and so it begins! (hopefully a long and happy story of house selling and buying)

charleyroo

i'm decided on an agent now and they are coming over on Thursday morning to take photos and create a floor plan (yep, i have a floor plan).

agent b (most expensive) price matched agent a, and i went on 2 viewings with agent c and wasn't impressed as a buyer, followed by being equally unimpressed when he came around to do the valuation. they were the cheapest but just so unenthusiastic and no warmth about them.

i am happy as agent b is the best placed in town, next to a primark and opposite asda, whereas agent a was in a quieter part.

so i have to
- buy 5 lightbulbs for the silly inefficient lights in the living room
- repaint the bathroom ceiling

on the weekend we rug doctored the carpets and filled/painted all the old picture holes.

this is getting a little exciting now

charleyroo

fed up already!

some of the photos were rubbish so i made them change them/come back and take a new pic - i showed them the house on rightmove when i bought it and explained all the features that drew me in and the better angles to take photos. he also tried to submit a photo of the bathroom that was basically a photo of the window - hmm, turn around mate, and you can take a pic of the suite instead!

honestly, i wish id learned how to put my house on rightmove myself lol.

three houses ive liked have sold which suggests the market is moving - however, mine went on rightmove on saturday and no viewings yet (i may be being impatient).

drusilla

If you post a right move link, we can all be really helpful.;)

It is really exciting thinking about moving - never mind starting the process.

I get excited just when my OH talks about redecorating.

Good luck!

charleyroo

Il post when im on a pc

Been on hols for nearly a month so an update:

5 viewings altogether
1 we didn't hear back from

1 couple fell in love before last weekend and had a meeting with the estate agents mortgage broker on monday and were 'thinking' over this weekend

1 couple viewed twice then came back for a third with their parents, now want a fourth viewing with a builder arghhhhh! I feel a bit unreasonable for being annoyed by this, I can kind of see what theyr doing. However... If it was me id offer first (estate agent says the same) or just bring the builder earlier. I hope if they progress that this doesn't shape how they act for the rest of the sale! Also all of this fuss and we are one of two on their shortlist!

The estate agents havent impressed me either. Weve had no follow on feedback. every time they promise to phone back, they dont. We have to ring them for news unless its to book a viewing. The only time they DID ring me was by mistake when I asked them not to as I'd be in america I had a phone call at 4am local time. This was in the midst of the flurry of viewings so they were dealing with my MiL, yet the phone boy decided to ring me, leave a vm and make me panic thinking we had an offer - I rang back and he wasnt there, was promised a call back, waited 5 hours and called again, only to get a third hand message saying there was 'no news'! He didnt mention the 3 viewings we'd already had or any feedback from these. So I felt utterly deflated lol.

Rant over!!

charleyroo

hey everyone

well, December has nearly come and gone and we aren't much further along. we've had a few extra viewings but no real feedback from the agent, all 'oh, they liked it' but nothing tangible that we can act upon.

i rang the agent today to see how far from my notice period i am - i hate their adverts on rightmove, there's no detail in the descriptions and the language they use isn't exactly inspiring. and i've found them to be so passive and totally un-proactive. added to the fact that after my last viewing 2 weeks ago i didn't even receive any feedback i'm feeling a bit fed up. my end of contract is the 14th feb (so to the person who asked above why i feel short contracts are important, here's your answer - i'm stuck!)

the guy on the phone did admit that not giving feedback was completely unacceptable... he then went on to the predictable, 'have you thought about decreasing the price, that must be what's wrong'. well, i would if i'd had any offers, especially cheeky ones at 5-10k less than the current price. since the property going on the market i've tiled the utility room and in the middle of completing the hardstanding, also got some work in january to build a storage cupboard on the sizeable landing to hide the boiler and give me some space to store things from the spare room.

i'm genuinely not seeing properties from my EA shifting quickly, whereas at my second choice they are all flying off the walls

if anyone wants to have a look at my rightmove, PM me or say here and i'll PM you a link

spender717

Is your price in-line with comparable properties that are selling?

Is all decor neutral but not bland?

Have you completely de-cluttered and removed personal items?

Are your pictures on RM now showing your house to its best?

robatwork

A lot of people put off house hunting until after Xmas so expect some more interest soon.

Failing that you could always withdraw from the market for a month or so and remarket

charleyroo

hi Spender and Robatwork - thanks both for the replies.

spender - admittedly my back garden and spare room need some TLC (weather has literally been bogging ever since Oct when we went on the market so have not even had chance to tidy it and get EA back for a new photo) but i am literally at this minute tidying the spare room, getting rid of a huge wardrobe in the process and creating a new storage area in the landing so will get EA back to rephoto/get it finished in time for new EA)

Robatwork - that is the other option. I am really considering moving EAs, when you see my Rightmove you'll see they do this bizarre thing where they don't describe the property on Rightmove like everyone else but they do on their own website. It's not inspiring to me. I kick myself for not noticing this before I instructed them.

I'm not precious about my house and don't think it 'must' sell at a certain price because it's that amazing and 'I'm worth it' lol! It's just in my head I can't see why lowering the price is going to fix not having had ANY offers, but loads of viewings. Plus I've looked at all the other properties in my area for just below and above my price and there aren't any that have all the features like parking, refitted bathrooms, bedrooms, nice decor, ex 4 bed, massive utility room etc. Some of them look quite minging to me!

So something is not right but can't put my finger on it. Certainly if I try another EA and nothing happens then of course I'll lower the price but I think doing that first is going to be a shame because while I might get more offers, it automatically lowers any potential offers needlessly.

I'll PM you both now.

zarf2007

Please do us a favour and change the title of this thread, it's vomit inducing and is likely to end with the soppy crap line of "we all arrived in our new home, tired but happy"....it's the end of the year nearly, we have all eaten, drunk and spent too much.....we have 3 months of crap weather, annoying bosses and annoying slimming adverts to come so boil your head!

charleyroo

don't be so unpleasant! i'm sorry you've gorged yourself to excess and it's made you a bit bitter but no need to take it out on me