"Selling a property is an incredibly stressful experience and this is largely down to the time it takes between accepting an offer and completing on a sale, during which time a sale can be delayed or even collapse for a myriad of reasons"
We all know that selling a property is a stressful endeavour and the survey of home sellers to have undertaken the task in the last 12 months, commissioned by Moverly, found that 11% believe it was the most stressful thing they have done in their life, with a further 71% ranking it within the top five.
The driving factor behind home selling-induced stress? The time it takes between accepting an offer and completing on a sale, is a period during which the transaction is susceptible to delays and even collapse.
No surprise then that other delays leading to an extended completion date are also ranked as one of the most stressful things about selling, along with a buyer pulling out and the sale collapsing, having to prepare a property for market and issues found during the survey process.
But while selling a home comes with a raft of potential worries, more worrying still is the fact that 83% of sellers told Moverly that they experienced stress-related health issues during the process.
An increase in anxiety levels was by far the most prominent issue experienced while being unable to sleep also ranked particularly high. Feelings of depression, headaches and a lack of memory or concentration were also amongst the top five most common stress-induced health issues experienced when selling a home.
While the majority of sellers only suffered from one of these home selling stress-related ailments, 18% experienced two symptoms of stress, while 39% experienced three or more.
7% even stated that they had to seek medical advice as a result, while 27% said they are still suffering from the health issues brought on by selling a home despite having now completed the process.
Ed Molyneux, Moverly co-founder, commented: “It’s fair to say that despite a huge amount of digital disruption in recent years, the home selling process is still stuck in the dark ages and it’s the nation’s homebuyers and sellers that are suffering as a result.
"Selling a property is an incredibly stressful experience and this is largely down to the time it takes between accepting an offer and completing on a sale, during which time a sale can be delayed or even collapse for a myriad of reasons.
"So it’s hardly surprising that given this prolonged period of uncertainty, many home sellers are suffering from stress-induced health issues as they hang in the balance hoping that they will be able to move home as planned.”
