House not selling

ReadySteadyPop

People look at price location and size in my opinion, they can tidy and re-decorate for themselves, bananas going brown are not going to put off buyers but you also can`t expect buyers to cover your costs, if they think it is only worth so much there is nothing you can really do about that, and a buyer can offer anything they want but if they need a mortgage it is their lender`s valuation that really counts. Are you using PropertyLog to get a feel for pricing on similar houses?

Herzlos

Hb92 said:

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.

You need to come up with a figure you can accept, even if there's a bit of a loss on the sale. Even if you come out of it with £10k in debt (selling for £152k instead of £172k), you're clear of all of the hassle.

My bigger concern is that if he's reluctant to move out, then how much hassle is he going to be going forward, signing documents and actually leaving?



I general, people have no imagination so you want the house to be as clear and bright as possible. A brown banana isn't likely to put people off but it hints towards a lack of care; if someone can't be bothered to hide bad fruit for a viewing, how serious are they about the house and sale?

Has the estage agent given you any feedback from the people who viewed but didn't offer? My suspicision is that the ex is hindering somehow or leaving the place looking a bit messy.

dinosaur66

from my own experience of selling propertys its just december that seems so hard to shift property

i understand people concetrating on xmas but i would have thought a house comes first but i had 2 viewings in december 2014 in essex and i dont think

any in 2003 on a london 4 bed property

both propertys had lots of viewings from mid jan and lots of offers end of january and both were in hot markets

that was a long time ago though and patterns change or maybe it was just a coincidence on my part

ReadySteadyPop

dinosaur66 said:

from my own experience of selling propertys its just december that seems so hard to shift property

i understand people concetrating on xmas but i would have thought a house comes first but i had 2 viewings in december 2014 in essex and i dont think

any in 2003 on a london 4 bed property

both propertys had lots of viewings from mid jan and lots of offers end of january and both were in hot markets

that was a long time ago though and patterns change or maybe it was just a coincidence on my part

This is a very different market, I would accept the 150k offer, their lender still has to value it though so we can`t "lock in" profits or future moves until the sale actually completes.

Slinky

A problem that may be adding to your difficulties will be the fact that you're splitting up. If people are asking the agent, quite reasonably, why you are selling, splitting couples are notorious for having 'issues' affecting their sale. As you suspect, your ex has no incentive to move out in a hurry or agree a particular price. A lot of people will avoid buying from splitting couples for this reason. If there are similar properties elsewhere with what looks like easier upward chains, they will be more attractive.

Sorry.

GDB2222

“ 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.”

You’re trying to sell quickly for a specific price that the market has told you is not attainable- at least not quickly. At the right price, people will overlook any problems such as needing new carpets etc. 

One option is to stop paying your half of the mortgage, so that the whole burden falls on your ex partner. That might concentrate his mind on selling. At the moment, it’s all a bit cosy for him.

Bigphil1474

Have you asked your ex if he wants to buy you out when his dads place sells? That could sort everything maybe. Agree a deal now so that he can have the house so long as you have no debts, and let him pay for and live in the house until his dad's place sells? Just a thought.

Hb92

Bigphil1474 said:

Have you asked your ex if he wants to buy you out when his dads place sells? That could sort everything maybe. Agree a deal now so that he can have the house so long as you have no debts, and let him pay for and live in the house until his dad's place sells? Just a thought.

He hates the house and the area we live with a passion - he only bought the house with me because he knew I loved it (one of the reasons we are no longer together) so he doesn't want to buy me out. Which is odd because i think if he hates the house so much why is he still living in it.

We've had some good feedback from viewings, we even had a couple that had shortlisted us but then they just found a house they liked a big better than ours which is fair enough. One piece of feedback said the parking on the road seemed busy even though the house has a double driveway. And another person said they would want a higher fencing around the front of the property but this was explained to them that they couldn't have an 8ft fence around the front but they could put a hedge in if they wanted, they said the front garden was too open.

So to me these comments seems a little bit silly. We've also had one half of the couple love it more than the other person which again is fair enough. Buying a house is a big decision. We did have a viewing yesterday so i'm just waiting for some feedback from them which I will hopefully get today all being well.

Exodi

ReadySteadyPop said:

People look at price location and size in my opinion, they can tidy and re-decorate for themselves, bananas going brown are not going to put off buyers but you also can`t expect buyers to cover your costs, if they think it is only worth so much there is nothing you can really do about that, and a buyer can offer anything they want but if they need a mortgage it is their lender`s valuation that really counts. Are you using PropertyLog to get a feel for pricing on similar houses?

I agree with the second part of your comment (that you can't price a house based on your costs) but I don't think the first is true, as buyers aren't all objective robots.

Not only does shoddy paintwork or missing carpets cause the buyer to add up costs in their head and potentially expect a discount to cover them, it also instills a fear that 'if they're not looking after this, what else have they not looked after?'.

If humans were all objective and unphased by presentation, then all these house staging companies wouldn't have a business.

Hb92 said:

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.

A tub of white, a roller and a paintbrush or two won't set you back much more than £20-£30.

But if by 'plain' you mean white (and not bare plaster) then that's not too bad. You're at least getting views which means you're not a million miles off selling the house.

I'd at least consider a scenario where you can accept less than asking price and possibly go into debt - weighing it up against paying half the mortgage on a house you don't live (in which likely a third will be going to interest).

EssexHebridean

I would be working through budget planners with various levels of debt balanced off against not having to pay that half of the mortgage each month, to see how long, and how big a financial impact any debt would really have on you. It might be when it comes to it that actually, £5k of debt is a really small price to pay for closure and the ability to move on with your life.