Pete C wrote:

Hi,

Are they in a hurry and able to exchange before a given date? It might
not be good to get strung along in a patchy market.

Very relevant. My personal approach on selling is:-

1) Take the money and run. ( Every experienced salesman's approach,
before the buyer of the product finds that it doesn't suit his purpose!)

2) ALWAYS leave the property on the market until the contracts are
exchanged.

3) Remember the market traders maxim, 2% profit on something is much
better than 50% of nothing!

You may get a better offer as a result of 2), (IMO not likely in the
current climate.) but it concentrates the mind of the buyer and reduces
the risk to you of wishfull purchasers. If the buyer doesn't like it,
IMO they are a doubtful proposition and you may well be disappointed in
a couple of months time. We are coming up to the "dead" period of the
year, when buyers start thinking about Xmas and not moving house, so
bear this in mind when taking decisions.

With some i/p prices to producers rising by 3% last month AIUI, it
looks to me that we may heading into another high inflation period with
corresponding interest rates and mortgage costs, so, I'd personally sell
like a shot at almost any price and gamble on prices falling for the
next house. I've managed to guess right twice now, so I'm probably wrong
this time round, but I can't see much upside to property prices in the
next couple of years. The B of E governor won't hint at stable interest
rates, so he's not very confident of the future.

Regards
Capitol