[Belmont Babes]

I need a good luck charm. We have reduced the price but can't easily afford another drop. We just can't seem to get any buyers through the door. We changed agents and now have a £300 invoice from the 1st agents. My fault as I didn't read the smallprint. 2nd agent has agreed to foot the bill and now both agents are fighting over retaining the poperty. I couldn't really give a stuff anymore, just want it sold. I agree the HIP and interst rate rise does seem to have mucked up the market for sellers

[holland]

Belmont Babes,

Nitemare isn't it, selling house is stressful enough at the best of times, when do you plan to go to NZ? We have had no more viewers, and have been trying to think of other options, ie, mortgage break, but our mortgage company will only do it for 2 months of any year, and must be seperate months...not one after another!! ( am I making sense??). Then we've though about the option of drastically reducing. OR selling to those companies that buy your home for a percentage of its value OR renting it out, with CREAM CARPETS..although I would forsake them for NZ, but will have hardly any capital to come back to...don't know what to do for the best, really are in a complete spin at the minute, and seem to be doing nothing...except geting closer to the date we want to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[H & Rick]

We had planned to be in NZ by June 2007.....:no

Now we hope we are looking at November...fingers crossed.

Our PR runs out in April 08 which is not really that far away in house buying terms.

Is your property on the internet? That's were we got most of our hits.

[Mickstim]

Our PR runs out in May 08, but I have been told that you can apply for an extension if the reason for not going is that the house isn't sold (although I don't have that on any firm authority). But we don't want to spend another winter here!

Our estate agents both told us that dropping £10 000 off the price would make an enormous difference, but so far nothing at all. It's living in this kind of limbo that we find so hard. If we just had a crystal ball that would let us know when we can expect to get moving.............

Barb

[holland]

Hi,

We're hoping to go in November also, our PR runs out March 08, cloack and calendar is ticking!!!!

[stejude]

Our house has been on the market since April 07. We have had a viewer a week on average,but not a single offer. Changed agents twice, reduced price three times and still nothing. We live in hope and an extremely clean house!!! Husband is forced to strip at the end of every day before setting foot inside and the dogs are bannished to the garage at the hint of a viewer!! To be fair the market is dead. Intetest rates and so on are causing a lot of problems. Those at the lower end are selling, but they dont seem to feed into the next level i.e US. Not panicking yet!! Well hubby isn't!! It has to get better......right? We have thought of renting out, but decided against it.

Good luck to everyone.

ps, anyone changed their mind and want to stay in the uk, we have a wonderful edwardian semi for sale....................and very well priced.

[zardell]

Hi and WELCOME to the forum.

You say the UK market is dead - from reading this thread, I am getting the impression that this is nationwide.


Oh and whats this new law I've just heard about - something to do with the owner getting the survey done instead of the purchaser ?


What county in the UK do you live in?

Sorry.....too many questions. I'll shut up now......LOL

Julie

xx

[stejude]

We live in lancashire, Preston to be exact. The new law applies to Houses ith 4 bedrooms or more, that changd from the original premise. Basically a bit of paper showing the state of the house. Supposed to speed up the selling process, if you can sell.

Steve

[speckythecky]

The original law was that the vendor would carry out a survey and searches and include these in a home sellers pack. This is worthless because a mortgage company require an independant survey before it will release funds.
The government that watered down the legislation so that the only thing required is a certificate of energy efficiency.
This should have come in a couple of months ago but there were not assessors trained. however it wasn't cancelled until the last minute so a lot of vendors but houses on the markets in the weeks up to implementation hoping to avoid the cost of the homesellers pack (HIPS).
The law was then delayed until August 1st and will only apply to houses of 4 or more bedrooms (unless it is cancelled or delayed again).
If you have already started marketing your house you do not need HIPS, so there are current excessive houses of over 3 bedrooms on the market, plus those of all sizes put on the market in the british spring.

[baboonworld]

WOW! You are all quite enthusiastic and optimistic - you will soon have that beaten out of you by people making offers and then changing their minds and low offers that you start to consider when you wouldnt have even given it a second thought some months ago!

We got hubby's PR 1 month after applying (April 05). Then in July we put the house on the market. (West Yorkshire). We had a viewing a week probably at first - most had to sell their home though and some hadnt even put it on the market. Also our house was on a new estate and I think the saleswoman on the estate was sending people to us to use is as an extra showhome!

We had a couple offers - but when I got the estate agent to follow them up (when nothing seemed to be happening) they had changed their minds - and hadnt even bothered to tell us.

Then we got a lowish offer - I think it was in Jan 06 - which we accepted. I guess we thought if we didnt take it we might not get another! It was £14K below asking (the house was on the market for £249K).

Then heard nothing agin! Someone knocked on our door saying the estate agent had said the house was sold but our sign was still up. I told them that the house was not sold and that we hadnt heard anything for a month from the people who had made an offer. So the second people made an offer of £240 which we accepted.

All of a sudden buyer 1 was getting worried! We explained that we had wanted a quick completion and buyer 2 could go ahead without selling his home. Also buyer 1 hadnt even bothered to come back to us until he thought there was another party.

We ended up with wives crying and both offering more money and in the end we had to choose one - we stuck with buyer 1 - and eventually (after then reducing his offer at the last minute, went from £242,500 back to £240).

All really stressful when you are trying to organise movers etc.

We booked our flights after completion - we stayed at Hotel MIL for a week. I had the flights on hold for about a week before that - and just confirmed when the money was in our bank.

Also the exchange rate was really good at the time - 2.95.

Good luck - dont mean to be the harbringer of doom - just want you to be realistic.

Also if you are thinking about putting your house on the market - dont think about it - just do it. You cant make any plans until it is sold!!


ps. we ended up buying a house in Levin that we had seen on the internet when we were in the UK!

[baboonworld]

pps - well done StevieD and family!!!! Kiwi's at last!!

[Mickstim]

My OH phoned our case worker this morning to check whether we would get an extension on our PR if the house is not sold in time, and I'm afraid the answer is a resounding 'no'. So looks like if the house doesn't sell by early next year we are going to have to go on holiday to NZ to validate our permits. An expensive option - so lets hope we all get our houses sold by then and can go for real!

Barb

[holland]

reduced house by £7,000 today, will keep you posted !

[speckythecky]

Got home on Friday to find that a house just down the street had gone on the market, fairly annoyed as there has been nothing for sale for months until we went on the market.

Had a viewing today - it was the people down the road, they like the area and want to stay nearby, just want something slightly bigger so are interested - just need to sell theirs, so here's hoping that they get a good offer and soon.

[holland]

ooooooooooo Good Luck Speckytheky, Ill keep my fingers crossed for you...we are semi detached, and our next door neighbours are up also, for £35,000 more....so we are hoping it is to our advantage.

Good Luck keep us posted

J x

[Mickstim]

We live in a cul de sac of detached houses and there are only 30 in the entire street. Since we went on the market so have 4 others in the street. One has just sold to someone who viewed ours (and it was on at £60 000 more than ours). Apparently he liked the other one better as it had a bigger garden and double garage, where ours is only a single. Another sold for a totally ridiculous price as it was a deceased estate, so now we are 3. Let's hope no one else in the street decides they need to move! We have still had no more viewings since reducing the price.

Good luck Speckythecky. Hope this is the one for you!

Barb

[speckythecky]

Just had a call from estate agent, people down the road want to offer full asking price :clap on the condition that we take property off the market. But they have only just put theirs on the market? not sure what to do, estate agent doesn't recommend taking off market.

[thezorbster]

Good news John, but what a dilemma - don't know what I'd do in that situation - sorry, no advice!

[vixxann]

Just had a call from estate agent, people down the road want to offer full asking price :clap on the condition that we take property off the market. But they have only just put theirs on the market? not sure what to do, estate agent doesn't recommend taking off market.

I think that they are being unreasonable to ask you to take house off market whilst they wait for buyers for their property - what if it takes ages for them to sell. And in general your house is relatively new on market so you could have lots more interest yet. I'd say that you note their interest but until they are in a real position to make the offer you will keep yours on market. (my opinion only obviously!)

hope you get sorted and congrats anyway :)

[Mickstim]

I agree with Vixxann. We were just discussing today what we would do if we got an offer from someone who hadn't sold or was in a bad chain and decided we would have to insist on keeping the house on the market until they are in a position to buy. There are just too many things that can go wrong, and as the clock is ticking we would need to have as many options open to us as possible.

Obviously only my opinion, but for what it's worth!

Barb

[holland]

mmmm, had 2 people around to discuss the idea of renting, and we would be at a small loss each month if we went down this route, only by about £50.00, but thats if nothing goes wrong in the house...and goodness knows what it will look like when renters have left ( some renters...Im sure other people would look after it fine). Also,because at top end of the market, would take a while to rent out. AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH...I just wish someone would come around and say, 'yes, no probs will be easy to sell/rent', everybody praises the bloody house and then cant sell it!!!!!!!!!

So...although it is still an option...a very serious one if we dont sell...I am not keen on the idea.

Also, reduced house at the weekend, and was assured it was all changed on paperwork, been on internet today, and its old price on one site and new on another..........I GIVE UP!

Whose up for creating our own estate agents!!!lol, Im sure if we can all co-ordinate the paperwork that comes with emigrating, we can sell our houses!!!!!!!!!

[speckythecky]

I hate estate agents but I am not sure I have the time to do a better job although I agree that there must be a better way of doing things, and considerably cheaper.

[sizzlingbadger]

DON'T take it off the market until you've exchanged contracts. We've been through every emotion possible with selling houses. One that always sticks in my mind was when our buyer pulled out on us the day before we were due to move :no We lost out on our property and ended up in the house another 6 months before it sold.

There is no harm in leaving it on the market while the other people try to sell there's, it could take them a year and in that time you could have sold yours on.

Good Luck hope you get a sale soon :nice1

[H & Rick]

John don't take it off the market, we had two people waiting for ours who had not sold. The one still has not sold 6 months on!!!!
If you have found someone who is interested I am sure there will be others out there.
They can't expect you to wait for them, anyway you never know they may still come back to you when they sell, our other one did.:p

[holland]

ok, now reduced another £10,000, thats nearly £17,000 in total.................FINGERS CROSSED ..............................

[Mickstim]

Jade - I really hope that will bring you the right buyer. Breaks your heart really doesn't it? But more important to get to NZ!!

We are still hanging on with our price, had another viewing on Saturday but no feedback so far. We have a little longer before we need to go though, and have decided on doing nothing drastic until autumn. Then we will have to choose whether to drop the price dramatically or try to rent out. No easy choice as both have up and down sides.

Barb

[holland]

Hi,

Yeah I know what you mean, we have been thinking about selling/renting for the last couple of weeks. Ultimately, if we dont sell, our chance at NZ will be greatly affected as we will be going over with a lot less...I just hope we get a buyer now, apparently lots of people have taken the details, but not viewing as feel it is too dear for a semi...estate agents keep telling them to view, so they can see how big/unique it is....but people wont, they'd rather but a detached, which is fair enough, each to their own.

Fingers crossed for us both xxxxx

[holland]

:wah Ps I Am Completely Heart Broken..............

[H & Rick]

I know how you are feeling, but keep your chin up.

The stress of moving to the other side of the world is bad, but trying to sell a house when the market is dead is not fun. :uhoh

I guess the way we are looking at it, is as if it's a test to see how strong we really are.... how much do you really want it......

By the way where are you from?
Where are you heading to?

[holland]

Hi,

Were from Lancashire and heading to Hawkes Bay in November aghhhhh

[holland]

When and where are you going??

[H & Rick]

Heading for Christchurch maybe November ish...fingers crossed.

Buyers want to be in by the end of August and we wanted to spend a couple of months here before we leave.
Also by doing it that way we will not have to wait too long for our container to arrive.:p

[babscat]

Holland, we too are from Lancashire and we fly to Hawkes Bay on August 6th.
Panic has set in!!
We are currently in Nelson and can't wait to leave!

Babscat

[speckythecky]

Holland, we too are from Lancashire and we fly to Hawkes Bay on August 6th.
Panic has set in!!
We are currently in Nelson and can't wait to leave!

Babscat

The nelson bit confused me for a minute there, but I presume you mean the Nelson near Burnley?

[holland]

No viewers yet, was in paper last night, so hopefully the phone will be ringing off the hook this weekend!

[Mickstim]

Well, we decided not to wait but drop by another £10 000 as they say another interest rate rise is on the cards and then things will get even tougher. So let's hope that will do the trick and the NZ £ continues to weaken so that by the time we get there it will be $3 to the £. Gotta keep dreaming!

Jade - I hope this is the weekend you sell. To a cash buyer with no chain, naturally.

Barb

[holland]

Barb,

Oh Gosh, we talk like £10,000 is 10p don't we !!!!

heres hoping we both sell this weekend with cash buyers.....you can't say were not trying!!

Jade x

[holland]

Im wishing really really hard for the 3$ to a £ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol, that would be fantabulous!!!

[speckythecky]

Got another viewing tomorrow, hoping that the people down the road have loads of viewings but doubt it as there agents haven't bothered putting it in paper yet.

would love a cash offer with no chain - hears sending +ve vibes to all of you out there with houses on the market.

[thezorbster]

Sorry for all those still to sell but just wanted to say that we finally exchanged contracts yesterday, despite floods and postal strikes throwing their worst at us. Had a celebratory box of choccies last night (plus some vino of course!).

Good luck to all those still on the market!

[willsken]

Sorry for all those still to sell but just wanted to say that we finally exchanged contracts yesterday, despite floods and postal strikes throwing their worst at us. Had a celebratory box of choccies last night (plus some vino of course!).

Good luck to all those still on the market!

Congratulations, a weight off your mind I bet! We had 2 offers on one of our renters today but it's fallen through twice in the past. Now I can't even feel remotely excited until we are in your position.... praying very hard though. :D

[holland]

Congrats Zorbster and Willsken...hope everything goes ok for you this time Willsken. Weather is nice and sunny today...perfect for lots of viewings...bring them on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[speckythecky]

Congrats Zorbster. big relief I am sure.

People been round today, made all the right noises but were only here 10 mins. I think they were just gawpers, they only put their house on the market on Tuesday so have had no interest yet. Oh well, at least the house is tidy again.

[willsken]

Congrats Zorbster. big relief I am sure.

People been round today, made all the right noises but were only here 10 mins. I think they were just gawpers, they only put their house on the market on Tuesday so have had no interest yet. Oh well, at least the house is tidy again.

I really feel for you. My friend is in the same position, she seems to have people come to see the house but they aren't in a position to buy. She has 2 viewings today, so I'm keeping it all crossed for her. She has to be here for January, so she feels a bit desperate! :no

[Mickstim]

Congrats Zorbster. big relief I am sure.

People been round today, made all the right noises but were only here 10 mins. I think they were just gawpers, they only put their house on the market on Tuesday so have had no interest yet. Oh well, at least the house is tidy again.


Congrats Zorbster! Specky - I think if anyone stayed more than 5 minutes I would be happy. The only ones who did were a couple who spent 20 minutes discussing which walls they would knock down - and then told the agents they really wanted something much older, so got our hopes up for nothing!

[holland]

boo hoo...no viewings....What are people going to do if they don't sell? or am I the only daft one that has booked flights without selling my house????

[Mickstim]

We think our options are to a) drop the price to give away level (not much of an option), b) rent out and hope to sell in a year or so or c) go on holiday to get our visas stamped in our passports and hang on here until the house sells. We are really not sure what option we are likely to go for as we are still hoping that someone will put in a reasonable offer before we need to make that choice. But we haven't booked flights and are not likely to until we have some indication of which way it's going to go.

We are getting so impatient and the reality is that we have only had the house on the market for 2 months and it often takes much longer than that to sell. I think our latest price decrease was a bit panicked and possibly not really necessary - but if it brings a quick sale then it would be worth it.

Our agents tell us that August is always a slow month and things pick up in September, so not really expecting very much to happen. We did just have a 'drive by' though, and we haven't had one of those for a while!

Barb

[holland]

Oh gosh...'Drive By's' we have loads of them but they seem to drive off without booking a viewing...probably something to do with the desperation of my husband who tries to look like he isn't looking, when he actually has his nose pushed up against the window!!!!

Yes, agree with what you say about viewings, but our agents have said that if you are at the top end of the market ( which we are for area), we may only get 2 viewings in 6-8 months, but out of those one will probably buy............odds are stacked against us!

[Mickstim]

We both have desperate husbands then! I'm sure the drive-bys can hear mine yelling up the stairs to me that someone is out there looking at the house. It seems that in our area really expensive houses are selling, and really cheap ones are too but those in the middle are struggling. There have been 2 houses in our village put on the market recently at the £1m mark and both have sold within 2 weeks, so there is money out there. Just not coming our way - yet!

B

[speckythecky]

boo hoo...no viewings....What are people going to do if they don't sell? or am I the only daft one that has booked flights without selling my house????

No we have booked flights without selling, although we do have the offer from people down the road who haven't sold yet.

We will be going and leave the house empty for a couple of months, hoping that they can complete. If we get no where after that they we will consider renting I suppose.
The drive bys are difficult to spot near us as everyone has to slow down because of next doors cars blocking the road.

[holland]

Yes, if we don't sell we are thinking of leaving the house empty for a few months, still up for sale and/or rent. The problem is without a house sale, we are going to NZ with savings, which will soon dwindle when paying a £700 mortgage in UK every month!! ooooooooooo, so difficult.

[speckythecky]

Yes, I know what you mean, but I have a nice little redundancy package from work to help me through the first few months.

[holland]

:raebanana :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana Got a viewer...wednesday 6.30

[Mickstim]

Hope this is the one. With cash in pocket!!

Bx

[H & Rick]

Good luck Jade

:raebanana :raebanana

We will keep everything crossed for you.

[holland]

Thankyou...Im all cleaned out, hope the sun shines like it has today.Next door have a viewer also ( not the same person), so that may be another potential viewing, iff they see our is up to!

Ill keep you posted

J x

[holland]

Hey,

Well the viewers stayed for 40 minutes...wahey!! They seemed to really like it, asked lots of questions , looked round twice, looked in the garage and asked about power supplies for putting in their fridge freezer. They then stayed sat outside for 10 minutes chatting!! oooooooooooooooo...The main attraction is that our house is in a good school catchment area. So fingers crossed, it seemed to go really well. Oh yes, and they said they will probably remember some more questions when they have left, so asked for our home number!!!! FINGERS CROSSED

J x

[H & Rick]

Hey Jade

That sounds really promising...we still have our fingers crossed for you. :p

Our sale seems to be going slower than we had imagined.
We appear to have a person at the bottom who has done nothing again......been there before :wah ....they have not even had a survey done on our buyers house. Our buyers made their financial commitment two weeks ago.

Getting a bit twitchy again....:no

[Mickstim]

Hi Jade

That sounds incredibly positive. I have everything crossed for you that it works out and they come back with a brilliant offer for you!

Barbx

[holland]

Hi,

Heidi, I have everything crossed for you! Whats meant to be will be, and Im sure everything will happen and go through for you. I feel awful this morning, my head feels like a compressed pressure cooker...as I have not stopped 'thinking' all night about the house, hopefully we will here today and get some feedback either way.

Thanaks for positive vibes Barb, Ill keep you posted

J x

[Belmont Babes]

Hi all. Just back from 2 weeks away in the sun. Was hoping that we may have had the odd viewing (left key with relative)...not a sausage. Also still awaiting one piece of evidence from EWRB NZ for ITA and was hoping this would be hidden in the huge pile of junk mail but no such luck. ITA deadline fast approaching. All stress has resurfaced very quickly and we only landed this morning. AHHHH!

[holland]

NO News...........................................

Hope you had a nice break Belmont Babes...wellcome back to bedlam!!!!

[Belmont Babes]

We had a great break. Weather was great. We also missed all the horrific floods in our area which was a real bonus. Why won't these houses sell? We are now looking into renting it out.

[holland]

Hello all,

We have had feedback today, and the couple REALLY LIKED our house. They are looking at a few more next week, and then will be putting an offer on one house next Thursday. They have said they will get back to our estate agents next week. Im exitied....but trying not to be!!!!! Please keep fingers and toes crossed!!!

PS- The couple rang the estate agents to let them know the feedback, they didn't have to ring them...so that seems fairly positive.

Am I getting my hopes up for nothing?? I don't know, I hope not! Im babbling now, I shall leave!!

J x

[Mickstim]

Hi Jade
I have been looking all day to see if you had heard anything. It sounds really positive - certainly more interest than we have had, and if I were you I would be dare to be 'cautiously optimistic'. Thursday seems like such a long time to wait, doesn't it?

The fact that they are considering your house so seriously also confirms that what you have is desirable and probably priced about right too - so even if this one doesn't pan out there should be another buyer waiting in the wings!

Everything remaining firmly crossed for you.

Barb::nice1

[holland]

Hi barb,

Thanks for positive vibes, your right, it does confirm that we must be in the right price bracket...as you do begin to doubt the price when no-one is coming to view!! and yes, Thursday seems like a lifetime away, they must be viewing up until Wednesday.

I have been looking at competition in the area, but most are new and detached, so although their our competition price wise, ours is a world away from a detached new build...it just what suits them...they did say the liked all of the 'quirky' features and character and size...so we'll just see.

Ill keep you posted!

J x

[Belmont Babes]

Jade, really hope you get the news you need. Will be waiting on Thursday for your post. "Expect nothing and you won't be disappointed" - one of my Mum's sayings but easier said than done! We have a rental agent around on Tuesday to see if it is a feasible option for us. Good luck to all

[holland]

Hi Belmont Babes,

We have had rental agents around already and we would be down about £75.00 a month, as the mortgage is so high...it is still an aption though, as better than paying the full mortgage !
Ill let you know when I here anything, and i'll keep your mums wise words in mind!!

J x

[holland]

Hi............the viewers are sat outside the house aghhhhhhhh, Im exitied!! Although I have been flying around the house, and cleaned like a mad woman for the past 5 minutes ( its amazing what you can get done in 5 mins!!!) in case they knock on the door for another look.

Hopefully the phone will ring tomorrow..................

[Mickstim]

Oh my goodness - that sounds seriously serious!! Everything is still crossed (although apparently that is not an excuse for not making dinner!)

Bx

[Belmont Babes]

Oh Jade that sounds like a really good sign. Maybe you could offer for them to test drive the house like they do on the TV in that property programme. Would anyone out there like to test drive ours?

[Mickstim]

Hi Belmonts

Is that a picture of your house? If so it looks amazing!!

We have another viewing tomorrow - that will make 13 and our agent told us a while ago that most houses have an average of 13 viewings before they sell. Not getting my hopes up though - we've been here too often.

Any more news of your viewers Jade?

Bx

[holland]

Hi,

Oh my word, this moving house lark is stressful and plays with your mind-Im a first timer!!!! Well, the neighbours have just telephoned, and the people who are interested in ours are going to view theirs on Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I dont know what to think, could be a positive or negative..the houses are attached to each other and identical in shape, but next doors have gone into the loft and have an en suite up there...there house is also £45,000 more expensive....................AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!

GOOD LUCK Barb...13 is a lucky number for us, we'll send you positive vibes!!!

I so hope I am writing a fantastic comment here on Thursday...an advantage for all us house sellers at the mo is that its in the news about the 40% house increase in price in the next 5 years.....people may buy now...and if they dont and we have to all somehow keep our houses at least they will be going up in value at a steep rate!!!!

J x

[Belmont Babes]

Hi all. Barb - sadly it isn't our house, ours is a little newer and warmer, ha ha!
Jade - I am feeling your stress and nervous anxiety. Let's hope they prefer yours. £45k is alot more to shell out. It wouldn't cost them that much to extend into the loft and put on an ensuite. We have a viewing tomorrow (won't hold my breath). We also have an agent coming around re renting so will have to do a few sums and decide which way to jump, although with the news today 40% etc we are very tempted to hold onto the property as an investment. Positive vibes to all as usual xxx

[holland]

Good Luck for today Belmont babes....

Im off to but some flowers to put in all the windows!! I figure if I do it today, it won't look as contrieved to the neighbours!!-who am I kidding??

We have shipping company coming at 3.00!

Jade