Ok - not hard to establish that a fair few of us waiting for VISA's have our houses on the market.

I think the market is moving again but houses in our bracket are not

We did think about going through an auction say a reputable company like MAINE n MAINE who specialise in auctions of houses of all values.

Does anyone know about the pro's n cons of this - has anyone else considered it?

Angela

We considered it. We decided that if the house hadn't sold by July we were going to put in the next auction. Luckily, we sold before then.

It can be a bit costly. The one I was looking at (can't remember who it was) charged 2% of the sale price plus advertising costs.

Also it's a risk as to whether you will get an acceptable offer, although you could end up getting a lot more than you want.

On the up side, you get your money within 30 days of agreeing the sale and they have to put down 10% on the day.

[QUOTE=WendyC]
Oh thats interesting Wendy - thanks for advice.
angelax

Hi Angela
we are in the same boat. Have had one lot pull out just before exchange, loads of viewings but no other offers.
Have reduced price and will put up with another agent on Monday. We are considering asking M&M to come out and give us an idea of how it would sell at auction, but several people I have spoken to ( including a surveyer who has dealt with auctions both professionally and personally ) have said that its not worth it. He thinks that unless you have an unusual property, then you usually get far less than you want as its mostly developers / investment companies who buy.
I think it doesn't hurt to look at all options tho. We have advertised on houseladder for the last month and nothing has come from that at all.
Its all so frustrating isn't it? We're going to bugger off to Greece in a couple of weeks to get away from thinking constantly about the house selling.
Good luck with whatever you do - let us know if you go for the auction.

how long has everyone had their house on the market??


we havent had a single viewing yet we had ours on the market for 5 weeks

its so damn frustraiting

jan xx

We put ours on the market on Jan 24th. Not much interest, but did get one offer (they changed their minds two days later )

Changed agents as no viewings for ages at the end of March and had a buyer 19th April.

So depends how you look at it. It has taken us 3 months to sell, but the first 5 weeks were wasted by an incompetent agent. They got us viewings but only the "lets have a nosy" type people and someone that had already offered asking price for another house and was using us to get the other one cheaper

Our new agents however had us a viewer within three hours of instructing them, but she didn't like the area

Our buyers were sent a few weeks later after being persuaded our house was better than the one they actually wanted to look at. Luckily they agreed

glad it worked out for you wendy

i was thinking of changing agents

i hate dilemas

jan xx

It made so much difference for us. I knew as soon as he walked in the door that he was going to do everything he could to get us a buyer. It cost us £120 to get out of the other agreement, but I am glad we did it. It took the other agent 3 weeks just to get us a sign and it took them 12 hours to take it down !!.

just phoned the agent and she said its been up for 8 weeks (how time flies)

she also said mm not a very good start is it?

we suggest that you drop the price
i said i didnt want to drop the price so she said we will try and do a mail shot

she doesnt fill me with confidence

aaaaahhhhh

jan xx

She should have been doing this before. I think EA's expect people to just fall into the door, some of them do nothing at all to promote your house, bar a weekly ad in the paper (if you're lucky, others are monthly.)

I'd start looking at other agents. Give the others the next 4 weeks and then tell them to take a hike and at least you will know which other agent to try.

When they come tell them how p'd off you are with the current agents and ask them how they will market your house. That way they will know that if they don't do something you WILL take your business elsewhere. If they think they are going to lose the commission on your sale, they will try harder to sell it.

good idea wendy thanks for the advice

jan xx

Thanks for responses.

Ours has only been on for two weeks, but in our local areas there is an astonishing amount of properties just popped up for sale.

It is early days yet - but as you say Wendy - things can happen very quickly.

Jan - mail shot sounds good idea!
Angelax

We've had ours on since Jan, with a very reputable (if there is such a thing) EA; they have generated alot of interest - a few offers but never from anybody who's in a position. I'm going to stick with them (I've even invited them to our leaving do just to keep a good relationship!!) as they have done ok, but it's so frustrating.

One thing they did which you could ask yours to do: we have a local glossy magazine in which most of the local EAs advertise in, occasionally there are editorials on "interesting" properties or sellers with an interesting story. We got our EA to do a piece about us and our property. It got people through the door and we had 3 offers (unfortunately not one of them was in a position to buy). It may generate some interest.

Hey mate was just reading this thread and noticed you are heading our way. When you coming over ?

Hey mate, I've PM'd you. Hope you got it.

Cheers


Scott