Wanting to take property off the Market

FireWyrm

WineDarkSea wrote: »

Blimey, not wanting to sell due in part to it being impossible to keep the house presentable is no reason for prescription drugs. Selling in itself is not overwhelming, it's stressful at any time but it's just not financial sensible and we don't need to.

I'm well aware of the house Market but the London bubble is not so badly off and we bought in 2010 so just as the market was picking up again from the bottom. According to the agent the prices have risen in the last two years. But if they haven't it doesn't matter we just don't need to sell.

Your original post was hinting at it being more than a little difficult to continue with the process. I was raising a possible reason and potential solution. I dont know you, but I do know that it took 6 months for me to recover after the birth of my second child and it was a shock to realise that something was actually wrong with me. In fact, I refused to acknowledge anything was wrong until physically sat down by my husband and given chapter and verse as to why I wasnt behaving normally. Even low levels of hormone imbalance can cause issues and its not something that you have to suffer with if you think there may just be the possibility of a problem. Gone are the days when women are expected to be wonder woman and keep a stiff upper lip no matter what. Medical science now acknowledges the issues sometimes experienced post-partum and it was a possibility I wanted to raise in your mind, if only to ask the question and answer it honestly with yourself.

If you honestly dont think of this as an issue, then discount it and examine other options for a resolution. The Market is depressed, full stop. Even in London, there have been drops overall and it was always a mistake to assume that house prices would continue to appareciate indefinately. Presumably, the reasons why you put the house on the market in the first place? Those reasons must still apply.

Alternatively, its only been a few months and most sellers are reporting fewer than expected viewings in that time. Potentially, you could just sit tight and do very little. The house remains 'on the market' for the forseeable future....or, you pay the cancellation charge and try again later when you are feeling more able to deal with the process.

hazyjo

If you are in the London area, why on earth sign up with an agent who charges a cancellation fee? What percentage of sale price are you paying for their fee? Did you negotiate on anything? Contract term, fee, etc? How many weeks are you actually signed in for? If you've only been with them less than a month, if they're the type to charge £500 to quit, they're probably also tying you in with a 16+ week contract!

Not much will go at asking price. Are you selling as a 'fixed price'? If you don't have those words (which would probably be ignored anyway - I certainly wouldn't take much notice), I can't see how you expect to achieve the asking price.

Are you selling around a stamp duty threshold? That could well be dragging the value down.

Good luck.

Jx

jjlandlord

WineDarkSea wrote: »

If the valuations had come up at even £10k less I would not have agreed.

Is your property that cheap that 10k is a big difference?
You seem to have had unrealistic expectation: whatever valuation, did you really expect to easily sell at full asking price?
We still don't know why you wanted to sell. 10-20k is not a reason unless property is very cheap.

Whatever you contract states as termination fee you will have to pay the agent for the work they did.
It's not their fault if you don't know what you're doing, and nothing suggests that they did not do their job properly.

martinsurrey

jjlandlord wrote: »

Again, you should have thought of that before hiring someone to sell your house.
Seems to me that you don't even know why you instructed an agent in the first place!

they instucted an agent who said "I am confidant i can get £XXX for your house."

Turns out he was wrong and maybe if the agent wants to get paid HE should have thought about the valuation before he accepted the instruction.

WineDarkSea

The contract is a stitch up - I was stupid and researched it once things started going iffy. It's a 15 week contract and termination fee would be almost £500. We aren't fussed about selling with another agent or privately until the new year at the earliest. Although we'd happy to if they did happen to get an offer. My thinking is that they would save time/money by not marketing our property when they don't believe they will achieve asking price and I won't accept much less (Id accept £5k less but didn't admit it). I'm only contracted to accept asking price.

Or I just sit it out and let the contract end with notice given 28 days before. Then we are free to approach another agent and negotiate a better deal with a better service and perhaps the Market will pick up. We have imrpoved the flat so we probably will lose money as we hadn't planned to move but husband moved jobs so we are moving away from London, it's an hour commute so not a massive issue but price of petrol is hefty.

Cara79

Well I guess you could stipulate viewings can only happen on a Monday, weds, sat etc etc or whatever

Also I'd be very surprised if anyone offered asking price. I would imagine (depending on price of ur property) people will look to offer around 10% less. You may be able to negotiate up tho

Having said that if u r getting lots of viewings, that's positive, so would indicate your agent is doing well at getting people round?

What feedback has been given??

jjlandlord

martinsurrey wrote: »

Turns out he was wrong and maybe if the agent wants to get paid HE should have thought about the valuation before he accepted the instruction.

OP said that 3 agents gave similar valuations...
Valuations are never a guaranteed price, but an expectation based on past sales.

OP gets 0 sympathy from me.

DRP

jjlandlord wrote: »

Is your property that cheap that 10k is a big difference?
You seem to have had unrealistic expectation: whatever valuation, did you really expect to easily sell at full asking price?
We still don't know why you wanted to sell. 10-20k is not a reason unless property is very cheap.

Whatever you contract states as termination fee you will have to pay the agent for the work they did.
It's not their fault if you don't know what you're doing, and nothing suggests that they did not do their job properly.

Not if there is no charge specified in the contract.

jjlandlord

DRP wrote: »

Not if there is no charge specified in the contract.

Well, luckily it states £500 termination fee.

WineDarkSea

Yes I know I was stupid. I just thought they'd sell and it didn't matter. I was happy to pay. All three agents were confident, one more so than this and one suggested a slightly higher asking price. Yep stamp duty is the issue and stamp duty will be an issue for us buying so yep £10k stamp duty to pay means £10k is a lot of money. Obviously if we had to sell it could be ignored. We don't need to sell so why make a financial disadvantageous move?