House value increasing while in the process of selling

gazfocus

MFWannabe said:

So is your concern about selling based on your belief that your property is now worth more than you have accepted? 

Just because a house is listed at a higher price it doesn’t mean it will sell for that 

Yes and you a 100% correct. As I say, houses now seem to be taking a fair bit longer to sell so who knows what offers are being made/accepted. 

anselld

gazfocus said:

bobster2 said:

gazfocus said:

I’ve posted before that I’ve pretty much got cold feet about selling my house/buying a smaller one with the equity from the house I’m selling. 

I’m still struggling with the decision. I look at houses that are being listed now in my area and the cheapest comparable house is being listed at £20k more than mine was listed for 2 months ago. Yes houses seem to be shifting slower now, but £20k+ is a decent chunk more if it’s realistically achievable. 

I‘ve not discussed my thoughts with the estate agents as I haven’t found them particularly helpful in the past to be honest, seemingly siding with the buyer (who is also selling a house via the same EA) so when somethings come up that I’ve felt the buyer should pay for, the EA has talked me into paying, and when the buyers originally offered, the EA wouldn’t go back to the buyers to see if they’d increase their offer (though I thought at the time that it was because the EA knew the position of the buyers). 

Mrs gazfocus still wants the smaller house and doesn’t share the concerns that I have, but has said she’ll go with whatever I decide (though that too makes me feel like I should stop overthinking everything and just follow through with the sale and purchase that’s in progress). 

Not sure what the point of my post is but guess I’m asking what you would do in my position. I guess there’s a lot of sales that are going through at the moment where the house has increased in value since the offer was accepted, and I assume most just take it on the chin. 

What has the estate agent persuaded you to pay for?

I don’t want to name it specifically in the event the buyer frequents the forums but it was a specific inspection & report that the buyer wanted in order to satisfy their own doubt about something that I’d told them. It ended up cost me a fair amount of money and the report confirmed what I’d said at the start, and when I asked the EA to ask the buyers to pay half (before agreeing to have it done), the EA refused to ask the buyer to pay half as they would likely take issue with it and back out of the sale, even though it was their insecurity that led to them asking for the report in the first place. 

EA can advise, they cannot refuse.  They need to be reminded who is in the driving seat!  

You offering half was generous in the first place.  Surveys at buyer's cost for buyers benefit.

gazfocus

youth_leader said:

I was persuaded to pay for my buyer's damp/timber survey, I had to spend my Christmas food money on it….When I saw the buyer at my house on completion day in his brand new BMW I could have spat nails.

I have to say, that would push me over the edge. 

I have already decided that if anything else comes up and the EA/Buyers ask me to pay for it, the house is going back on the market. I’ve spent far too much as it is. 

gazfocus

anselld said:

gazfocus said:

bobster2 said:

gazfocus said:

I’ve posted before that I’ve pretty much got cold feet about selling my house/buying a smaller one with the equity from the house I’m selling. 

I’m still struggling with the decision. I look at houses that are being listed now in my area and the cheapest comparable house is being listed at £20k more than mine was listed for 2 months ago. Yes houses seem to be shifting slower now, but £20k+ is a decent chunk more if it’s realistically achievable. 

I‘ve not discussed my thoughts with the estate agents as I haven’t found them particularly helpful in the past to be honest, seemingly siding with the buyer (who is also selling a house via the same EA) so when somethings come up that I’ve felt the buyer should pay for, the EA has talked me into paying, and when the buyers originally offered, the EA wouldn’t go back to the buyers to see if they’d increase their offer (though I thought at the time that it was because the EA knew the position of the buyers). 

Mrs gazfocus still wants the smaller house and doesn’t share the concerns that I have, but has said she’ll go with whatever I decide (though that too makes me feel like I should stop overthinking everything and just follow through with the sale and purchase that’s in progress). 

Not sure what the point of my post is but guess I’m asking what you would do in my position. I guess there’s a lot of sales that are going through at the moment where the house has increased in value since the offer was accepted, and I assume most just take it on the chin. 

What has the estate agent persuaded you to pay for?

I don’t want to name it specifically in the event the buyer frequents the forums but it was a specific inspection & report that the buyer wanted in order to satisfy their own doubt about something that I’d told them. It ended up cost me a fair amount of money and the report confirmed what I’d said at the start, and when I asked the EA to ask the buyers to pay half (before agreeing to have it done), the EA refused to ask the buyer to pay half as they would likely take issue with it and back out of the sale, even though it was their insecurity that led to them asking for the report in the first place. 

EA can advise, they cannot refuse.  They need to be reminded who is in the driving seat!

They definitely made it sound like they were not prepared to ask the buyers. 

MultiFuelBurner

Just a case of being strong with the estate agents really. I would suggest they already know some people cannot deal with house buying/selling due to various reasons so there is a fair bit of playing that to their advantage. A good (person reader) EA will size up sellers and buyers to get the quickest hassle free result.

billy2shots

A house in my road is up for sale for £200k more than it was bought for 3 years ago (35%) increase. This is already a reduced price as there was obviously no interest for a week or so when it was listed even higher. 

My house is identical (new build development). 

If marketing, I would not copy someone else. I would choose my own realistic price. 

Asking prices are largely irrelevant. 

eddddy

gazfocus said:

They definitely made it sound like they were not prepared to ask the buyers. 

EAs just want the sale to complete. They'll look for the path of least resistance.

It's quite possible that they told you that you must pay for the survey, and they told the buyer that they must pay for the survey.

And they kept pushing both of you until somebody gave in.



TBH, this is part of what you pay the EA for. Problems arise during a sale - and the EA negotiates a way of keeping the sale going.

But maybe you need to push-back a bit harder, to see if the buyer will give in before you do.

gazfocus

Thanks all. Still none the wiser about what to do but think I’ll just end up going through with the sale to keep the Mrs happy. That’s what life’s about right? Happy wife, happy life haha. 

Snuggles

I live in an area that experienced eye-watering price increases post covid. The market has now cooled but houses are still coming on with totally unrealistic asking prices. Unless it's something *really* special, they are sitting on the market, then being reduced, and some are eventually going under offer. I suspect that sellers are either reluctant to accept that they're not going to beat the price their neighbour got 12 months ago, or they are advertising at what they know is an unrealistic price in the expectation that any offer will be significantly below asking in the current climate.

You were presumably happy with the offer you accepted and the offer you made on the property you plan to buy. Don't derail your plans on the basis of notional additional money that probably doesn't really exist. 

newsgroupmonkey_

youth_leader said:

When I saw the buyer at my house on completion day in his brand new BMW I could have spat nails.

Cars mean nothing. When I was earning £22k a year, I had a brand new BMW. I'd been given a company car in lieu of a pay rise.
I also followed it up with a small company Peugeot diesel when I realised how much company car tax was.....