people just don't get this
).
- Gazundering: anyone trying this will be told to FRO. Once we accept an offer, the agent will be instructed to ensure the buyers understand that it won't be changing.
- Timewasters/dreamers: resigned to this happening, but I'm hoping the estate agent will at least do some basic qualification before accepting a viewing. For anyone without cash in the bank or a property already on the market the agent can do the viewing.
- Conveyancing: will be avoiding anyone that subs the work out to a conveyancing farm like Countrywide Conveyancing - heard way too many horror stories. I'd much rather pay more for good service than save a few hundred quid and get endlessly dicked about.
- We've already found the house we want to buy: big old 5 bed Victorian terrace. It's been on the market since September and had a lot of viewings but no offers, even though it's empty and needs no work. We know why it's not sold and the reason's don't really affect us. We're in direct contact with the seller and have told him we want it, just need to get ours prepped and on the market. Once our house is ready we'll talk offers on his so we can price ours accordingly to hopefully get an offer without delay. He seems a decent chap with realistic expectations, so I don't see this being a problem. If it is we'll just see what happens and keep looking.
- Open day: will consider this. Is it normal practice to open with this, or do it after it's been on the market for a bit?
- Our house is a 4 bed Barratt's cardboard box built in 2000 in a nice, quiet cul-de-sac of about 70 houses in all. There's one other 4-bed up for sale on the estate, but it's been up for ages as they're asking way too much for it. Overall, the house prices in the village are all over the place with no apparent rationale behind them. We're quite close to the M1 but similar houses closer still sell for more. Absolutely barmy...
- Purple Bricks: not really viable if we need the agent to do viewings. We both work a hour's drive away when the roads are clear so may end up needing to take time off work for every viewing (assuming we get any!)
good luck with your move.
Borroxs said:
not sure why your other half posted their question when they already got you to answer everything....
good luck with your move.
Does kinda look that way good luck with your move.
I think we have the house prep sorted, it's more the actual viewings/offer/sale process and pitfalls we're clueless about.
Estate agents lie, lie, lie and lie again and work to there best interests and not you the client .... take what they say with a pinch of a salt, also they may suggest you accept a lower price say of a few k, a few k is a lot to the seller but to the agent its a few quid commission so they are not bothered.
On my last sale I was lucky had open day and numerous offers, agent told me to sell to x as they were in good position he happened to mention the road they selling on, it sounded a bit fishy, I did a bit of digging and found out the person they want me to sell to had just put there property on the market with my agent and he hadn't even sold and I knew it wouldn't for the price they wanted(yet agent told me it had). Long and short of it agent was working in his interest and not mine, the buyer my agent told me to sell to still had there property on the market 12 months after I had completed on my sale and moved into new property.
On my last sale I was lucky had open day and numerous offers, agent told me to sell to x as they were in good position he happened to mention the road they selling on, it sounded a bit fishy, I did a bit of digging and found out the person they want me to sell to had just put there property on the market with my agent and he hadn't even sold and I knew it wouldn't for the price they wanted(yet agent told me it had). Long and short of it agent was working in his interest and not mine, the buyer my agent told me to sell to still had there property on the market 12 months after I had completed on my sale and moved into new property.
Edited by PostHeads123 on Thursday 26th January 14:06
PostHeads123 said:
Estate agents lie, lie, lie and lie again and work to there best interests and not you the client .... take what they say with a pinch of a salt, also they may suggest you accept a lower price say of a few k, a few k is a lot to the seller but to the agent its a few quid commission so they are not bothered.
On my last sale I was lucky had open day and numerous offers, agent told me to sell to x as they were in good position he happened to mention the road they selling on, it sounded a bit fishy, I did a bit of digging and found out the person they want me to sell to had just put there property on the market with my agent and he hadn't even sold and I knew it wouldn't for the price they wanted(yet agent told me it had). Long and short of it agent was working in his interest and not mine, the buyer my agent told me to sell to still had there property on the market 12 months after I had completed on my sale and moved into new property.
One or two estate agents near us are far better at selling their own services and products than they are at selling houses!!On my last sale I was lucky had open day and numerous offers, agent told me to sell to x as they were in good position he happened to mention the road they selling on, it sounded a bit fishy, I did a bit of digging and found out the person they want me to sell to had just put there property on the market with my agent and he hadn't even sold and I knew it wouldn't for the price they wanted(yet agent told me it had). Long and short of it agent was working in his interest and not mine, the buyer my agent told me to sell to still had there property on the market 12 months after I had completed on my sale and moved into new property.
Edited by PostHeads123 on Thursday 26th January 14:06
forest07 said:
PostHeads123 said:
Estate agents lie, lie, lie and lie again and work to there best interests and not you the client .... take what they say with a pinch of a salt, also they may suggest you accept a lower price say of a few k, a few k is a lot to the seller but to the agent its a few quid commission so they are not bothered.
On my last sale I was lucky had open day and numerous offers, agent told me to sell to x as they were in good position he happened to mention the road they selling on, it sounded a bit fishy, I did a bit of digging and found out the person they want me to sell to had just put there property on the market with my agent and he hadn't even sold and I knew it wouldn't for the price they wanted(yet agent told me it had). Long and short of it agent was working in his interest and not mine, the buyer my agent told me to sell to still had there property on the market 12 months after I had completed on my sale and moved into new property.
One or two estate agents near us are far better at selling their own services and products than they are at selling houses!!On my last sale I was lucky had open day and numerous offers, agent told me to sell to x as they were in good position he happened to mention the road they selling on, it sounded a bit fishy, I did a bit of digging and found out the person they want me to sell to had just put there property on the market with my agent and he hadn't even sold and I knew it wouldn't for the price they wanted(yet agent told me it had). Long and short of it agent was working in his interest and not mine, the buyer my agent told me to sell to still had there property on the market 12 months after I had completed on my sale and moved into new property.
Edited by PostHeads123 on Thursday 26th January 14:06
Just gone through it and it was a ballache although reading some stories here I got off very lightly.
Like you, I hadn't done this for over twenty years so was a complete novice to it all.
I would recommend you find a good old fashioned solicitor , preferably recommended, who will have seen and done it all and will know where the cracks in the system are and when and where to push things when needed. He will cost more but moving is a very expensive process anyway so a few quid more is by the by.
Same with estate agents. Use a local firm you've been there for years and have a reputation to protect. Avoid the chains as employee churn can be staggering and you'll end up dealing with lots of different people when you want one point of contact. Not all EAs are sharks and a good one will help the process along. Remember they are not only there to sell your gaff in the first place but also to help move the chain along and help even out the peaks and troughs.
The old adage of preparing for the worse and hoping for the best is quite apt when dealing with house sales.
Like you, I hadn't done this for over twenty years so was a complete novice to it all.
I would recommend you find a good old fashioned solicitor , preferably recommended, who will have seen and done it all and will know where the cracks in the system are and when and where to push things when needed. He will cost more but moving is a very expensive process anyway so a few quid more is by the by.
Same with estate agents. Use a local firm you've been there for years and have a reputation to protect. Avoid the chains as employee churn can be staggering and you'll end up dealing with lots of different people when you want one point of contact. Not all EAs are sharks and a good one will help the process along. Remember they are not only there to sell your gaff in the first place but also to help move the chain along and help even out the peaks and troughs.
The old adage of preparing for the worse and hoping for the best is quite apt when dealing with house sales.
Get ready to meet the biggest bunch of idiots you can imagine with the most bizzare excuses not to buy your house , I've done it loads of times , lately for a living .
The last one I sold was fully re developed , nice new everything , empty , ready to go detached bungalow in a lovely town , I live there , parking , gardens , 4 piece bathroom , kitchen diner , seperate lounge , 3 beds
One guy said he would have bought it if I hadn't renovated it. I offered to knock it apart to make his life easier !
One woman said she wouldn't buy it as her American fridge freezer wouldn't fit in , I pointed out the brand new integrated fridge freezer and offered her a thousand quid for hers , but she wasn't having it so I pointed out she was effectively buying her fridge freezer a house , not herself .
Brace yourself , there's some odd people out there , I could go on !
Good luck
The last one I sold was fully re developed , nice new everything , empty , ready to go detached bungalow in a lovely town , I live there , parking , gardens , 4 piece bathroom , kitchen diner , seperate lounge , 3 beds
One guy said he would have bought it if I hadn't renovated it. I offered to knock it apart to make his life easier !
One woman said she wouldn't buy it as her American fridge freezer wouldn't fit in , I pointed out the brand new integrated fridge freezer and offered her a thousand quid for hers , but she wasn't having it so I pointed out she was effectively buying her fridge freezer a house , not herself .
Brace yourself , there's some odd people out there , I could go on !
Good luck
fesuvious said:
Gazumping, Gazundering, and why the intention to tell them to FRO at the outset might not help.
http://moversandstorers.co.uk/2014/07/09/gazumping...
Depends how bloody minded you're prepared to be... http://moversandstorers.co.uk/2014/07/09/gazumping...
stay calm, make you house as presentable as possible and just accept it isn't sold until the ink is dry and the money is transferred. Tell the Solicitor from the outset you are a PIA and will annoy the hell out of them and follow up everything. But just remember it will eventually sell and you will move to new house.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Ace & Judas - good luck
Be nice to buyers, it goes along way.
Find an EA you like & trust.
We're selling my late parents house. Our EA are a husband & wife team who believe in the houses they sell (if that makes sense?), they learn the property & location and prefer to do the viewings themselves. They also vetted the people interested & told us their position when making appointments. They used photoshop to remove a skip on the drive (decluttering), took photos that accurately represent the house rather than fooling you into thinking the lounge/wherever is bigger than it is. They explained to viewers that it was a house that had been a family home for 25 years, lived in for the last 15 by the elderly parents with Alzheimers so although loved it's in need of decoration and had potential for extensions (& ideas!) as they've not added anything to it (next door has added conservatory, extension, roof conversion = 4 big double beds into 6 big double beds!).
They weren't scared to negotiate on our behalf (telling viewers that they'd put their offer to us, but that we'd come back to say it was too low as it was unreasonable), or to advise on the market, new photos, dropping the price to reflect the sales recently etc.
It's a tale of woe & happiness (in small so it doesn't bore!) to show how frustrating the process can be... Neighbours were desparate to buy it from the day it went up last February. They've had buyers pull out 3 times due to problems further down their chains
(one pulled out the week before completion because they'd found somewhere else!) We're now sold to others & feel dreadful for the original couple, who moved to their house in order to keep an eye on houses going up for sale in our culdesac (8 unique houses to the estate, 3 sold in 25 years, ours will be the 4th!); but we can't keep waiting forever for them.
As a result we've lost houses we have fallen for. A couple we've thought were perfect, one fell through in July when they decided to refuse our offer after our sale fell through the week before exchange & completion (despite them not having found anywhere!) and it's still on the market! Another where the owner wouldn't talk to us about offers etc without a fully sold chain (all exchanged) on ours. That's just come back on Rightmove having been SSTC for months - We're in a position to buy it cash now, but f£&k her, because I was devastated when she said that, cried for days as it was 'the' one we thought, Both of us fell in love with it walking through the front door.
But - we found somewhere far better we thought we'd lost it when our sale fell through for the 3rd time, but the flowers I sent to her for accepting our offer (she had 2 on the same day) seemed to make a difference (we found out she chose us because we were polite, i.e. took our shoes off when we were shown round, apologised for disturbing her to programme & thanked her for her time as we left). We've been round since to measure a couple of bits up and become friendly with her, as a result we are getting a Gardner, cleaner & pet sitter thrown in (we'll have to pay her obviously)
Be nice to buyers, it goes along way.
Find an EA you like & trust.
We're selling my late parents house. Our EA are a husband & wife team who believe in the houses they sell (if that makes sense?), they learn the property & location and prefer to do the viewings themselves. They also vetted the people interested & told us their position when making appointments. They used photoshop to remove a skip on the drive (decluttering), took photos that accurately represent the house rather than fooling you into thinking the lounge/wherever is bigger than it is. They explained to viewers that it was a house that had been a family home for 25 years, lived in for the last 15 by the elderly parents with Alzheimers so although loved it's in need of decoration and had potential for extensions (& ideas!) as they've not added anything to it (next door has added conservatory, extension, roof conversion = 4 big double beds into 6 big double beds!).
They weren't scared to negotiate on our behalf (telling viewers that they'd put their offer to us, but that we'd come back to say it was too low as it was unreasonable), or to advise on the market, new photos, dropping the price to reflect the sales recently etc.
It's a tale of woe & happiness (in small so it doesn't bore!) to show how frustrating the process can be... Neighbours were desparate to buy it from the day it went up last February. They've had buyers pull out 3 times due to problems further down their chains
(one pulled out the week before completion because they'd found somewhere else!) We're now sold to others & feel dreadful for the original couple, who moved to their house in order to keep an eye on houses going up for sale in our culdesac (8 unique houses to the estate, 3 sold in 25 years, ours will be the 4th!); but we can't keep waiting forever for them.As a result we've lost houses we have fallen for. A couple we've thought were perfect, one fell through in July when they decided to refuse our offer after our sale fell through the week before exchange & completion (despite them not having found anywhere!) and it's still on the market! Another where the owner wouldn't talk to us about offers etc without a fully sold chain (all exchanged) on ours. That's just come back on Rightmove having been SSTC for months - We're in a position to buy it cash now, but f£&k her, because I was devastated when she said that, cried for days as it was 'the' one we thought, Both of us fell in love with it walking through the front door.
But - we found somewhere far better
we thought we'd lost it when our sale fell through for the 3rd time, but the flowers I sent to her for accepting our offer (she had 2 on the same day) seemed to make a difference (we found out she chose us because we were polite, i.e. took our shoes off when we were shown round, apologised for disturbing her to programme & thanked her for her time as we left). We've been round since to measure a couple of bits up and become friendly with her, as a result we are getting a Gardner, cleaner & pet sitter thrown in (we'll have to pay her obviously) JQ said:
Personally I wouldn't allow people to view unless they have sold their existing house or are cash buyers and can prove it. It gets tiresome when the 5th neighbour comes round just to get ideas for their extension after you've spent hours getting the house spotless.
Whilst I can see your point re neighbours, a chain has to start somewhere. How many people are going to sell their house before starting to look to buy somewhere else? Often it's finding somewhere else that starts the process!judas said:
OP's OH here
Thanks for the advice everyone - very much appreciated
To answer some questions:
Don't be there for the viewings, buyers are far more honest if the householder isn't there, maybe get a mate you trust to ask for a viewing and find out from them how good/bad or informed the agent is. Thanks for the advice everyone - very much appreciated
To answer some questions:
- Based in north-ish Nottinghamshire; plan is to move to Derby to reduce 2.5 hour daily commute
- All three estate agent valuations have been the same overall, and pretty much bang on our own expectations value-wise (we did our research).
- We'd like a quick sale so will be pricing accordingly.
- Decluttering: the garage is full of boxed up stuff that used to be in the house, and more needs to go there. Even considering moving all this into temporary storage away from the house.
- Decorating: the house has been painted inside and out, top to bottom, in new-build magnolia and white for the most part, with some feature walls in tasteful but unchallenging wallpaper.
- Photos: if the estate agent photos aren't good enough they will be told so in no uncertain terms. For the amount of money they want they can get it right. If it comes to it, I will take them myself - I have a decent camera and pretty good idea what I'm doing.
- Floorplan: likewise, I can draw this up in a couple of hours and unlike the estate agent's, it will be be accurate (or at least have all the windows and doors in the right place).
- Our plan is to make the place look more like a show home - spotless everywhere and ready to move in (it really baffles me that some people just don't get this ).
- Gazundering: anyone trying this will be told to FRO. Once we accept an offer, the agent will be instructed to ensure the buyers understand that it won't be changing.
- Timewasters/dreamers: resigned to this happening, but I'm hoping the estate agent will at least do some basic qualification before accepting a viewing. For anyone without cash in the bank or a property already on the market the agent can do the viewing.
- Conveyancing: will be avoiding anyone that subs the work out to a conveyancing farm like Countrywide Conveyancing - heard way too many horror stories. I'd much rather pay more for good service than save a few hundred quid and get endlessly dicked about.
- We've already found the house we want to buy: big old 5 bed Victorian terrace. It's been on the market since September and had a lot of viewings but no offers, even though it's empty and needs no work. We know why it's not sold and the reason's don't really affect us. We're in direct contact with the seller and have told him we want it, just need to get ours prepped and on the market. Once our house is ready we'll talk offers on his so we can price ours accordingly to hopefully get an offer without delay. He seems a decent chap with realistic expectations, so I don't see this being a problem. If it is we'll just see what happens and keep looking.
- Open day: will consider this. Is it normal practice to open with this, or do it after it's been on the market for a bit?
- Our house is a 4 bed Barratt's cardboard box built in 2000 in a nice, quiet cul-de-sac of about 70 houses in all. There's one other 4-bed up for sale on the estate, but it's been up for ages as they're asking way too much for it. Overall, the house prices in the village are all over the place with no apparent rationale behind them. We're quite close to the M1 but similar houses closer still sell for more. Absolutely barmy...
- Purple Bricks: not really viable if we need the agent to do viewings. We both work a hour's drive away when the roads are clear so may end up needing to take time off work for every viewing (assuming we get any!)
I've sold a few houses in my time and moved around from area to area , I always found the best way to judge an agent is go into the shop but don't introduce yourself as a seller , see how efficient the staff are , do they welcome you in and ask if they can help with anything ? A couple around ours couldn't be bothered to lift their heads from the computer screens , and considering I speak with a different accent I'm hardly likely to have driven a few hours just to waste time .if they ignore you they'll do it to your prospective customers .
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