First time seller - Did not imagine it could involve this sort of hassle

mezebu1

So we put our house on the market 3 weeks ago, EA took photos and house was put on all relevant websites + local paper adverts. Our house is a 3 bed (1984) semi in a desirable family type neighborhood, close to the 2nd best school in the town (outstanding Ofsted), amenities and surgery.

We moved in literally a year ago to be closer to work (partner was on maternity leave at the time) but have now resumed and spends £450/ month on travel. We have now found we don't have the support network we require (been stranded a couple of times with childcare, other issues - we keep having to travel back to our previous area to see family and friends.. hence the decision to move...Hoping to sell for the amount we purchased it for a year ago.

7 viewings so far.

Viewer 1 - Viewed the day photos were taken, supposedly had a 50% deposit, proceed-able viewer... Really likes it but cant afford it (wonder why he came to view

Viewer 2 - Garden overlooked.

Viewer 3 - Not for him, sister may like. EA will chase but they haven't followed up.

Viewer 4 - A couple - the husband likes it but the wife doesn't. EA reported husband is trying to convince wife :cool: :rotfl:

Viewer 5 - They like it, have done 2nd viewing. No feedback yet.

Viewer 6 - No feed back yet

Viewer 7 - This to me is really funny. Same EA that showed Viewer 1 around. :eek: He drove the viewers round the area (they're not from the town), and they they didn't like the area they want 1930 period like semis :eek: and ended up not even getting into our door...

Is it just me or is this a regular kind of occurrence?

Was hoping for a faster sale. If we end up not selling, may have to remortgage to release our equity and maybe rent ???

Also, the EA has not been really forth coming with feedback, seem to always fob me off with his 'We usually don't like pressurizing our viewers' when I ring him for feedback...

mrsmchapman

Have you looked online to see what prices neighbours have recently sold for? Are you sure you will get back the same amount as you paid? (I'm not saying you won't buy maybe you need to prepare you might not) especially as you want a quick sale. Is your EA a big company? Or local independent? Also 3 weeks isn't very long to have been on the market and you have recieved quite a few viewings. Could there be anything else putting off offers I.e no parking etc

[Deleted User]

haha, that's not hassle.. we had about 8 viewers until we found 'the one' - after that we got mucked around because she was in the middle of a divorce. Eventually, her sale fell through, so did ours.. we changed estate agents, went through all the hassle again and finally sold it to the 5th viewer.

Every single time we had viewers - my wife would go crazy tidying and cleaning.. PLUS, we were due our 2nd child..

Basically - if someone doesn't want a 2nd viewing reasonably quickly - forget about them

mezebu1

mrsmchapman wrote: »

Have you looked online to see what prices neighbours have recently sold for? Are you sure you will get back the same amount as you paid? (I'm not saying you won't buy maybe you need to prepare you might not) especially as you want a quick sale. Is your EA a big company? Or local independent? Also 3 weeks isn't very long to have been on the market and you have recieved quite a few viewings. Could there be anything else putting off offers I.e no parking etc

Mrsmchapman, there hasn't been any sale on our type semi recently, the most recent semi sstc in the next street sold for around 20k below our asking price, it was an inheritance so the vendors wanted a quick sale (says the EA that marketed the house), its dated and doesnt have central heating, no conservatory and is a bit smaller to ours...

Our type of semi went onto the market a week ago with 5k lower than our asking price, this also doesn't have a conservatory...

Our EA is quite local (not sure), they sold to us...and they have the highest number of sale signs relative to for sale signs in the town (independent survey) lol - part of our reasons for choosing them.

Re parking, we have a single garage and a drive way for 2 cars plus loads of off street parking...

Re asking price, we're going to loose money as it is - (EA and solicitor fees) but going lower will mean we can afford the next house - an expensive area '5th best place to live in the UK) lol

Thanks for your comments, appreciated

mezebu1

ringo_24601 wrote: »

haha, that's not hassle.. we had about 8 viewers until we found 'the one' - after that we got mucked around because she was in the middle of a divorce. Eventually, her sale fell through, so did ours.. we changed estate agents, went through all the hassle again and finally sold it to the 5th viewer.

Every single time we had viewers - my wife would go crazy tidying and cleaning.. PLUS, we were due our 2nd child..

Basically - if someone doesn't want a 2nd viewing reasonably quickly - forget about them

Interesting comments @ringo. We also go though a lot of effort trying to clean up before a viewing - we have an 18 month old son, so you can imagine... I am quite anxious but my wife is very chilled, she doesn't see the need for the rush, no pressure as far as she's concerned as the whole move thing came up end of January...

She believes if we don't get what we paid for the house 205k (asking price 209,995), we'd keep saving till we have enough deposit for the next house which to me is a 'LONG THING'...and remortgage (been overpaying in the last year) to release our equity.

I don't like that option because the ceiling price for renting is about 950pcm and our mortgage is just over 1k per month :cool:

moneyistooshorttomention

....and then keep your fingers crossed that a nearby house doesn't put themselves up for sale at a price that's somewhere between £10,000 - £20,000 too cheap because they have already found theirs and so have deliberately underpriced it. They found the right estate agent too for deliberate underpricing tactics - I didn't realise that their apparent small independent estate agent is actually part of a certain *******wide group of with a bad reputation for doing things like this and for hiding that they are actually the real force behind said apparent "independent" little EA.

Have just checked the website of said "independent:cool::rotfl:" EA this morning and this house has now got "sold STC" on it and my own EA has stopped being so gloomy about it - as they were waiting for that underpriced house to vanish and stop affecting my own sale as much as I was (of course the viewers focused on that "one swallow (house) does not a summer make" house - rather than the other properly-priced and, in one case, overpriced houses nearby......:cool:

Then, of course, there are (as you've already noticed) those viewers who don't have the courtesy of giving feedback (even though you've let them into your home and taking your time). I think some of them may honestly think it isn't necessary/appropriate to give feedback if you have nothing particularly to comment about. Well - actually, yes, feedback should be given anyway. Even if it's just to say "I have nothing particularly to comment on. It's okay. It's just not for me". Even a comment like that reassures the vendor that there isn't actually anything wrong with their house/its price.

Tenyearstogo

Most feedback is irrelevant so don't worry about it.

It usually falls into the following categories

Didn't like it
Can't afford it
Too small
Too much work
Wrong location

You can't change any of those things anyway. You've had a decent amount of viewings so patience is the key.

Thegirl

My house has been on the market for what feels like forever but has only been six/seven weeks. We've had 17 viewings, not one second viewing. All feedback positive. Which, lets be honest, has got to be bull. I would prefer a critique, at least something to work with.
I'm bored tidying the house so it's viewing ready (I have a two year old, a lot of his toys seem to live in my boot at the moment).
My only experience of selling was my previous home which I had done up especially to sell it. I can safely say it was perfect for sale-well for what I imagined it needed to be for sale-and it sold within three days. So I'm a bit disheartened by the lack of interest. At the same time I am well aware that my house is not as I would want it to be ready for sale. It's a lovely home, but it's my lovely home, not a faceless blank canvas people imagine themselves in.
The price is right for the area, up for the right price with a view to a little knock when someone makes an offer. Similar houses within the area without a conservatory or our nice aspect at the rear are up for the same price.
My plan is to do all the jobs I see that need doing that do not cost too much. Constant cleaning. To plant flowers and hanging baskets now the frost has gone. Paint everything that might need a freshen up. To 'fluff' the house as much as possible without a great deal of expense and if that makes no difference to then contemplate the bigger things that make a difference, like our kitchen is a little tired. Bathroom is fine, but ten years old. I'm trying to do what I can to help, but the market is genuinely slow once you are past first time buyer prices.
I'm trying not to get disheartened, but I hear your pain. I hope we both get a sale soon!

laurel7172

I think you should just be grateful you're getting so many viewers...I know it depends on personality, but I found showing people around far less stressful than being shown around...

Incidentally, I had a distinct feeling that some of the feedback we gave to the estate agents....I think they're very optimistic to expect that price with such a small garden/dated kitchen/unattractive catchment area/whatever, compared to what else is on the market...had absolutely zero chance of being passed on...and many of the houses in question were still on the market a year later.

*mudangel*

Ugh! Just been through the very same process. It's surprisingly nerve-wracking, isn't it? Nice to compare experiences though and know we're not alone in the stress.

We had a couple of viewings from 'window shoppers' (who were thinking about putting house on market, but wanted to see what's out there). I didn't really mind this.

Couple of people who liked it but plumped for something else.

One couple who viewed the house once, put in a great offer and then strung us along for two weeks until they announced they couldn't even get a mortgage. (This really screwed things up for us.)

We yesterday accepted an offer from what appears to be 'the one'. Young couple (and parents!) who viewed three times, asked all the right questions, checked out the local area and have clearly done their homework before committing to this. We've taken a bit less than we'd like, but think they're unlikely to mess around.

Whole process has taken since mid-Feb so far. The not knowing, chasing EAs for feedback, constant cleaning and keeping the house looking show-home good has been a huge stress.

Hopefully will all be worth it!

Good luck to the OP with the viewings, sounds like you've got a popular property with the interest you're getting.

moneyistooshorttomention

..and you know one thing I am finding disheartening in reading this thread is that I've got out my calculator and divided number of viewings other people say they have had their house up for sale by number of weeks it's been for sale and thought "They've had fewer viewings per week than I've been getting and are being told they've had 'so many' viewings".

Whereas I'm there thinking "If I've had 'so many' viewings according to other people - then how come I've had what are so few viewings in my book?"

I don't expect people queuing out the door - as I would have in "Normal Times" - but its depressing to be told the number I'm getting now is deemed to be good:eek:. Even though its post-2007 I'll reckon I'm getting a "good" number of viewings if I have 15 or more people in per week (as my house would have "shot out the door sold" within first week in Normal Times).