How many people view / offer on houses before they have sold??

quietheart

We've had our house on the market for 3 wks and have had 7 viewings but no offers. Our estate agent has said this is the quietest they've been for years, (possible world cup fever?) but a house has come up that is perfect for us, we've asked for a viewing though we didn't want to do it this way around.
Just wondered how often people buy before selling, does it ever work out or should we just put it out of our minds, the house we want will go fast, it's on a really popular road that rarely has houses for sale.....

Jorgan_2

The chances of securing the property without selling your own will be slim. Would you accept an offer from somebody who hasn't sold. The vendor will probably acknowledge your offer & keep it on the market. The best you can hope for is the vendor agrees to take the property off the market for a period of time, say two weeks to try & give you a chance to sell. If you don't ask you won't get.

Be careful that you don't offer to high to try & secure the property you want & then accept a low offer on your own property. For example, the property you want is up for £250k, you offer the asking price to try & secure it, had you waited until you had an offer on your own you would be in a stronger position & may be able to secure it for £240-245k. You are marketing your property for £150k with a view of getting £145k but receive an offer of £140k, you are desperate not to loose your dream home so accept the offer. By offering before you have agreed a sale, you have just cost yourself £10k.

quietheart

That is exactly what I'm in danger of doing - are you some kind of mind-reader?!;) Heart ruling head and all that.........

Jorgan_2

rovers wrote:

That is exactly what I'm in danger of doing - are you some kind of mind-reader?!;) Heart ruling head and all that.........

Not a mine reader, just an agent so I deal with this sorting of thing on a regular basis. What feedback have you got from the viewings you have had on yours?

quietheart

Everyone has been positive about the presentation, it's a 3 bed terrace (inc. loft conversion). There's a downstairs bathroom so 2 viewers have said it's too far from the third bedroom, said it was too overlooked at the back (fair point), others said bit too small for what they wanted. It's got lots of original features and looks good, we went mid price from the valuations (£172,500). I guess you're going to tell me it's overpriced!

Jorgan_2

No idea if its overpriced, I don't know what properties sell for in your area or what the local housing market is like. 7 viewings in 3 weeks isn' to bad at the moment, what with the World Cup.

Gorgeous_George

£169,950 would seem a better number to have your house marketed at. Only £2,550 less but sounds a lot less.

When I moved last time, I saw the house I wanted and made an offer then I put my house on the market with the same agents (at a reduced fee). An offer came in at £5K below asking price. and then the poker game started. Although keen to accept the offer I said that the house hadn't been on the market very long (about 2 weeks) and that I would wait for an higher offer. Next dat, I was offered £2.5K below asking price and repeated that I woould wait for a while.Two days later they gave me an asking price offer which I reluctantly accepted .

In the meantime I'd offered £25K less than asking price for the house I wanted and they eventually accepted £21K less than asking price.

My cash buyer had sold and moved in with her daughter while the house I was buying was empty awaiting probate. It was probably the smoothest move ever but the house needed a lot of work!

The trick is to maximise your sale and minimise your buy. Keep your options open by not looking too keen to buy or sell.



GG

terrierlady

its not the quanity but the quality of viewers are they proceedable and ready to move? lots of people look before they put theirs on the market and once they find something think thats the right time, horse before cart i know but thats how it sometimes works.can be dis heartening to know someone really wants yours but cant do anything about it.

quietheart

Gorgeous_George wrote:

£169,950 would seem a better number to have your house marketed at. Only £2,550 less but sounds a lot less.

When I moved last time, I saw the house I wanted and made an offer then I put my house on the market with the same agents (at a reduced fee). An offer came in at £5K below asking price. and then the poker game started. Although keen to accept the offer I said that the house hadn't been on the market very long (about 2 weeks) and that I would wait for an higher offer. Next dat, I was offered £2.5K below asking price and repeated that I woould wait for a while.Two days later they gave me an asking price offer which I reluctantly accepted .

In the meantime I'd offered £25K less than asking price for the house I wanted and they eventually accepted £21K less than asking price.

My cash buyer had sold and moved in with her daughter while the house I was buying was empty awaiting probate. It was probably the smoothest move ever but the house needed a lot of work!

The trick is to maximise your sale and minimise your buy. Keep your options open by not looking too keen to buy or sell.



GG

So you do think £169,950 is psychologically much better then? We are considering it but don't want to keep reducing.
I think you got lucky with your move, haven't heard many stories like that one!:T