Offers and Chains
Offers and Chains
Practically every house is saleable, some take a bit longer than others, particularly if they are not in a great location or have not been maintained to a good standard, but in almost all cases if the owner is serious about selling there are buyers out there. The condition of your property will affect its value but not its salability. If you can be bothered to prepare it properly for sale you will get the best possible price but even if you don’t there will still be plenty of people willing to buy it.
So, having said all that, why do some properties sit on the market for several weeks, barely getting any viewings, never mind offers only to be withdrawn by their disillusioned owners. Well, there’s only one reason for that, the asking price is too high. Unless your house is in tip top condition you have got to accept that you are unlikely to get top dollar and lower your expectations.
If you’ve not been over ambitious with your asking price and have been on the market for a few weeks you should have had some genuine interest, so now the question moves from “will anybody buy my property?” to “Is this the best person to buy my property?” There are a few things to consider.
The ideal situation is a good offer from a buyer with nothing to sell. This is not as uncommon as you may think as lenders are willing to offer mortgages on ever higher multiples and many people are deciding to go into short term rental accommodation to put themselves in a good position. Unless you do not have an alternative chains should generally be avoided.
On average, once a sale is agreed, it has a 30% chance of falling through. So looking at it in reverse each link in the chain has a 70% chance of holding up. In a chain of five transactions, which is not unusual, this brings the chances of a successful outcome down to around 17%, not very encouraging. These percentages can be increased if the rest of the chain is further progressed than you.
Your agent plays a key role in helping you decide if you should accept an offer. When they receive an offer on you behalf they should look to qualify that buyer by talking to all the people involved. If the buyer claims to be chain free this should be confirmed by checking with their solicitor that there is no related sale and discussing financial arrangements with their broker. If there is a chain involved your agent should get the details of all the other parties in the chain, this is done through their agents, and find out how far progressed they are. Only when you have all this information can you decide which is the best offer for your circumstances.