Has anyone sold their home at auction?

When you say "up here", can you indicate how far up please? We are coming to the UK ostensibly to buy a house in July. My OH is a railway enthusiast [other long-suffering wives will understand how this works]! Please can you somehow let us know more or less where you are situated. Despite the single glazing, this could probably be rectified by a specialist company. BTW it has snowed here in the Haute Savoie this morning - we are not exactly on the Lake edge, but at 450 meters. Lausanne opposite is also white!

Consider changing your agent, and reducing the price

Would just like to add my agreement about price. There are few actually unsaleable houses, just those with the wrong price. I cannot believe how many times I've heard people say they have gone with the agent who gave the highest valuation. Its just not the way to do it. When it comes down to it a house is only worth what the actual buyer is willing to give. If you do feel that an auction might be the answer to your problem then do some research as to the agents in your area who actually specialise in that field. Its all about buyer perception....if a potential buyer feels they are dealing with an agent who knows his job and can be trusted to nurse the deal ( a good agent who really stays with it and sees it through is worth its weight in gold) they will be reassured. A buyer's perception of the property they are purchasing is important, same as anything else. Hence the vendor's choice of agent can have quite an influence in the perceived quality or value of the property.
A few years ago we had a large rural property to sell and approached the local agent ( a large firm with at least 20 offices but not national). They seemed keen enough and felt it would sell but would need to go on the 'Country house' listings and need a few extra photos etc. A month passed and there was no sign of brochure etc let alone potential purchasers. We cancelled contract and contacted large 'posh' national firm who had higher fees but a very prestigious reputation. Impressive young man from local office called and waxed lyrical, organised photos and promptly added 20% to previous agent's valuation. The property hit internet and within 24hours we had a firm offer from a very keen buyer from other side of the country. Yes the fees were a bit more but the agent was great at keeping us informed and fielding what turned out to be a rather 'needy' purchaser who needed lots of reassurance, in any case the eventual price more than made up for it.
A few years previously we also had to cope with selling an elderly relative's large ramshackle house and that too was handled very well by a firm in the area who specialized in non typical properties. Estate agents do get a rough press but they are not all the same.

Re realistic pricing, my mother's house had to be sold after she finally went into a care home.

My brother was handling the sale, and since we certainly didn't want the place empty over the winter, and looking more and more forlorn and unloved, he asked for a realistic price, not what the EA thought he wanted to hear.

The EA gave him 3 prices - one very optimistic, could take 6 months plus; one more realistic, maybe 3 months, and the third, 'I'll sell it in a week.'

Brother went for number 3 - there wasn't actually a vast difference - and it did sell within a week.

Thank you so much for all of your interesting replies, I am new to Gransnet and forgot to check this post this morning.

I have another viewing tomorrow, please keep your fingers crossed a) it doesn't hail stone again as the builder doing the gutter repair seems to have gone to Mars and b) they are the special person!

Regarding the single glazed windows, I have those and because my property is 200 years old and listed grade 2 I can't double glaze them. I went to Homebase and bought some Draught Excluder, which covers 4 windows. Not the ordinary window film which they also sell, which covers widows so you cant see through them .

I 'lived' at the railway station in Betwys-y-Coed ( N Wales) for two brilliant summers and one Christmas /New Year as a nanny for a 3 yr old when I was 16/17. Her daddy was divorced. It was a fantastic job in a beautiful area.
He had turned part of the station into a cafe and I made friends with the girl who ran the place who lived in Blaenau Ffestiniog.
Off topic...sorry. Brought back great memories.

Betwys Betws

Me too Annaram1
Built around 1820, high ceilings, deep skirtings and window seats etc plus single glazed original wooden window frames.
Luckily, no draught problems but anyway, I prefer cooler rooms.

grampie listed buildings do not require energy performance certificates and anyone buying the station will probably not be allowed to replace the windows. But as others have said this does not preclude putting in energy saving measures.

We live in a listed building, a farmhouse built in 1467, and cannot replace our windows, but we are allowed to install secondary glazing indoors and we have insulated the roof and some of the internal walls.

However, as I said before, properties like this are best sold through specialist agents, like the one I mentioned or the big upmarket national agents like Knight Frank and Jackson Stopps, who specialise in these kinds of niche buildings.

I would never try and sell a property like this through an ordinary High Street estate agent.

Even with a bog standard listed farmhouse like ours in an area where there are no lack of them. I would still be very selective about which local agent I placed it with. Many estate agents are completely out of their depth faced with an unusual or listed building.

Thank you for reminding me of the railway website MOnica, lovely company, I used them years ago to advertise our self catering annexe, and have sent them an enquiry.

I am in Northumberland and couldn't find a specialist EA but will admit to not functioning and thinking as clearly as I should due to my grief.

Thank you MOnica for suggesting Jackson-Stops - unfortunately no branches up here. I'll have to have a look through the others in Country Life. My estate agent only takes 20 properties at a time - she was recommended by many local people who have both bought and sold with her.

www.thisispropology.co.uk/

Thank you all for your help, it is lovely of you to take the time to write.

I've just had a look at the link to the website, and can't even see how to view the property, so that's not ideal. Also, can I ask, did you have 3 estate agents out to value the property before putting it on the market? I would always, as an ex estate agent advise people to do this, as it gives you a feel for a realistic price. I once valued an unusual property, and gave the owner a much lower selling price than either of the other agents who valued it. He asked me why, and I told him that I thought it was a fair price, he then told me that the other agents thought he could get about £30k more, so I said that if he would like to try it at that price I would happily give it a go, but would monitor it, after a few weeks he dropped the price, and we eventually got an offer £2k above the price I'd originally told him, which he accepted. However, when the surveyor went round, he found some problems, and the long and the short of it, is that he eventually sold it for the exact price I'd given him. So as someone else has already said, you shouldn't necessarily believe what agents tell you, as most will give you a high price just to get you on their books, and will then nag at you to reduce, reduce, reduce! I do hope you soon find a suitable purchaser, but unless you are completely desperate, wouldn't recommend the auction route, just get another couple of agents out, and get a more realistic price. As an aside, does the agent give you feedback on what the viewers have said about your property? If not, ask them to. Good luck and I hope you find the right purchaser VERY soon!

mosaic, you have had a lot of viewings, what has been the feedback? Your estate agent would have been ringing you after each viewing, surely

I found station house but the EA website is beyond terrible, I suggest you get a new EA asap. Your property should sell quickly in the right hands. Assuming of course that this is your property

I found it a very difficult website too. First of all I never knew it existed. Secondly, you don’t actually seem to be able to talk to anyone. It’s all “on the web” waiting for them to contact you as and when.

If I was coming up to view properties I’d need to phone and arrange a time to fit in with all the other viewings I wanted to make.

This is where Purple Bricks falls down too. All that backwards and forwarding by email trying to arrange a time.

I’ve been house hunting since last September and Rightmove is always my first point of call.

You definitely need a different agent. A hands on, available on the phone, national agent who will advertise in some of the glossy magazines.

Good luck!

Oh no sorry, I see a phone number now, tucked away at the top.

Well now, I tried putting some searches into Google.

Assumption: I want to move to Northumberland. I want an individual property.

I tried several combinations of search words, like “Northumberland. Individual. Historic.”

In only one did your estate agent and your property come up. That was a very specific “Northumberland. Railway. Grade II.”

It was well down the page though. Lots of others before yours.

Thank you for all of your feedback, it is all very interesting. My children are very upset we have to sell the house, and I can't discuss it easily with them. They do appreciate that I cannot afford the bills and maintenance - unfortunately my husband's pension plans were affected by his medical retirement and my finances are not as we imagined.

I've heard back from Railway Station Cottages today and it is £80 to advertise with them for the year - compared to the £84 I paid for one advert in Railway Magazine. Thanks for the reminder MOnica, they did remember my property and were pleased to hear from me.

Off to the beach with my lovely dog, have a good day.

Could someone put me out of my misery! I can’t find the property. What page is it on?

Good heavens I’ve found it

Beautiful property. Around where I live (very affluent SE market town) that would go for about £1.5 mil!

You just get a floor plan done or via an EA. Floor plan is key

I could happily pay to stay there for a few weeks. The house looks hugely interesting and I could imagine sitting in the sunshine on the platform with a few cushions and a good book waiting to wave at passing trains.

Right near a beach too...
I can see why your children want you to keep it.
It's quirky...just my style.

My property is on the market but I have an advantage in that I have bought and sold several properties in the last few years. My OH leaves all business worries to me so I have had to rise to the occasion. Experience has taken much of the fear and mystic out the process. You have to be completely realistic particularly about the price. If you go to auction after it has been on the market for a long time that sends out a clear message of a desperate need to sell and that will reflect in the price. That’s fine if you can afford to lose a lot of money.
I read HildaW’s reply and considered it very wise and practical.
If you feel that you are using the right EA then fine but make them work. All firms are slightly different and be aware of who does what in your firm of choice. In my case the main partner I deal with is incredibly experienced and dedicated but his IT skills are not great and that is done by others. I type in different aspects of my property into Google and if the search engine doesn’t bring my property up then I’m on the phone to the girls in the office to tell them. And they do rectify it. After all the firm has a vested interest in selling my property. Also I check the photographs, sequence and presentation etc. If I can see an area for improvement I call in at these office and sit next to one of the staff whilst we work out ways of improvement. I could sit back and leave it to them but by being involved l feel in touch with the whole process.
Mine is not an easy property to sell and I recognise this. It went on the market in November and we have had 4 viewings. Everyone loves it but it’s quirky. Raising the money was a problem for two of them, the third were just lookers and the fourth was yesterday so I haven’t had feed back yet from EA. The viewing couple said there was a lot to think about which is fair comment.
Mosaicwarts my heart goes out to you. You are coping with bereavement, unfamiliar business dealings and property maintenance. Not easy but you’re doing well. At least here you can discuss it relatively dispassionately.
Good luck and keep posting.

Thank you to everyone for your input, it is much appreciated.

I have taken all of your very helpful comments on board, I've clarified where the house is advertised, and dropped the price by 10% yesterday. Off to Homebase to find the draught excluders later!

Good luck to everyone house selling or hunting.

Off to the beach now with my dog - hopefully won't get hailed on today!

Bit rash to drop the price before using another agent / different advertising!