Property sale going nowhere? How Nottingham homeowners can get things moving again
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Few things are more frustrating than putting a property on the market expecting to move, only to find that weeks turn into months with no sale.
But 'my house won't sell' can actually describe several very different problems.
· Some Nottingham properties struggle to attract viewings.
· Others get viewings, but no offers.
· Another might get as far as agreeing a sale only for the buyer to withdraw.
· And some might see a sale fall through again, and again.
The first step in unsticking a property sale is therefore working out where it has become stuck.
The latest Hometrack UK House Price Index shows that buyers currently have more choice. Nationally, the number of homes available for sale is 7% higher than a year ago, while the number of sales being agreed is 7% lower.
Zoopla analysis also shows how often listings fail to result in a completed sale: 44% of UK homes listed over the past three years did not sell, meaning only just over half of all sellers successfully completed.*
The good news is that properties are still selling and homes that find a buyer are taking an average of 44 days to reach Sold Subject to Contract, the same as a year ago.
So what should you do if yours isn't one of them?
Plenty of online views but few physical viewings?
Start with the basics: price and presentation.
Today's buyer can compare your house instantly with competing properties. Try looking at your listing as if you were the buyer rather than the owner.
Are the photographs doing the property justice? Does the first photograph encourage somebody to click? Are the best features obvious? Most importantly, does the asking price make sense alongside competing properties?
Lots of viewings, but nobody is offering?
That requires a different diagnosis. Ask your estate agent for honest feedback from the people who viewed.
There may be something about the property that buyers aren't comfortable with, or they may simply believe better value is available elsewhere.
If the same objection keeps coming up, don't ignore it. Decide whether you can fix the issue or whether the price needs to reflect it.
Has the property been reduced several times?
Continually reducing the price isn't guaranteed to restore interest.
Hometrack found that just two in 10 homes that reduced the asking price found a buyer within 90 days, compared with four out of ten homes that did not require a reduction. The researchers identified that the initial listing period is the most important and best time to attract buyers’ attention.
That's why it may be better to reassess the whole strategy instead of simply knocking another few thousand pounds off.
Had a buyer, but the sale is going nowhere?
Finding a buyer and completing a sale are two separate things.
Once a property is Sold STC, conveyancing, searches, enquiries, mortgages, surveys and any property chain still have to progress before contracts can be exchanged.
At any point you can find your sale at risk of collapse. Stay close to your estate agent and conveyancer and establish exactly what's holding things up. If there's a problem, finding out early gives you more opportunity to deal with it.
What if buyers keep pulling out?
One failed transaction can be bad luck. Several withdrawals deserve closer investigation.
Is a survey repeatedly highlighting the same issue? Is there a legal problem emerging during conveyancing? Is there another element of the property or transaction causing buyers concern?
Finding the underlying cause may be more productive than immediately putting the property back online unchanged.
Know when it's time for Plan B
If you've spent four months trying to sell, that doesn't automatically mean another four weeks will solve the problem.
Go back to the beginning and ask why the property hasn't sold. Sometimes changing the price, presentation, agent or legal preparation is enough. But if certainty has become more important, that's the point where it's sensible to look at alternative ways of selling.
A direct property buyer such as House Buyer Bureau is one alternative.
It won't necessarily be right for someone whose only priority is securing the maximum possible sale price, as a successful open-market sale is likely to get you more money. But for someone who's already lost a buyer, spent months waiting or simply wants to move on, having a fall-back option can be very valuable.
If your Nottingham property sale has become stuck, you can have a free, no-obligation chat with one of House Buyer Bureau's property buyers. You can explain what's happened so far, discuss the options available and receive an indicative cash offer during the same call.
Get a free cash offer from House Buyer BureauThere's no obligation to accept it. Instead, think of it as another option to compare with continuing your existing sale, changing agent, adjusting the price or trying a different method altogether.
The key is not to assume that waiting longer is the only answer. Diagnose the problem first, understand your alternatives and then decide which route is most likely to get you moving again.