Stay on the market or take a break

Take a break til April

I have just taken mine off the market as it had been on since May. Last month I reduced it and waited for the budget, but nothing.

Decided to rethink and relist in the Spring as I did not want to look desperate or have buyers thinking there is a problem.

If you unlist and relist with the same agent within 3 months Rightmove will treat your house as if you never took it off the market.

It took us nearly 20 months to sell our house, not even offers that fell through. We came off once, relatively early on, because we were changing agents, but hung in.

Nowadays when people are checking Rightmove daily, they notice if a house comes off the market and then comes back on again amonth or two later. We noticed this happening a lot. Some houses did it three or four times. Sometimes they had dropped the price, sometimes not.

The housing market is in the doldrums. House builders have built fewer houses this year than they have for years. the government promise to build 1.5 million houses has gone to hell in a handbasket. Most of these houses were to be in the home owner market and the buyers are just not there. It is exactly the same in the resale market.

Until the economy picks up and the future looks more cetain, the housing market will be poor. You are the victim of circumstances and there is nothing you can do about it. We got their in the end. the house we bought had been on the market even longer than ours and had had 2 sales fall through.

and has been for the last two years. It is nothing to do with whether houses are 'new on the market', or whether prices are too high. The only thing that will make things better is a more certain secure and hopeful future.

Stay on the market my house sale fell through twice . First time September 2018 then March 2019. But sale went through August 2019. I was lucky they kept the bungalow for me and have never been happier. Moved over 100 miles to the north west . You couldn't pay me million pounds to go back to the black country.

Hope you get a buyer that goes through with the sale ..

I would agree with those who say to take it off market and put it back on (maybe with a different agent), around March/April next year.

When people look into Rightmove (and similar), they start to mentally dismiss those properties that seem to have been there for ages.

Good Luck for a good sale next year.

I would stay on.

Four properties in our road have just sold in the past month or so, three having been on the market for over a year. Prices were from £650k to £1 million, so there are people out there buying now.

It would be silly to miss a buyer, but you could ask your agent to take yours off advertising sites and keep it low profile.

People looking for a property aren't silly enough not to find out if it hasn't been up for sale by the current owners previously in recent times.

Fingers crossed for you, it'll happen.

We never mentally dismissed a property because it had been on the market a long tme. Like most buyers we were well aware of the state of the housing market and why.

Our estate agent told us that more people go on Right move on Boxing day, followed by New Years day than on any other day. Yes, for most it will be day dreaming but there will be those people who have said 'Right, come next year we will move - and on 1st January they click on Rightmove and get serious.

It was always seen that Easter was the best time to put a house on the market. Sadly, there are quite a few who decide enough is enough in a relationship following a traumatic Christmas and look to buy elsewhere as soon as possible in the New Year.

Georgesgran

It was always seen that Easter was the best time to put a house on the market. Sadly, there are quite a few who decide enough is enough in a relationship following a traumatic Christmas and look to buy elsewhere as soon as possible in the New Year.

Yes, I thought that, but our estate agent said not. She seemed to think that people move when it suits them.

I wonder whether now our houses are centrally heated, and we drive around in cars, takes away constraints that governed people in the past - not wanting to move into a new home in winter and not be viewing houses when it is dark and one is dependent on public transport.

Yes, take it off the market and put it back in April.
My neighbour’s daughter has just done that. She had one or two viewings but no offers. Hence her decision

It’s always the price that stops a house selling. Drop it enough and it will sell. For example suppose your house was on the market for £400,000. Ten people view it but nobody wants it because of the steps up to it. So you drop the price to £300,000. Now ten people want it and nobody cares about the steps. It’s always the price.

Maybe base the decision on how badly you need a break from it all a while, or it's a "tactical" decision? Is there something to do to it in the meantime that would make it more attractive?

Wyllow3

Maybe base the decision on how badly you need a break from it all a while, or it's a "tactical" decision? Is there something to do to it in the meantime that would make it more attractive?

It is nice to think it is as simple as that - and in some ways it is. offer a house for £1 and it will be gone in 10 minutes, but this is not a case of one house not selling, when others are.

This is a case of there being a general slow down in the housing market because of the uncertain economic situation and people being unwilling to commit themselves to buying their first house or moving up the housing ladder because of their fear for their jobs and general economic stability.

Most potential buyers will also have a house to sell in order to move up the housing ladder and if everyone were to drop their price by£100,000 to sell, that would include the person wanting to buy this house at £100,000 less, so the OP would be in an even worse position.

If she really is desperate for a sale, she could sell it by auction or to one of those companies that undervalue houses by about 20% and then offer to buy the house at a 75% of its value.

The first essay I was asked to write in when Istarted studying for a degree in ecconomics was as follows: If during a period of high unemployemnt, one person by constantly trying can get a job, why cannot every unemplyed person?

This applies to selling houses. If one person by continually cutting the price of their house can sell it when times are difficult, why cannot every house seller? The answer to that, is that if everyone started cutting prices it would frighten all potential buyers out of the market. No one wants to buy something that loses value daily and hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people would find themselves in negative equityand unable to move house even if they want to.

We bought our present house after it was re-listed on Rightmove by a different estate agent and £100K reduced. Never considered it when previously listed although we spent 2 years looking.

I think that many people are in the same boat HDando and that normal rules don't apply at the moment.
Unless you're having too many irritating viewings I wouldn't bother to take it off the market, I don't think that you'd get many viewings over the holiday but it would be a shame to miss the one you need.
At least you know that your house is appealing as you've had two potential sales that have fallen through due to no fault of your own.

If you have it in your mind to move stay on the market, I am in the process of selling 2 houses fell througʻ, but even as I thought of stopping I realised I wouldn't be happy and. eventually would put it back on the market

Edit, comma after selling.

it took us 4 years to sell one of our houses. We had come off the market but the estate agent still kept us on his books. That agent was tenacious and showed somebody round. We sold and moved into rental accommodation. Xmas is generally a quiet time so ask the agent to stop any advertisements till the spring. If you have a property in mind though, then things may be very different

Personally - I'd keep the house on the market - at least for the time being.

It is true that some will be "getting their skates on" come the New Year and out there viewing then and there might be one that will turn out to be your buyer.

I'd also agree that many people keep a regular eye on Rightmove even after they've bought a house - it's a sort of checking whether one's own house has kept its value or, if lucky, gone up in value I guess. Or a "Agh! All the defects it's got that can't be solved" thing - and then you think "Well I can't actually see any houses without even more defects than mine has got anyway".

Realistically - what defects has your house got? The house itself, rather "individual" style decor, location, bad neighbours or good neighbours that have been upset? My own house often gets described as "lovely" these days (now I've had it ripped to shreds and modernised) - but I would list as defects, for instance, missing - 3rd bedroom, garage, utility room, not in "my style" (mine being what I'm used to - brick walls/slate roofs) and a bit of my front garden has been legally stolen off me by adjacent neighbours (but they've got the bill due to go to them for VERY expensive work that part of my garden needs and they've clicked they can't have it both ways and the bill will be going in their houses' direction).

So what defects has your house got - and we can maybe figure out how saleable it sounds.

Follow Franbern's advice.

I would take it off and consider relisting about April or May, reputed to be a much busier time for house hunting eg before holiday season, getting settled in for new school year.

Some people I know put their house on the market as evidently anyone you want to buy from isn’t interested if you haven’t had an offer on yours. It wasn’t on for a week and they accepted an offer, now they REALLY have to find somewhere!

This time of year is a buyer's market, but it is swings and roundabouts; we bought and sold in January, but it is not that common, but buyers will compare homes regardless of time listed. Just not the ones with snow in the pictures in May.

Why did it fall through? Have an honest conversation with your agent. Have a look at the photos and descriptions to see if they could be more positive. If they will not change them then perhaps you do need to withdraw and go again.

(I find few in my area describe the London commuting opportunity, even though I have neighbours who do so, for example).

Friends have taken their large house off the market after no viewings since August. Yesterday, they had a call from the agent to say someone new wants to view!
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them.
Good luck.