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

tabskitten

monkeys_bunny wrote: »

well done Spirit thats the word we all want to hear.

had my T Shirt on Thursday and today walking the 2 miles to mums house, round town & round B&Q. You never know, everything is worth a shot. Also got it on the property channel Sky 216

no one can say im not trying, just property in Bridlington isnt moving

what is the T shirt you speak of?
Am i missing something?

monkeys_bunny

I have a T Shirt with my house for sale on the back that i wear while i walking about as free advertising. Tis all

sundin13

:jWell, we're out of the blocks at last. After four weeks on the market, we've had two viewings in four days. I don't hold out much hope for either of them, as one couple can't be tracked down by the EA for feedback (though I saw them in the supermarket yesterday!), and the other couple were worried about the size of our smallest bedroom (not sure how much luck they'll have finding a house in our price range with four big bedrooms!).

What I did wonder about though, was that both of the couples had only started looking last weekend. As such, I imagine they'll have to see quite a lot of places before they get a really good sense of what their money will buy.

I'm pleased that the easter weekend and the good weather have brought the buyers out, but do you guys feel that viewers who have seen a decent number of houses previously are more in tune with what they want - ie less likely to give you false hope by being positive about the features of the house? Is it possible to 'read' viewers? Have you been surprised or not by the ones that have come back for second viewings.

Just curious

S13

mufi

We're doing viewings at the moment, and my behaviour differs if I'm interested - I ask to look again at some rooms after the initial wander around, check storage etc, and generally spend much more time looking at things carefully.

Like most, I know almost as soon as I walk in whether I'm interested or not - if not, I gallop around, don't ask questions about the house, and get out asap:D. Our buyers did the same, so we knew they were a good bet.

sundin13

mufi wrote: »

We're doing viewings at the moment, and my behaviour differs if I'm interested - I ask to look again at some rooms after the initial wander around, check storage etc, and generally spend much more time looking at things carefully.

Like most, I know almost as soon as I walk in whether I'm interested or not - if not, I gallop around, don't ask questions about the house, and get out asap:D. Our buyers did the same, so we knew they were a good bet.

See, both of our viewers have been kind of in the middle - looking at some rooms again, but not all. That's why I wonder whether its just because they're 'new' at the game - so not ruling anything out, but not sure of what it is they're after. Does that make sense?

NEH

sundin13 wrote: »

:jWell, we're out of the blocks at last. After four weeks on the market, we've had two viewings in four days. I don't hold out much hope for either of them, as one couple can't be tracked down by the EA for feedback (though I saw them in the supermarket yesterday!), and the other couple were worried about the size of our smallest bedroom (not sure how much luck they'll have finding a house in our price range with four big bedrooms!).

What I did wonder about though, was that both of the couples had only started looking last weekend. As such, I imagine they'll have to see quite a lot of places before they get a really good sense of what their money will buy.

I'm pleased that the easter weekend and the good weather have brought the buyers out, but do you guys feel that viewers who have seen a decent number of houses previously are more in tune with what they want - ie less likely to give you false hope by being positive about the features of the house? Is it possible to 'read' viewers? Have you been surprised or not by the ones that have come back for second viewings.

Just curious

S13

It would help if our one and only viewer had looked at least at the market if not other flats before viewing ours. He seemed to think it was over priced but as myself, hubby and solicitor feel he doesn't know the area very well and good luck to him if he thinks he can get something better for £10,000, £15,000 cheaper as it just doesn't exist. I think he's relocating and he just didn't know that prices are very high where we used to be..He's in for a very big shock...

not_loaded

heygringo wrote: »

…But again as I've said, it's a helluva long time since we were in this position. Do you just show 'em the lay-out, & if they seem interested, then go into detail about all the benefits that the property has. Or blast 'em straight away with every possible bit of info you've got stored in your head :mad: till they submit.:eek:
I posted the above earlier, but haven't had any comments.
spirit, you must be well placed to comment on this.

We’ve done every single one of our viewings. We start off assuming simply that they will be ‘the one that will buy’. It usually becomes fairly obvious fairly quickly that they are, or are not, interested. Nobody has ever bailed out early, but they tend to show a speeding up and ask less questions.

We don’t see it as a problem, they’ll want it or not, and there’s nothing we can do to influence their decision other than to get info from them early on about ‘what they’re looking for’ in the house, and then tilt the comments and viewing towards what they said, eg: they’ve a granny to accommodate, or three kids at primary, one of which is coming up to secondary age, etc, etc.

Asking if they’ve travelled far is important, as they may not know the area at all. Also having driven a distance, they often appreciate a ‘comfort break’ if their next viewing isn’t for another hour or so.

As regards ‘mentioning every possible bit of info’ if they are keen and showing strong interest, then tell them the relevant things. If they’re still there, they’re still interested!

sundin13 wrote: »

:jWell, we're out of the blocks at last. After four weeks on the market, we've had two viewings in four days. I don't hold out much hope for either of them, as one couple can't be tracked down by the EA for feedback (though I saw them in the supermarket yesterday!), and the other couple were worried about the size of our smallest bedroom (not sure how much luck they'll have finding a house in our price range with four big bedrooms!).
What I did wonder about though, was that both of the couples had only started looking last weekend. As such, I imagine they'll have to see quite a lot of places before they get a really good sense of what their money will buy.
I'm pleased that the easter weekend and the good weather have brought the buyers out, but do you guys feel that viewers who have seen a decent number of houses previously are more in tune with what they want - ie less likely to give you false hope by being positive about the features of the house? Is it possible to 'read' viewers? Have you been surprised or not by the ones that have come back for second viewings.
Just curious S13

I sympathise as we’ve also had quite a few viewers right at the start of their search.

Most people we’ve had viewing have been pretty honest (we think!) about where they are in the buying process. Asking them ‘what they’re looking for’ in the house is well worth doing, as it sometimes surprises us what they say, and the conversation can then focus on that.

The closer they are to the start, the more OTT expectations they sometimes seem to have. We’ve had some who want absolutely everything for very little money.

I agree with your ‘seen a decent number of houses/more in tune’ concept. I think later in their search they begin to realise that some compromises just have to be made, and that for ‘that budget’ they can’t have everything, like the four double bedrooms, the huge south facing garden, the great schools and the fabulous neighbourhood with all possible amenities nearby.

We know the local market extremely well, and precisely what’s available within a hundred grand either side of our price, so we know only too well what you can and can’t have at our price level. Not that we’d ever discuss it of course.

spirit

heygringo wrote: »

Yes, nice one spirit. :T How long did you have to endure the misery of putting your place on the market to exchanging contracts?

But again as I've said, it's a helluva long time since we were in this position. Do you just show 'em the lay-out, & if they seem interested, then go into detail about all the benefits that the property has. Or blast 'em straight away with every possible bit of info you've got stored in your head :mad: till they submit.:eek:

I posted the above earlier, but haven't had any comments.
spirit, you must be well placed to comment on this.

Hello heygringo. I put the house on the market at the beginning of September 09. The agents very quickly found me some FTBs, but they couldn't get enough mortgage, Someone else stepped in the next day and then changed her mind. Again within days someone else offered but she was dithering and I just felt that she wouldn't go the distance. I also had interest from a private buyer (who I met at my neighbours funeral), but they couldn't sell theirs and still havent.

Then Christmas happened and I had new buyers within a couple of weeks of that. 15th Feb I found a property to buy and exchanged contracts on the lot on 9th (Friday).

For me it seemed like forever. Never again though, next time I leave the house for good it will be feet first in my box!!

Re the viewings, I was never there for them. I just cleaned the house to within an inch of its life and disappeared next door.

Since the agents showed them all round, they would not have all the bits of information to "blast them with" as you say. I don't think that is entirely necessary anyway. People normally have a gut instinct about whether they like a house or not and by telling them where the stop !!!! is, what day the bins are emptied etc - is not going to make one iota of difference. If your place is in a very desirable school catchment area then they do need to know that. But they can see for themselves if you've had say new windows/kitchen etc.

If they are serious they will ask questions which if your agent doesn't know, they will ask you anyway.

Hope this helps.

PS have been busy packing -well, except for yesterday when I had a day off to go up to London to see Lion King. All work and no play and all that!

heygringo

Thanks for that spirit. From first putting your property on the market to completion seems to have been a fairly hectic 8mths. I wish I could say the same, hectic, I mean, not the 8mths bit. 5 weeks now for us & not a sniff. I rang the EA Friday last & told 'em what I thought of their marketing strategy, or rather, lack of it.
There is an irony here & that is when we tried to sell our first house way back in '72, the money/market situation was very similar to todays. We had it up for sale for a full 12mths, & the plan was to move the family to Jo'burg South Africa as I had a job/flat etc all lined up. I had to let the job & flat go & after that we took the house off the market. 1yr later, we decided to try again. We literally sold in one day to the first viewer. It was as though we were not to go to Jo'burg. Ah! well, I live in hope.
Enjoy your move & I wish well in your new home.

spirit

goldengirl28 wrote: »

well done spirit........have you go a completion date?

This Friday :eek: