How long before first viewings?

madmish00

I've just recently put my house on the market. I had no end of bother with the estate agents taking their time about things and despite instructing them on 12th July my property only went onto the internet on 22nd July and the pictures have all since had to be changed. In addition it was supposed to be premium listed on Rightmove but that has only been sorted out today.

So now that I am finally being 'advertised' properly when should I expect to start getting viewings? Do you normally get a few when it first goes up and then it tails off or is it completely hit and miss?

I'm rather impatient really (mostly because I have found the house I want to buy and there are no others I like in the area) but just want a rough idea.

Also, we paid £98,000 in November 2006 but have completely gutted the place since (new bathroom, all new flooring, new gutters & fascias, new conservatory roof and redecorated throughout). Is it realistic to expect to get what we paid? Property is on at offers around £109,950 but we looking to accept any offer of around £102k

Cannon_Fodder

Do a search for the "on the market 9 months and no viewings" threads....

Or google the "how long is a piece of string" pictures...

If impatience is your usual approach, be prepared to have torn all your hair out by the time you complete the sale.

Whether you get what you paid will depend on area to a large extent. In London/SE/hotspots, perhaps yes. In the rest of England & Wales, perhaps not. In Northern Ireland, no chance.

tyllwyd

I'm afraid that as far as I can tell (as a potential house seller who has had 3 viewings in as many months) there is no 'normal' for the house market at the moment. Some houses are selling very quickly, but in our area lots of houses that I would have expected to sell within a few months are still being advertised.

My best advice would be to talk to your estate agent, and to do your own research on rightmove - I printed out a list of houses in our price bracket when we first went on the market, and I update it every week. It gives me an idea of whether houses are selling, whether prices are headed up or down etc

I've done a couple of threads 'how many viewings in May' and another for June - no viewings for a month is quite common.


And have a look at home.co.uk for the house price reports in your area. I'd have thought that trying to get 2006 prices may be optimistic.

PasturesNew

If there is going to be a rush, it'll be in the first two weeks. This will be the people on the EA's list, people who they have contacted or mailed details to. Also, people who have been actively looking for awhile.

After 2 weeks, you're then restricted to new registrants only, so it can go deathly quiet after the first two weeks.

Jowo_2

On the 'how long is a piece of string' front, one friend had nearly 40 viewings across 4 months, mainly upfront but plenty across the remainder of the time, and no second viewings or offers until very recently when it went for the full new asking price. Another friend put their place up for sale in a street where 2 others were up for sale at the same price as theirs, except this one had an extra bathroom and renewed roof, and got close to the asking price within 2 weeks by the 4th viewer.

madmish00

tyllwyd wrote: »

My best advice would be to talk to your estate agent, and to do your own research on rightmove - I printed out a list of houses in our price bracket when we first went on the market, and I update it every week. It gives me an idea of whether houses are selling, whether prices are headed up or down etc

That's a great idea! Thanks.

I think the problem is that the houses in my area seem to be all over the place. On our estate there is one at the same price of similar standard, one at £105k that needs lots of work and then one just gone on at £89,950 which I think is a repossession.

My estate agent has been less than helpful since I signed the contract (which is annoying because I did quite a bit of research before instructing them and they seemed the best in the area). I ended up having to redo half of the photos myself because the photographer was too busy !!!!!ing on his mobile about another customer whilst he was taking my photos. And then with the hassle I've had to get it online...think I'm going to have to hassle them every step of the way to get anything done.

And have a look at home.co.uk for the house price reports in your area. I'd have thought that trying to get 2006 prices may be optimistic.

This is what worries me. To be honest we kept putting off getting a valuation because we were expecting it to be low but 3 agents all came in at 105 -110k so thought getting our money back might be hopeful but reading some of the threads on here it does concern me.

That said, the one we are looking at bought at the top of the peak in Oct 2007 for £162k and has it on for £165k so hopefully we will be able to claw back losses at that end.

Jowo_2

madmish00 wrote: »

..

This is what worries me. To be honest we kept putting off getting a valuation because we were expecting it to be low but 3 agents all came in at 105 -110k so thought getting our money back might be hopeful but reading some of the threads on here it does concern me.

.

Some posters on this forum argue that estate agents routinely up their valuations by around 10% to try to impress the seller and get them to sign the contract. Overvaluation as a sales ploy.

Then within a few weeks, they come up with an excuse why the price should be dropped to drum up more viewings.