What next? Selling/buying is driving me mental

M

*MissRibena*

Guest
My house is for sale since the beginning of February

There’s been a few viewings but no offers. There’s been launches of new developments in the town recently, all similar(ish) to mine and pretty close by so its easy to see why my market segment is slow at the moment.

Seperately, one guy viewed the house on foot of an ad I put in the Buy and Sell as part of an arm-chancing exercise. I had a friend do the viewing and she said he was really interested. He phoned me afterward to make sure we both had each others phone numbers and to see would I be ok with selling some of the contents and that since he didn’t need to move in til the end of July how I would feel about the possibility of renting back the house from him. I was open to both ideas. At the time, the purchase of the house I was mad about had fallen through so I was in no panic to move and told him so. He said he was organising his finances and would be back to me. That was 21st March and I haven’t heard anything since.

Last Weds I viewed another house that I really love and don’t want it to slip through my fingers. I have not told the selling estate agent how interested I am.

I don’t know what to do now. Do I just do nothing and hope? Or should I phone the guy who viewed my house to see if he is still interested since now I’m in more of a rush than I was when I spoke to him last? Or should I contact the selling estate agent and explain I am interested but in the process of selling (possibly offer joint selling agency of my house to him)?

I know there is always another house etc. etc. but this stuff is cracking me up!! I'm not used to being so passive about someting important to me.

Rebecca

PS My hotmail inbox was full and rejected the activation email when I tried to register. Does anyone know how to get it to resend?
 
You probably need to change a few tactics here in order to sell.....probably starting with the auctioneer...are they a reputable firm..do they advertise well, do thay have a good web site (there are some really crappy auctioneering web sites around that are slow etc). Is the property brochuer doing the property justice & representing it well?

Does the property have 'kerb appeal'? Is the property decorated to your taste or decorated to sell? I would recommend watching a few episodes of the House Doctor so that you can pick up a few tips on 'staging' your house for a sell.

ninsaga
(my 609th post! just had to put that in)
 
The firm the house is with are definitely reputable and well established locally. They are part of the ERA group so the house is on eraireland.com and daft.ie. It was advertised twice in the local paper (which is pretty much the norm here) and is in their window which is in a good spot in town. To be fair, I don't think there's much more they could do in this regard.

The house is decorated in a fairly neutral way and everything is really neat inside and out and clutter is minimised. It's not in the town's best area but it's priced accordingly which is probably the hardest part of the house to sell but I don't know if there's anything much I can do about that. When there's a viewing I put the heat on and we haven't had a curry in two bloody months! :) The cat and all his paraphenalia have been banished to the boiler house and if I clean the perfectly clean surfaces one more time I won't be responsbile for my actions thereafter! :)

Seriously though, it would drive you batty. I think that eventhough my house isn't exactly what I want (it has only a tiny garden and I want a bigger one among other things), and what I want is hard to come by (which is why I hate the thought of losing the other house), I might pack the whole thing in a month or two and decide to love my own house and get on with my life.

Rebecca
 
"ninsaga
(my 609th post! just had to put that in)"

You have only two posts according to my screen
Rgds
Red
 
Red said:
"ninsaga
(my 609th post! just had to put that in)"

You have only two posts according to my screen
Rgds
Red
Click to expand...

Yep Red - the history from the EZboard forum did not migrate (that's why I added it at the end.

Miss Ribena.....have you also posted on myhome.ie - just a thought (I wouldn't be a big fan of ERA's web site)
 
Rebecca, I can understand the situation you are in, I would contact the chap who viewed the house, all he can say is no. It sounds like you had a good conversation with him and he understands the situation except for the panic you are now in. Go to the auctioneer as well and tell him you need to shift it quickly, they will probably recommend a price drop, if that favorable to you it might move it more quickly. Then as an alternative try discussing bridging with your bank, they may not do this as its opening bridging (no sale agreed on your own). Hope this was of some help
 
Thanks everyone.

Stobear, I think I will do what you suggest and phone my Buy and Sell guy. I will do my best to wait it out til Monday though. I got a friend to phone up about the house I want to buy and there are no offers yet. There was another viewing of my house yesterday and the estate agent called to say it was v positive and might be back to me before the end of the week. I would be very interested in going the bridging route (even if my father says I'm mental) but my bank won't entertain it without signed contracts. Is this the norm or should I try phoning around?

I know some people who totally thrive on all this to-ing and fro-ing but I'm learning fast that I'm just not cut out for it! It's very frustrating and I feel like I'm on hold. Everyday it's a different story and believe it or not, I'm doing my best to keep my panicky posts on here to a minimum (without much success as you can see :))

Thanks again
Rebecca
Natural born worrier
 
In relation to bridging when I was checking into it, my very flexible mortgage lender said 'yeah bridging is no problem, how much do you want' and then added the nice disclaimer that 'you need a sale agreed'. I think its a common enough approach to protect their interests. A few phone calls will confirm it for you though.
 
I couldn't get bridging when I sold last year - and that was just for a 10% deposit, all my money being tied up in the property I was selling. Sale agreed counted for nothing. I ended up having to go to the friendly credit union, but I can't see them giving you 300 grand...either way I'd be very reluctant to go that route, it's v dodgy and you could see your funds rapidly slipping away in interest.
 
Where Is The House Located That You Are Looking To Sell
 
Hi unreg, my house is close to the town centre (small midlands town). It's near a local authority housing estate. The estate has never caused me a minute's bother/hassle/concern, but you know the way people can be put off by them.

The buy and sell guy "bowed out" unfortunately. There was a viewing last week through the estate agent and according to the agent they seemed really positive but nada since.

So it's back to waiting and seeing .... and praying nobody wants the other house.

Rebecca
 
Hi Miss R:Know the feeling when you decide to uproot and find its not as easy as first it appears. In my case the house I looked at was already sold even though still 'in the window' and on the net. Looking around found a few very nice new ones being being built by a private builder in same area , however his asking price was over €420,000 and there would have been stamp duty on top of that. Havn't completely given up the idea but maybe will put in new flooring, upgrade the kitchen and change some of the decor etc and it wont cost as much as changing. and convince myself that changing was not really necessary. To be honest I begrude the government the stamp duty. For what? as previous poster says it might turn into a buyers market, unfortunately this is double edged when you are selling as well as buying. I dont think we are there yet. Good Luck.
 
Hi everyone

I'm just looking for viewpoints on strategies for the next stage in the home purchase situation.

My house is as good as sold. Deposit is paid. Contracts issue today. Although I haven't been speaking to him, I know who the buyer is (ya gotta love living in the sticks!) and he's genuine so unless he goes broke, there shouldn't be much messing from now on.

The house I want to buy is a different matter. It was rented out til recently and there is no other interest in it apart from me. I offered well below the asking price in an arm-chancing exercise over a week ago and was told they were hanging on for the asking price. I haven't heard anything since. There are no other offers.

Btw, my mortgage-free existence dream is out the window at this stage, so I'll be borrowing more to buy this house.

What should I do now? Should I phone the estate agent again? Wait for signed contracts to come back? Not really relishing the idea of having to rent somewhere for a couple of months while all this sorts itself out and my closing date is 4 weeks away.

Rebecca
PS Thanks a million for all the hand-holding I've had so far :)
 
You're now very close to having to commit to a date to leave your house and very far away from knowing where you're ultimately going.

The normal few weeks leeway you can buy by getting your solicitor to hold up the process may well be insufficient for you to get a purchase sorted. And really prolonged messing from your side endangers your sale.

You could come clean with the intending purchaser and request a very far out date for closing. Don't assume that the other side are in a hurry.

But if they are and you don't want to lose them then you should seriously consider renting. It has the enormous benefit of you being able to negotiate hard on any purchase you consider because you will not be concerned about trying to co-ordinate sale and purchase any longer. In addition, if you end up buying a house which needs work (as the one you're looking at seems to) you can get the big stuff out of the way before moving in.
 
Oysterman! You're putting the heart crossways in me altogether now! :)

I don't want to go messing with the closing date on my old house at all. It was nervewracking enough getting someone to buy it, so the last thing I'm going to do is put any obstacle in their way of getting it on time. If all comes to all, I can live with my parents (yummy food!) for a while or rent. Like you say it would leave me in a good position, with money in the bank etc but I'd rather get into the new house straight away. I want to get the purchase side of things sorted out so there isn't so much uncertainty. I don't know if it would be stupid to ring the estate agent again (he was a bit of a plonker).

Rebecca
 
Miss R, if your contracts specifiy a closing date of 4 weeks from now and they have been sent then you are pretty much committed unless the other party request a date further out. To get the sale agreed under the asking price on the new house has no chance in my opinion so I think unless you can change the date you are pretty much renting....I would call the estate agent and ask what the story is, hound them to get the info you need. But dont tell them you are in a hurry but you would like some feedback
 
I'm fit to burst with excitment! It's all sorted. The buyer of my house is looking for occupation ASAP. I've paid the desposit on the new house. I will not be homeless etc. etc and my mortgage is greatly reduced. Just wanted to thank everyone, especially stobear and oysterman for their posts over the last few weeks. :)

I'll probably be hanging out on Homes and Gardens driving them cracked there instead ...

Rebecca
 
Congrats MsR, have been following your situation with interest, glad it has all worked out!
 
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