Gransnet forums

House and home

Anyone selling their house at the moment

(44 Posts)
Sea167 Wed 28-Aug-24 13:32:48

We've decided to sell our property after 40 years to pursue a dream. How are fellow sellers finding the property market at the moment? We've been on the market for 2 months and had just 3 viewings. It seems a lot slower than 40 years ago

Cossy Wed 28-Aug-24 13:53:44

Sold a house earlier this year. It did take months and months. I’m in the South East

Cathy04 Wed 28-Aug-24 14:55:46

I went on the market earlier in the year with the intention of downsizing to a retirement flat. I had 10 viewers and 4 second viewings within 2 weeks. Had 2 offers and accepted the one who had sold, although there was a chain. In the end I had to pull out, thanks to GSM and others who gave good advice regarding retirement flats.

There are quite a few properties for sale in my village. Some for over a year. The common theme seems to be they are over priced imo. Then they reduce by a few thousand and on it goes.
Speaking to a neighbour who went on at the end of June things do seem flat. She has only had a handful of viewers . On Saturday she had a second viewing, but the person hasn’t sold. Only one of them was in a position to proceed and a couple of others weren’t even on the market!

My agent advised a guided price and so got a lot of interest. The two offers were above the guide.

I have not given up the idea of moving but probably not this year. I hope things work out for you.

M0nica Wed 28-Aug-24 17:46:57

We are for sale and have been since the beginning of the year. The market is as flat as a pancake, no buyers and few sellers.

We have been monitoring Rightmove for months. The only changes have been houses being relaunched after going off the market and coming on with another agent, reductions in prices of houses and the occasional new house. next to no houses going under offer.

It is hoped that now the election is over and interest rates are coming down, it will lead to more activity in the Autumn.

In the past we have always sold our house within days, occasionally a week or so, so this 8 months without a seller, even though we have reduced the price substantially is really weird. We usually take the estate agents valuation and then reduce it,

The only consolation we have is that none of the houses we would view if we had a buyer have sold either, so we could still get th house we have had an eye on for months.

Jane43 Wed 28-Aug-24 18:03:20

We have lived in our current house for 12 years, houses usually sell on our development as soon as they go on the market but in the past 18 months the house around the corner was on and off the market a few times and in the end was sold at auction. More recently in the last six months a house over the road has gone on the market and there has been no interest but it does seem overpriced. We are toying with the idea of downsizing but it does seem rather daunting at the moment.

HousePlantQueen Wed 28-Aug-24 18:21:54

The market is very flat here, luckily we are not in it! Houses, especially bungalows, usually sell quickly here, sometimes by word of mouth and no agent, but I note there are a couple of very nice ones, lovely modern kitchens and bathrooms, no trace of 'old person' decor, still on the market months later.

jusnoneed Wed 28-Aug-24 18:37:22

Seems to be very busy around here, my son has been looking for a house and has found places go quickly - in the popular areas sometimes in a day or two. He couldn't get one exactly where he wanted as places there were being sold for way over the asking price and very quickly.

Oreo Wed 28-Aug-24 19:37:36

The market is fairly flat but will probably pick up after the Summer.The houses selling the fastest are brand new ones which is what most people want, and the slowest to sell are the older properties or unusual ones.With all the new housing in the South East that’s gone on for the last ten years there’s now so much choice.

LOUISA1523 Wed 28-Aug-24 19:42:47

People are buying smaller these days .... so the 2 and 3 beds will go quicker than 4 and 5 ones ......1 friend has sold her 3 bed semi and got a offer in 10 days....another friend with a 4 bed and 3 reception rooms took 14 months for an offer .....thats how it is where I live in NW

M0nica Wed 28-Aug-24 19:59:21

LOUISA1523

People are buying smaller these days .... so the 2 and 3 beds will go quicker than 4 and 5 ones ......1 friend has sold her 3 bed semi and got a offer in 10 days....another friend with a 4 bed and 3 reception rooms took 14 months for an offer .....thats how it is where I live in NW

In which case, someone should tell the builders. All they seem to be building 4 and 5 bedroomed houses - and lots of them.

I know onenof the easons contributing to ou relatively slow sale is that our house is quite expensive, and it is listed, which does reduce the range of people looking for this type of house and in the higher price range.

storynanny Wed 28-Aug-24 20:03:35

I think it’s completely unpredictable! I’ve just sold a house ( as executor of my former husband) the day it went on the market. Despite my fears it wouldn’t sell at the asking price due to needing some updating and garage in a block. Then my son was able to get on the property ladder - the house he is buying is in same area, bit more up to date, with a garage attached - and it was on the market for 4 months

Smileless2012 Wed 28-Aug-24 20:19:12

We were very lucky. House went on the market about 9 weeks ago. First viewing was booked the day it went on for the following day, and they offered full asking price about 20 minutes after they left.

Just waiting for the solicitors to 'do their thing' so we can complete but no completion date yet hmm.

Siope Wed 28-Aug-24 20:31:21

Two have sold in my small close recently. One, which needed some refurbishment and was priced about the middle of other recent sales, sold in hours. The other, already refurbished, and priced at the top of the local ceiling price, took several weeks and 5% price reduction.

In the wider village, anything sensibly priced, regardless of size, seems to be going quickly. There are a couple of nice properties, both probate sales with absent owners, which are for sale at mid-Covid prices, and neither, unsurprisingly, have sold in over a year.

JdotJ Thu 29-Aug-24 11:18:23

We are in the process of moving and its been a nightmare.
Sold house mid-May to someone buying it to let (to a family member).
Our buyer had searches done, had a survey and family members came round to measure up. This was in June. Only a chain of 3, with us being in the middle and our sellers going into rented, so not complicated one would assume!
Our buyer has now gone AWOL, to the point that no one seems to know where he is, including his own solicitor.
'Abroad' we were told at one point.

I've had shingles with all the stress which I won't go in to.
Upshot is, we've put house back on market, still without any answers from our buyer.

Good Luck to anyone moving

Vintagegirl Thu 29-Aug-24 11:18:44

My daughter is househunting at the moment and with herself and husband both 'working from home' , they are looking for house that lends itself to two separate workspaces which rules out many basic semi detacheds.

Witzend Thu 29-Aug-24 11:25:55

An ex colleague recently told me that relatively small family houses near her, that used to sell like hot cakes for eye watering prices (largely because of excellent state schools in the area) are now hanging around for much longer, and prices are being reduced. This is in outer SW London.

IMO it must at least partly be due to higher interest rates - mortgage payments have become that much less affordable for so many people.
No bad thing if prices are coming down a bit IMO - they’ve been crazy for too long, at least anywhere around here.

Chicklette Thu 29-Aug-24 11:36:45

We put our house in the market in May ant sold 4 weeks later. We’re moving next week, so it’s been relatively straightforward for us. We’re moving to a ground floor flat due to my ongoing issues with my knee. On the other hand one of my daughters is also moving. She’s a first time buyer and she signed contracts over a month ago. I told her to contact her solicitor for an update last week and she was told the property her seller is buying has 12 outstanding searches, so no idea how long that will take.

cangran Thu 29-Aug-24 11:43:10

Our 5 bedroom Edwardian semi in North London first went on the market late Feb. There was interest but no realistic offers for 13 weeks. In hindsight, the agency had priced it too high (it is in good condition for its age but most of the young families wanted to make the large living/dining room and kitchen open plan - seems to be a thing but is expensive) plus parking is a problem for some. We lost one almost new flat we really liked but found another, slightly older one, locally that we really liked. It's probably best not too get too attached to a property before having a firm offer but it just seemed good to check what's on the market that might be suitable.
We accepted an offer (and had ours accepted on the flat, a probate sale, in late May). The couple were keen for completion before the end of August to be in for the start of the Sept school term. However, they were slow with everything and, just when we thought we were ready to exchange contracts, the man made totally unreasonable demands re the dropped kerb we had got permission for, which should have been a bonus, and they pulled their offer. I hope there is such thing as bad karma as they caused us so much stress. We lost a lot of money because of this but have just accepted another lower offer from a family who are chain-free. This time, I'm not getting the least bit excited until/if contracts are exchanged and a completion date set. But if nothing else, we have a nice de-cluttered house!

cc Thu 29-Aug-24 11:49:40

I think that real achieved prices have slipped a little over the past year, though it is human nature to want to achieve prices that have previously been reached.
We're not selling and live in an area where there is constant demand for flats, but it's been quite noticeable recently that it is the flats that appear to be a little overpriced that stick and have to be reduced. After a relatively small reduction they usually sell quickly. If a seller is not willing to accept this then I suppose that they just have to take their property off the market and wait until local prices reach the same levels again.
People here usually use a local independent agent. They don't estimate the highest selling prices but seem to hit the happy spot between buyers and sellers.
I suppose it all depends on how much you want to move, if you drop a small amount on the asking price you may well save that on your next property in the current market.

cc Thu 29-Aug-24 11:52:07

As regards local schools, it is now long past the date for applications to popular schools and I'd imagine that prices rise and fall with these seasons.

cc Thu 29-Aug-24 11:54:38

JdotJ

We are in the process of moving and its been a nightmare.
Sold house mid-May to someone buying it to let (to a family member).
Our buyer had searches done, had a survey and family members came round to measure up. This was in June. Only a chain of 3, with us being in the middle and our sellers going into rented, so not complicated one would assume!
Our buyer has now gone AWOL, to the point that no one seems to know where he is, including his own solicitor.
'Abroad' we were told at one point.

I've had shingles with all the stress which I won't go in to.
Upshot is, we've put house back on market, still without any answers from our buyer.

Good Luck to anyone moving

We once tried to buy a property which went to sealed bids, which we won. However two months later we had still to hear from the seller who was "abroad" like your buyer. We pulled out and bought something else and heard later that he had got a significantly lower price from the other bidder which cheered us up!

Ktsmum Thu 29-Aug-24 12:21:58

Not here, north east, boards are barely up before houses are sold, although we are very close to good schools

escaped Thu 29-Aug-24 12:33:38

Not personally. But last week I acted as a power of attorney for a friend's husband who has dementia. She went to view a new flat and put down a holding deposit. The building company were happy to give her 6 weeks because, talking to an agent, they all said her bungalow will sell quickly. It is £750k. September is also the best month to sell.

She has had four viewers this week.

NotAGran55 Thu 29-Aug-24 12:35:22

Houses fly off the shelves here, it’s a great commuter location for north, south, east and west due to proximity to road and rail links, in addition to Ofstec rated ‘outstanding’ rural state secondary school.

SpanielCuddler Thu 29-Aug-24 12:55:39

Our daughter has just sold her 4 bed detached. She accepted an offer the first day that it was on the market.

We are hoping to downsize soon. Lots of changes! The estate agents she used is a small, independent firm with excellent local knowledge, so we will be using them too.

I joined Zoopla where you can keep an eye on what properties have sold for in your area and a rough estimate of your own property value. Obviously they have no idea about condition or upgrades to your home.