DIARY OF A HOUSE SALE - in a "static" house price part of the country

phoebe1989seb

I agree with many of the varied points made on your thread Money.....

1) We were not prepared to go into rented when we moved to completely new areas both in 2007 and 2011, mainly due to our amount of *stuff* (originally moving from a crammed-full 3500 sq ft house - our large potted plants alone numbered around 60 - and we also had a six-seater hot tub to move as our buyers didn't want it), the costs involved (over £4000 the first time ) plus the welfare of our three cats.

2) That said, if one is encumbered with far less *stuff* I concur that selling first, then going into rented in the chosen new area before committing to that area is a very good idea. Our first move some 160 miles (from the South Coast to Essex/Suffolk borders) turned out badly and in hindsight if we could have *tried before we bought* we would not have made such a costly mistake!

3) With regard to buying before you sell, in our experience this can be fraught with problems too. When we put our last house on the market at the end of Feb 2011 we had a couple view the very first day. I should point out that our house was a complete one-off - a Tudor building that had been dismantled in the 1930s, moved some 50 or so miles, re-erected and extended by the new owner who was a master builder teaching his sons his craft in the process. It formed part of a *model village* (no, not the miniature kind, LOL!) which remained unfinished at the intervention of WW2. Instead an estate of post-war much smaller bungalows grew up around it and it became a bit of an oddity - large, full of original features, yet unlisted and considered a bit weird by most of the locals. To sum up, it wasn't everyone's cup of tea and any potential viewers were just as likely to be *having a nose* - as indeed one couple admitted, likening it to a film set and wanting to know if it was haunted!

Anyhoo, back to that first viewing couple - having told our EA we wanted proceedable viewers only (had priced very realistically in order to achieve a quick sale to move back closer to ageing parents), these first people had yet to put their (local) house on the market. We were somewhat exasperated, but pleased they loved the house so much they said they would be instructing our EA the next day. They did do just that and followed it up with an offer, which of course we were delighted with but couldn't take too seriously as bog-standard 1930s houses (which theirs was, albeit detached and beautifully presented) were just not selling. Our EA explained to them that whilst we would bear their offer in mind we couldn't accept it, especially as we wanted to move ASAP.

Whilst we didn't have masses of viewings (most likely because most people moving to/within that area wanted something smaller/modern/easier to maintain) we did get a good offer before the end of the second week, from a couple living outside the area who were under offer themselves in a chain of three. Fortunately for us this couple wanted to move fast and within less than three months of going to market we had completed on both our sale and our new purchase. The first couple steadfastly kept theirs on the market in the hope (according to our EA) that our buyers would pull out - three months down the line they had yet to sell and once we'd completed they withdrew from the market......

4) Regarding our own buying before selling experience - a week prior to marketing our house a dilapidated farmhouse in our chosen area (200 miles away) had gone up for auction. We were extremely disappointed that the timing didn't pan out and were therefore excited to find out a couple of weeks later that it hadn't sold. We contacted the auction house that were marketing the property and expressed our interest, but the auction house were not prepared to let anyone view that wasn't in a position to proceed immediately. The very same weekend we accepted an offer on ours and contacted the auction house on the Monday only to hear it too had been subject to an offer. Despite our repeated attempts they wouldn't allow us to view it. We later found out that not only did the sale complete several days after our own sale/purchase (so we could have been quicker), but that it sold for £40k below the figure we would have offered

Despite all of this, it may well be that in an area such as yours Money, where you say the market is moving ok, you may find a property in your new area, get yours on the market (you're ready to go, after all!) and sell within days enabling you to achieve your desire........but as other posters have said, expecting a vendor to hold on indefinitely whilst a buyer is found for yours is unlikely to happen.

I do wish you well though - you may stumble across a hidden gem (as we later did) and manage to tie everything in timing-wise after all

moneyistooshorttomention

There's always going to be an element of luck in any house purchase/sale isnt there Phoebe?

I've turned out to have a sense of timing that has served me well in other contexts and downright unnerved a few people - ie when they spotted me turning up at just exactly the right time for me and that was not something they wanted:rotfl:. I've often thought "Thank goodness I chose that day/week/month to do that...as if I'd picked earlier or later it would have turned out worse than it did"

So, I'll just have to hope that my luck holds on that timing front - goodness knows timing is one of the few ways I DO get lucky in my experience:cool:

I do have quite a bit of "stuff" - another reason I wouldnt want to do rented. I also have this feeling that "timing" will prove a bigger problem than they think it will for many people who've sold and gone into rented and some will then find that the rented place turns out not to be temporary after all:eek:. I'm not going to put myself in that position - I shall go from owning this house at the beginning of the day, to owning the next house at the end of the day and not take those sort of risks with my hard-earned...I know most people won't see it as a risk right now, but I do...

I've taken note as to how long it would appear reasonable to have a buyer wait for mine and will bear it in mind.

Right now, I am wondering whether to take heart from a "for sale" sign having vanished from a nearby house. Does that mean he has sold it finally I ask myself? If so, thats good news to me, as he is asking the same price as I will be for my house and mine is one room bigger (ie good news for how fast my house should go if so). He has had to wait some time for his sale, because of the price he put it on at in the first place and I dont know whether he factored in extra to allow for the "automatic try for a 10% discounters" or whether he was being more hopeful than me (because he has come from a "posher" background than mine - I have been to a party in his last house, so know what sort of house he is aiming to go back up to....) whereas I'm after the type of house I know (somewhere half way between his previous house and this current house).

moneyistooshorttomention

Update - the sound of crackling to be heard is "bridges burning".

Deed done and email just sent to estate agents telling them the exact date I want my property to start being marketed for sale.

Gone for it a little bit earlier than I would have of myself - because of the amount of family pressure I am experiencing to stay in this area. Hence putting it up on "unstoppable motion mode" now to help deal with these family pressures. I'll feel easier in my mind knowing that it's up and running and wait to see what happens. I've made sure I'm in a position now to say "Deed done and it's happening regardless".

Still got a couple of properties in mind in Area To Be as most-wanteds and a couple of Also Rans in case (just changed which particular properties are the Most Wanteds with the passage of time). So - it's off and running and hopefully "steady as she goes". Fingers crossed.

lessonlearned

Was wondering how you were getting on.

It's a good time to launch. So......fingers crossed and good luck.

Contessa

Money,
Wishing you good luck and also envying you for being ahead of me!
A couple of my saved on RM properties have been STTC or removed but I keep telling myself that's because something even better is waiting for me (the view is lovely from here up in cloud cuckoo land and only the other day I saw some pigs flying!)

moneyistooshorttomention

Hi Contessa

I'd been wondering how you were doing too.

Good luck when its your turn.

Guess you could always tell the estate agent that you're still interested in any properties that go "under offer" in case they become available again? I've seen several properties in my desired area go off the market and then come back on again - so you never know. Not a question of gazumping (which I wouldnt want to do personally either) - just of letting the agent know that IF the buyer backs out for any reason you could possibly still be interested in the place.

The one I had in mind as "most likely" myself finally went under offer last week and got whipped off RightMove instantly - FIVE whole years after it went onto the market in the first place:mad: and I'm wondering whether someone else ended up getting the benefit of my "straight talking" to the estate agent about the dealbreaker in the neighbourhood that the vendor might be able to remove if they tried and then I'd be seriously interested. Won't be happy if I go exploring and find the dealbreaker has indeed gone and some other buyer has nipped in and reaped the reward of my efforts:cool:.

Anyway, have by now convinced myself that I might get a house-I'm eyeing up that could possibly be a rather better bet for me in the event, but...ahem...rather dearer. Why break the habit of a lifetime - I've spent 60 years of going "I'd prefer THAT one please" to whatever was available and every single time it was the dearer item I preferred..:rotfl:

lessonlearned

Whilst you are not in a position to make any offers there is nothing to stop you "registering your interest". However, don't talk money at this stage, you don't want to commit yourself to any figures at this stage.

Yesterday I had 2 EA's to value my parents property. So it looks like I shall be back in the market but for my parent's move rather than mine.

Interesting times.:rotfl:

I will probably do the initial viewings for my parents search and draw up a short-list of say 3 properties so that they don't get overwhelmed.

Hopefully this way we can be slightly ahead of ourselves and we won't be at ground zero once they do have a buyer.

Both EA's said they were confident their house should sell quite easily but that the main problem is getting the valuation right, because they had no comparisons to help with a guide price.

Their house is a pretty little 400 year old cottage in a very sought after area. It's in a row of 6, which were converted from an old coaching inn and stables. Each cottage is different, so it's a unique one off - very quirky and cute.

So it's get on the market and then wait and see.....

moneyistooshorttomention

Point noted lessonlearned re "registering interest" and not "talking money" (ie saying the specific figure I intend to offer) at this stage. I have worked out which properties there I can just put in an offer and I know my current house will cover the cost of that offer okay (because that offer amount is less than the minimum price I would accept for my current house) on the one hand and which houses I'm not quite sure whether I can afford or no (and have to wait to see EXACTLY how much I will get paid for current one).

For instance, one house I am studying there is priced at £10,000 more than my asking price. I am looking at houses with asking prices of up to £15,000 more than my own asking price and its those in the £5,000-£15,000 more than my own asking price bracket that I wouldnt like to name a figure on. But ones with a lower asking price than my own - then I would feel safe to name a figure.

Hope your parents' house sale goes well. A more unique type property would be harder to price up I can see. Mine is a bog-standard house in bog-standard area and therefore not one anyone is likely to "fall in love with" (I certainly never have myself) - its a "This is the best I can get for my money" house. At least with that, its been dead easy to set the price on it - "Oh...yeah...house like that in that condition in that area is £x. Done."

That's exactly how I'd play it if I were househunting for my parents - view suitable ones first and then compile a shortlist. If someone has been a parent of yours for a considerable number of years then you've worked out exactly what their needs and their little foibles are by now and should be able to choose on their behalf okay (subject to final approval from them). I guess you could sum up in one or two short phrases by now what THE huge/can't be altered dealbreaker points are for them. I could certainly say for my mother, for instance, and it boils down to Privacy/reasonable area and DO remember which people she is too racially prejudiced to live near or I'd be having to tell her to behave herself (not something likely to arise in their area but just in case).

lessonlearned

Had to laugh at your last point about your mothers er hem views on race.

My mother doesn't have a racialist bone in her body but she does have a rather embarassing turn of phrase sometimes - if you catch my drift.

I have to pull her up and tell her that such words are simply beyond the pale these days.:o:o However she's nearly 88 so it's a bit of a losing battle.

Here's the joke though. She isn't English. She came to the UK in 1949 as an immigrant. To her credit she adores England and has totally claimed it for her own. To hear her talk sometimes you would think that she stood shoulder to shoulder with Henry V at Agincourt. :rotfl:

Bless her.

moneyistooshorttomention

Not quite "today's the day" - but Monday will be and thats when I "go live" with selling my house and its released into the wild blue yonder up on the websites to see whether it "sinks or swims". Is there a smilie of someone sitting there biting nails and shrieking with nerves at intervals?:rotfl:

But I've got a coupla Internet contacts where I am moving to and one of them has just offered me a helping hand in finding a place/settling in when there and "hopes I don't mind". Mind - a huge smile is just plastered on my face thinking "Great:D:T".

New Life here I come:D