11th February 2012

Well I am pleased to report that we are still with the same Estate Agent. Feel much more relaxed today. This agent was the one we really should have gone with.

One of the reasons we did not was because having spoken to both of them back in October, the Agent we first engaged was the only one who kept in regular contact to see how we were doing and if we were ready to put the house up. Also the other guy was very slimy and I did not take to him at all. As it turns out that guy left and that is why no one kept in touch. His replacement is much easier to deal with, more a normal person than a car salesman type, you know the thing.

I am happy now, I hope, with our choice, time will tell.

So the two viewings they lined up for today have been and gone. Strategically they arranged it so the second viewing arrived whilst the first one was here. I is to create an air of interest in the property, so they tell me. Wow there are tactics in the Estate Agent business. Also we were told it is best not to walk around the house with them during the viewing, buyers are less likely to ask the agent questions or make comments if the home owner is there.

Anyhow the first person was a young girl, accompanied by her father and two young men, who I assume we're here brothers. They took time looking round, something the author chap did not seem to do. The next viewers were a man and women in their early 30's. They chatted to us a bit but again left them to go round with the agent. By doing that I have no idea what they thought of the place, I will have to wait for the agents feedback. I wonder if they will actually call? You can see I really do not trust any of them.

We received the energy efficiency report today. Hope no one actually pays attention to them as they must be really hard to get a good rating. We have a good boiler, insulated loft, double glazing throughout, use energy saving lightbulbs everywhere yet our rating only came out as an E. The ratings go from A to G with A being the best. Even with all the improvements recommended, which include the installation of solar panels and have insulation fitted to the outside walls ( who is really going to do that ) the rating only goes up to a D.

Kirsty goes very shy when people come to look. As soon as thy knocked she cam into the back room and hid behind the chair. It is good having the house on the market, everyone is keeping things tidy, putting rubbish in the bin and putting things away after using them. I need to think of a way to keep them doing it when we move.

Lovely day today, sunny but very cold, it was still -2 when we went out to the shops this morning. The boiler is putting in hard word and the heating has not been off now for about 3 days.

So that's it for now, do not expect to hear from anyone now until Monday. The new agent does not work on Sundays. So nothing more to do. On Monday we will go to the solicitors to show proof of our identity, hand in our forms and pay a holding fee for them. Now I am paying out money and anyone who knows me knows how much that hurts.

10th February 2012 - Afternoon

So that is me all over. Sitting here worrying when it has only been a week. I put in a call to the agent this morning to find out if we had any other viewings lined up for the weekend , Jerome answered and said they hd none planned. I was not too pleased with that, he then said he had feedback from the viewing on Wednesday. The guy had said that the front room was too small. I asked why he had not called me with the feedback and he just said sorry. Whilst on the phone I asked what was happening with the sale board which I was told would be put up last Monday, he did not know but said he would ensure it was put up over the next few days.

I was not happy, service is very important to me. I could feel a migraine starting. I put a call in to the senior manager who had initially signed us up, he was on the phone would I like to hold. I did, after 3 minutes I got cut off. That ended it for me.

I phone up another agent, one that I had wanted to go with purely because of the presence in the area and the amount of sold signs they had up. He said our property was bread and butter to them, and reckoned he would have it sold within 2 weeks ( we shall see about  that), what he did say is that they had a number of clients on their books looking for this type of property, the other Agent did not ever say this.

Anyhow he came round, took some photos, had a chat and we signed up with them, and have two viewings booked for tomorrow.

I know it is only a week but the first agent really did not fill me with confidence, I may be wrong but there it is, you have to go with your gut instinct and mine told me they would be more hassle than I needed. They said they would prefer to put a smaller number of people through us knowing they were the right ones, well one of them was someone who said it was too noisy with the main road, ITS ON A MAIN ROAD.

I would much prefer 20 people to come round even if 19 were not suitable but the other was the buyer of our house than have hand picked ones which also were not interested.

Only a week in and I am not enjoying this process already.

8th February 2012

So we had our first viewing last night. They turned up before the estate agent, so I invited them in and had a chat to them without the Agent. It turns out they have been looking for a year, and have lost two properties very close to finishing. The first was due to a survey which meant the mortgage company would not release the money. The second one, the sellers pulled out two days before exchange of contract. So this seems to be a tough time for them and they really need to buy something. This might be in our favour but who knows.

They seemed to like the property but I sensed a problem with it being on the main road and the noise that brings and also the back garden side fences being very low. The later can be solved quite easily by putting up bigger fences, the noise from the road is not something we notice but each to their own taste I suppose.

If they were to offer anything above £246K then I would accept without hesitiation, even if it meant that we sold a lot earlier than we would prefer. Anything under that would take some consideration and maybe some negotiatiing upwards as we really do not need to be accepting any offers at the moment unless they are really near the asking price.

Another viewing today at 1.40pm, will see how that goes.