Elli and Paul

Hi Gay

I'm crossing everything for you and I'm sure it will happen soon, it only takes one

We had it all sorted in when we were in the UK and it fell through at the last minute, I'm sure you've heard the tale. Then we had all the jokers come out and offer stupid money as they thought we were desperate! Well we said we'd rent it out so estate agent got a bit worried.

Paul then did a mad thing and emailed all the estate agents in the area and asked if they had anyone on their books looking for our type of house. He copied it to our agent who wasn't impressed and they also got many calls from agents upset at this email. Then one agent called our agent as they were friends and mentioned a chap who'd just lost out on one similar and with the day he'd viewed it and made an offer.. the rest is history.
I know it sounds mad but we too were desperate.

Good luck Gaynor and all in the same position I can totally understand the stress involved.

I'll see you in a couple of weeks for a or too

Take care
Elli

Tiffin Tease

Hey Burtie

Good luck girl - I know exactly how you feel, we dropped £16K off ours and it nearly broke my heart but it had to be done.

You guys have been apart for so long I feel so bad for you and I just hope it sells while you're here!!

And, no offence to the person that posted the 'we sold ours for £10k above price and in 2 days' but do you really think that bit was necessary when replying to a thread where someone is so clearly upset?? Sorry, don't mean to rant but I just think that shows a lack of sensitivity to those who really are desparate to sell.

Thinking of you hun xxxxxxxx

Jerseygirl

Don't think of it as getting less than you asked for...think of it as...we were asking too much. I've always tried to look at it that way...it does help ease the blow.

burton bunch

Yes lurve it has been on here since early Feb 2007

When I threatened the first agent with renting it out she said "when can i get my sign back".

Thanks hun

Need to be with my man and therefore have to do something girlies

Big kisses to my girls

steve666

Hi Gay,

You're situation is far more desperate then ours, we've been on the market since March, so not as long as your place either, so you must be climbing the walls by now Last week I wrote the cancellation letter to my first agents (I gave them 4 weeks plus the 2 week cancellation bit), when he couldn't persuade me to change my mind he went to the duel agency option, I phoned another agent who was previously hounding me to sell our house and asked if he'd agree to this duel thing, if not I'll go through the agencies until someone did agree. He relented and said he's go along with it. So, we now have two agencies, one at 0.8% the other at 1%. Still haven't had any interest but I've given them 8 weeks altogether then we've threatened to rent. I've already dropped £15,000 (now £365,000) and there's a house no bigger than ours going for £475,000 and it's in the same street! No logic at all.

Anyway, this is probably no help to yourself but just saying it's not anything you're doing wrong, it's the luck in this bleedin' game you need.

When Mr Lovinyourhouse comes through that door this weekend and tells you how wonderful your house is and gives you cash for the full asking price you'll laugh at these times.

simon876

Hi Gaynor,

Good for you. I know it's not always what you want but if it pulls in the punters, go for it!

I'll cross my fingers for you.

Simon

printer

I blame all these TV shows telling everyone it's all about location, location, location.
Our house was clean, no pets, no smoking, freshly painted, good carpets and floor coverings, new kitchen, new bathroom, nice garden not overlooked, blah blah BUT we are right next to a railway line and this seemed to be our biggest problem and in the end the price drop was inevitable to try and shift it.
It was all a far cry form when we bought it 12 years ago, in a right state but again the price was right for us.
It still bugs me that a place round the corner sold for more than ours and it was a semi, ex council house and then more recently another semi right on the main road with one parking space also sold for more than we got in just two weeks, there's no sense to it all.:curse:

steve666

Hi print, as I've pointed out logic has no place in house selling, we we're convinced by the estate agents, not just one but four, that this house will easily go for the asking price and maybe more, within weeks. When you're put on such a high by the "experts" the crash to earth after a few weeks of reality is bloody awful. Lesley doesn't want to rent after the nightmare we had last year with our other place but I refuse to bring the price down any further. Patience is the key here me thinks.

kate white

reading this post and seeing just how many people have had to sell their property at a loss has me kind of worried(what if) there has been a few houses around here up for sale and all the ones that needed some work done on them(they were owned by old people) they sold very sharp yet another woman along the road had to take hers off the market and she has a lovely home maybe it a case people have to go for what they can afford theses days I dont know but it sure has me worried.but I really hope your house sells soon Gaynor you just never know who is out there looking

simon876

Hi Guys,

I'll go along with the patience advice, tempered with being realistic about what you can get for your place.

We put our house on the market (www.houseweb.co.uk) in November 2005 and by Februray 2006, hadn't had much interest. Ours was a 4-bed bungalow, village location, open fields on one side - perfect you may think. However, because it was relatively isolated, had a raised back garden, no shops in the village, 3 miles to the nearest secondary school, etc. we knew that our 'client group' was quite limited.

By April 2006, we were (whilst not desperate) frustrated that we hadn't got anywhere. We contacted an agent and bargained them down to .75% but they turned out to be worse than useless and we sacked them within the month. Despite our pointing out that the property had a raised garden and was relatively isolated, they sent elderly and disabled viewers who immediately decided that the property was not suitable.

The next (and last) agent we used agreed to a 1% fee andeventually sold the place for us - in November 2006. However, we had drop our price twice (£15K in all) and had to push them - repeatedly. I am still unconvinced that they earned their fee. Sorry if there are any agents reading this but I have difficulty in understanding exactly how the fee is justified, especially when I see what Realtors in the US and Canada do for their money.

In the end, we had no choice but to be patient. We realised that our home was 'unique' and elected to take a risk by selling early. We figured that we could put our money to use while we waited for our application to be decided on. In December 2006 we purchased a property in Ontario as an investment / potential future home (or source of income if necessary).

We have rented since November 2006 (for less than we paid in mortgage payments) and have watched rates rise since. Only time will tell if ours was a 'good call'.

Still smiling,

Simon

Kabel

It seems choice of agent has a lot to do with how quickly (or not ) you sell, not just the presentation, location, pricing, etc of your house. If they are not doing their job properly then potential buyers will not be given your details.

One thing to try is ringing up the agent and pretending to be a buyer looking for the type of house that you are actually selling and see if they tell you about your own house.
Plenty of ammunition to throw at them then if they don't.

There is a good article on www.moneysavingexpert from a real estate agent.
It talks about how to pick the agent in the first place, what strategies to try to scope them out before you sign, as well as how to get them as cheaply as possible. Then it talks about the checking up on them stuff as above. When we come to sell our house I'll definitely be trying the tactics suggested. I'm worried already about not selling. I remember last time we sold a house it was stressful enough waiting for the offers, and that was without so much riding on it like it will be this next time.

Anyway, good luck for those 'trying' to wait patiently.
Kabel

Liana

Unfortunately it is "location, location, location". There are neighbourhoods where people will buy the properties and demolish them to build what they want on the land. So location is the first thing buyers look for and then the next is curb appeal and then the makeover inside.

burton bunch

would love to go Dual - but none of the agents will do it

Lovely location - this is the road that a couple of years ago people knocked on your door and asked if you wanted to see - even without an agents board.

It also annoys me that some ex council houses are less bedrooms same money and selling further into our little town.

The TWs

I'm sure you are being tough with them (you are obviously a tough lady simply doing what you're already doing) but have you tried this...

Call a number 2 choice agency and say to them that you're not happy with your current agent and would agent #2 be interested in your house as a dual agency. They may hum and haw but they would rather have a crack at your 1% than nothing. Once they are ok (they will be), call you agent and tell them you've been asked by another agency to go dual. Tell them that as they haven't had any success yet that you think that is the best option and if they don't agree you will give them 2 weeks in which to sell your house and that 2 week period is also your notice period.

If they say "Fine - get rid of us!" (which they probably won't) then call another agency and offer them dual as above.

If the agencies aren't afraid of competition (i.e. they haven't priced your house wrong or are marketing it incorrectly) they will do it - you have to call the shots with them. I think when we get desperate we think that they are doing US a favour. Remember you are paying them significantly for this "favour".

Good luck hun - my fingers are crossed for you!

lilacheart

I feel your pain, we accepted £5000 off the asking price.

We had also been waiting for ontario's pnp which did not happen when we thought it would. Due to this we have also lost £1000's on the exchange rate so we will be about £10,000 down on what we hoped.

On the plus side the quality of life and cost living will soon make up that shortfall. Hopefully in a few years time it won't feel like such a loss

Kerry x