Huge discrepancy in valuation.

MONEYTREE_2

how can you search for a new property without having a buyer lined up...?

You have to. You must start researching, i.e. looking online, at what kinds of houses are available in the town you are moving to, whether you can afford them, what you will get for your money and if it will suit, what houses are in which areas, where the buses run (I don't drive) how far to the amenities you need etc.

It would be utterly stupid to agree to sell your house without even browsing houses online in the town you are moving to. Seems to me, whichever you start doing first someone will say you are daft to do it that way round!

So I did both: I made appointments for two valuations AND started browsing online. What could possibly be wrong with that?

MONEYTREE_2

"Find a place you love for £400k. Now what? ... you can't do any more until you've got a buyer lined up. And what if no putative buyer agrees with that £400k? What if all the buyers think it's £350k-worth...?"

Surely there are just as many problems with accepting an offer and THEN starting to look for a property? You might not find The Right One immediately, and your buyer may start to pressure you, and may threaten to pull out altogether if you don't get a shift on, and then you might feel under so much stress and pressure that you buy a place you don't really like.

It's been 30+ years since I was in a chain but I do remember that I found the new place first, then put my flat up for sale, and it sold the first day, before the details were drawn up.

I suppose the most important factor is, do you have a property that is likely to be snapped up, or one that has to wait ages for a buyer? Two estate agents have pushed hand-written notes scribbled on the back on their business cards through my letter box this week, saying they have "buyers waiting" for properties on my street. Whether they actually have, who knows?

AdrianC

MONEYTREE wrote: »

Surely there are just as many problems with accepting an offer and THEN starting to look for a property? You might not find The Right One immediately, and your buyer may start to pressure you, and may threaten to pull out altogether if you don't get a shift on, and then you might feel under so much stress and pressure that you buy a place you don't really like.

So rent.

My mother's been in this exact position recently. She put her house on the market, found a buyer, found a house she liked. Her buyer pulled out. The house she liked was taken off the market. She found another buyer. She persuaded the vendors of the other house that they did want to sell it after all. Her buyer pulled out. She found another buyer. The vendors weren't going there again. She couldn't find anything else. She looked in a completely different part of the country, and found a house she liked. She decided to delink the two, and go into a holiday rental for a week. The day her sale completed, her vendor pulled out. She ended up in that holiday rental for more than three months while she looked for another place she liked. This all took very nearly two years.

I suppose the most important factor is, do you have a property that is likely to be snapped up, or one that has to wait ages for a buyer?

Indeed.

And if you don't even have a ballpark value using nice easy comparables, then you really can't easily judge that.

Two estate agents have pushed hand-written notes scribbled on the back on their business cards through my letter box this week, saying they have "buyers waiting" for properties on my street. Whether they actually have, who knows?

You'd even briefly contemplate believing marketing material for estate agents...?

MONEYTREE_2

Adrian. I can't rent. Don't ask me to go into it as I don't want to disclose. I just can't.

I'm sorry for your poor mother! What a nightmare!

MONEYTREE_2

Things have gone from bad to worse.

Had another agency in, one that's been in town 100+ years. The senior man came, been an estate agent here for about 30+ years. He's valued the house at £240k.

So I called the agency that valued at £400k and asked the branch manager to come and take a look and give a 2nd opinion on his colleague's valuation. He duly came, and confirmed the value at £400k. He said offer it at 399k and accept 380k.

It's all starting to feel totally bizarre!

So I got two more agents and they came in at £380k and £325k.

So what I have decided to do is sign a contract with the one who says they can get £380k to £400k, tell them they have 4 weeks as sole agent and if they haven't got me a buyer at 380k or above I shall give it to another agent. That way we'll see if they are full of b....

Hoploz

Sounds like you're doing exactly the right thing.


You have to browse the market for something to buy but ultimately you don't know how much you've got to spend until you test the market and find out what level your house is going to sell for.

Just make sure you stay absolutely solid about the 4 week max tie-in period. Even if you end up with a slightly higher % it's better than having to sit there on the market with nothing happening to your 100k overpriced house! The EA won't like this as it's Xmas and they're closed over the festive period but they're either going to have someone straightaway from their list of buyers waiting or they will be waiting for a random to find you online - there are many lookers over Xmas so not a bad time!

MONEYTREE_2

Thanks Hoploz. It's so refreshing to receive a reply that is genuinely trying to help. I'm sad that a number of times on MSE a few people respond only to mock or be sarcastic, and that hurts.

This discrepancy 240k to 400k is the whackiest thing I've ever heard of in the property market and has left me reeling with confusion. As you say, I cannot even go viewing until mine is under offer. Very annoying as then I will be feeling under pressure from my buyer to grab the first half-decent house I find. I really don't want to feel pressured because, at my age and with my disability, I want this to be the final house-move of my life.

With ten rooms full of furniture and no income, renting whilst house-hunting just isn't an option for me. I'd be cutting into my equity by about 1,500 a month if I rented, plus (as I said) with my age and disability I really do not want to endure two massive house-moves. The stress would probably kill me.

I could give them till the end of January to come up with a buyer.

AdrianC

MONEYTREE wrote: »

Thanks Hoploz. It's so refreshing to receive a reply that is genuinely trying to help. I'm sad that a number of times on MSE a few people respond only to mock or be sarcastic, and that hurts.

I don't think that's the case - sometimes replies might not be what you want to read, but they are almost always (a very few idiots aside) well-intentioned and well-informed, even if not sugar-coated.

This discrepancy 240k to 400k is the whackiest thing I've ever heard of in the property market and has left me reeling with confusion.

I find it hard to believe there's really nothing even remotely comparable in your area.

As you say, I cannot even go viewing until mine is under offer.

You could always start looking across a range of prices - you say you can add £20k to the sale value? So start looking from £260k up to £400k. If you can't find anything until you get to £400-420k, it might be time to revisit the plans anyway.

With ten rooms full of furniture and no income, renting whilst house-hunting just isn't an option for me.

The furniture can go into storage - the removals people will do that for you. You'll be able to pay the rent up-front, and you aren't dependent on benefits.

If you're near any kind of holiday properties, then you've got until Easter before they're really in demand, so you may well find a furnished short-term option easily - do you have any friends you could stay with over the Easter period? Holiday properties will have a lull again after that brief spike.

I'd be cutting into my equity by about 1,500 a month if I rented

Invest it sensibly, and you won't be. Do you really need to spend so much on rent? If it's just you, a smaller place could well be a lot cheaper.

plus (as I said) with my age and disability I really do not want to endure two massive house-moves. The stress would probably kill me.

Whatever you do, it's going to be stressful. It may well be LESS stressful, overall, than trying to tie it all together.

MONEYTREE_2

Adrian, thanks for trying to help but renting just won't work for me. I am old, I am partly disabled.

£1500 would be the rent of a place big enough for all my belongings plus all the bills on top. I have researched this.

What I would save on rent by renting a small place just for me, my pets and my plants, and not all my belongings, I would then spend on storage. 10 rooms is a LOT of stuff and there is no point in selling it all and having to buy it all again. Huge waste of money as well as time. And with storage my stuff would be split between two locations, and I have no car. I know that it would drive me half insane to have to live out of a suitcase.

As for investing my equity, it's been established that I could only get 1%. Hence, if I invested £350,000 I would only get £3,500 a year, or £67 a week. That won't even cover the cost of a room in a shared house (currently £120 in my target town.) Not that I could take my pets and plants into a shared house, but just saying, that would be the cheapest accommodation.

One has to think of mental health as well. I am pushing it even to attempt to move from one house to another in a different town. That will take me almost to breaking point without making it worse by adding multiple moves into the equation.

I have no friends here or in the town I am moving to who could accommodate me and my pets.

But thanks anyway.

AdrianC

MONEYTREE wrote: »

As for investing my equity, it's been established that I could only get 1%.

You can get a lot more than that if you think outside the bank.