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

Malystryx

Hello to everyone who has joined in recently and congrats to anyone who has had a sale. Sorry I haven't posted for a while but it's been very hectic this past week. So here's an update.

The guy that came round for a viewing last week (the one who said that someone had taken out a loan in his name but knew nothing about it) never came back for a second viewing. However he did phone the EA saying he was very interested, but there were a few issues on the home report that were concering him. My DH had conducted the viewing and did tell him that the problems on the home report had been repaired but obviously he wants proof. Can't blame him. As this is a council tenement consisting of 3 council and 3 private flats there is a mutual agreement for the council to conduct repairs and we pay our share. So we contacted the council asking for receipts but, surprise, surprise (typical council) they said that they do not issue receipts or proof of works carried out :mad:

So we contacted our surveyor who did the original report and he came out and redid the survey for us at no charge We received the amended report by snail-mail the next day. However we are STILL waiting for the EA to send the amended report as they keep insisting that they haven't received the survey by email yet. Apparently this guy has phoned 3 times asking for the report and now he is in London and won't be back till Wednesday. Have contacted surveyor's office and they emailed it to EA today.

This is worse than waiting for viewings. I hope after all this he's still genuinely interested as he must think we've been giving him the runaround.

As for viewings had a BTL couple last Monday but they said it's not close enough to centre of town for them (we are only 10 min walk from town centre!) and we have another viewing for Saturday.

PHEW!!

Malystryx

spookytoy wrote: »

does anyone have an idea of how quick the market in Aberdeenshire is? . my last sale was at the height of the boom and in Aberdeen city so sold within 2 weeks!

As far as I know everywhere in Aberdeen and the shire is quiet at the moment. We're selling in Aberdeen and we've been on the market for about 2 months now. Just hang in there if you can. I'm sure you'll get a buyer sooner or later

tyllwyd

Malystryx wrote: »

As far as I know everywhere in Aberdeen and the shire is quiet at the moment. We're selling in Aberdeen and we've been on the market for about 2 months now. Just hang in there if you can. I'm sure you'll get a buyer sooner or later

Have a look at the house prices report for your area on home.co.uk - there is lots of statistics about time on market, and cute graphs with the number of houses sold, which is quite fun for giving an idea of whether your area is busy or not. Only thing is, the sold data obviously relates to a few months ago, and certainly in the last two or three months things seem to be all over the place.

tyllwyd

I'm a bit down today - a house further down the road from us, on with the same estate agent and for pretty much the same amount of time as us went under offer yesterday. It's stupid, because that house is a 2 bed semi and ours is 4 bed detached, so a different market completely, but I can't help thinking that no-one likes our house! But we had a kids party here on Sunday and all the mums were saying what a lovely garden we've got, and the big family room at the back of the house - people love this house when they actually come here to see it!

Blodwen

Bit of an update - our EA took a viewer round yesterday while we were at work, and has rung me this morning, which I assumed would be feedback. He wanted to confirm a viewing today - I thought I'd got the wrong day, except that I know someone had been round yesterday as doors open etc! It turns out the guy from yesterday wants a second viewing today. I suspect it's to rent out to students, as I asked EA if there had been any feedback and he said all he knows atm is it seems to be between ours and 2 flats at the same price. I don't want to get my hopes up as it'll probably turn out to be nothing but can't help it!

tyllwyd wrote: »

I'm a bit down today - a house further down the road from us, on with the same estate agent and for pretty much the same amount of time as us went under offer yesterday. It's stupid, because that house is a 2 bed semi and ours is 4 bed detached, so a different market completely, but I can't help thinking that no-one likes our house! But we had a kids party here on Sunday and all the mums were saying what a lovely garden we've got, and the big family room at the back of the house - people love this house when they actually come here to see it!

Can sympathise twyllyd - lots of people say how nice ours is when you get inside. Maybe your agent could try and twist people's arms a bit just to view, even if it meant calling in after another viewing?

tyllwyd

Blodwen wrote: »

It turns out the guy from yesterday wants a second viewing today. ... I don't want to get my hopes up as it'll probably turn out to be nothing but can't help it!

Can sympathise twyllyd - lots of people say how nice ours is when you get inside. Maybe your agent could try and twist people's arms a bit just to view, even if it meant calling in after another viewing?

Fingers crossed for your second viewing ...

Yes, I do trust our agent to be pro-active in trying to get the house sold, but it is all about getting people through the door which just isn't happening at the moment. I worry that the house doesn't look so good on rightmove - for example, it hasn't got a garage, but it has got off-street parking and three sheds (and room for more if you were that way inclined!) which is what most people actually need but perhaps that is not clear unless you come & see the house.

Blodwen

tyllwyd wrote: »

Fingers crossed for your second viewing ...

Yes, I do trust our agent to be pro-active in trying to get the house sold, but it is all about getting people through the door which just isn't happening at the moment. I worry that the house doesn't look so good on rightmove - for example, it hasn't got a garage, but it has got off-street parking and three sheds (and room for more if you were that way inclined!) which is what most people actually need but perhaps that is not clear unless you come & see the house.

Thanks - luckily I only work 10 mins walk from home so just took an early lunch and nipped back to do a quick tidy up. Glad I did as OH had left his pants on the floor

Twyllyd - could you add any more photos that might emphasise the potential, such a a pic of the parking area?

Hi Louise, welcome to the thread Agreed it is very helpful!

tyllwyd

Blodwen wrote: »

Twyllyd - could you add any more photos that might emphasise the potential, such a a pic of the parking area?

Unfortunately, a picture of the parking area is likely to put people off even more! It's quite scuffy looking concrete, and a proper job would be to dig it all up, build a little wall and put down paviours - it could be done but you'd need to get the builders in. It is definitely a weak point but is difficult to balance the money we'd need to spend sorting it against the price we might get for the house. If we don't sell this summer we might end up doing it in the end.

NEH

tawse57 wrote: »

I personally think that many EAs over-value properties just to get houses on their books - and sellers are all to happy to believe the valuation... and then the house sits there for months or even years... reluctantly gradually reducing the price until you get to a line where you are not prepared to drop the price any more... and the EA wholeheartedly agrees with you... but the cold harsh reality is that the price is still way over value.

Sorry to brutal but that is the reality of the UK housing market currently.

EAs and sellers are in denial.

The CGT rise on second homes will just see properties flood on to the market which will inevitably drive down prices further. The US and Eire have seen house prices drop by 50% and they are still falling, same for Spain, and the only reason it has not happened here in the UK, yet, is because Gordon Brown bankrupted the country by printing hundreds of billions, kept interest rates at basically zero and hired millions of public sector workers... and in doing so created the biggest housing bubble in history.

If you are still reading this then read on... I am not saying this to rub your noses in it but to perhaps give you a dose of reality and a wake-up call. The housing market is only going to get worse IMPO as job losses mount, interest rates inevitably rise and second home owners sell up.

Perhaps dropping the price to a realistic price to sell now is the sensible thing to do. I would rather sell and take less than be forced to take much, much less in 6 or 12 or 18 months.

In the US and Eire now no one is even thinking about buying property - they have had enough and within a few years many in Britain will be feeling the same.

Or you can ignore this and listen to the EAs who will tell you what you want to hear just to keep you on their books in the hope of making money out of you.

This is not advice but just personal comment - make up your own mind.

I appreciate that people such as this have their opinion that we all causing our own homes not to sell and we should drop drop drop....but I wish that people such as you would accept that we are intelligent people on this board and that we don't just do what the EA or Solictor tell us to do, we make an informed decision based on land registry data and we are no gullible fools...

rosered100 wrote: »

I use this one when I do my own conveyancing http://www.oyezformslink.co.uk/forms/templates/05182.pdf - it goes into more detail of what is required.


Well we got in touch with letting agents & had one around this morning with the result of a viewing this afternoon (it's a 'no' as we dont have a utility room). Lo & behold our selling agent (who doesnt know that we're thinking about renting out now instead) has come up with a couple of viewers for tomorrow!
We'd still rather sell as we've been told that any rental agreement would be for 3 years!! And after paying mortgage , costs & tax there is little money left & thats with a mortgage rate of 2.5%, so not sure I'd want to tie in to that kind of deal for so long but if the market really is in the doldrums at least it would stop a repossession as we have to find rent money for where we are moving to & the cheapest rent is 3X the mortgage we're paying now. At least I've stopped feeling depressed after the non exchange last week as I feel that there is at least another option even if not ideal.
Well done to those that have managed to exchange - it's a big sigh of relief once you know the buyer has definitely committed.

3 years, why would it be 3? We looked into our flat being rented out and there was no 3 year clause. It is your mortgage company putting that restriction on?

spookytoy wrote: »

hi folks,
Jumping onto this board for some moral support .

Story so far:
decided start of the year to sell the house as its too big for me n the other half and work has been slowing recently over the past year or so, recession hitting us hard but just managing to keep our heads (just) above the water.

Bought it in 2007 for £180k, Spent approx £5k replacing windows etc.
Currently valued at £175k so already £10k down but have approx £35k in equity still left in the property.

When first bought the property we had a lodger/friends but he moved out and for the past 18 months we have been unable to find a lodger even at just £250 a month all in!

House went on the market end of April,
One person has collected a schedule from the EA, about 10 people have viewed the home report on the ASPC ( solicitors centre) but only had 1 viewing over 2 weeks ago that the EA hasnt managed to get feedback from.

Our house is slightly 'different' as its based in a rural village which is classed as a commuter town to Aberdeen, but the property is two cottaged knocked together giving a 5 bedroom, 2 kitchen, 2 bathroom, 2 living room property!. With a HUGE garden area.

Anyway we are both getting to the stage of just wanting it all over as 4 weeks ago we found our ideal property which is sitting empty , well within our new budget (50% of current ) as it was repossesed July 2009 and sitting on the market unloved.

does anyone have an idea of how quick the market in Aberdeenshire is? . my last sale was at the height of the boom and in Aberdeen city so sold within 2 weeks! .

will keep folks posted as to what happens and when........

cheers for reading my wee rant.... Gordon.

Another one from Aberdeen, we're getting popular on here! :rotfl:


Well we don't live there anymore but we're selling our flat there...

Basically in real terms, FTB are few and far between, there in seems to be the problem which is causing problems for people further up in the chain...

In Aberdeen and surrounding areas it appears the market is slow particulary for flats and middle range houses but as yours is a bigger property you may be lucky as i have heard that the more exclusive and bigger properties seem to be selling a little bit more quickly...

Our flat has been on for nearly 5 months with only 2 viewings so it is a case of hanging in there. Summer will probably be much quieter with people being on holiday etc...

I know the snows and election put people off viewing properties for a while...


Well we have jsut returned from viewing properties in the very far North of Scotland. I think we are scouring every part of Scotland just to find a rental property....

Anyway we found one house, perfect lcoation but the house in my opinion is dingy and dark and I can't help it as much as I want to like it because of the location I can't.....It was made much worse yesterday when the landlady bascially offered us it


Than we got home and out of the 4 flats for sale including ours in the 200 yards, someone has gone and bought the one with timber problems....I can only hope that they have put in a silly ridiculous offer and that's why it's gone as I can't understand why anyone would choose a rot infested flat to save £3000-£5000 and it's the worse looking block of flats out of the two....:huh:

monkeys_bunny

just got back from 2 weeks honeymoon and, yep, you guessed it, nothing, nadda, not one phone call about the house. great!