Most sellers think the hard part of selling is getting an offer. In our experience, the hard part is often what happens after that, when the buyer's solicitor starts asking questions and the seller hasn't got the answers ready.

We see it regularly. A property goes under offer, everyone's pleased, and then three or four weeks in, momentum stalls because information that should have been sorted before the sale even went live is still being chased. By that point the buyer has had time to think, other properties have caught their eye, and a small delay starts to feel like a warning sign rather than a minor hiccup.

Why buyers are less patient than they used to be

Buyers today do a lot of their own homework before they ever book a viewing. They've usually seen the listing, checked the area, and formed an opinion long before they walk through the door. What they haven't seen is the boring but essential detail: whether there's a lease to review, what the boundary situation actually is, whether any work has building regulations sign-off, or if there's anything unusual in the title.

When that information arrives late, it doesn't read as an oversight. It reads as a problem, even when it isn't one. Solicitors can only work with what they're given, and a slow start to the legal process has a habit of staying slow right through to completion. A buyer who was excited about the property three weeks ago starts asking themselves quiet questions. Is this normal? Is something being hidden? Should we be looking elsewhere just in case this falls through? None of that comes from anything dramatic. It comes from silence, and silence is very easy to misread.

It's also worth saying that buyers today have more options than they used to, and they know it. If a purchase starts to feel like hard work before it's even legally binding, plenty of buyers will quietly keep half an eye on other listings, just as a precaution. That's not disloyalty on their part. It's sensible self protection in a market where nothing is guaranteed until exchange. The seller's job, whether they realise it or not, is to make sure that precaution never becomes necessary.

The paperwork sellers commonly leave until the last minute

A few things come up again and again once a sale is under offer:

Planning permission or building control certificates for extensions, conversions or garden buildings, especially if the work was done some years ago and the paperwork has been filed away and forgotten.

Guarantees for damp proofing, replacement windows, boiler installations or roofing work, which buyers' solicitors will often ask for as standard.

Details of any shared access, right of way, or boundary agreement with a neighbour, particularly in older or rural properties where these things were sometimes settled informally rather than in writing.

Leasehold information, service charge accounts and management company details, which can take weeks to obtain if the request only goes in after an offer is accepted.

None of these are unusual or difficult to resolve. The issue is timing. Sorted before the property goes on the market, they're a formality. Left until a solicitor asks, they become the reason a sale drags on for months, or falls through entirely because the buyer's patience runs out first.

There's a second layer to this too, which is the paperwork that isn't strictly legal but still gets asked about constantly. Instruction manuals for the boiler and appliances. Warranty documents for a new roof or rewiring. Confirmation of when the loft was insulated or the windows were replaced. Buyers ask about these things because they're trying to work out what they're taking on, and a seller who can answer straight away comes across very differently to one who has to go and dig through a drawer, or worse, admits they've no idea and never kept the paperwork in the first place. It's a small thing individually, but it adds up to an impression, and that impression either builds confidence or chips away at it.

How this plays out with a chain involved

Most sales in this country involve a chain, and a chain moves at the pace of its slowest link. If your sale is the one holding things up because paperwork is still being tracked down, everyone above and below you in that chain feels it, and everyone above and below you starts to form an opinion about how organised you are. That opinion matters more than sellers tend to assume, because a chain under strain looks for the easiest place to apply pressure, or the easiest place to walk away from if something better comes along. Being the seller who's ready, with answers rather than promises to find out, is one of the simplest ways to keep your position in that chain secure.

Where sellers underestimate the risk

It's easy to assume that once you've got a buyer, the outcome is largely down to solicitors and conveyancers doing their job. In practice, the seller's preparation has a direct effect on how smoothly that process runs. A buyer who feels informed and confident tends to stay committed even when things move slower than they'd like. A buyer who feels like they're extracting information piece by piece starts to wonder what else hasn't been mentioned. 

This is where a good agent earns their fee well before completion day. Part of our job is asking the awkward questions early, before a buyer's solicitor has to, so there are no gaps waiting to be discovered halfway through a transaction. We'd rather raise something at the valuation stage, when there's time to sort it calmly, than have it surface three weeks before exchange when everyone's under pressure.

There's a difference, too, between an agent who simply lists a property and one who actively project manages the sale once it's under offer. The first will pass on solicitor requests as they arrive and leave you to deal with them. The second will have already asked the questions before the property even goes live, flagged anything that needs sorting, and kept a close enough eye on progress to spot a delay forming before it becomes a genuine problem. That difference rarely shows up in the marketing photos or the listing description. It shows up in whether your sale completes on the timescale you were hoping for, or drifts on for another two months while everyone waits on the same missing document.

What a sensible seller should do next

If you're thinking about putting your home on the market, it's worth having an honest conversation about what buyers and their solicitors are likely to ask for, and whether you've already got it to hand. Gather what you can before you list. Certificates, guarantees, planning approvals, anything relating to work done on the property. If you're not sure whether something counts, ask rather than assume it won't come up, because it usually does.

It's a short conversation, but it can save weeks further down the line, and it's the sort of thing that's far easier to sort out before you've got a buyer waiting on you than after. Sellers who do this tend to find their sales move faster and with fewer surprises, not because they got lucky with an easy buyer, but because they removed the reasons for things to stall in the first place.

If you're thinking about moving and want clear, honest advice on price, positioning and what it would take to get your home sold properly in the current market, we'd be happy to help. 

In practical terms, a home cannot simply be available. It needs to feel like one of the best options at its price.

Pricing still matters most

Rightmove’s August figures show that the average asking price of a newly listed property fell by 2% during the month, reflecting the increased competition for buyers.

Importantly, nearly three-quarters of the homes that have sold so far this year achieved a buyer without first needing an asking-price reduction. This reinforces how important it is to launch at a sensible and well-supported price from the outset. (Property news)

A higher asking price may feel like leaving room to negotiate, but if it prevents buyers from viewing in the first place, it can work against the seller. The strongest opportunity to capture attention is usually when a property first comes to the market.

What we are seeing locally

Across our local market, agreed sales are still happening, but buyers are taking longer to make decisions and are comparing properties very carefully.

Some correctly positioned homes are attracting early viewings and offers. Others are receiving good levels of online interest without that translating into physical viewings.

This does not necessarily mean the marketing is failing. It often means buyers can see the property but do not yet feel sufficiently compelled by the overall proposition – usually the combination of price, presentation and perceived value – to take the next step.

Propertymark’s latest report reflects this more cautious national picture, recording an average of just 2.1 viewings per available property during June. (Propertymark)

Our advice this month

You can be on the market. Or you can be in the market.

If you’d like to discuss your own move, whether you’re already on the market or simply considering your next steps, please get in touch with the Sawdye & Harris team. We will give you clear, evidence-led advice based on what buyers are doing now,  we’re always happy to help.

If you've got a tenant who pays on time, looks after the property and never causes you a moment's bother, the idea of raising their rent can feel risky. Nobody wants to be the reason a good tenant starts looking elsewhere. But not reviewing rent regularly is one of the quietest ways landlords lose money, and it happens so gradually that most don't notice until they compare their rent to what similar properties are actually achieving nearby.

We speak to landlords every week who are two or three years behind the market without realising it. This isn't about squeezing every last pound out of a tenancy. It's about keeping your investment properly aligned with reality, and doing it in a way that doesn't put a good relationship at risk.

Why landlords put off rent reviews

The most common reason is simple: the tenant is good, and landlords worry that raising the rent will make them leave. That's a fair concern, but it's usually based on a false choice. A well-handled rent review rarely causes a good tenant to leave. What causes tenants to leave is a sudden, badly explained increase that feels unfair or comes out of nowhere.

There's also a practical reason landlords delay reviews: it takes admin, a conversation, and sometimes paperwork. So, it gets pushed back another year, then another. By the time it'saddressed, the gap between current rent and market rent has grown so large that any increase feels dramatic to the tenant, even though it's simply catching up.

How often you should actually be reviewing rent

A yearly review is sensible for most tenancies. That doesn't mean a yearly increase, but it does mean you should be checking where the rent sits against comparable local properties at least once a year. If the market has moved and your rent hasn't, that's a decision you're making by default, whether you meant to or not.

For tenants who are on a periodic tenancy rather than a fixed term, the same principle applies. Just because there's no renewal date forcing the conversation doesn't mean the review shouldn't happen.

Doing it properly makes all the difference

The way you raise rent matters more than the amount, in most cases. A tenant who receives a short, clear letter with a fair explanation and reasonable notice will usually accept an increase without much friction. A tenant who feels blindsided, or senses the increase is arbitrary, is far more likely to push back or start looking elsewhere.

A few things make a genuine difference here:

Give proper notice. Rushing a rent increase with a fortnight's warning puts tenants on the back foot and invites resistance. Several weeks' notice, ideally longer, gives them time to process it without feeling cornered.

Explain the reasoning, briefly. You don't need to justify yourself at length, but a line explaining that the rent is being brought in line with the local market, alongside rising costs of maintaining the property, goes a long way. Tenants are far more accepting of an increase they understand than one that just appears.

Have the evidence ready. If a tenant questions the figure, being able to point to what similar properties are currently letting for locally makes the conversation straightforward rather than personal. This is one area where working with someone who tracks the local market daily is genuinely useful, because guessing at comparable rents is one of the easiest ways to either overreach or undersell yourself.

Consider a phased approach for long-standing tenants. If a tenant has been in place for several years and the gap to market rent is significant, moving the full amount in one go can feel punitive even when it's fair. A smaller increase now, with another planned for the following year, is often better received and still gets you back to where you should be within a reasonable timeframe.

What landlords often overlook

A rent increase isn't just a number change. Depending on the tenancy type and how the increase is proposed, there are correct routes to follow, and using the wrong one can make an increase invalid or unenforceable. Landlords who serve informal requests by text or verbal conversation, rather than the correct written route, sometimes find themselves unable to enforce the new rent if a tenant later disputes it.

There's also a financial angle that's easy to miss. An unreviewed rent doesn't just cost you the difference between what you're charging and market rent. It quietly reduces the resale value of your investment when calculated on a yield basis, and it can affect remortgaging conversations if a lender is assessing rental income against the loan.

What to do next

If you can't remember the last time you reviewed the rent on one of your properties, that's usually a sign it's overdue. Before you do anything, get a proper comparison of what similar properties are currently achieving in your local area, so any conversation with your tenant is grounded in fact rather than guesswork.

Getting a rent review right protects the relationship with your tenant just as much as it protects your income. Done properly, it rarely causes friction. Done carelessly or left too long, it becomes one of the most common reasons good tenancies break down.

We'd love to have a chat with you about how the new legislation will affect your decisions and investment properties going forward. 

The truth is that the agent you choose affects far more than the boards outside your house and the portal listing. It affects how your property is priced, who gets to view it, how offers are handled, and whether a sale that gets agreed actually makes it to completion. Get that choice wrong and it can cost you real money, not just time.

The Valuation Trap

It's an open secret in the industry that some agents will quote a higher price than they genuinely believe your home will achieve, purely to win the instruction. It works because sellers naturally gravitate towards the number that sounds best. The problem comes a few weeks later, when the property has had plenty of viewings but no offers anywhere near the asking price, and the agent starts gently suggesting a reduction.

By that point you've lost the early momentum that matters most. The first couple of weeks on the market bring the highest levels of interest and the buyers who are most active and most likely to move quickly. A property that's priced too high during that window misses that audience entirely, and by the time the price comes down to a realistic level, it's competing with fresh listings instead of standing out among them.

A good agent will tell you the number you don't want to hear, backed up with genuine comparable evidence, rather than the number that gets them the sign in your garden.

What Happens to Interest After the Viewing

Getting people through the door is only half the job. What happens afterwards matters just as much, and it's where a lot of agents fall short without sellers ever realising it.

Feedback should be gathered properly, not just a vague "they said they'd think about it" a week after the viewing has already gone cold. Buyers who show interest should be followed up promptly, their questions answered, any hesitations addressed while they're still fresh. Left too long, a buyer who was genuinely keen can talk themselves out of it, or simply move on to another property that felt easier to progress.

If you're getting viewings but hearing nothing back, or noticing that follow-up seems to happen days after the fact rather than immediately, that's usually a sign of how the rest of your sale is likely to be handled too.

Buyer Qualification Is Often Skipped Entirely

An offer is only as good as the buyer behind it, and this is one of the areas where the gap between agents is widest. Some agents will present any offer that comes in without checking whether the buyer can actually proceed, whether they've spoken to a lender, or where they are in their own onward chain.

Accepting an offer from a buyer who isn't properly ready, or isn't even properly checked, is one of the most common reasons sales stall or collapse later on. It's also one of the easiest things for a competent agent to screen for at the offer stage, before you've taken your home off the market and turned away other interest.

Why This Matters More Than It First Appears

None of this shows up in the glossy brochure or the initial pitch when agents are competing for your instruction. It only becomes visible once your home is actually on the market, and by then you're often locked into a contract for a set period of time. Switching agents partway through a stalled sale is possible, but it costs you further time, and a property that's already been on the market for months tends to carry a stigma with buyers who wonder what's wrong with it.

This is why the decision about who you instruct deserves more scrutiny than most sellers give it. The agent quoting the most eye-catching figure, or the one who seems easiest to deal with at the valuation, isn't necessarily the one who will get you sold at the right price, to the right buyer, in a reasonable timeframe.

What a Sensible Seller Should Ask

Before instructing anyone, it's worth asking how they arrived at their valuation and what genuinely comparable evidence supports it. Ask what their process is for qualifying buyers before an offer is accepted. Ask how quickly feedback and follow-up happen after a viewing. The answers tell you far more about how your sale will actually run than the initial figure they quote you.

If you're thinking about moving and want clear, honest advice on price, positioning and what it would take to get your home sold properly in the current market, we'd be happy to help.

Agreeing a sale feels like the hard part is over. In reality, it's often where things start to get complicated. A significant number of sales collapse somewhere between the offer being accepted and completion day, and it rarely happens because the buyer changed their mind about the house. It happens because of what's sitting behind them in the chain, or because nobody checked their position closely enough before the sale was agreed.

If you're planning to sell, it's worth understanding why this happens and what you can do, long before you accept an offer, to make sure it doesn't happen to you.

It's Rarely About the House

Sellers tend to assume that if a sale falls through, something must have gone wrong with the property. A survey issue, a change of heart, a better house coming onto the market. Sometimes that's true. But far more often, the problem is structural. A buyer further along the chain loses their mortgage offer. A first-time buyer's finances shift between agreeing a price and getting a formal mortgage offer. A related sale in the chain falls apart for reasons that have nothing to do with your house at all.

This is exactly why the offer itself only tells you part of the story. The strength of a buyer's position, whether they're proceedable now or only proceedable in theory, matters just as much as the number they've put forward.

The Mistake Sellers Make Without Realising It

Understandably, most sellers accept the highest offer without asking many questions about who's behind it. A buyer with no chain, a mortgage agreement in principle already in place, or cash ready to go is in a completely different category to someone who still needs to sell their own home, hasn't spoken to a lender yet, or is relying on a chain of three or four other transactions to hold together.

Taking a slightly lower offer from a genuinely proceedable buyer is very often the more sensible decision. It's just not the one that feels obvious at the time, because on paper the bigger number looks like the better outcome.

This is where a lot of sellers come unstuck. They accept the strongest-looking offer, take the property off the market, turn down other interest, and then find themselves back at square one weeks later when the buyer's chain breaks. By that point they've lost momentum, lost other interested buyers, and often have to relist at a point in the year that's less favourable than when they first came to market.

What Actually Reduces the Risk

There are things a seller can do, and things an agent should be doing on your behalf, that meaningfully lower the chance of a fall-through.

Buyers should be qualified properly before an offer is even accepted, not after. That means understanding their true position: are they mortgage-ready, is their own property under offer or just on the market, have they actually spoken to a broker or just assumed they'll get approved. This isn't about being difficult with buyers. It's about knowing what you're agreeing to before you commit to it.

Communication through the chain matters too. Sales fall through more often when nobody is actively managing what's happening at each stage, chasing solicitors, checking on searches, flagging problems early enough to solve them rather than discovering them a week before exchange. A sale that's left to run on autopilot is far more exposed than one where someone is actively keeping tabs on every link in the chain.

Timing also plays a part. Buyers and sellers who are under pressure to move quickly, whether for a job, a school place, or a personal deadline, are statistically more likely to see things through. Ones with no urgency at all are more likely to drift, get distracted, or change their mind halfway through.

The Real Cost of a Fall-Through

The financial cost is obvious enough: legal fees already spent, survey costs, sometimes removal deposits. What's often underestimated is the cost to your negotiating position. A property that returns to the market after a collapsed sale tends to attract more scrutiny from buyers, more questions about why it didn't go through the first time, and sometimes a slightly harder negotiation as a result. Time on the market carries a cost of its own, even when nothing about the house itself has changed.

What a Sensible Seller Does Differently

None of this means you should be suspicious of every buyer or hold out for a perfect, chain-free purchaser who may never appear. It means going into the process with your eyes open, asking the right questions before you accept an offer rather than after, and having someone in your corner who's checking positions properly and staying on top of the chain once a sale is agreed.

This is precisely where a good agent earns their fee. Not just in getting you an offer, but in making sure the offer you accept is one that's actually likely to complete, and in managing the process closely enough afterwards that problems get caught and dealt with before they become fatal to the sale.

If you're thinking about moving and want clear, honest advice on price, positioning and what it would take to get your home sold properly in the current market, we'd be happy to help.