Advice needed on selling house!!!!

Nenen

Personally I'd be a bit worried about a situation where a 'friend' was giving a couple money to buy a house! I may be more than a little cynical but that definitely sounds odd to me (although anyone with £110,000 to give away is welcome to be my friend)!
Has your EA checked out the situation? I hate to be so pessimistic but I would be very suspicious that they might well mess you about and get right to exchange and then the 'friend' will either miraculously disappear or only be willing to 'give' substantially less trying to force you to drop the price.

I think that given the current difficulties in the housing market you'd be VERY lucky to get anywhere near asking price and, given your family circumstances, I think that in your shoes I would drop the price and try to sell asap before prices fall any further. I do wish you the very best of luck.

Natty082

Put my flat on the market last December for £118K - Had 2 viewings in first week

Had an offer 20K below asking price - said NO (on the advice of the EA may I add!). No viewings since despite droping price and now seriously regretting saying NO

hoggums

annodam - we are in a unprecidented period of history - long established banks going bust, LIBOR rates have shot up by over 1% overnight recently - so the credit crunch is far from over and lending in my view is likely to get tighter again.

This, plus an inevitable recession with job losses can only mean one thing - lower house prices.

In my view you have 2 options.

1) sell your house now. 110K means you only lose a little money on the house. You are NOT going to make a profit on it now. Personally I would bite their hands off to take the offer

2) Rent it/keep it. Taking this option means you are in it for the long term - but what it your situation changes and you need to sell it?

In my view - take the known option. Sell it, get out, because you don't want to be in the position of needing to sell it when it's only "worth" 95K.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

The OP forgets that at this point, they can just about get out with their money back. If they can haggle just a little with the cash buyer, I reckon they should take the money and run away very fast.

annodam

Thanks everyone, i have pushed your thanks buttons.

We will take all this advice into consideration and see if they come back with another offer. Were not interested in making profit at this point just breaking even so will defo take all this to heart.

NENEN - the friend has been checked out by EA, they have the cash to hand, wealthy business man.

GDB2222 - thanks, wish id known about counter offers at first, maybe my EA should have advised?!!??

Jorgan_2

The EA would be obliged to check out the 'cash buyer' and ask for proof of cash, i.d. & address under the money laundering/anti-terrorism/proceeds of crime legislation.

Incisor

Jorgan wrote: »

The EA would be obliged to check out the 'cash buyer' and ask for proof of cash, i.d. & address under the money laundering/anti-terrorism/proceeds of crime legislation.

Debatable. AFAICS, the EA is not obliged. For one thing, the EA and the buyer have no financial relationship. Buyer has about as much right to ask EA for equivalent details from seller. Buyer's solicitor will make these checks.

It amazes me how we allow ourselves to be pushed around by EA's and the like interpreting the law without a solid foundation. Remember, the EA is not a party to the transaction.

GDB2222

annodam wrote: »

Thanks everyone, i have pushed your thanks buttons.

We will take all this advice into consideration and see if they come back with another offer. Were not interested in making profit at this point just breaking even so will defo take all this to heart.

NENEN - the friend has been checked out by EA, they have the cash to hand, wealthy business man.

GDB2222 - thanks, wish id known about counter offers at first, maybe my EA should have advised?!!??

By the way, I wouldn't have just accepted their offer - bitten their hand off as people put it - even if I really wanted to. It makes you look weak and so more liable to be gazundered later.

DarkKnight28

GDB2222 wrote: »

By the way, I wouldn't have just accepted their offer - bitten their hand off as people put it - even if I really wanted to. It makes you look weak and so more liable to be gazundered later.

Absolutely - it's about striking a deal that suits BOTH parties. I know it's your house and probably the most expensive thing 99% of people will ever own, but that's no reason to treat it like anything else. Sell it a bit like you would sell a car:

Accept an offer that you are comfortable with
Polish it and shine it etc to make it appeal
Remind them of the benefits of the house - location, can be expanded etc and why it is better than the house round the corner
When I sold mine (privately through a private sales site I might add, saving on EA fees) I drew up some attractive 'property particulars'. these reminded people of the property once they got back in their car, but most of all created an impression that I was serious and professional - which CAN give an extended positive impression of the house/house sale process.

SouthCoast

If you can break even, take the money and run.

How much is your property value depreciating every week?
Add to this your holding costs: interest on the debts, council tax, heating, water, insurance, etc, etc.