House not selling

Hb92

Me and my partner (unmarried) split in June this year and have been trying to sell our 3 bedroom house since August which was valued at £175k and that is what it is on the market for. It has a front garden, with a double driveway and back garden, brand new bathroom and separate toilet. We had the hallway repainted and the living room and main bedroom were re plastered and decorated. It only really needs a new kitchen, some carpet and the 2 spare rooms painting so not too much work to be done. Our first EA was useless and we had more cancellations than actual viewings.

We then changed EA in November and have had more viewings than the original EA in the last month. We have another viewing on Saturday and this will be the 8th viewing. We had a couple offer us £150k which was immediately turned down, it wouldn't even cover our mortgage. We only bought the house in Feb 2023 so haven't had it for too long. We originally bought the house for £170k.

I am desperate to get this house sold so that I can move on with my life and cut my ex partner out of my life once and for all. I am perplexed as to why we don't have any offers yet. It is priced the same as other houses like mine in the area so I'm not sure what else I can do?

I have moved out of the property but my ex partner still lives there. I go back whenever we have a viewing to make sure it is neat and tidy but sometimes he leaves tools or boxes lying around, will this have an impact on viewings? I can't always go to the house for every viewing so I wonder what state it is left in if I don't check it? I've been in and sometimes find bananas going brown just left on the kitchen counter so I have to move them into a cupboard.

Apparently January is the busiest time for viewings - will I have more luck then?

DE_612183

yes, December can be a bit dry - things will pick up in January.

Are you still paying half a mortgage each?

Exodi

How do you and your ex-partner get on?

To be honest I think things like painting are such easy wins (but can be so detrimental to viewings) that there's really no reason not to get them addressed. Could you ask him to do it if you pay for the paint? Could you do it? I note you paid decorators to do it previously.

If you're getting viewings that usually suggests the price is at least in the right ballpark.

The problem is, people will be walking through the door seeing a price tag of £175k and it being on the market for several months and want to haggle. This is perhaps made worse when they walk round and start costing up things in their head like "a new kitchen, some carpet and the 2 spare rooms painting". December is also not a great time to be selling anyway (January will be much better).

When the buyer offered £150k (which you say you immediately turned out), did you offer an opportunity to improve the offer, e.g. meet in the middle £162.5k? You say you're desperate so what would you realistically accept? If you have it listed for £175k and you would also only take £175k I think you're in for a bad time.

Are you present for viewings? I don't think leaving brown bananas or tools lying around will cause any issues (no less than the other issues you mentioned) but it does make me wonder how keen he may be to sell if he's currently living there - especially if you're paying half the mortgage.

Albermarle

I have moved out of the property but my ex partner still lives there. I go back whenever we have a viewing to make sure it is neat and tidy but sometimes he leaves tools or boxes lying around, will this have an impact on viewings? I can't always go to the house for every viewing so I wonder what state it is left in if I don't check it? I've been in and sometimes find bananas going brown just left on the kitchen counter so I have to move them into a cupboard.

Are you sure he  definitely wants to sell and move out?

The odd brown banana, or tools being left out, is not ideal but unlikely to put off an interested buyer. 
Are you sure he is not there when the viewings are done? It is not unheard of for people to put off buyers by mentioning the neighbours are noisy, or the house always feels cold, parking is a problem etc 

Hb92

Yes we are still paying half the mortgage each.

Unfortunately i can't go any lower on price really maybe to £172k as it needs to cover the mortgage and the home improvement loan that we took out. I can't be coming out of this with debts. I'm not going to be making any profit at all, i just need it to cover the debts that we have.

We lived together in the house until i moved out in November. We get on only because i force myself to be civil. The EA did tell me he sat in his car on the driveway last Saturday for the viewing, i almost died! We agreed neither of us would be there. 

He doesn't have anywhere else to live and seems to not be making any attempts st moving out even though we agreed we would leave the house empty to be able to sell it so people can see the true size.

I'm just at my wits end with it all and i'm so stressed. Thankfully i'm lucky because i moved in with family and i don't have rent or anything. 

I am left struggling financially while he is waiting on a large inheritance and i'm already in debt because of this.

Hb92

Exodi said:

To be honest I think things like painting are such easy wins (but can be so detrimental to viewings) that there's really no reason not to get them addressed. Could you ask him to do it if you pay for the paint? Could you do it? I note you paid decorators to do it previously.

Unfortunately he is very lazy. I would do it myself but my financial situation isn't good at the moment and I really couldn't afford it. I got the hallway done purposely because of the house sale but my Dad had to fund it all as I couldn't pay and he didn't offer anything either. 

The 2 spare rooms are just plain anyway and one of them is empty.

DE_612183

what you have to weigh up is if you stick out for £172 - how much is that costing you each month?

If an offer came in for say, £169 - could you turn down?

I guess it depends on how much you pay per month.

Also I guess you ex needs to agree to the price and sale as well - so he might dig his heels in and not accept an offer.

Hb92

DE_612183 said:

what you have to weigh up is if you stick out for £172 - how much is that costing you each month?

If an offer came in for say, £169 - could you turn down?

I guess it depends on how much you pay per month.

Also I guess you ex needs to agree to the price and sale as well - so he might dig his heels in and not accept an offer.

You do make a good point but i'd still be in a lot of debt and having to pay that off. Our home improvement loan was quite a large amount and I just wouldn't have the money to pay it. Yes i could pay it off monthly but i'd still be tied to my ex and i just want out. 

To be fair i do calculate the costs of everything each month because as we pay the mortgage and loan off each month the final repayment obviously becomes that bit less. So say by February i might only need £170k and then roughly 3 months till completion as an average which will bring it down a little bit more so it really depends on if the offer is reasonable.

And yes unfortunately my ex does also have to agree on the price. I'm hoping that won't be an issue but i'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll get a reasonable offer in January. I knew December would be quiet due to Christmas etc so i am surprised i'm still getting viewings this close to Christmas.

swingaloo

If you bought it in Feb 23 for £170 and have a loan then its unrealistic to think you can come out of this with no debt. The cost of selling and settling the mortgage has to be taken into account and it is unlikely to have increased in value over such a short period of time.

 The fact that it is only been a short period since it was last sold is a red flag for some buyers. 

But I think your main problem is the ex. He is sitting pretty as I assume the half of the mortgage is less than he would have to pay to rent somewhere and he has no incentive to leave quickly if he is awaiting an inheritance. 

Holding out for a higher offer will cost you money you dont have so better to try to get the sale even if its not for as much as you would like. However your ex is in a position whereby its easy for him to sabotage the sale so its better to try to keep civil if possible. Where is he going to go if you get a buyer before his inheritance comes through? 

Hb92

swingaloo said:

If you bought it in Feb 23 for £170 and have a loan then its unrealistic to think you can come out of this with no debt. The cost of selling and settling the mortgage has to be taken into account and it is unlikely to have increased in value over such a short period of time.

 The fact that it is only been a short period since it was last sold is a red flag for some buyers. 

But I think your main problem is the ex. He is sitting pretty as I assume the half of the mortgage is less than he would have to pay to rent somewhere and he has no incentive to leave quickly if he is awaiting an inheritance. 

Holding out for a higher offer will cost you money you dont have so better to try to get the sale even if its not for as much as you would like. However your ex is in a position whereby its easy for him to sabotage the sale so its better to try to keep civil if possible. Where is he going to go if you get a buyer before his inheritance comes through? 

Thanks for the advice i'll definitely take it into consideration. I would have loved to have kept the house myself but i couldn't afford it on my own which is a shame. 

Yeah it's only about £420 each for the mortgage so it's a steal really. I feel like he may be trying to sabotage the sale until his Dad's is sold and he gets his inheritance but that isn't even on the market yet.

Well this is the thing he says he has nowehere to go. Unfortunately he has no family left but his dad's bungalow has been cleared and sitting empty waiting to go on the market so he could go there but he claims too many bad memories so he can't even step foot in there on his own. So then i think is he doing it on purpose like telling me the house is neat and tidy and then when i go in it's a mess? Instead of leaving his dad's stuff at his own house he's brought it to mine and dumped it in half of my living room so he can go through it! Told him it doesn't make s good first impression when people walk in and see his crap piled up.

swingaloo

Only a suggestion and it may not be workable for you but if it were me-
I would move back in and then have some control over the state of the house and viewings. May not be ideal or comfortable but at the moment he is holding all the cards.

If you are getting viewings then you are half way there, its converting the viewers into buyers and that is where he may be putting a spoke in the wheel. Even if you cant move back in you need to make sure you are present at the viewings.