On average, you can expect UK homes to receive an offer within 25-40 days of being on the market. Some can go under offer even quicker than that, and others can take even longer – including my house, which we’re currently in the process of selling. In fact, it took a whopping four months for us to finally get our first offer.
As we were previously first-time buyers, this is the first time we’re selling a house – and, let me tell you, it’s been a serious learning curve. The process hasn’t been helped by the fact that the housing market is currently in turmoil, but I can thankfully say that we’re now making our way through our moving house checklist to move into our new house within the next few weeks.
But while there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel, there’s no denying that we made some serious selling mistakes along the way. These blunders made the process more difficult, time-consuming and stressful – and I’m sharing them now in the hopes that you don’t make the same mistakes I did.
Article continues below
1. Putting it on the market in January
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m impulsive – and so is my husband. So, when we decided to start 2026 by selling our house, we reached out to estate agents as soon as possible, and our house officially went on the market in the second week of January. Unfortunately, this was our first mistake.
In our estate agents’ defence, he did tell us that January was a tough time to put a house on the market. He had no doubts that our house would get lots of viewings, but he knew from experience that many of those looking in January weren’t serious buyers and that those willing to put their money where their mouths were would come towards the end of February and early March. And this was exactly what happened.
As Alex Greaves, founder of Ridgestone Property, says, the best time to put a house on the market is in the springtime. He explains, ‘Consistently, March, April and May see the highest levels of activity year on year, with around 30% more enquiries compared to the rest of the year. It’s also when many UK families begin planning ahead for the new school year. A spring sale allows them to move in June or July and be fully settled before the September term begins.’
Putting our house on the market in January also affected the photos. And while the professional photographer was able to use his skills to make the gloomy winter sky look blue, there was nothing he could do to transform the wet patio, the soggy-looking grass or the dark rooms. So, next time, we’ll wait until prime house-selling time (which is typically a bit sunnier).
2. Relying on weekend viewings
Selling a house relies on in-person viewings, and we put a lot of effort into making it look desirable to potential buyers. We even researched the red flags that put buyers off to make sure that we weren’t waving any. But as my husband and I both work full-time, we relied on weekend viewings – and this was another mistake we made when selling our house.
To give a little context, the house we’re selling is on a long road with terraced houses on either side. As we don’t have driveways at the front, everyone parks on the road – except the odd few (like us) who have parking at the rear of the house. Because of this, visitor parking is always a nightmare, and this gets even worse on weekends.
And while we didn’t get any negative feedback about the house, many viewers had a lot to say about the road. Some even said that if the house were on a different road, they’d snap it up in a heartbeat. And while our estate agents tried to reiterate that we do have designated parking at the rear of the property, they just couldn’t see past the busy road.
This could have been solved if we’d been a little more flexible and allowed viewings during the week, when the road is much quieter and gives a better representation of what it’s really like. This would have taken a little bit of work on our part, but I do think it would have made the selling process quicker and easier.
3. Not being flexible on the price
I recently wrote about spending £10,000 to add value to my house before putting it on the market, and while we don’t regret doing this, it was something we had in mind when our estate agent suggested we be a little more flexible on our original guide price. Especially after three months on the market with no offers.
In our minds, we had a set price we wanted for our house, and we wouldn’t accept anything less. And while our estate agents didn’t push us into doing anything we didn’t want to do (which we really appreciated), they did mention that a price reduction may have to be considered if we wanted to get moving sooner rather than later.
Alistair Singer, Director at My Home Move Conveyancing, says this happens all too often, which is why it’s important to keep your options open when getting your house valued. He says, ‘Don’t be dazzled by the highest estate agent valuation. Look for an estate agent who can back up their figure with solid local examples of recent sales and a clear marketing strategy for your home.’
Eventually, we took our agents’ advice to adjust the guide price, which not only brought in a whole new batch of buyers but also put us at the top of Rightmove’s listings. It also sparked a bidding war, which meant we still got the exact price we wanted for our house. So, we definitely won’t be so closed off to conversations like that in the future.
4. Viewing new houses prematurely
When we first put our house on the market in January, we immediately started looking at new houses for us. We naively thought our house would be snapped up right away, and we started enquiring about viewings for prospective houses, ready to see if they would tick boxes on our house-viewing checklist. This was a serious mistake.
For starters, we quickly realised that many estate agents wouldn’t even give us the time of day unless we had an accepted offer on our house first. And while we understood that they didn’t want to waste their time showing people around who weren’t in a position to put in an offer straight away, it left us feeling a bit deflated.
After all, we wanted to get the ball rolling and find our next house, and we wanted to view as many as possible to figure out what our budget would allow and whether we’d have to make any compromises.
There were some estate agents that did allow us to view properties without an accepted offer, but even that was a mistake – especially when we found a house we loved and wanted to put an offer on. But by the time we were in a position to do so, it had already been snapped up.
5. Waiting too long to sort a conveyancer
While this mistake didn’t necessarily affect how long it’s taken us to get an offer, it’s definitely affected how long it’s taking for the sale to complete. That’s because we waited until we had an offer to instruct our conveyancing solicitor, when we should have been more organised and got the ball rolling earlier.
This is echoed by Alistair, who says, ‘A common trap for sellers is waiting until they’ve accepted an offer to pick up the phone to a professional. You should be instructing your conveyancer the very moment your home hits the market.’
He adds, ‘By getting a head start, your conveyancer can perform the necessary ID checks and open your file in advance before a buyer is even found. This means that as soon as the ‘Sold’ sign goes up, the draft contract pack can be sent out immediately, potentially shaving weeks off the total timeline and keeping your move on track.’
This is something we definitely should have done, as discrepancies on our side – largely because we bought this house before we got married and I changed my name – means that the legal side is now taking a bit longer than we thought.
6. Taking everything too personally
To be honest, I struggle with my emotions in all aspects of my life, and I’m blaming my July birthday for this quirk in my personality (Cancerians will know what I’m talking about). And while I was hoping my emotions wouldn’t get in the way of selling my house – especially as I’m desperate to move to a newer, better house – I ended up taking everything personally.
Even when our estate agent rang with positive feedback, explaining that the viewers loved the house but just weren’t in a position to put in an offer, I took it personally. When we had a weekend of no viewings, it made me incredibly upset. And when someone said they wanted to put in an offer, but then ghosted the estate agent, I struggled.
Of course, selling a house you’ve lived in and made memories in for the past six years is always going to be emotional, and I don’t regret feeling upset about it in the slightest. But I do regret letting my emotions cloud my judgment and almost turning down an offer because the idea of selling our house suddenly felt like too much.
Luckily, my husband is the pragmatic one in our relationship. He was able to talk some sense into me, and we accepted the offer. Now that we’ve had our own offer accepted on a new house that I’m completely in love with, I’m glad I had him by my side to remind me why we wanted to sell in the first place.
The house viewing essentials I swear by
These are the three non-negotiables that I used to make my house look even more desirable for viewings.
Woodluv Set of 3 Seagrass Storage Box with Lid
Clearing clutter is one of the best ways to give buyers the chance to imagine themselves in your house, and I swear by ‘clutter buckets’ to stash away those items you don’t want on show.
Diptyque Figuier Classic Candle
A candle is one of the best tools you can have in your house selling toolbox – and I love this one. Not only does it look good, but the smell is extremely welcoming for visitors.
Philips OneUp 5000 Series Electric Mop
This battery-powered mop was my secret weapon for viewings. It allowed me to keep my hard flooring as clean as possible for prospective buyers, and is something I use as part of my regular cleaning schedule, too.
Thankfully, it all worked out in the end! And I’ve learnt a lot along the way.
If you enjoyed reading this, sign up for the Ideal Home newsletter for all the latest home decor trends and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox
Read the full article here