Is this a good or bad time to sell?

lizzyshep

I bought my 1 bed flat in East London in November 2005, and I'm thinking of selling and moving in with my partner. I know I need to get my flat valued before I can make any decisions, but was wondering what the general state of the market is at the moment. Is now a good time to sell, in that there are enough people looking to buy? Or should I sit tight for a bit? I want to hand in my notice at work because I am desperately unhappy and it's making me ill - this won't be until September but as money will be tight, I want to sell my flat so we only have one mortgage to pay - the longer I keep my flat, the worse my financial situation is likely to get.

Also, when is the best time to put my flat on the market, and how long do they usually take to sell? If I'm going to leave my job in September, should I put my flat on the market now?

Any advice is welcomed.

John_V85

In London at least (I just concluded the purchase of a place) I get the impression that there is excess demand, so if you have the right property at the right price I would suspect now is as good a time as any to sell.

surreybased

Hi,

Generally there is high demand at the moment although FTBs still struggling to get on the market due to credit issues which may cause house prices to decline. Hard to say if yours will sell quickly, price will be the key. Assuming you had a really quick sale, then you're looking at 6 weeks, realistically it's more like 12 weeks from offer. Get the EAs around to value and look at what is selling in your area. If you have the option to sell and move in with your partner I would do it asap.

ackaboosie

Wow confusing :S

Fire_Fox

lizzyshep wrote: »

I bought my 1 bed flat in East London in November 2005, and I'm thinking of selling and moving in with my partner. I know I need to get my flat valued before I can make any decisions, but was wondering what the general state of the market is at the moment. Is now a good time to sell, in that there are enough people looking to buy? Or should I sit tight for a bit? I want to hand in my notice at work because I am desperately unhappy and it's making me ill - this won't be until September but as money will be tight, I want to sell my flat so we only have one mortgage to pay - the longer I keep my flat, the worse my financial situation is likely to get.

Also, when is the best time to put my flat on the market, and how long do they usually take to sell? If I'm going to leave my job in September, should I put my flat on the market now?

Any advice is welcomed.

Many estate agents will overvalue a property to get your business. You can value the flat perfectly well yourself, just look at land registry sold prices of similar units in your block and area:
https://www.houseprices.co.uk

London is a big place, it is impossible to generalise about demand as it varies from area to area depending on whether the market is saturated with identikit one bedroom flats or not. If you are realistic about price then your flat will sell, tho it will still take a few months as queries to the freeholder/ management company about service charges and major works are usually slow.

If you quit your job you may not be entitled to any benefits - why don't you start looking for alternative employment, even it is at a lower level? There is always loads of work in London, you will find bar work or shop work if you flood the area with copies of your CV. Otherwise go off sick if you need to and let the company make your redundant. The alternative is to investigate getting consent to lease from your lender and letting the flat, but do your research so you don't get caught by professional tenants.

lizzyshep

Thanks for the advice all. I think I'll do the flat up over the summer and get it valued - my fixed price mortgage runs until the end of November so I don't want to complete until then anyway. I'll get paid until the end of August in my current job and hopefully will find something for September - I'm currently sorting out my CV and looking at temp agencies, as well as trying to make some contacts. I'm not allowed to let the flat out, so hopefully I'll be able to sell it this year. I'm just praying I'm not in negative equity.