Ferdinand Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 3 hours ago, JSHarris said: I think you're right, but my wife is being exceptionally pessimistic and is convinced they are all tyre kickers! My view is that people only usually bother to view a property if they've already done a "drive by" and checked the local area out (certainly that's what we've always done in the past when looking for a house, and we've moved lots of times over the years). Out of those that have made appointments to view, three have no property to sell, so are probably cash buyers, and three have properties that are sold subject to contract. The remaining three have either properties on the market or not yet marketed, so don't sound like very realistic prospects at this stage. Interestingly 8 out of the nine are women, coming on their own to view. Not sure how relevant that is, or what it suggests, but it seems a bit curious. Whenever we've made appointments to view we've done so jointly; I don't think there's been a single occasion when only one of us has viewed a property. With six people viewing tomorrow, I think I'm in for a pretty busy day... Since much of the market demand may be armed forces related, It would make sense that that still has a male predominace, so the partners would be more likely to be looking. F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 4 hours ago, JSHarris said: With six people viewing tomorrow, I think I'm in for a pretty busy day... Get the fresh coffee on and the bread in the oven ... isn’t that what sells a house ..?! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliMcLeod Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 13 hours ago, JSHarris said: Interestingly 8 out of the nine are women, coming on their own to view. Not sure how relevant that is, or what it suggests, but it seems a bit curious. Whenever we've made appointments to view we've done so jointly; I don't think there's been a single occasion when only one of us has viewed a property. In my experience, this will end up in a number of those wanting to come back with a partner for a second view - might be an idea to build that into any deadlines you give people to submit their bids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richi Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 14 hours ago, JSHarris said: people only usually bother to view a property if they've already done a "drive by" and checked the local area out Google Earth and Street View. The Pareto principle applies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Good point, last time we were looking to buy Google Earth didn't exist! Just had the first viewer around, seems keen to buy, but they have a house to sell. They told me they didn't have a mortgage and had been offered bridging finance, which makes me believe they might be serious, but they are low on my list of possibles. The viewer that's just been around says there's a high demand for bungalows, when I explained that we had a surprisingly large number of viewings booked, so we may well go to sealed bids. Quick glass of orange juice now and a sit down before the next one arrives, whose sold subject to contract, so a better prospect, perhaps. Just checked the advert stats: Advert page views = 4046 Total advert details views or downloads = 1040 (of which 1007 were via RightMove!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 6 minutes ago, JSHarris said: [...] Just had the first viewer around, seems keen to buy, but they have a house to sell. They told me they didn't have a mortgage and had been offered bridging finance, which makes me believe they might be serious, but they are low on my list of possibles. The viewer that's just been around says there's a high demand for bungalows, when I explained that we had a surprisingly large number of viewings booked so may well go to sealed bids. [...] Selling houses has for me, with one single exception, seemed to bring out the worst in people. The very worst was a with a buyer with a close relative acting as his solicitor : the best - the cash was in the bank within a fortnight of the flat being on the market. Almost as good as the Scottish system. Sealed bid gets my vote. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 3 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said: Selling houses has for me, with one single exception, seemed to bring out the worst in people. The very worst was a with a buyer with a close relative acting as his solicitor : the best - the cash was in the bank within a fortnight of the flat being on the market. Almost as good as the Scottish system. Sealed bid gets my vote. Thankfully we rarely ever got involved in selling, as the vast majority of our house moves were via a relocation scheme, where we were just given the value of the house and the relocation company dealt with selling it in slow time, after we'd moved out (never knew what any of them ever sold for, even). I'm 100% with you on the sealed bid idea, and intend telling every viewer that this is what we will probably be doing, asking for sealed bids that include the price and a date by which exchange of contracts can be concluded. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Its the one (not entirely risk free) way of flushing out time wasters. Its also a very strong signal that you aren't wasting peoples time either. From bitter recent experience, it seems to be a local sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 We now three viewings down, three to go today, and we've just had two more viewings booked for Friday. If I was to try and guess I'd say we've got one couple seriously thinking about it, one couple who I'm near convinced will make an offer pretty quickly and one lady who's a no-hoper. I'm now set on sealed bids, and am making this clear to everyone from the start. The most serious couple actually thought going to sealed bids was a good idea, but that may be because they have no house to sell, are cash buyers (no mortgage needed) and are living in rented accommodation. Their eyes literally lit up when I said that the most important criteria for us was getting a bid with a confirmed date for exchange of contracts. Interestingly two couples have given us impromptu feedback that the reason we are getting lots of interest is because we are selling a bungalow at a reasonable price. Apparently there is a high demand for bungalows in this area (goodness knows why - I hate the bloody things!). Makes me glad I took the advice to market at "offers in excess of £260k", rather than market at a higher starting price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 1 hour ago, JSHarris said: Apparently there is a high demand for bungalows in this area (goodness knows why - I hate the bloody things!) So do I, there is something just wrong about not going upstairs to bed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzie Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 @SteamyTea and @JSHarris I have just built myself a bungalow because I could not find one to buy and need single storey living going forward.......I hesitate to call our 'grand design single storey residence' a bungalow though architect would have a fit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 5 hours ago, JSHarris said: (never knew what any of them ever sold for, even). I would have to look that up! Way too tempting to leave as an unknown ?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 So how does a sealed bids auction work. Will @JSHarris get a load of big brown envelopes each containg an amount that the buyer is willing to go to and that's it . You then pick the winner presumably the highest bidder or do all the interested parties just get a second chance to bid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 28 minutes ago, Declan52 said: So how does a sealed bids auction work. Will @JSHarris get a load of big brown envelopes each containg an amount that the buyer is willing to go to and that's it . You then pick the winner presumably the highest bidder or do all the interested parties just get a second chance to bid. Essentially you set the conditions for an acceptable bid (in our case confirmed exchange of contracts date and offer price) set a closing date for bids, stipulate that you reserve the right not to accept the highest bid (gives you the wiggle room to pick a more reliable bid at a lower price), then people just put their bids in an envelope and hand them in by the closing date. There's not normally an automatic right to give other interested parties to bid, as there's a risk it might be seen as an auction, but you can decide to approach the next favourite bidder if the winning bidder drops out. As an example, we've just had a couple around to view who very definitely want to buy, but they haven't sold their current house, so right now they aren't in a position to give a realistic completion date. However, if the winning bid fell through, and by that time they had sold their house, then they may well be the next best, simply because things have changed in the meantime. Frankly I doubt that will happen, as I think we've already got pretty firm-sounding feedback from one buyer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan52 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 17 minutes ago, JSHarris said: Essentially you set the conditions for an acceptable bid (in our case confirmed exchange of contracts date and offer price) set a closing date for bids, stipulate that you reserve the right not to accept the highest bid (gives you the wiggle room to pick a more reliable bid at a lower price), then people just put their bids in an envelope and hand them in by the closing date. There's not normally an automatic right to give other interested parties to bid, as there's a risk it might be seen as an auction, but you can decide to approach the next favourite bidder if the winning bidder drops out. As an example, we've just had a couple around to view who very definitely want to buy, but they haven't sold their current house, so right now they aren't in a position to give a realistic completion date. However, if the winning bid fell through, and by that time they had sold their house, then they may well be the next best, simply because things have changed in the meantime. Frankly I doubt that will happen, as I think we've already got pretty firm-sounding feedback from one buyer. Sounds like a very fair way of setting out what you as a seller want and by what date and then seeing who really wants to buy your house. Gd luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Phew... I'm getting house selling fatigue. That's the fifth viewing today just finished, cash buyers, near-certain they're going to make an offer. The give away was when they started telling one of their kids "this is going to be your bedroom". They've sold their house and are renting from one of their in laws, and seemed desperate to escape (think I would be, two small kids, living with in-laws, has to be a bit of a nightmare). Next viewing's not until 19:30, so quick break for some dinner, then get the last one for the day over with (another cash buyer, so needs a proper spiel, so no drinking beforehand...) then I can sit down, have a drink and relax. Until tomorrow, when it all starts again... 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerbJ Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Time to create your Sealed Bid Form, so that everyone submits all the data in the same format and also provides all the data you require for moving forward. I attach a typical "Offer to Purchase - STC" Form used by EA's , which you can adapt and improve for your purposes. Offer to Purchase - STC Form.pdf 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 Thanks very much indeed, Herb, that's brilliant. Just got feedback from the last but one viewers, quote: Quote We absolutely could see us making this property our future family home. We will wait anxiously to put in an offer and move forward quickly. I'll type up a copy, based on the format you've kindly provided, @HerbJ and have a chat with the Purple Bricks conveyancing people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 25, 2018 Author Share Posted July 25, 2018 Another two viewings booked today, one for later today, one for Saturday. The advert stats are showing that the ad has now been viewed 6585 times, 6418 of those via RightMove (it's clear they are the market leader, I think) Out of those ad views there have been 1280 in-depth views or downloads of the house details, with 1236 of those coming from RightMove Our performance feedback as sellers is showing 4 (out of a possible 5) in all three categories, Presentation, Suitability and Price. All are dragged down by one review that marked us way down at 2 for everything (clearly didn't like us or the house), as most reviewers are scoring us at mainly 5's across the board. Quiet morning today, as all the viewings are this afternoon and evening. Makes a welcome change, TBH. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 3 hours ago, JSHarris said: Out of those ad views there have been 1280 in-depth views or downloads of the house details, with 1236 of those coming from RightMove I bet 1000 of those are nosy build hubbers. Not me I hasten to add. I gave up looking at rightmove a long time ago. bet the bad review comes from a GBF****r ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 25, 2018 Author Share Posted July 25, 2018 Well, that's the last viewer gone for today, and I'm bloody well knackered. Today, we've had another three who I reckon are probably very likely to make an offer, especially the couple that have just left. Two of those three have sold subject to contract, so in a reasonable position, one has sold and moved into temporary rented accommodation. Two of today's viewers are probably not interested, although having said that one from yesterday that I thought was a no-hoper has just booked a second viewing for Friday. Right now I think we're sitting with at least 5 realistic prospects, maybe 6. No viewing tomorrow as I've got to drive down to Cornwall to help sort out my late mother's stuff with my brother, but I'm going to have drive back here again in time for the first of Friday's viewers. Thankfully we've only got 4 booked for Friday (at the moment) all after lunch time, so I should get a bit of recovery time (unless we get more viewings booked tonight and tomorrow). I'm never, ever, going to sell a house again. It's a bloody awful process, as I hate trying to be a bloody salesman. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newhome Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 10 minutes ago, JSHarris said: I'm never, ever, going to sell a house again. It's a bloody awful process, as I hate trying to be a bloody salesman. I made our estate agent do all the legwork the last time. We mostly used to go out with the dogs and leave the estate agent to do the viewings. Then when we moved north there was no option but for the estate agent to do it. I bloody hate it too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 18 hours ago, JSHarris said: No viewing tomorrow as I've got to drive down to Cornwall If I had read this earlier, I would have said join me for a coffee down Tehidy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 Also you are welcome to pop in to us near Bude, but do realise life is hectic for you at the moment (when has it never been ?). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oz07 Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 On 17/07/2018 at 13:03, JSHarris said: You may well be right, although we've moved house loads of times we've only twice before actually done the donkey work, as most of our house moves were part of a relocation package, where my employer's relocation company just gave us a cheque for the agreed price of our old house and all we had to do was buy another house in the new area, the snag being we only had a week to do it each time - only five days leave for buying a house was included in the package, not fun when moving from Cornwall to Scotland, or Scotland to West Sussex! The last house we sold ourselves was in Scotland, back in 1994, and that sold within a week to the first person who came to look at it, plus the Scottish system is much simpler and faster than the system here in England. This time we are relying very much on the guidance from the agent, but as they don't get paid until we sell, he does have a motive for trying to sell the house quickly, which suits us. Last time we bought a house, Rightmove etc didn't exist, so my only experience of using sites like that is from when we were plot hunting and to be honest I found the way they classified property and land a bit strange and not very user-friendly. Having said that, I've not looked at any of these sites since 2012, so hopefully they've improved. I'll have a chat with the agent later this week and see what he has to say about putting in a higher asking price. Jeremy am I reading this right or are you saying purple bricks do a no sale no fee type arrangement? This thread prompted me to seriously consider using one of these online agents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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