Nightmare house move

alann_2

We am having a nightmare time selling my house.

We agreed to buy a new-build in September with a move in date of March.

Our house went on the market at the end of September and the first Agent never bothered much. They made loads of spelling mistakes on both the schedule and the web. They advertised the wrong price on the window and got us 1 viewer in 3 months (Till Christmas). We changed Agent in December

Our new agent has had 1 viewer over in the last month and nothing since Christmas. Is everyone finding the market slow ?

Our house is on a new estate . Its the same as everybody elses is and has been great for us

The price is now £1000 lower than our comparable rivals anything anyone recommends?

We are now having to look into bridging it seemed like such a long time to get a sale back in September.

dander

I'm afraid I don't know what's it like for sellers right now, I finally completed on my place a few weeks ago now. But I did have a hell of a job selling. The best tip I can give you is to keep pushing the estate agent. Remember how much you are going to end up paying them - you deserve a decent service.

Don't put up with shoddy details. Check everything - and go in there with all your corrections and sit in the office while they correct them. Don't be afraid to re-word them, or add in selling points you feel they've missed. If you're not happy with the photos, demand they take new ones. Ask the estate agent if your house is in the paper - if not, why not? Phone them regularly asking if there are any potentials - if no - what's their feedback on why? Ask them how many people are viewing in your price range. Ask to see the details of other properties in the same price range - what do they have that yours doesn't? Don't be afraid to push them until they are sick of the sight of you!

Although, if the problem is that no-one is viewing at the moment, there are limits to what you can do. Since it's a new build you're buying - do the developer offer any kind of estate agency deal? The one way you can always sell a house is to price it really attractively. Being £1k less than your rivals isn't really enough for people to take notice, but being £5k or even £10k less makes people think it's an incredible bargain. But of course - that depends on you having that kind of flexibility in price - which most of us don't!

I really feel for you. I know exactly what it's like - it took me 10 months in total to sell my place. Including one aborted sale, and one lost house of my dreams. It's a tough tough market out there these days.

distilled

How could you agree to buy a new build when you hadn't sold your current house?

alann_2

Dander thanks for the advice. Still have a little time. Once things heat up a little I will probably reduce the price. Its not in the papers (They want £200) I don't think its worth it when there doesnt seem to be any interest.

We can probably afford the bridge for a month or two but not a price reduction and a bridge.

Doozergirl

How long has your comparable rival been on the market?

Newspaper advertising is incredibly valuble. I've never been with an agent that didn't include advertising in the local paper as standard. In fact, with my current sale, we had an ad every other week for free.

New build canbe difficult as, if your area is anywhere like mine, we are surrounded by brand new builds, often with exactly the same house designs as the owners now selling 'second hand'. The papers are so full of 4 bed executive detached houses I wouldn't know where to start.

Ultimately, if people are getting your property details, no viewings means your price is too high for what you are offering. People vote with their feet!

exil

Look up the Land Registry website to see what similar houses in your area have sold for recently.