First time sellers

Hanuk1987

Hi
We put our house up for sale at the start of December, having been told by the several agents that came that this time of year was now a good time to sell and many serious buyers are around during December.
Our house is in good condition. It’s an old property but has a new kitchen and bathroom (which many of the viewers we have had have commented on), new central heating system and decorated to a nice standard throughout. The carpet upstairs is 2 years old and a neutral colour.
We had a viewing the day it went to market but they told us as they left that they couldn’t afford the house, their max was £10,000 below asking price. We’ve then had 3 other parties come to view, 2 of these having second viewings which included bringing family along and many positive comments and then a third viewing.
All parties have discounted the house after this. The first couple (who proceeded to tell me they’d lost count of how many houses they’d been to see) said it was too small, one party couldn’t get around the fact that the house only has on street parking (which is plentiful and on both visits they parked in front of our cars, directly outside the house) ang the third party gave no reason.
We had a call on Saturday to say someone wanted to view that day but we already had Xmas plans and couldn’t show them around, we offered this week but haven’t heard back.

Any tips from people who are experienced in selling houses? This is our first attempt at selling and I’m so anxious as we’ve seen a house we really like. My saving grace at the moment is that the house we like has been for sale for a long time ang I’m hoping it won’t sell before us. Will the market pick up after Xmas?

Thanks all.

getmore4less

Don't believe a word any estate agent uses.

Do your own market research on prices.

It Dec it will be slow.

Be brave and post the link if you want anything constructive relative to the competition.

babyblade41

After selling many times ..if it is on the market for a long time the price is too high ..It really is that simple . If you really want to sell then sell it at a price people will realistically pay.

So far 3 interested parties but no offers and the last viewers you were too busy . If I had sold and was on the hunt for my next property and the viewing was cancelled then that would stay to me the seller isn't in too much of a hurry

It really is down to how realistic your price is to sell or is it up at the unrealistic price..if the latter you could be waiting a long time or maybe that one person who wants yours and yours alone is just around the corner..

Hanuk1987

It’s priced competitively and others in the area have sold around the price we’re on for. Is 3 weeks on the market a long time? We’re not in the south. What’s the average number of viewings in the first month would you say? Have we had a good amount or not?
By the way, we didn’t cancel a viewing, the estate agent phoned and said she had some people that wanted to view that day but we were already out and just couldn’t do it. The agent couldn’t do an attendee viewing at such short notice either. If we had have been in we’d have said yes.

Cakeguts

Do your own assessment of what someone will be prepared to pay for it. The fact that people are viewing means that you have nearly got the asking price right. The fact that there are no offers means that it is still too high.



You need to look at actual sold prices for houses similar to yours in the same area. The valuation that the estate agent gave you is very likely to be a too high so you have to work out what you think it should be and then reduce the asking price to that figure to get offers soon. If not you will have to wait until the agent suggests you reduce the price.

babyblade41

If it's only 3 weeks at this time of year then not really anything to worry about... I always find the best times are feb/march/April and September and October

Sometimes it's just luck.. I actually put mine up to sell 12 months ago and no viewers in 4 weeks so took it off ..if it stays up too long people notice... I then put it back up in October this year and had a viewer and offer within a few hours

It also depends on what type of property you have as well..mine is quite a niche market as it's a relatively new house with acreage and farm buildings , but if it is a property that there is quite a lot of then price will have to be competitive to sell

would help to answer question to post a link to get some feedback