So, you've agreed to an offer on your house, possibly found your dream home and had an offer accepted. You're all done, right? It's in the bag. Safe as houses.
It would be great if that were true! Unfortunately, the sad reality is that it doesn't always pan out that way. According to industry figures, as many as one-in-three sales fall through in England and Wales before completion. That's a lot of disappointed homemovers.
The reasons behind fall-throughs are numerous, but many are avoidable with the proper knowledge, skills, and motivation. All too often, homeowners are left to try and pick up the pieces. Low-cost budget online or virtual estate agents are all too often either under-resourced and not skilled or experienced enough to deal with the issues.
Here are our top tips to help homemovers have a happier journey:
1) Be Prepared
Delays are a source of frustration for both buyers and sellers, and a common reason why people withdraw from a sale. Getting paperwork, financial applications, and other documentation ready early can avoid these types of problems. You may be reliant on different bodies and organisations, such as leaseholders, banks, and solicitors, so engage them at the earliest opportunity and get your house in order.
2) Be flexible
Moving is an exciting time, and it can be easy to forget that every sale will inevitably involve others, who all have responsibilities, needs, wants, etc. Those who consider this and remain flexible will always find solutions that help them to be successful. Those who become blinded by their own needs and inflexibility often fail in their attempts to move and achieve their desired outcomes.
3) Be pragmatic
Winston Churchill once said, “Perfection is the enemy of the good”, because it hinders progress. This can be the case with homemovers who can sometimes, under the pressure of the move, lose sight of the bigger picture and become fixated with the smallest of problems and details. It is important to weigh up the advice being received and look to be pragmatic when making decisions and choices to ensure your progress isn’t hindered by the pursuit of perfection.
4) Get the right support.
We are all looking for ways to save money, but the adage pay peanuts and get monkeys can be all too true. Employing the services of competent and knowledgeable local experts who can assist in resolving the inevitable issues that arise pays dividends and can save costly and painful mistakes. You want the best people on your team when it matters the most.
At The Property Hive, we can take the sting out of moving and help our homeowners avoid disappointment with professional sale management. All our clients are assigned a dedicated expert to manage their sale and onward purchase.
Agreeing on an offer is only the start of the process. There is still much to do to safeguard a successful outcome. With so many parties involved, complexities and miscommunication can lead to issues. Even the most straightforward chains will include buyers, sellers, surveyors, financial advisors, lenders, solicitors and many more. These separate organisations must work together and complete the required activities successfully, in the correct order and in a timely fashion, to make it happen.
Just like an orchestra needs a conductor, property sales need someone to take the bull by the horns and drive it home. Flag up problems early and make sure they get resolved. Without this work, sales are at increased risk of falling victim to the many pitfalls that cause one-in-three sales to fall apart.
Our teams are based locally at our branches here in Doncaster. Our experts are on hand to support our clients every step of the way, help complete forms and paperwork correctly, and, like a ship's captain, navigate sales to successful completion.
That's why The Property Hive creates successful outcomes for our clients and makes it happen!
