Flex Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I'm pretty sure it's normal to put your house up for sale first but if you put an offer on a house will a seller be less likely to accept if they know you've not even advertised yet? Also estate agent fees are horrible anyone had any luck advertising privately and if so with whom? Happy New Year to all BTW, peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Depends which area of the country you are in and if there is competition for that type of house. In the areas I am currently looking a house will not come off the market unless an offer has been made with a closed chain at their end. So you need to either be first time buyers, cash or have an offer accepted on your house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PMX Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 What 370Ad says... Yes, they might accept your offer but will still keep their house on the market & if another buyer makes an offer who have sold their house or have cash, they will more than likely accept this offer over yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Wow, thanks guys, didn't realise someone could drop out of a chain like that. Sounds like best not to build hopes up too much. Anyone any luck advertising privately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I'm no expert although I have bought and sold a lot of houses because I get itchy feet if I stay anywhere too long but I wouldn't try selling privately if you are in a hurry to sell/not in an area where properties fly off the shelf. I think most people search on the internet first so being on RightMove is essential and only estate agents have access to that I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Yeah I agree Annie but just wondered if anyone had had success via private adverts. I'm not in a real rush but Mrs might be if we find something she really wants so will have to balance it out with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 One of our friends had this recently, she had an offer accepted on a property and when they found out she hadn't yet sold they cancelled her previously perfectly acceptable offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimFF Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Assuming you're in England or Wales (Scotland is different), anyone can drop out of a chain at any point until contracts are signed (and that includes the day of signing) - at which point a financial penalty is incurred... Having been through a whole world of pain once trying to do it privately I'd strongly suggest you don't, even though it obviously increases your costs. What it does do is remove you from direct negotiation and if it turns out you're trying to buy from a fruitcake (see previous sentence) then the agents earn every bl00dy penny! I wouldn't remove our place from the market until we had a complete chain AND the financial viability of my buyer was proved to my agent. Be prepared for pain and hope for a small chain and no pain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) I'm sure it changes area to area but down here the latest trend is that the Buyer pays the estate agents fee's - If you look on Rightmove you will see it in the notes. This I think is down to 2 things - All the online estate agents with lower fee's and people self advertising, If the estate agent tells you he will sell it and the buyer will pay his fee's you can't save any money any other way, of course as a buyer you would tend to drop the offer to allow for the extra so it's swings and roundabouts - must be hard on first time buyers as they would have to find this fee on top of a hefty deposit. Edited January 5, 2015 by Keyser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Fair enough Craig if you're not currently in a hurry. I have just rung a local estate agent to come out and value mine but he's a friend so I know he will do me a good deal. My next door neighbour (well a mile up the road but no other houses until you reach his place), on the other hand, is a slimy sort of chap and I would resent giving him the instruction. From a buying point of view I, personally, wouldn't be keen on buying direct from the vendor. It might work out fine but I would be worried in case the house was overvalued by the owner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twobears Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Keyser, I've never heard of that before. Seems an odd way to go on since the agent is then effectively working for the buyer so surely their loyalties are torn? I guess they will still try to get the highest price though so that their cut is bigger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keyser Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) Keyser, I've never heard of that before. Seems an odd way to go on since the agent is then effectively working for the buyer so surely their loyalties are torn? I guess they will still try to get the highest price though so that their cut is bigger? It's all smoke and mirrors really if a house is sold for £100,000.00 and you are paying 1% to the agent you get £99,000.00 from the sale. If the buyer is willing to pay £100,000 plus the agent fee - £1000 - you get £100,000.00 BUT then the buyer would have been just as happy to pay £101,000.00 for your house and you would have got £99,900.00 As I said it's to make the deal look more appealing - although I work for a few estate agents (nothing to do with house sales) and as said above on a lot of sales they do earn their money, by the same token sometimes they do very little for a good return, but like everything they are there to make money, We have been through a lot of property both investment and as a home and apart from 1 investment property we heard about by word of mouth we have always bought and sold through an agent. Edited January 5, 2015 by Keyser 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I haggled our agent down fairly easily. She worked on a fixed rate rather than percentage though, so maybe a bit easier to do? Either way, it worked out at about 30% off, so don't take their first offer. But yeah, it was a lot pricier than I thought it might be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
370Ad Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) I have been looking for 2 years now and have had the chain fall through 4 times due to numerous reasons. I am sick to death of it now and currently in a 3 person chain and hoping this one finally goes through. Good luck! I am never moving again Edited January 5, 2015 by 370Ad 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 I have been looking for 2 years now and have had the chain fall down 4 times due to numerous reasons. I am sick to death of it now and currently in a 3 person chain and hoping this one finally goes through. Good luck! I am never moving again Ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toon Chris Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Moving is so horrendously stressful we have taken to selling up then renting for 6 months while we find the new house. It feels so much better to be out of a chain and with cash in hand. Yes you are in limbo for a few months whilst you buy the new house but its not so bad and if the house you are buying falls through its not the end of the world. Oh, and we sold a house using RightMove 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Moving is so horrendously stressful we have taken to selling up then renting for 6 months while we find the new house. It feels so much better to be out of a chain and with cash in hand. Yes you are in limbo for a few months whilst you buy the new house but its not so bad and if the house you are buying falls through its not the end of the world. Oh, and we sold a house using RightMove Renting makes great sense based on what others have said! You can only list on right move if you're an estate agent though cant you or have they opened it up for Joe public? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I haggled our agent down fairly easily. She worked on a fixed rate rather than percentage though, so maybe a bit easier to do? Either way, it worked out at about 30% off, so don't take their first offer. But yeah, it was a lot pricier than I thought it might be. Thats how it was with my estate agents when I sold. Its a bit of a con really, as rather than charge say 1%, they worked out that 1% of their "valuation" of my house of £200k is £2000 and so thats what they would charge for their fees as a fixed price. So you agree to that. Then of course, it transpires that they have overvalued your house and you end up selling for £180k and the estate still gets his £2k which works out at a higher percentage of £180k. Moving is so horrendously stressful we have taken to selling up then renting for 6 months while we find the new house. It feels so much better to be out of a chain and with cash in hand. Yes you are in limbo for a few months whilst you buy the new house but its not so bad and if the house you are buying falls through its not the end of the world. I think I would definitely do this. Only "risk" you have is prices may rocket in those few months you are renting, but in the current climate if you are only talking about a few months then you should be fine. When I moved last the house I was selling actually had the buyer pull out at the last minute. Rather than mess the seller of the house I was buying about, I took out a 2nd mortgage and carried on with the purchase. Unfortunately the house I was selling ended up taking nearly 6 months to sell, so I was paying 2 mortgages for 6 months. But on the plus side it did mean I could take all the time in the world moving all my gear over to the new house. My garage/workshop alone took about 15 trips with all my cars/motorbikes/tools/spares/gym equipment. It also meant I could seriously de-clutter my old house, redecorate it and "stage" it so it looked like a show home in order to help it sell. I really dont know how anyone can move house in just one day. Madness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I haggled our agent down fairly easily. She worked on a fixed rate rather than percentage though, so maybe a bit easier to do? Either way, it worked out at about 30% off, so don't take their first offer. But yeah, it was a lot pricier than I thought it might be. Thats how it was with my estate agents when I sold. Its a bit of a con really, as rather than charge say 1%, they worked out that 1% of their "valuation" of my house of £200k is £2000 and so thats what they would charge for their fees as a fixed price. So you agree to that. Then of course, it transpires that they have overvalued your house and you end up selling for £180k and the estate still gets his £2k which works out at a higher percentage of £180k. Mine has a cracking set of pins and wears short skirts and high heels whenever I've seen her, so I figure I also get my money's worth that way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATTAK Z Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Mine has a cracking set of pins and wears short skirts and high heels whenever I've seen her, so I figure I also get my money's worth that way 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 The missus was the first to point it out, so I felt less bad about staring from then on 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 I haggled our agent down fairly easily. She worked on a fixed rate rather than percentage though, so maybe a bit easier to do? Either way, it worked out at about 30% off, so don't take their first offer. But yeah, it was a lot pricier than I thought it might be. Thats how it was with my estate agents when I sold. Its a bit of a con really, as rather than charge say 1%, they worked out that 1% of their "valuation" of my house of £200k is £2000 and so thats what they would charge for their fees as a fixed price. So you agree to that. Then of course, it transpires that they have overvalued your house and you end up selling for £180k and the estate still gets his £2k which works out at a higher percentage of £180k. Mine has a cracking set of pins and wears short skirts and high heels whenever I've seen her, so I figure I also get my money's worth that way Excellent!!! May have to get a referral from you next time I move! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) I wouldn't remove my house from sale unless the buyer had an accepted offer on their property and a mortgage AIP. If they were first time buyers I'd want the AIP and full proof of cleared deposit funds in their bank................. Edited January 5, 2015 by Sarnie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Cheers boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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