House not sold yet- advised to reduce. Have I done the right thing?

lincroft1710 · 17 March 2017 at 4:50PM

bertiewhite wrote: »

Indeed - I never thought I'd see the day properties in Dunstable were fetching those sort of crazy prices :eek:

For many reasons, I decided to leave the area over 20 years ago to somewhere you could buy a smallholding with several acres cheaper!!!

Prices in neighbouring Luton have increased quite dramatically over the past year or two

franklee · 17 March 2017 at 5:01PM

I think the kitchen being on the ground floor with practically no living space is an issue for anyone with young children. They would have to spend a lot of their their lives squashed in the small dining area of the kitchen rather than being able to play in the lounge. Once the children are old enough to be left alone on a separate floor then it works much better. Your friend's house has the lounge and kitchen on the same floor so works for all ages.

Your friend's house is larger. having a detached garage isn't a problem for me as there is a pedestrian door into the garden so your friends can come and go to the garage as easily as you can. If anything her access is better as she can go to the garage via the privacy and security of a fenced in garden whereas your garage door left open gives access from the open drive/street.

Her's has more kerb appeal. I do not like the wooded cladding look and that your neighbour's house sticks in front your yours.

I do not like her sloping ceilings and black kitchen. The kitchen can be changed though.

No mention of which way either house faces. If your garden is southerly or westerly then mention that. Any photos with sun on the garden? Use those.

On price I would expect a four bed to be worth considerably more than a three. The garage adding living space it moot IMO as you both have garages.

Yours mentions an Estate Charge - The Edge (Dunstable) Management Company Ltd £125.50 per annum her's does not. Are either of them leasehold, they do not say freehold.

I would be equally ok with a five or fifteen year old house. However if the newer house area had a larger allocation of housing association I would prefer the older.

You need to compare sold prices not asking prices as the other advertised at 300K ish may not be selling either - they may have based their price on your listing - which hasn't sold.

aahbarnes · 17 March 2017 at 5:06PM

I would say you need to do some decluttering. The toilet with all the marine type accessories particularly.

schooleydoo · 17 March 2017 at 10:11PM

Lots of questions! Thanks very much for taking the time to look and everyone's advice/opinions.

Declutter - absolutely agree. Hadn't noticed but the nautical bathroom is very busy. We can move the plates off of the kitchen unit for viewings if that gives the impression that there is a lack of storage to some people. Also declutter the nursery a bit.

Cold bedroom above the garage. No. The insulation everywhere is extremely thorough and terraced helps keep heat in. Our garage being next to the neighbours garage who has a radiator the entire length of the adjoining wall helps keep it warm too (His dog sleeps in there).

Friends house VS ours - agree the frontage is more appealing. The area is no better regarding anti social behaviour and parking is an issue there as she has no driveway or allocated parking. Kitchen/Lounge on ground floor is better for most but we have actually found cooking etc on the ground floor with our 8 month old on the top floor means we aren't disturbing his sleep. Also keeps cooking smells out of the rest of the house! Both houses are freehold. Service charge is until the road is adopted next year. There is marginally more social housing in our area. Our garden faces West, hers East.

Yes most "smart people" sold pre-Brexit. We weren't one of those smart people and didn't expect the vote to go that way. My son was born on voting day so it wasn't the best time to move anyway. Another subject entirely.

Outside of London, Luton and Dunstable have apparently seen the highest rise in prices in all of the UK in the last 12 months. Surprised us too. There's a new link road that meets a new M1 junction about half a mile from our house that opens next month. This may help us.

Guide price means ballpark to me. Seems to work for them. They sell more houses in Dunstable than any other agent and all listings have a "guide price".

Mrs36. I also agree with Cakeguts in that 5 viewings mean there is an issue. I recognised that and is one of the reasons I am seeking advice. I don't agree with their opinion that there are parking issues in my road however. I'm not entirely sure what that was based on.

Here's the identical house that sold in Dec. We actually viewed this house before buying ours. We liked the cul-de-sac location. We disliked an identical house being opposite, blocking light and overlooking the each other as well as having no other parking options other than in front of the garage. It's also at the front of the estate, right next to the A5, rather than being set back in front of a green.

Anti social behaviour due to the green's proximity actually isn't an issue. Its not really used. Anti social behaviour outside a couple of peoples houses is more of a problem!

Price dropped yesterday and we have one viewing tomorrow. I'll declutter and get the agent to take some new photos after the viewing - as well as add the missing WC label to the floorplan. Anyone else have any ideas on how to increase appeal on the listing itself while the estate agent is here?

dotchas · 17 March 2017 at 10:57PM

Your house looks lovely although I am not a fan of townhouses. The only thing I noticed is that your lounge maybe could have better pics as I cannot see where your TV is, making me think its a very small room.Maybe add some more pics as folk spend more time in the lounge than the loo! x

Cakeguts · 17 March 2017 at 11:50PM

In the description for your friends house it says parking and garage to the rear. At the rear of the house there is off street private parking for those houses.

From what I can see of your design of house the parking space in front of the house is not long enough and so cars are all parked partly on the pavement. Some bigger cars fill the parking space and and the pavement.

ellie27 · 18 March 2017 at 12:13AM

As a buyer I always look at sold prices, and see this one http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=58134364&sale=54243894&country=england sold for £229k about 5 yrs ago. Property prices where I am am are not that far off from what they were in 2012, so I would think £240k a good price. Ooops -that is your house. So, that would be another reason I would think it is nowhere near worth £300k. I know exactly what you paid for it, and I doubt very much property prices in that area have gone up that much in 5 yrs??

Lord_Baltimore · 18 March 2017 at 1:15AM

schooleydoo wrote: »

Price dropped yesterday and we have one viewing tomorrow. Anyone else have any ideas on how to increase appeal on the listing itself while the estate agent is here?

Fingers crossed for tomorrow's (today's) viewing!
One thng missing from the listing is 'Freehold'. It's usual to specify this at the top of the listing and, to remove any doubt for potential buyers that the property might be leasehold (you pay an annual estate management fee that might imply to some that the property is leasehold so you need to be very clear that the property is Freehold))

melstar11 · 18 March 2017 at 6:48AM

The two main things restricting the number of viewings are price and the fact the kitchen and living room are on separate floors. One of those you can't easily change. Good luck with today's viewing.

Crashy_Time · 18 March 2017 at 12:26PM

Mrs36 wrote: »

I don't know the area but just to clarify, your 3 bed is now 5k less than her 4 bed? I would say that a 4th bedroom is worth more than 5k difference, are you sure it is priced correctly now? When did you make the reduction?

You bought it for £230K ish in 2012, but can't sell for less than £300K? I think if you are looking for a quick sale you may need to adjust your expectations.

Yes, this is priced way too high I`m afraid, best to cut price now before people realise that interest rates are creeping up.

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House not sold yet- advised to reduce. Have I done the right thing?

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