To those selling in these difficult times Part Deux. AKA sellers support network!

xtra_time

monkeys_bunny wrote: »

3 weeks onthe market, is that all? be patient my dear this time of year is always slower , it wll pick up soon dont worry.

mine has been on since November.

I am hoping it picks up soon we have been on since July. Feels like we are in limbo.

monkeys_bunny

twisty wrote: »

Thanks - I wish my EA would just say that to me. I think I got excited by 4 viewings in the first week and just assumed it would continue.

Someone on here before said that their personality is not cut out for selling because they are not in control - that's me too!

its a horrible thing trying to sell a house, you have no control at all. we got a buyer and a completion date and then it all fell through, very annoying, you feel like going up to the purchasers and screaming at them ha ha

you would hate my life, im getting married in 73 days (not though im counting), selling my house and renovating a new one all at the same time. agghh

but no honestly, times are hard but when the sun starts to come out so do the buyers. Keep your chin up.

tootsmyboots

twisty wrote: »

Thanks - I wish my EA would just say that to me. I think I got excited by 4 viewings in the first week and just assumed it would continue.

I still follow this thread as we sold last year. My thoughts on the above statement is that anyone who is actively buying and keeping an eye out for new listings will have viewed now. You are now waiting for new buyers coming onto the scene - like newly sold or FTBs/downsizers whatever applies to your house.

Saying that, the house we ended up buying we had discounted at first out of hand, but agent persuaded us to look and we actually wanted it! Make sure your agent is pushing it.

We put our house on in May, changed agents in Sept and completed on NYE. People told us that was quick.
Hope to help

twisty

Thanks for the advice, I feel better about things now. Apparently our flat is ideal for downsizers as it is only a 1-bed but really big and newly-decorated. Two of our viewers have been BTL investors. One expressed interest but said they would only go up to x amount (this wasn't put to us as an offer though - do you think I should have chased it up?).

The frustrating thing is that we have already seen a couple of flats that we would be really interested in buying, but aren't yet in a position to buy.

Monkeys bunny - best of luck with everything. Sounds incredibly stressful but very exciting at the same time.

monkeys_bunny

twisty- thank you

you should chase it up, after all you are paying the estate agents, you want to let them know you are there, so to speak, dont fall below the radar of other selling buying for attention. im not saying be a pain in the bum to the agents but just remind them every now and again that you exist, chasing them on the potential offer would be a good excuse

tootsmyboots

twisty, if the amount the BTL investor mentioned is close to what you want then yes I would chase it up. Get your agent to say "would you buy it at ???K?".

Don't despair, while we were on the market I thought we would never sell, but it only takes one person to buy your house, remember that!

Also how does your price compare to same number of bedroomed properties? If you can tweak the price by £5 it might put you as the lowest priced. I know it sounds lame but every little helps!

tootsmyboots

Also dont worry about keeping yourself at the front of the agents mind by calling. I called at least once a week, I had a good relationship with my agents and joked that I would stop bothering them once they sold it! Must have worked as they did work really hard to sell it for me. In my case I do believe my agents earned their fee, unlike my first agents who lied to me and let me waste time selling to someone who had pulled out of lots of sales and cost us the best selling time of year on the market!

twisty

Also dont worry about keeping yourself at the front of the agents mind by calling.

I had almost daily contact with EA up until the end of last week, and have made a conscious decision to leave it a week or so before calling again, just to see what happens.

Also how does your price compare to same number of bedroomed properties? If you can tweak the price by £5 it might put you as the lowest priced. I know it sounds lame but every little helps!

We dropped our price from £138,950 (which was always a long-shot) to £133,950 last week. The current price is still higher than average for a one-bed in the area but still within touching distance (quite a few on between 125 and 130). We think ours is worth it though, as it has brand new bathroom and new kitchen, plus large loft space and newly decorated throughout. Plus rooms are really big (e.g. 20ft bedroom). Price is now £1k lower than all three valuations we received (all at 135).

If you're interested, here is the rightmove link http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-25082653.html?premiumA=true

The BTL investor apparently told the EA that they would not pay more than 128/130k (this was when it was on at the higher price). This info was left in a voicemail by our EA so we didn't think it counted as an offer. Think I will chase it up now though as we would consider accepting 130.

Really appreciate all your thoughts, it feels good to talk it through with somebody unconnected to my situation.

tootsmyboots

twisty, i think it looks really well finished and presented. On the subject of room sizes, they will really appeal to people who want to buy it to live in it - they are great sizes. BTL investors in our experience will look for the cheapest in the area they want, rather than big rooms. We almost sold to a BTL investor, but at the last minute they found a cheaper 2 bed house with much smaller rooms, but as they were only renting it out they didnt care about the room sizes. Have you got a rental valuation so you can have an idea of what it would be worth to an investor? The EA should be able to tell them that though.

On your link I think it looks fab. If I was going to be picky I would say:
move wheely bins out of photo. In kitchen dont have towel hanging off cooker (very nitpicky, your kitchen looks fab), in bathroom I would have just moved the mat out (again minor detail), and in the bedroom I would lose the freestanding mirror and the blanket off the top of the wardrobe. But that's only if I was being picky. It looks fab and ten time better in the pics than the house we are buying!

In terms of a BTL investor it looks really well finished and maintained so they could get tenants in straight away.
Hope that helps to reassure you that the house looks fab. Have you checked against comparable SOLD prices in the area?

Good luck with chasing the interest from the BTL.

jangor_2

Hope I can join in. My house has been on the market since January. I had three viewers the first week and none since. I have been in touch with the EA several times who tells me a couple are interested but cannot sell their own property. When I asked whether the price should be reduced or I should consider renting (the house is empty) they replied that I shouldn't go down either of these paths yet. However I am also renting and with an empty property this is a drain on my finances. I am just not sure what to think.