Put house on market or wait until ready to sell?

S

seascape

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After a recent death in the family the family home is empty.

I'm not ready to part with the house and dispose of its contents right away.

I was considering putting it on the market in Spring which would give me time to say goodbye to the house and the memories it holds. But reading posts here I see that it can easily take a year to move a house....

My fear with putting it on the market right away is that it might be sold very quickly... sounds LUDICROUS given the current market and what I've read here about taking almost a year to sell a house!!! But, the estate agent was so enthusiastic about the house, its position and the fact that there are v. few houses for sale in the area together with the EA saying that she has a client list of people wanting similar houses. On top of that I got a private call from someone in the area asking was the house going to be sell as he'd be interested in buying it!

I don't live in the house but I'd like to spend some weekends there in the next few months to go through stuff.

Not sure what to do - whether to put it on the market and withdraw it if it's going to fast for me or whether to wait until after Xmas - to the next market season (spring) and til people are more at ease about entering the market.

Another issue - I asked two EA's to view it. One asks 1.75% the other 1.25%. The 1st I liked the business-like approach, the 2nd much more sloppy but have heard v. good reports about her. I told the 1st upfront that the % was v. high but they wouldn't budge. I remember when I sold my house about 5 yrs ago that % was negotiable but is that not the case now? It's a well known national EA.
 
Is their a mortage on the property that needs to be paid? Are you or any other in need of the money from the sale of the property.

If not then i would wait untill you are ready to move on and say goodbye. If the house is that good and you think you will get lots of interest and an easy sell it's not going to change in a years time.

Why not speak to the person that called you about the house, that way you save on the EA fees. Tell him it will be for sale but not untill early next year as you have loose ends to tie up, you dont need to go into detail. If house in the area are that hard to come by i dont see them having a problem waiting a few months for the house.

Sorry about your family member as well.
 
There is no point in selling the house until you are ready to do so as no amount of money will assuage your feelings of not having adequate "closure" with the house. If your family bereavement was recent, it would not be a good idea to be making big decisions like this until you have had a chance to grieve properly. As other posters have said, if the house is attracting this kind of interest now it will probably still do so next Spring or whenever you're ready to let it go. The suggestion from samanthajane of speaking to the person who called you personally about the house sounds like a good option. That way you have a fall-back position and also avoid EA fees. If an EA isn't prepared to negotiate on their %, don't give them the business. Everybody has to be prepared to negotiate these days, and if not, there are plenty more fish in the sea.
 
Thanks a lot for the replies.

There's no mortgage outstanding on the house and the money isn't needed (of course would be welcomed. Fortunately there's no financial imperative to sell quickly.

Have decided not to sell until next Spring or at least have decided not to make a big decision until then.

In the meantime I'll try to put a caretaker into the house over winter. Not a renter as I'd like to have access.

tks a lot for the input.
 
seascape, sorry for your loss. In terms of the % by EAs I sold my house recently in Clondalkin and got a very good EA for 1% so think you can do better than 1.25%. Got sale agreed in 2 weeks and he was on top of things til we closed the deal.
 
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