So, we start renting and as if that is the magic catalyst the Estate Agent comes back to us and we agree on a lower price for the property in Brighton. We exchanged last week (anyone beat an exchange from offer acceptance within 13 days!) and complete in Mid-Jan. A nice quick turnaround, not si sure what to do about the 6 month rental contract we are now commited to though. Let's hope we have a very understanding landlord!

 

So, by the time we are living down in sunny Brighton we will have almost completed a year of selling, finding and completing...inthat time a lot has happened in the market in general. How we bought at the wrong time? No.....we need somewhere to live and if we are there for the long term then we should ride out any small dips. No point sitting around for years on end waiting for the marke to recover - life's too short!

Well, thought I would update on the current state of affairs. We did indeed complete on the sale of our place at the beginning of October. With the market seemingly unpredictable we have decided to rent for 6 months in London (from next week). It will give us a chance to have some fun with friends again without having to worry about catching that last train home. Bliss.

 

We will still be looking in Brighton, but this period of rental just takes a little bit of pressure off things. Living with family in recent weeks, whilst the best solution does have its downsides..we're practically living out of a suitcase! 

 

So Brighton.....eventually, but who know's what's going to happen in this market. I don't think it's going to go up, and I'm not sure it will go down by much, but then again if I was always acurate with my predictions I'd be a millionaire! 

Well, sale and purchase seem to be going through smoothly, fingers crossed. It's just taken a while. Had the survey on our place doen in Brighton, which has thrown up a few spanners, so having the damp/woodwoorm people as well as an electrician look over it. Hopefully nothing to serious there.

 

Other than that, keeping one eye on the housing market / mortgage rates, which to be honest don't provide much reason to smile. It would be just our luck to be buying at the top of the market and fix ourselves in to a  high interest rate! Then I could be wrong. If you read the papers they all tell a differerent story anyway!

Well, not much of a blogger am I - a whole 6 weeks of radio silence. 

 

To be fair, not that much has happened. We have endured a typical English summer of rain and more rain (arguably worse than in normal years!) and there has been a glut of good property on the market as people have made their seasonal rush abroad (not bloomin' suprising!)

 

So we have been down to Brighton on several occasions looking at pretty average property that didn't quite fit our spec. Until recently that is! We have just had first refusal on a property we looked at back in March. We couldn't put in a serious offer then, but we can now. So, we went in at the offer of the previous buyers and have had it accepted. So we're both very pleased with ourselves. It's on the right road and only 10 mins from the station. 4 bedrooms as well. However, whilst it is a nice Victorian terraced property like all the others on the street, we have to say that is is has the most ugly dormer window we have ever seen. It's about the size of a small conservatory bottled on the roof in some grotesque fashion.  

 

We will upload some photos to proudly display our 'ugly duckling' in due course. Meanwhile is the property market finally turning, could we be buying at the top?   

Well after the excitement of accepting an offer we are now preparing ouselves for the long haul of finding somewhere we like. We, or rather I have always managed to find places not quite right for us in the past andthis time we want to get it exactly right. However we are right on the limit of being able to afford a 3 bed in Brighton, so we will have to be lucky with what we find.

 

There is also a distinct lack of any properties with our spec in the area we are looking. We even did a letter drop at the weekend on some of our favoured roads, so it will be intersting to see if we get any response. So please cross you fingers for us!

 

The sale of our house is proceeding okay so far. Looks likely there will be a gap between selling our place and buying the next so we are going to need to speak to our mortgage company to sort out 'porting' the mortgage. Bit of a pain as we will have to pay the redemption fee up front (over £7k!) and then we will get it back once we resume the mortgage when we move into the next place. We'll be in for a shock in April when our two year period ends. Don't think we'll be getting the 4.59% we've been enjoying up until now!

 

Hoping for some interesting properties to come our way this week. If they do we'll stick them up!

 

Well hit us over the head with a wet kipper! We spent Friday negotiating over an offer from the son of a lady who is interested in the property, and we finally accepted. They really liked the place and she has just sold her 5 bed in North London, so keen to move in asap - 5 to 6 weeks apparently! So, far from a summer of discontent, we are now going to be spending our time running up and down to Brighton looking at properties.

 

Trying not  to count our chickens until we exchange. So back to property searching. Will use all the usual suspects (Rightmove, Findaproperty, Propertyfinder etc) and see what we find. If anyone had any recommendations for other sites (auctions sites as well) it would be much appreciated!

Well, I could have said I’ve been away on holiday for a few weeks, but I would be lying. The sheer lack of activity in selling our house in ‘Sawbo’ has meant that there has been little reason to update. This has turned out to be more of a blog about the trials and tribulations of selling a house rather than minefield of buying one. We’ve got all that excitement to come....great!

Well we’ve has two viewings in the last few weeks. One lady loved it, vowed to come back with her father for a second viewing , and as we yet have heard nothing. The other was a gentleman looking on behalf of his 90 year old mother. She wants the central village location (perfect) and needs to be close to her son (perfect). She has just sold her house and wants to move quickly (perfect).

However, she is 90 years old! When I was showing her son around on Tuesday, I was pointing out all the things they would have to consider to enable her easy access. For example, hand rail on the stairs, better access for the bath, caution about the floors and even suggested that they would need to convert the downstairs utility into a toilet so she wouldn’t need to go upstairs each time. Now I know I’m supposed to be selling the place, but you have to have a heart. We really don’t think our place is suitable...she may be a sprite 90 now, but in a few years time she may not be. She really needs a bungalow. However they are coming back today for a second viewing, so we shall wait to hear how that goes.

Finally we do have a viewing on Saturday from a lady moving out of London, evidently looking for the better 'value for money' further out. This is exactly the route we took over a year and a half ago. As a prospect this one ticks a few more boxes, so we're a bit more hopeful..

Viewings of property in Brighton have been put on hold. We have decided there is no point in doing a 4 hour round trip every weekend to view properties we can’t actually make an offer on. What’s the point in teasing ourselves? Also, it seems the market in Brighton has flattened a bit now so we don’t have to worry about the escalating prices down there and losing our relative purchasing power. The interest rate rises seem to be starting to have an impact as well as is the traditionally slow summer period.

 Frankly there is not much to get excited about at the moment. Does anyone know the Property Features write for the Telegraph? I know a lovely little house they could do a front page splash on...

 

Well back from the seaside...another wonderful weekend of rain, sunshine, rain, sunshine etc, etc....We have noted some of the advice and feedback/comments and wanted ot respond.

Peter and Bomber, we’re in complete agreement with the ‘it’s only worth what people are prepared to pay for it’. I guess we’re just impatient and we figure that life is too short to just wait for the right price and in the mean time not move to the next stage in our lives. In dropping our price, we’re hoping for a quicker sale.

We are getting a lot of interest at this price now (three lots of second viewings), so hopefully we can talk more about buying in Brighton and not selling our place in the weeks to come! Incidentally, we haven’t deleted any comments from you Bomber, so sorry your comment seems to have disappeared, not quite sure what happened there.

Thanks JC for your kind comments. The photos of the property in Brighton reflect one of the properties we looked around recently. We are not planning on buying as there is just too much work needed. We hope to add more pictures of viewings as we go along. Hope your exchange comes sooner rather than later.

HPC – Thanks for the link. Always at the back of our minds is the worry this market cannot keep rising and that maybe there is a correction just around the corner. Ideally we sell, market crashes for about 3 months, we buy, market then shoots back up again. What do you think the chances are?(!)

Expat.- The house was a complete dump when we moved in. We treated it as a bit of a project really and stripped it back (although there were no features left at all). We put in oak flooring, a new kitchen, bathroom and some room changes that mean we now have a dining room and large living area. We also landscaped the garden and fixed leaks, damp and you name it really!  Incidentally, we found the ‘lurid pink furniture’ on www.treaclefurniture.co.uk they are actually original antiques, just reinvented for more modern tastes.

Paul Turbull – we just did lots of work in the house, and yes – actually house prices in this neck of the woods are pretty crazy. A two bed down the road went for £379,000 last weekend and that’s not unusual.

 Lady Bluebell- how kind of you to offer this advice. Yes – you are probably right about the expectations of buyers. The house is most definitely not in keeping with the period (inside).

The problem is that the damage was done before us. The house is two cottages knocked into one, all features were removed and there was lots of work to do on the layout, making fairly unusable spaces into usable ones. It is a modern take on a Victorian cottage and you are probably right about the furniture being a little ‘avant garde’ for many, definitely something to think about. (Although I think we might wait a little longer as we have had loads of interest this weekend.)

Let's see what this week brings!

 

Well we have had an amazing array of viewings.

Our price has now dropped to just below £340,000 which is very disappointing as we know it is underpriced but want to sell so have decided to cut our losses in this very slow market.

 

Today a property investor is coming to view, last week we had a lady who is coming back to view for a second time this weekend (bringing her dad.) We've had a porn star (yes really), a divorced lady who came twice, and so many more.

We have had a few second viewings actually which is making this house selling thing a very rocky ride. We have never viewed a property twice unless we were going to make an offer. Maybe other people are more cautious that we are.

We have finally popped a few photos of our own gaff onto this blog, there has been some confusion as people reading this blog have thought that pictures we posted of a house we viewed in Brighton was actually our house. So sorry for that confusion.

This weekend we are trying not to think about it, we are off to Yarmouth for a cheesy weekend by the seaside.

 

Thanks to all of you who have commented and especially to those who have offered advice on the house that we viewed in Brighton (thinking it was the one we are selling) I agree with everything you said about the house!

 

 

Right - that's it. Dropped the price again. This is definately the last time. Roll up, roll up, bargain of the month!

 

We're just too impatient. We could sit this out or alternatively drop the price to a level which will surely lead to interest, and we've chosen the latter. It would be nice to be in Brighton this year...

 

Will report back on the deluge of interest that will now inevitably be generated....need to sort out some of those posh rope barrier things they have outside nightclubs to keep the queues under control.

STILL waiting. This is a rollercoaster ride from Hell.

 

OK, trying to be calm now. 

 

We have only been with our NIA (new improved agent) for about 2 and a half weeks and they seem to be doing really well, we've had loads of viewings, 2 have been back twice - all great signs but we are still yet to have an offer.

Crossing all our fingers and toes is becoming painful.

 

 

Our trip to Brighton last week uncovered some very interesting finds, none of which were spot on but still very interesting.

We viewed three properties.

One was too tiny, beautifully developed but too tiny. The details were a little misleading too, the garden was listed twice, once as a patio garden and once as a car port.

The next property was a more modern house. Very disappointing  inside, cheap laminate floors, noisy very central location and no character whatsoever.

The final property was very exciting. The price was well below what the other houses of the same size are going for on that street and we wondered why until we walked in the door and found the main bedroom was the first room we came too. We can't quite get the property out of our heads though. I keep finding excuses to call the agent, casually asking if the house is still on the market...

 

Someone buy our house please....

 

Our new improved agent, (NIA) popped round to measure up on Saturday.

  

He was supposed to do it the day before but it turns out he got side tracked (not a great start). But oddly they had found the time to pop their whopping great sign up on the side of the house! 

 

 

I listened to the NIA as he wandered around the house with his dictaphone, talking through the house details room by room. They have some interesting observations - the decking was an 'entertainment area' and the shed was almost described as a 'summer house' until we made him change it.

 

Whilst we had the NIA with us, we decided to ask him if he could give us some advice on the way we have laid out our huge living/dining area. He did feel as though we could do more, so we took his advice and spent the rest of the afternoon pushing the furniture around until we were satisfied.

 

I think because we decided that we wanted to move to Brighton fairly shortly after moving into Sawbo, we didn't really put our heart and soul into the finishing touches of making it a home. It is clean, bright and spacious but lacks the cosy feel that a cottage needs.

Well now it looks even bigger (if that is possible) but much better. We put pictures up, rearranged the chairs, put a rug down and hey presto -we now have a clearly defined dining room and spacious lounge area.

 

Got the sister and brother in law to come round to have a look at the new layout and they agreed, better, and after sitting in the NIA's office until it was done, we managed to get the details up on a couple of sites today.

 

Crossing everything that doesn't hurt.

Just not getting any viewings whatsoever! Dropped the price twice and now in a position where we will be selling our property at a loss - and this in a rising market. Drastic action needed so we have changed agents and are starting off next week with a new one. Just need to get a few people looking around....where are Phil and Kirsty when you need them!

 

 

 

Regards

 

Frustrated of Sawbridgeworth.

 

 

What are we to do? We now are selling a bargain property, we've tidied the house for the umpteenth time for the umpteenth number of days, and still visits are as frequent as Halley's Comet. Perhaps someone has daubed a red cross on our front door without our knowing.

 

Anyway to cap off this success, a planning application for a chip shop two doors down has reared it's ugly head again. Nothing more pleasant than lying in bed at night, the room bathed in the bright glow of 'Chippy Signage' and the open window letting the waft of chips and fat permeate throughout the house. I hope potential viewers take such a positive view and appreciate the wonderful benefit of having access to fast food every night of the week. If they're lucky they may not have to leave the house, they'll be able to shout their order out the window...

 

 

Welcome to the depressing side of house moving. We've now sliced £25k off the asking price of our house in the last three week. Let me put that to you in real terms. That is the equivalent to receiving a copy of the Sunday Times for free for the next 240 years, 3 1/2  bottles of Delord Freres Armagnac 1848 (70cl), approximately 10 round the world tickets or 20 'G' reg Robin Reliants....so as you can see we're feeling pretty unhappy (although i don't care very much for the Armagnac at £7,750 a bottle).

 

So then, we wait, as we have done for the last two months. Two months, two viewings - all that tidying around for just two viewings. I'm hoping that now we've dropped into a new price range people will be forming orderly queues outside to view. Surely it's that easy isn't it?

 

Meanwhile in Brighton I expect all those agents we registered with and showed initial enthusiasm with have either have or dropped us down to 'automated emails only' category or worse still be deleted us from their files altogether. That said I do get one young lady who religiously calls me each week recommending an entirely inapporpiate property due to it's a) wrong location b) lack of bedroomsc) no outside space....or on special occasions all three.

 

So we're at an impasse. My house price goes down while those in Brighton go up. By the time we compete we could well end up only being able to rent a static caravan in nearby Shoreham.

Well as the market continues to fly onwards and upwards in Brighton, I'm having to knock £10,000 of the price of my place to get people interested. Haven't had a sausage (metaphorically speaking) round in the last three weeks...with all these Bank Holidays coming up there has to be some action. I've tried to consider ways of attracting attention...

 

1. Front Page advert on in the Times (1/4 page) approx £25,000 - costly

2. Burn down all other houses in my village to increase demand for ours - probable prison sentence and would require stealth tactics that  I simply don't think I have.

3. Stick a '50% Off Bank Holiday Offer' banner across the front of my house - effective, costly and stupid

4. Optimise all internet search results to point to my blog - costly

 

So, realistically our options are limited. I think I'll give my Estate Agent another week or so and then look at one of others in my village. The problem is being such a small village I expect all those potential buyers registerd with my agent will be registered with the others too - is there any point? I just don't know....stuff it, I'm off to buy some matches.

Well having spent a few days worrying about the possibility of having our mortgage reduced, a few swift calls to mortgage advisors have put our minds at rest. It's all fine and whilst mortgage companies take a good hard look at the incomes of the applicant, the amount of equity that goes into the purchase can have a more significant sway. Long and short of it is that we still have are original purchasing power restored. You beauty!!

 

That said, we're going to change our lifestyle a bit. Out goes the personal jet, chauffeur and caviar as we adopt a more frugal lifestyle to compensate for our impending mortgage hike once we move. 

Brilliant!!!!! In order to meet the higher cost of property in Brighton I called my current mortgage company to see what extra money we could outof them. The long and short of the phone call was that as my wife was now starting up her own business this actually affected our potential to buy a new place.

 

At the very least we though we could 'port' (as the pro's call it) the mortgage with perhaps a few fees thrown in, but no, we're walloped with having to face being assessed for a brand new mortgage. My wife's income doesn't count for anything until she has 12 months of business under her belt. So, rather than get the extra £30,000 we now find ourselves £40,000 short! By crikey!

 

So, now sat in garden having to consider the joy of a) stay put in until next Feb when the mortgage redemption fee expires b)  Pay the £7,500 redemption fee and face having to pay a significantly higher rate for a non-status mortgage c) buy that lottery ticket.

 

So not a great selection there particularly considering the best I've ever managed is three numbers....and to cap it off...some theiving bounder has nicked the ivy we planted in our window box last weekend. That's the third in  2 months. Firstly, what on earth does anyone want to do with an ivy? Secondly does anyone have any deterent tips for plant 'scoundrels' and thirdly, will we incur the wrath of property misdescriptions for no longer having a plant that is shown most clearly in the estate agent's particulars?

Well it's early days, but I have to say I'm a little disappointed to only get  a handful of phonecalls regarding prospective properties. Two of the phonecalls have been from mortgage advisors that I had asked the associated estate agents explicity at the time of registration not to push my way, so slapped wrists there.

 

I have also had a number of emails sent to me containing a hotch-potch of properties, and I just wonder....do all these emails come to me via an automated data feed based on my initial criteria or do they receive a little more of the 'peronal touch' neccesitating human input? Of the half dozen I've recieved so far only one has been in my desired location - so i'm inclined to think the former! One email was promoting a property in Littlehampton, where presumably King and Chasemore thought it's okay for me to walk the 44 mile round trip to my desired train station.

 

I think I will contact all my agents and ensure that they are aware of my specific criteria regarding location...

Well, we've now got an idea for ourselves of the 'fluidity' of the Brighton market. We saw a house (priced slighty above our range) that had the asking price achieved on the very day it hit the market! We've have seen a few others that don't move quite as fast but is does seem the good one's are simply snapped. It really confirms the conudrum that I outlined earlier which is whether there is any point in lookng at properties in Brighton whilst our own home is not under offer? Are we just teasing ourselves by seeing places we like when at the back of our minds we know that we're not quite in the postion to move?

 

We did have a viewing on our place weekend. I thought the estate agent would be arriving with the client, but I was evidently wrong so I had to put on my sales hat and try and remember all the relevant bits on Property Ladder about succesfully showing somone around a house. After 40 minutes(!) our prospective buyer had heard and seen enough. I felt I had completed my 'Estate Agent initiaitation' adequately and think I will  reward myself by buying a sharp suit and a branded mini in the next couple of weeks.

 

Feedback from the agent was that the viewer loved out property (yippee!) although they were not in a position to move right away (boo!). Perhaps the most interesting development was that the viewer was in fact the mother of one of the partners of the agency we're selling through. So how does that work? We have an agent whose main goal it is to act in the best interest of their seller to achieve the best price possibly selling our property to their partners mother! Also does that mean they are as inclined to push our property to other potential buyers as the as they would have done previoulsy? I guess I'll have to wait and see if the viewings dry up or not!