Buying Selling - Stress...
Discussion
Hi all...
Over the last 4 years we have slowly completed a big renovation on our home turning a chalet in to a 4 bed house. (blog is somewhere on here)
We have been looking at the market for a new home over the last 24 months and pretty much got everything finished early this year on the house (the garden being the last part to do).
4 Weeks ago we found an perfect new home so went though the estate agent valuations. We went for a figure which was below the middle of all 4 valuations to try and speed the process up. We also offered on the house we liked at 5% under its value but was rejected since we hadn't sold ours...
Is that normal now?
Anyway, we have had 20 couples view the house in the first 2 weeks without an offer. 2 weeks on, viewings have dried up. We had one couple who were very keen. Well they seemed keen but we found out yesterday, the house we had out hearts set on is under offer by the couple who were keen to "put an offer on ours". The 2 properties are poles apart, ours is completely finished and the other is a shack. but that is neither here nor there
I really thought we wouldn't have an issue selling our house, and i thought that it would be sold well within a month.
I think what made it worse was as the estate agent showed people round, we were there, in the house somewhere, sitting in the study or playing in the garden with our son. Then we would hear from the EA that "the garden cant fit a swimming pool" or "We wanted a 2 en-suites" ...
Selling and buying a pain in the arse....
I just hope if we lose out to the house we want we find something else now.
Anyone else lose out to the house they wanted but found something else?
Nick
Over the last 4 years we have slowly completed a big renovation on our home turning a chalet in to a 4 bed house. (blog is somewhere on here)
We have been looking at the market for a new home over the last 24 months and pretty much got everything finished early this year on the house (the garden being the last part to do).
4 Weeks ago we found an perfect new home so went though the estate agent valuations. We went for a figure which was below the middle of all 4 valuations to try and speed the process up. We also offered on the house we liked at 5% under its value but was rejected since we hadn't sold ours...
Is that normal now?
Anyway, we have had 20 couples view the house in the first 2 weeks without an offer. 2 weeks on, viewings have dried up. We had one couple who were very keen. Well they seemed keen but we found out yesterday, the house we had out hearts set on is under offer by the couple who were keen to "put an offer on ours". The 2 properties are poles apart, ours is completely finished and the other is a shack. but that is neither here nor there
I really thought we wouldn't have an issue selling our house, and i thought that it would be sold well within a month.
I think what made it worse was as the estate agent showed people round, we were there, in the house somewhere, sitting in the study or playing in the garden with our son. Then we would hear from the EA that "the garden cant fit a swimming pool" or "We wanted a 2 en-suites" ...
Selling and buying a pain in the arse....
I just hope if we lose out to the house we want we find something else now.
Anyone else lose out to the house they wanted but found something else?
Nick
I think with that many viewings and no offers at all it means you're either significantly overpriced or there's some other sticking point that people are hitting. That said, a lot of houses in the range £800k-£1.5m is sticking around in my area that i've seen. Whether people are staying put - waiting for a drop or if it's just risk aversion or they don't want to pay a big stamp duty bill for something that's perhaps not their "forever" home I don't know.
Yes that is normal - you are not proceedable so your offer is worthless (unfortunately).
The market is also slowing down and many houses are dropping in asking price - I've just put an offer in at £148k less than it was on the market at last year (not a huge purchase either).
Don't get too disheartened, there are always houses coming on and there will be another one that you fall in love with. Best advice i can give, is get yours sstc as that is the most difficult bit and then look to buy. If nothing appears you like, then, if you can, move into rented whilst continuing looking as then you'll be in the best possible position to proceed and not miss out. Chances are you'll find somewhere whilst your sell is going through anyway and worst case scenario is you can always pull out and stay put (if youre that way inclined).
Good luck with the search.
The market is also slowing down and many houses are dropping in asking price - I've just put an offer in at £148k less than it was on the market at last year (not a huge purchase either).
Don't get too disheartened, there are always houses coming on and there will be another one that you fall in love with. Best advice i can give, is get yours sstc as that is the most difficult bit and then look to buy. If nothing appears you like, then, if you can, move into rented whilst continuing looking as then you'll be in the best possible position to proceed and not miss out. Chances are you'll find somewhere whilst your sell is going through anyway and worst case scenario is you can always pull out and stay put (if youre that way inclined).
Good luck with the search.
Yep, sounds like you are asking to much. I got an offer within a week (SW London) but it was about 5% off the lowest valuation (which I have used as the 'Guide Price'). I haven't bothered even viewing yet - even the Agent was honest enough to say most of the houses in the area are 10% overpriced.
London seems to be really slowing down at the moment.
We had 30 viewings, 1 unpredictable offer and nothing else. 2 bed flat, which is well spec'd (Victorian, not modern) on a good road. We're finding the BTL guys are exiting the market; reducing the amount of purchasers at the same time as increasing supply of flats.
We had 30 viewings, 1 unpredictable offer and nothing else. 2 bed flat, which is well spec'd (Victorian, not modern) on a good road. We're finding the BTL guys are exiting the market; reducing the amount of purchasers at the same time as increasing supply of flats.
We're trying to buy at the moment and the banks seem to be a nightmare too. Our financial advisor has mentioned that the banks seem to be reigning in the lending, if this is the case it might be affecting peoples ability to put an offer in.
We've sold, have a 60% deposit, are well within affordability, no other debt, cash in the bank for renovations and they're still making us jump through hoops. Every week seems to be another request for some kind of report or survey.
Anyone else having this experience?
We've sold, have a 60% deposit, are well within affordability, no other debt, cash in the bank for renovations and they're still making us jump through hoops. Every week seems to be another request for some kind of report or survey.
Anyone else having this experience?
I think that buyers are uncertain, unsure what various things (Brexit included) will mean for long-term property values. They want a bargain.
Sellers do not want to accept that their houses are worth less than they were. If something isn't selling at a certain price, it is too expensive.
The EA valued our house (London). I looked around at the many houses similar to ours that were for sale. Most had been on sale for months. So I knocked £100k off the price of ours. It sold in 2 weeks, at asking.
We were after our dream house, so were willing to take a haircut (although as we had renovated it we made some money - just not as much as we may have been able to had we hung on). But if you are selling for a specific aim, rather than to maximise profit, you should look at things differently (affordability taken into consideration of course). We wanted our forever home, and were in a race for it with lots of other people. Selling ours was imperative. We dropped the price.
Case in point, another neighbour on the road, in a house the same as ours architecturally, but an older renovation and thus smaller internally, with a worse outlook (we overlook a park, they overlook a council estate), had theirs on for the same as I put ours on for, as they too wanted the house we eventually bought. Someone who saw both houses bought ours, as they refused to see the writing on the wall, and stubbornly maintained that houses on our street are worth what they were 18 months ago, and refused offers.
Yet that particular seller has been here for 15 years, so would have made a profit regardless of what they sold it at (within reason, and unless in subsequent years they leveraged it to the eyeballs, obviously.)
It's not a great market - and you have to be realistic.
Sellers do not want to accept that their houses are worth less than they were. If something isn't selling at a certain price, it is too expensive.
The EA valued our house (London). I looked around at the many houses similar to ours that were for sale. Most had been on sale for months. So I knocked £100k off the price of ours. It sold in 2 weeks, at asking.
We were after our dream house, so were willing to take a haircut (although as we had renovated it we made some money - just not as much as we may have been able to had we hung on). But if you are selling for a specific aim, rather than to maximise profit, you should look at things differently (affordability taken into consideration of course). We wanted our forever home, and were in a race for it with lots of other people. Selling ours was imperative. We dropped the price.
Case in point, another neighbour on the road, in a house the same as ours architecturally, but an older renovation and thus smaller internally, with a worse outlook (we overlook a park, they overlook a council estate), had theirs on for the same as I put ours on for, as they too wanted the house we eventually bought. Someone who saw both houses bought ours, as they refused to see the writing on the wall, and stubbornly maintained that houses on our street are worth what they were 18 months ago, and refused offers.
Yet that particular seller has been here for 15 years, so would have made a profit regardless of what they sold it at (within reason, and unless in subsequent years they leveraged it to the eyeballs, obviously.)
It's not a great market - and you have to be realistic.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 12th September 12:48
Oh - and the seller of the house we wanted would not entertain anything other than cash or no-chain offers where the buyer had sold their house. He was able to do that as several developers and several private parties wanted it. We even had to go over asking to get it (was still a bloody bargain!!)
This only works if you have something worth selling of course. If you are offering on an average house, and there are plenty like it, just wait it out and keep your offer on the table. It is not a seller's market.
This only works if you have something worth selling of course. If you are offering on an average house, and there are plenty like it, just wait it out and keep your offer on the table. It is not a seller's market.
We are also in the process and its been a painful journey.
Think we viewed something like 25-40 properties all in and about 98% of them were viewed with our toddler and that was a real nighmare at times.
One of the biggest frustrations we found was people's inability to be flexible when it came to viewings. Agents weren't willing to do anything beyond 1730 and some pepole would put their house on the market and then wouldn't accept viewings for two weeks as it wasn't ready.
We witnessed a couple of the agent led viewings at our place. After that, I said I would rather conduct the viewings if we were available. One the agents didn't know that we had a downstairs toilet and that was pretty embarrassing.
We put offers in on four places. Lost the first one as we didn't have an offer on our place. We received an offer 10 days later. Second place, we offered well below the asking price. Third place, we had an offer accepted and we were really pleased as we both really liked the house.
We then called our agent to accept our offer and suddenly the offer was then retracted. We explained that to the seller and she said she was happy to wait for us to find another buyer. Her patience lasted 33 hours and she accepted another offer 10k above ours and they were ready to go.
The place we ended up going for is in a lovely location, but its a bedroom down on what we really wanted. Eeasy to add fourth though.
Hoping to be in by mid October, but who knows what will happen. I know we are moving as fast as we can. Our buyer is not
Think we viewed something like 25-40 properties all in and about 98% of them were viewed with our toddler and that was a real nighmare at times.
One of the biggest frustrations we found was people's inability to be flexible when it came to viewings. Agents weren't willing to do anything beyond 1730 and some pepole would put their house on the market and then wouldn't accept viewings for two weeks as it wasn't ready.
We witnessed a couple of the agent led viewings at our place. After that, I said I would rather conduct the viewings if we were available. One the agents didn't know that we had a downstairs toilet and that was pretty embarrassing.
We put offers in on four places. Lost the first one as we didn't have an offer on our place. We received an offer 10 days later. Second place, we offered well below the asking price. Third place, we had an offer accepted and we were really pleased as we both really liked the house.
We then called our agent to accept our offer and suddenly the offer was then retracted. We explained that to the seller and she said she was happy to wait for us to find another buyer. Her patience lasted 33 hours and she accepted another offer 10k above ours and they were ready to go.
The place we ended up going for is in a lovely location, but its a bedroom down on what we really wanted. Eeasy to add fourth though.
Hoping to be in by mid October, but who knows what will happen. I know we are moving as fast as we can. Our buyer is not
Tonker, spot on.
We have bought two houses in two years, and seen many.
Frankly, both of the houses we bought were out of probate. You get a better deal, but you have to be able to move fast as see off developers.
I lose count of how many "refurbished" houses were shiny kitchens and bathroom masking serious shortcuts. Or how many 10 year old returns were being thought of by their sellers as top notch.
Things will adjust - especially here in London. Little stock within Zone 3 (if you want a proper family home as opposed to a 2000 square foot terrace that has had every last bit of space squeezed out of it by a lift company, at the expense of functionality and storage). And what there is is on for too much.
EA valued ours at nearly 1.4m. I put it on at 1.25, and we only just made the sale.
We have bought two houses in two years, and seen many.
Frankly, both of the houses we bought were out of probate. You get a better deal, but you have to be able to move fast as see off developers.
I lose count of how many "refurbished" houses were shiny kitchens and bathroom masking serious shortcuts. Or how many 10 year old returns were being thought of by their sellers as top notch.
Things will adjust - especially here in London. Little stock within Zone 3 (if you want a proper family home as opposed to a 2000 square foot terrace that has had every last bit of space squeezed out of it by a lift company, at the expense of functionality and storage). And what there is is on for too much.
EA valued ours at nearly 1.4m. I put it on at 1.25, and we only just made the sale.
And everyone forgets stamp duty. You have not made a profit on your place if the stamp and the refurb result in a house worth less than its cost to you plus BOTH of these things.
London is rife with cheap returns from developers who know this, or amateurs who paid their builder way too much up to 2016 when the market was booming, and can't afford to sell for less than their spend on this depressed market - so overprice their homes.
London is rife with cheap returns from developers who know this, or amateurs who paid their builder way too much up to 2016 when the market was booming, and can't afford to sell for less than their spend on this depressed market - so overprice their homes.
Harry Flashman said:
Tonker, spot on.
I lose count of how many "refurbished" houses were shiny kitchens and bathroom masking serious shortcuts. Or how many 10 year old returns were being thought of by their sellers as top notch.
Things will adjust - especially here in London. Little stock within Zone 3 (if you want a proper family home as opposed to a 2000 square foot terrace that has had every last bit of space squeezed out of it by a lift company, at the expense of functionality and storage). And what there is is on for too much.
Hmm, interesting hearing that from a London perspective. I'm in a similar position to Tonker (renting after selling up) after moving to a different part of the country though, and so just getting a feel for the local property market before buying again (North Yorks). It does appear to me that there is a lot of (what seems to me) over priced housing for sale, and indeed it does seem to be remaining for sale, so I can't be alone in that view. There are occasional beautiful houses for sale at sensible prices, and predictably they seem to be selling quickly, but the market above 700k or so up here doesn't appear to me to be on fire at the moment (based on keeping an eye on Rightmove). I'm also surprised to see very optimistic pricing being asked given what the market info tab reveals e.g. 30%+ increase in asking over a couple of years because the house has had a cheap new (awful) kitchen and bathroom put in. I must admit to feeling no confidence in buying at the moment and may just sit it out for a year or so and see what happens. I lose count of how many "refurbished" houses were shiny kitchens and bathroom masking serious shortcuts. Or how many 10 year old returns were being thought of by their sellers as top notch.
Things will adjust - especially here in London. Little stock within Zone 3 (if you want a proper family home as opposed to a 2000 square foot terrace that has had every last bit of space squeezed out of it by a lift company, at the expense of functionality and storage). And what there is is on for too much.
P.S. Harry, your new house looks wonderful - congrats!
Harry Flashman said:
I lose count of how many "refurbished" houses were shiny kitchens and bathroom masking serious shortcuts.
I'm pleasantly surprised to see others have noticed this - I found it annoying when my house that I built arguably too well, was being compared to homes which had been "refurbed" completely in white (to avoid cutting in walls / ceilings) and hadn't had the heating system, insulation etc touched Dream house came up for sale 3-4 weeks ago, always wanted to live in this area/road since I was a nipper. Houses never go up for sale unless someone dies, this was no different. We were second to view, first viewer offered 5% less than asking and it fell threw a week later for a reason unknown to us. We offered asking price in an unproceedable position (we literally had zero intention of moving at the time). To our surprise the vendor accepted the offer and gave us 2 weeks to sell ours or property would go back up for sale.
Ours was listed on the same day as the offer being accepted, house on Rightmove by 4pm Friday. It sold in no less than 4 days to the first viewers for 5k less than asking, exactly what we wanted.
Suppose you could call it a bit lucky as vendors were selling for inheritance, no rush, had one offer fall through and we offered asking initially. Our house we listed with the same agent as the vendor to give them an incentive to shift it within the time frame and asked them to vet proceedable buyers before viewing and thankfully so far all is going to plan.
If it helps our house is 40mins S of Birmingham, finished to a high standard (Flash kitchen, bathroom, garden, drive, new boiler, carpets yadda yadda..) but is a small two up two down with no garage, parking for 3 cars in a nice cul-de-sac area, good catchment and close to amenities & motorway. We made 16% in less than 2 years coupled with the renovation and market increase, spending less than half than what we've made 'doing it up'. Being brutally honest, I wouldn't pay what it's current value is and I think we have done well out of the market, you could buy a tatty 3 bed with a garage in a half about area for what we've just sold ours for. Coincidentally the house we're buying I feel is undervalued, which sets my mind at ease as I was very conscious about selling high just to buy high, albeit with double the mortgage!
Maybe this property slow down wave will exit London and start making it's way up the UK but certainly hasn't made it up to here yet.
Ours was listed on the same day as the offer being accepted, house on Rightmove by 4pm Friday. It sold in no less than 4 days to the first viewers for 5k less than asking, exactly what we wanted.
Suppose you could call it a bit lucky as vendors were selling for inheritance, no rush, had one offer fall through and we offered asking initially. Our house we listed with the same agent as the vendor to give them an incentive to shift it within the time frame and asked them to vet proceedable buyers before viewing and thankfully so far all is going to plan.
If it helps our house is 40mins S of Birmingham, finished to a high standard (Flash kitchen, bathroom, garden, drive, new boiler, carpets yadda yadda..) but is a small two up two down with no garage, parking for 3 cars in a nice cul-de-sac area, good catchment and close to amenities & motorway. We made 16% in less than 2 years coupled with the renovation and market increase, spending less than half than what we've made 'doing it up'. Being brutally honest, I wouldn't pay what it's current value is and I think we have done well out of the market, you could buy a tatty 3 bed with a garage in a half about area for what we've just sold ours for. Coincidentally the house we're buying I feel is undervalued, which sets my mind at ease as I was very conscious about selling high just to buy high, albeit with double the mortgage!
Maybe this property slow down wave will exit London and start making it's way up the UK but certainly hasn't made it up to here yet.
MGTS said:
Just a thought - whenever I've sold houses I would always make myself scarce when a viewing was taking place. I appreciate it is difficult with young children, but perhaps you could give the viewers a chance to wander around free of any feeling that they are getting in your way?
It's unusual for an estate agent to show people around while the sellers are in the house.Either show them round yourselves or bugger off and let the agent do it.
Also, make sure all toys etc are put away, etc.
Classy6 said:
Ours was listed on the same day as the offer being accepted, house on Rightmove by 4pm Friday. It sold in no less than 4 days to the first viewers for 5k less than asking, exactly what we wanted.
our house is a small two up two down with no garage
Maybe this property slow down wave will exit London and start making it's way up the UK but certainly hasn't made it up to here yet.
It has always been a completely different market over £500k and under £300k (Midlands, probably lower bands in the North and higher in the South) and London market has always been different again.our house is a small two up two down with no garage
Maybe this property slow down wave will exit London and start making it's way up the UK but certainly hasn't made it up to here yet.
You only have to do a quick search on Rightmove to find say 90% of homes under £500k and less than 1% above £1m - hence there is never a "stream of buyers" ready to buy the top properties as there are never that many looking for them.
I'm South of Birmingham and there have been a few properties near me that have been for sale for over £1M that have been on the market for over 3 years !
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff