Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

We decided we were moving last May house on mkt etc thought it will only be a few months 6 at the most. Little were we to know the property mkt was the slowest it has been for years We even took it off mkt after xmas for a few months and thought we would wait until next year but for financial reasons changed our mind. Its not that I think Spain will be the be all and end all i am realistic and I know at first it will be harder than UK but it is this state of feeling in limbo you want to do something and you just want to get on with it. Sometimes I wish I didn't want to move it would be easier, but you have to follow your heart and I beleive it will all be worth it in the end. Does anyone else get fed up with the waiting and for those who have moved was it all worth it in the end and how long on average did it take to get there from the initial decision you were going?

Helen:confused:

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

i feel very lucky that i dont have any major ties with the UK. i put my notice in at work and i rented a house. So for me its just a matter of going but ive had to wait about 6 weeks since making the decision and its been soooooo hard!!! though 3 weeks to go now! 21 days!!

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You are lucky and good luck, I think the longer it goes on the more difficult it is it is like your life is on hold. Especially if you have announced to everyone your are going, my husband still sees people from his old work which he took redundancy from last year and they say thought you would be in Spain by now.

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Hi Helen

You have got it in one - limbo - that is a good description and exactly how we feel. We just want the house sold so that we can get on with our lives! We have had our house on the market for over a year now and haven't even had many viewings, we have switched agents yet again and all we get is - the market is slow. Well when is it going to pick up :curse:

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Yes its so frustrating we have never had this before houses have sold in weeks, but its not just ours most of the ones in the area are sticking. You wish you'd done it a couple of years ago when houses were actually selling.
Never mind must think positive.

Helen:)

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

I see you are in Wigan - must be all over the country then because we are on the South coast, Hampshire. It's so sloooooow here! :mad:

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

It will be worth the wait. We initially decided to move in Jan 2003, found our spanish home in the June and completed on it in September. House in UK went on the market in June 2003, sold 3 times during next 6 months but each time the chain collapsed and then in Jan 2004 it finally sold and we moved at the end of Jan and have no regrets, life here is great.

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

According to a tv prog yesterday,the Uk housing market is picking up,so you shouldnt have to wait too long now :)

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

We bought our house in Spain in Feb 2003 but we did not move out here until Sept 2005 and I can say with my hand on my heart it was the longest period of time I have ever experienced. We wanted to take early retirement but to do this we had to work like crazy for two years to pay for all the work we wanted to do to our Spanish property. We organised ourselves regarding holidays and managed to spend at least five days here every eight weeks, it became harder and harder to return to work after each trip. My line manager always sent me an e-mail just before leaving for my trip asking me if I would promise to be back at work after my holiday. I felt as if my heart was no longer in what I was doing in the UK and as you have said limbo was very much my home for that time, I thought the time would never come when I would call this my home, but it did and it will for you too.

The worst part was when I retired in April 2005, we moved from our house in the May and travelled here for two weeks as our belongings were being delivered. OH had to return to the UK as he was not retiring until the end of August, I had a choice I could either stay on my own in Spain or go back with OH and live in my caravan until 18th September; could not live without OH so I went back to UK with him. Had the longest ever summer in my caravan it rained an awful lot. Then the 18th September arrived and we haven't looked back since.

Love and hugs to all of you waiting to make the move the day will come when you will be out here with us:wub: :wub: to you all

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Housing market always picks up Easter + onwards. So look forward to lots of viewings.

These questions are to all of you trying to sell UK houses:
Who shows your houses? You or Agent?
Have your house/s been spruced up?
Re-Paint ALL the door frames, skirtings etc (if they are already painted). Re-decorate where you can to make it fresh. Re-look at the front of your house. What can be cleaned/cleared/painted etc?
Throw out (or hide in shed/garage/neighbours shed) all your clutter. Make the house look minimal. Remove all your personal photos - it puts people off. Make sure if you are showing around that you let the people walk into the rooms first. Let them see how big it is, especially bathroom etc. You walk in LAST. Have fresh flowers, clean windows, fresh coffee on the brew.
Empahise every good aspect about the area...closeness to schools, shops etc etc.

But then again, I'm teaching you all to suck eggs, aren't I!

If, a few weeks after Easter, you still haven't had many viewings, can you possibly drop your price to entice more people? I know, I know, you need as much as possible for your new life abroad, but.....

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Thank god for that. I really hope so. I'm about to put my house on the market. I want to move to Spain end August / beginning September. Two houses in my street have been up for sale for 8 weeks and have gone to "fixed price". Hope I don't have to do that.

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Good advice Mrs T. I'll bear all that in mind. Thanks.

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We are going to buy our house in August while prices are still ok in the area we are moving to hopefully we will be in soon next year at the latest. Worst thing was when we went on hols last August I felt sad at the airport going home as there did not seem anything to go back for strangely Spain felt like home. That must of been hard for you to wait two years, I know what you mean about the job heart does not feel in it anymore. Although I am not anti UK I just want to start my adventure.

Helen :)

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Yes, I just want to go now. Supposed to be exchanging contracts tomorrow, but have had a little indication that my buyer might pull out after all. If they do it will be over the next few days. So please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me. I'm trying to distract myself by packing and repacking. :unsure:

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Dead right i do helen :(

Limbo land is the exact term , so annoying waitting and not being able to commit and purchase the new place due to the Uk house not completed , due to the purchasers having trouble with there sale ..

Sometimes you do think oh why bother ? All the hassles , then still got to move out , move to new home ,learn the language , etc,etc..

So yes i know exactly what you mean :mad: Its all out of your hands and theres nothing you can do but wait !!

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

'Limbo' does describe it perfectly. I feel that I just want to free my energy up, in order to engage fully in my new life in Spain, however, as long as I haven't fully removed my energy from my old life and living situation, then I can't do that. It really is most frustrating (bah) :frown:

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Hi guys!
Well there is one thing for sure, we are certainly not alone. Everything that has been written is as if I had written it myself. But to have had to have waited for 2 years and having to keep returning, ouch that must have hurt!!
Limbo land is for sure where we all are! :(
Mrs T, we have done all the usual and more but house has still been on the market for a year. It's on every major, and even some minor websites as well as with a local agent. :blink:
We have got 2 veiwings tomorrow, but we still have to wait, and go to work and come home and wait!
It's like going to bed every night thinking the next day will be Christmas, only to find out in the morning that Christmas has been cancelled! :cry_smile:
Keep up the faith guys, the law of averages dictates that ALL our properties will sell eventually! (That was actually supposed to have cheered everyone up, but I feel quite depressed again now!) :thumbsup:

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Interesting to see that people are struggling to sell houses in the UK.
Have we reached a peak in house prices? Are they simply too expensive?

Seriously shave £30k off your houses and I bet they'll sell straight away.

Not being on the property ladder i'd love house prices to fall :thumbsup:

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

30K :eek:

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Had a feeling someone would say that - that's the reality of it. Well its sit and wait, wait, wait (I feel for you all :( ) or weigh up whether you can afford to be cheaper than the competition down the road... Neither works for you though, does it!

Before the prospective buyer leaves, offer them a free holiday when you move! (Only joking!).

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

I'll keep everything crossed for you, wish I was at that stage
:)

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We could also stock up on Easter eggs and offer them free to all viewers :lol:

Sorry Andrew - you asked for that ;)

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Everything comes down to price in the end. I am sure you are right. People have a psychological attitude that whatever the house down the road was sold for last year their's should be at least that or even more because its better for any number of reasons. Anyway everyone tells us markets are going up aren't they? The market catches up usually if you are prepared to wait long enough. Which suggests that in fact houses are overpriced if there are no buyers.

Looking at the likelihood of yet more interest rate increases, if not this week then more or less guaranteed next month, I suspect prices are more likely to "flatten" in estate agents' jargon or "drop" in my language and it will become quite a bloodbath as people desperate to sell start to undercut the neighbours. The people desperate to sell will be newly separating couples who need a property each and the estates of deceased family members. Another group who will be in difficulty are the new "amateur" buy to let brigade who have come into the market quite recently, have geared up with big mortgages and fear their capital gains eroding.

Mind you I have thought this for the last couple of years and I haven't been right yet.

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

I think what has happened is house prices have risen dramatically in the last 10 years but salaries have not risen so there is a lack of first time buyers which has slowed the market up. My self and a lot of people I know could not afford to buy our own house if we were first time buyers. I think there should be more help for first time buyers i.e building more affordable housing such as shared ownership to help them get on the market then things will get moving again. I mean up north on an average salary all you could afford as a first time buyer is a terraced house to get on property ladder say 80k, we started off in a studio flat for £25,000 back in 1990, you've got to start somewhere. But I imagine down south property is a lot more expensive and salaries are not nessesarily enough to afford property.

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

We are the same and just a little further in near to Manchester, very slow house market. We go back out in August we might look for somewhere to rent although its probably just wasting more money!

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£30k up north is a lot of HARVEY!

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Well i said to oh last year should we just go and rent with our savings assuming house would not take long to sell, well its a good job he was thinking logically as we would of used most of our savings and still not sold the house so we just have to hang on in there.

Helen

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Exactly and its all money you need in Spain, I would rather hang on another year than lose 30K.

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Ta, Thats what we think and anyway the depressing weather is to get better after Easter which helps a little!!

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Well at least if we have a nice summer thats something.

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Well, I wish you ALL speedy uncomplicated sales. :)

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This is an interesting point. When you "lose" that assumes you will be getting less than you paid for it. That's not good I agree. Some people use "lose" to mean that they will not get the price that they think it's worth. Trouble is it is only worth what somebody will pay for it. In that case they are losing nothing if the value they achieve is more than they originally paid.

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Not strictly true !
If the property is on a mortgage then if the house sells for same as purchase price ,Stamp duty isnt covered and then each and every mortgage payment has been money down the loo :)

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Semantics dear boy! My idea of value includes taking account of the costs of purchase and sale. If you didn't have a mortgage you might well be paying rent so I would imagine the costs of holding a property might be similar. Actually rents may not always cover the interest payments, let alone the other costs of renting out, so there is an argument which says that you could be better off renting if the cost of buying is too high.
Also a lot of buy-to- letters seem to be banking on capital gains rather than making a profit on running costs but that's a dangerous game in these markets, for more recent get-rich-quick buyers at any rate, in my opinion.

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We are just in the process of putting our house up for sale, we haven't a property in Spain so hope to rent for a while. If we were to knock 30 grand off the asking price we would not be going anywhere. We have only been buying for 10 years so are not making much out of our house sale. We are going to take the chance because I don't want to be pension age before we make the move. Good luck all:)

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Good for you Kaylee! :D Best of luck! :thumbsup:

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Cheers Chris:D Where are you hoping to move to?

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Don't know yet Kaylee, we plan to look at different areas in Spain and rent while we are looking.:) What about you? :)

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

Hi Chris, Southern Spain to start with but a bit more inland when we've been there for a while:) It's scary thinking about the move, but it has to be done:thumbsup:

Re: Anyone else get sick of waiting to move?
 

I agree with you Kaylee! But I think it would be more scary not to take the chance. ;) I don't expect for one minute that it will be easy, but hey, who wants easy? I really can't wait! I think the thing I find most daunting is the sheer logistics of moving. You know, what do I have to do, and in what order! But have found all my friends on this forum to have been a fantasic help in trying to assimilate all the required info, to at least give you some sort of order and to be able to prioritise. Every day, I look out the window for just a glimpse of the sun. It hasn't been too bad lately but when the sun does come out, (especially this time of year) there isn't the warmth to it.:( I just love to be outdoors pottering around in the garden. :D I bought a new bike last year, but have hardly used it. I would really love to be able just to go out on that and not have to put on my Barbour and wellies! Ho hum! :sneaky:
Well we had a viewing today, they may want to come back for a second viewing so we will see. It is such a waiting game though. Our house has been up for sale for 12 months. Don't want to get my hopes up too high, but can't help it.
How long do you think it will be before you put your house on the market?