Depressed our chain broke and now house not selling

amihaan

ReadySteadyPop said:

amihaan said:

Thanks for your reply. I’m new here and have no idea how to reply to you individually. How do I do that? 

But to sheramber our house and all the houses on the chain went back on the market, and in fact we didn’t even know that they didn’t fix the roof until the third time the chain broke for that very reason. It was just that we all each only had one buyer ie no other interest in our or our buyer’s house, and the house we wanted. Someone else just put an offer in at like the 11th hour. So gutted. 

I’m not feeling brave enough to share the link but thank you for your kind words. 

Can anyone share any experiences please?? Just to give me some hope. Thing is we got the house at a really reduced price because of the owners situation so with the falling market it may benefit for us buying but not selling, whereas the offer we had on ours was close to asking price but the house we offered on was  significantly lower than asking price. Honestly I’m just so annoyed it worked out for everyone but us AND that new buyer on the house we wanted benefited from our negotiations to reduce the price. 

I probs sound bitter - but I am. I am bitter angry upset depressed about it all and now feeling hopeless  

Are you saying that you expect to make a profit on this sale?

No profit. We have already reduced our asking price

thegreenone

You've done exactly the right thing with decluttering and don't spend too much time cleaning.  Keep it tidy but it is a family home and viewers have to understand that.  TBH as a bungalow it may go to someone downsizing rather than another family.

Saying that, is it possible to extend into the loft?  I'm not saying you do it, but talk to an architect to see if it's possible/draw up plans/planning permission - may be.  If it is possible, it may be a selling point even without getting PP.

I'm a firm believer in Sliding Doors and it will happen.

Skiddaw1

I agree- it will happen OP. Most of us have been there to some degree or other (more than once actually in our case). You'll end up in the right place and all the hassle and angst will become a distant memory. I know it seems impossible now, but.....

Flugelhorn

absolutely been there - on a couple of occasions when the markets were slow I always made a point of changing agent after a year - it can take ages but it will happen. Last but one mad time I was days away from going to speaking to an auction house, had sacked the agents and then someone put in an offer. 

amihaan

Thank you all for your replies. 

Out of  curiosity how do these “we buy your home” companies work. We have a few letters there the door. Do they actually buy your house? And I’m assuming for way below asking price?   

amihaan

amihaan said:

Thank you all for your replies. 

Out of  curiosity how do these “we buy your home” companies work. We have a few letters there the door. Do they actually buy your house? And I’m assuming for way below asking price?   

*through the door

Hovblackctr

It’s usually two thirds of the actual value. Only desperate people use them to offload troublesome properties. 

RHemmings

amihaan said:

Thank you all for your replies. 

Out of  curiosity how do these “we buy your home” companies work. We have a few letters there the door. Do they actually buy your house? And I’m assuming for way below asking price?   

I'd like to know this too. (Just curious, I'm not planning to use their services.)

What I remember hearing is that the company will value your house, then pay you a percentage of the valuation. E.g. one company advertises that they will pay 89% of market value. They will then appoint a solicitor for you, and the sale process continues. They sometimes advertise how quickly your house 'could' be sold for. 

I've heard that these companies will try to find a buyer for the house quickly, so that the house can be sold to the buyer the same day that they buy it from you, meaning that they don't end up with financial exposure to the house - i.e. paying the house seller and then having their money tied up in the house until they sell it. This is the bit I'm most unsure about - do they really manage to do this in the majority of cases? I'm using WeBuyAnyHouse.com as an example for this bit of research, and their 'How It Works' page says specifically that the company buys the house and then sells it (suggesting the purchase happens first). https://www.webuyanyhouse.co.uk/how-it-work

I've seen articles that say that these companies are an unregulated industry. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but unregulated businesses can become ... problematic. WeBuyAnyHouse says that they are part of the Property Redress Scheme, and I saw several other companies say that they are regulated. 

Looking on TrustPilot for WeBuyAnyHouse.com, they have about 9% 1-star reviews. I noted that a 3 star review said that the house failed to sell - indicating perhas that 'WeBuyAnyHouse' may not be quite what it says on the tin. The company has only flagged and removed a small number of negative reviews according to TrustPilot. I noticed that both positive and negative  reviews mentioned the price offered for a house being reduced compared to the initial estimate. 

In some reviews I notice that there is some form of potentially non-refundable reservation deposit (or similar). This was quoted as being £660 in one review, which is a lot less than 'Modern Method of Auction'. But, it will put buyers off and reduce the amount that they will offer. One review reported that the fee is supposed to be refunded if the sale falls through not because of the buyer being at fault, but that this may take some time to be refunded. 

I note that TrustPilot for WeBuyAnyHouse mentions that they have both 'direct sales route' and 'assisted sales route'. This could explain reports of houses failing to sell - if people go down the 'assisted sales route' which I presume is more similar to a standard estate agent. I would guess that the 'assisted sales route' is offered if a home-owner is dissatisfied with the offer for a house for the 'direct sales route'. These methods are discussed here: https://www.webuyanyhouse.co.uk/blog/how-to-sell-your-house-fast-157864/  They also mention a 'find a buyer' route where the house seller finds their own buyer, suggested by asking around friends and family. If that's the case, does the company only act as conveyancers? 

I'm not in any way recommending (or not) the sample company here. I have just been curious about these companies and used your question as a prompt for a bit of research. 

Flugelhorn

I looked at house buying companies in 2007 (after 2 years on the market) - there were specific stamp duty thresholds at that time and all "offers" were tied to one of the thresholds - this value was about 75% of what we actually got in a private sale in the end. 

One was clearly trying to sell the property on quickly  - bizarrely advertising it without me actually agreeing to take on their services

Became apparent that most of them would drop the price very very close to exchange when you are so tied in there is not much you can do about it 

Hoenir

amihaan said:

Out of  curiosity how do these “we buy your home” companies work. We have a few letters there the door. Do they actually buy your house? And I’m assuming for way below asking price?   

Will be way below market price. As the money that are using needs to be funded. Commercial borrowing rates are well above those for mortgages.