When to put house on the market when interested in only one property?

khanji17

We are in love with a property which has been on the market since feb 2020, it has been reduced from £400k to £375k recently. Our house is not on the market at the moment, so we are now allowed to view any houses, in the area we are looking in, there is only one house that we like. Does it make sense to put the house on the market (as we are in no rush of moving) when you only like one property, what if it sells before we are in a position to view it?
Also, when there is a chain involved (ours, the house we want is empty), do we need to wait till we have an offer on our house before committing or putting in a offer on the next house?
We are moving from our first house, so a bit clueless about the procedure.
As that property, just got £25k reduced, does it make sense to offer 10% below the asking price?
Any help and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Wkmg

I was recently in a similar situation. Last year we were interested in only one house, put our house on the market, got an offer then missed out on the house we wanted by only a few days. We came straight off the market. 6 months later there was similarly only one house we wanted. We put our house straight back on the market (was quicker this time as all the EA due diligence and photos etc... were already done). We got an offer on our house and had our offer on the house we wanted accepted. I think as long as you’re honest with the EA about what you hope to achieve and as long as you are realistic about the price you are asking for your house there’s no problem with putting your house on the market. If you do the same thing multiple times though they will think you are a flake. The second time we put our house on the market we decided that even if the place we wanted had gone we would still have committed to move.

eddddy

Assuming your house and the other house are in the same area, it might be worth considering using the same EA.

Then the EA might work extra hard to sell your house, as that would result in 2 sales and 2 lots of fees.

Although maybe get market appraisals from 2 or 3 other EAs as well, just to get second opinions etc. (And, as always, check the EAs' contracts before signing to check for 'bear traps', and remember that most EAs' terms are negotiable.)

khanji17

What's the best rate for EA fees in today's market? The EA who has that property for sale quoted me 1.5% VAT inclusive. Waiting on quotes from other EA's.

Slithery

I've usually negotiated down from the EA's 1% starting figure.

Wkmg

I think 1% is pretty standard without needing to negotiate much  

Natsplus

Vat included or on top?

Wkmg said:

I think 1% is pretty standard without needing to negotiate much