Selling property...

[Linababe 0]

Ok all I would like some advice please or suggestions... I have a house here in the UK and will be selling as I need the money for my move to Ohio. Now I have a price in my head (£130,000) that would be the minimum I want for my house - I spoke to 2 estate agencies and they say that price is realistic. Now I have never sold a property before just bought this one Now 1 agency is saying they would market my property at £140,000 and I should expect some ppl to knock me down as work needs to be done (mainly decorating and new flooring), and the other agency says they would market it at £129.950 and work upwards telling buyers they have other offers in the hope they would pay more to get the house. Which would be better???

The next thing I would like advice/suggestions on is - do I put it on the market now? or wait till I get a confirmation on my interview date and not finalise everything till I get the visa in hand? I was thinking of actually putting it on the market when I get the date of my interview (assuming the actual interview will be a few weeks away from when i get the letter with the date) - does that seem reasonable. I do want to move to Ohio as soon as possible but then again I dont want to be sitting here for 6 months waiting to get house sold. And I dont want to sell the house if something goes wrong and I dont get the visa then I will be either homeless or have to pay rent on this property. Currently I am still waiting for Pack 3 to arrive, hopeflly London would have received our file now and I was gonna give them till end of next week to email to see whats happening.

Any ideas anyone? I am so indecisive and cant think straight with everything going on:(

Confused Lina (UKC)

[MrsBruce5 0]

Hi Lina,

We are am going through London also with a CR1, and it looks like 8-10 weeks for a CR1 interview.

Do you know interview stats for a K1?

I don't know the time frame from reciept of the K1 and the actual interview...wish I did, as I could help you more...

Also, what is the market like for homes in your area. How long from contract to closing???

Knowing these 2 things can help you out greatly...

Also, for a realtor to knock 10,000 pounds for flooring and decor is a bit high, no?

Can you not do a DIY on the floor and priss it up for selling?

Would run you about 3-4,000 pounds at best to DIY it, and get asking price...

Rose

[Joey559 1]

I wouldn't do the 129 ONLY because with the stamp tax you all have in the UK if I remember correctly it only affects properties over 120K so if i were a buying I wouldn't go UP at all, I'd say knock it down to 119K so I don't have to pay the stamp tax. Besides, I can't stand the hard sell. Houses and cars, there's one on every corner and if someone said, "I'm going to charge you more, we have a lot of interest" I wouldn't blink before walking out. Just my thoughts as a shopper...and I'm a GOOD shopper

Joey

[Daisy 0]

Research local house prices. What are houses selling for in your area/how fast are they selling? Go for highest realistic price achievable and be prepared to reduce if necc. Secure your buyer and negotiate closure to suit your move date. You have the option of backing out of the sale right up to exchange of contracts or bringing final exchange forward to suit.

I hope everything works out in your favour. Every penny helps!

Good luck,

daisy

[ladybutterfly 0]

I would put the house up for sale now. You are pretty much done with the visa process, I shouldnt imagine it will take more than 6 weeks to get an interview date. Selling a house takes time, first you have to find a buyer, then when you get one the buyer may have to sell theirs, and then there is all the legal paperwork which will take at least 6-8 weeks if not more, so definately put it on the market now. Get the ball rolling.

[Widge 0]

In the UK unless you are lucky enough to get two people despaerate for YOUR house no-one ever offers over the price ..... they will always offer under and hope you accept so price accordingly (IMHO)

With regards to when to put it on the market ...... how quickly are propertys moving in your area? Unless you are in a very sought after area you could be weeks/months finding a buyer. So I would tend to agree that getting it on the market now is your best bet, house sales going smoothly take six weeks in the UK and that assumes you find a buyer with arrnaged funds on day one. It could take months! As stated you can always stall a completion but you cant find a buyer if none exist. let as many agents as possible give you a quote and go with the one that makes you most comfortable at best price (often the one who sold it to you they did a good job that time) also find out if they are sole agents and for how long (this can have an effect) and whether all agents are taking the same percentage cut.

So put it on NOW and at top price (you can always come down). Unless you know of any reason why you wont get a visa i think you are going to have a visa before a house sale.

PS and may I be the first to welcome you to Ohio !

Edited June 2, 2006 by Widge

[Jaylen Brit 0]

I would definitely price it higher and be prepared to be knocked down to the price you will be happy with - if it's not moving at ALL then take off a little and re-market it. That's how my ex and I got our current house, the woners needed to sell, had knocked a bit off the price, we knocked them down further, and its now worth triple what we paid for it

I agree you're probably best putting on the market NOW - if you by some miracle sell really fast you can always park yourself with rellies or rent something on a short-term lease. More likely the sale will take a few months.

[mcn 0]

I'm not one to be negative...but 2 years ago I sold my house before I got the visa...then my fiance decided she didn't want to do it anymore....

I'm sure you guys will be fine....but just my experience...

Good Luck

[munchkins 0]

I agree with putting your house on the market now, the housing market in the UK is not as bouyant as it once was and things are still a bit slow.

Putting it on the market at £130k as one agent told you and then work upwards is in my estimation lunacy, one of the first things you learn in sales is that you can ski down hill but you cannot ski uphill. Using the ploy they are suggesting is not a very good idea, in the first place if they say they will play one prospective buyer against another or say to a buyer that others are interested, it may backfire and all prospective buyers could walk away.. Houses are going up in price now but there are many who cannot affored the mortgages, so be realistic.

Take a look around at what has been sold and the prices and check with those estate agents as to the speed at which they were sold.

Our house has been on the market now for 8 months and we have a home that requires nothing at all doing to it, we are now offering incentives to try to tempt a buyer. Just to give you an idea, we are offering £1000 cash back towrds the buyers fees, all the appliances in the kitchen will stay (no good to us in the states) and all our wooden garden furniture plus sfully stocked plant containers (of which I have many )

One other thing, do not take an estate agents fees as set in stone, negotiate, there are many of them out there and they all want your business so try to get an "introductory offer" or something

Good luck

[Rebster 0]

I agree with the majority here...I would put it on at £140k and see what happens. And I would most certainly be putting it on the market now. We all know it only takes one person in a chain to bring the process to a screeching halt! We sold our house a few months ago to avoid that last minute panic & have been renting a house since then. Even our relatively straightforward sale with a short chain we still ended up exchanging about 6 weeks later than we planned.

In a strange twist of fate the house we're renting was put up for sale in March & still has no offers.

At least if you start at £140k and see what happens you can always lower your asking price if the time gets short. Good luck!!

[Linababe 0]

Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. Ok well the estate agent wants to put on the market for just under what I really want for it because they say it is a way of getting people to come in and view the property as if it was higher price they may not even want to view. I agree that most people will knock me down rather then offer more. The area is mainly good as it is right on the bus transportation to town and local shops, schools etc. This area is also a very indian populated area and there is a sikh temple also on my road so I guess the sikh community will really be wanting to buy. As for my next door neighbour who really wanted to buy and make two houses into one, cant come up with the deposit so I will have to sell with an estate agent. Houses in this area are selling for around £135,000 - £140,000. (I want £30,000 as the bear minimum) This one estate agent is charging me £500 (they said that they are hoping that if they get more money for the house then i may think of them and give them a tip lol) to sell my house with them but only if they are sole agents, the other estate agents is charging 1% of selling price. I am so confused I am very indecisive, but I guess I shopuld think carefully about putting it on the market now, I guess people tell me I can slow the process if i had to but I wouldnt want potential buyers to back out if I do that:( I really cant go and stay with family as they are not very helpful right now plus noone in the family will take me and my 3 cats (they are not animal friendly). There is the option that whoever I sell to might be able to let me stay here on a monthly basis if I pay them rent which may work.

So stressed:( .. Lina (UKC)

PS to top all the stress of this visa stuff and moving etc. I had bad news that one of my brother's wife died yesterday:( She had cancer in her head which was treated but it came back again and was very ill for last few months, this was expected but I didnt think it would be so soon and I still cant seem to take it in.

[mrswooten4ever 0]

Lina

I suggest you put your house on the market now as I wouldnt want what happened to me to happen to you. I had my house on the market for 3 months accepted an offer for the full asking price after i;d received a lower offer, 3 months down the line, the day before my interview the buyer changed his mind! Under English law the seller has virtually no right of recourse. The buyer can pull out even after they have paid their deposit. It takes an average of 3 months not six weeks for a house sale to go through and that's when there's no chain involved. As you say you can always sell and rent if things go quickly. Bottom line is you house isn't sold until the money's in the bank!

Good luck

Adele

[springrobin 0]

My husband's house was on the market before we got engaged, and never sold. It was on the market for over a year! We are now renting it out, which is just covering the costs. It was at a great price, but for the size of it, nobody wanted it for the price he was asking.

Good luck.

[Linababe 0]

Ok I finally went to the agents today to sign over the contract to get them to start selling my house. I finally went with the agent who said start at a low price and work upwards, but I told her I didnt want to do it that way, so we are starting the price at £134,950 I know I will get knocked down as it does need decorating top to bottom and maybe the kitchen needs redoing as the cabinets etc are old, and new flooring too (my cats have ripped up most of it lol). Anyways thanks for your advice everyone it is very much appreciated now lets see if it sells. I am still waiting for my american half to get all his stuff together for my interview, I will be sending my pack 3 forms to London embassy sometime this coming week. From what I gather it takes them about 3 to 4 weeks to send me a letter for an interview date and I believe the interview date is normally 4 weeks after they send me the letter so I am estimating an interview mid August, that gives ample time for people to view the house and see if they want to buy. Please pray that it sells quick as I dont want to be here waiting for 6 months for it to sell:(

Lina (UKC)

PS man it feels so wierd, I am having a hard time cleanign up and getting rid of stuff - now the house is on the market I feel so stressed. As much as I want to start my life a fresh with my beloved I cant stand the fact that im getting rid of my old life here in the UK. I know I will have all the momories but in time that will all go and I will have new memories but it still seems so sad:(

It makes it worse that I am doing everything here on my own, I get no support from family and well as I get tired so easily I can only do a little at a time - it just feels like its never ending. I have been throwing things out in the rubbish bins and the place still looks a mess and cluttered. Anyone in Leicester want to come down and help me clean house?? LOL and give each other moral support? Ohh I need a great big huig right now!!!

[Jaylen Brit 0]