Beginning to Think Our House Won't Currently Sell at Any Price

bubblesmoney

i dont know about the prices in ur area. but just mentioning somethings from my experience incase it sheds some light for ur circumstances. presently due to the uncertainity there certainly is a fear among buyers of sustaining a huge loss incase they buy now hence many people might be holding back.

this might not be relavant in ur area as prices will be different there. just to give some comparisons - 20mins to 1/2h from leeds in the suburbs with good metrorail links 1/2h journey to leeds 'similar' 4b detached houses with similar small bedrooms are going for 135k mark while similar properties in same development are being priced tens of thousands more and all have not sold for well over a year. even though my offer of 135k was accepted 2w ago then in a few days the seller had second thoughts and pulled out. i refused to increase and started seeing other properties but they got back to me a few days later with the same 135k mark and they are waiting for me to accept / proceed. initially they said would still be marketted even once my offer was accepted. i told them point blank pull it off the market and cancel any other viewings and no more viewings and within 48h STC board at property plus on all advertisements on rightmove etc or i wouldnt proceed and they now seem to be willing for that and want to see my finances etc. if they dont pull it off the market i wont proceed and if they delay i wont be ready for same offer. if my conditions are acceptable to them then things will move with me but until then i am not playing ball. and even with that price i still am not sure how big a loss i am looking at when i come to sell in 5-6y time such is the uncertainity in the present market. same property in early 2002 was 99k. in less than a year in early 2003 same property was sold for 135k. the same 2003 price they seem agreeable to dispose it now to me but stuck with other matters as explained above. but i/v/o 35% appreciation from 2002 -2003 price i really wonder if i bargained hard enough seeing the downturn in the market. this and 11 other properties in same development havent sold for well over a year, many for more than 14months. so obviously valuations had to come down hard.

the only reason i MAY go ahead if things turn out ok is i am interested in buying because of personal circumstances even if i make a small loss. am taking the risk that i wont end up losing a lot more. i dont have much hope of the prices rising by the time i would want to sell and move to another area due to anticipated career moves.

bedroom are similarly small(2 box room), property may be slightly smaller, but i feel some people would want separate rooms for children even if small room rather than sharing a bigger bedroom. also since i get visitors i will be using 1 bedroom as a guest bedroom and one of the box room as a study room.

when u describe property to people viewing then u have to describe it this way when they say small rooms. u need to show the flexibilty. even in the box rooms it is important to show that a single bed can fit in like in ur study. a futon sofa bed is not that expensive, by putting it there and extending it into a bed at the time of viewing, it is easier for potential buyers to visualise it as a bedroom instead of just as a boxroom. just a point to consider. this might make it sell sooner with some luck. dont know about the pricing with respect to ur area. no point comparing it to other properties that are not selling as well. what u need to compare is to the properties that are selling. for eg. where i am trying to buy all properties are comparing to each other no one has sold for well over a year and all keeping prices high and the only seller who is now trying to sell to me and getting me interested is one who is well under 30-50k below others and now even he has got competetion as another property has come to similar levels as per indications given to me by another EA. so i am interested and seriously considering buying provided the seller agrees to pull it off the market but until that happens i am not budging and i am not sure if they agree as once earlier they agreed and then backtracked so i am not wasting time on them now and will wait till they agree or will find other similar properties at a price that both vendor and me agree on. only time will tell whether this property is meant for me.

best of luck getting the sale that u r after but pricing might be an issue in present market conditions. it doesnt matter what similar properties sold for earlier. properties were selling at annual average earning to price ratios well above 6-7. something which was unsustainable in the longterm. even now uk wide average is above 5.9 from a recent paper in the last few months especially in southern areas. there is only so much time positive sentiment and hype can sustain price rises and reality kicks in sooner or later when the bubble bursts, which is exactly what is happening now. dont know when the bottom is. but lot of people are going to be affected even fools like me entering the market now for personal reasons thinking we are getting bargains but a year later who knows even i might be crying that i lost 35k in a year if prices reach earlier than early 2003 levels that i can see are very much available now in my region atleast. hence the reason for me to deliberately choose a cheaper house with box rooms in the hope that i can minimise my risks of losses. for a 10% price crash, losing 10k on a 100k property is less painful for me than losing 20k on a 200k property. so people like me might be sticking to the bottom end of the market in ur area as well even though they might be able to afford costlier houses but not many people are willing to take those risks now.

an auction might be better than cash buyers if u r looking for a fast sale. but if the bids dont reach ur minimum reserve price then u will be liable for the auction charges even in that situation i guess. tough decisions. hope things work out for u.

pickledpink

Usually the first room a potential buyer looks at is the lounge; therefore it's imperitive that you show it to its best ability. Your lounge is quite narrow, but there are ways you could distract from that.

To start with, your lounge looks directly onto your back garden which is a big bonus point! BUT, you really need to spruce your lawn up and buy some large tubs from somewhere like B&Q and fill them up with masses of cheap plants (try using just one colour,say, all pink plants in a blue tub for example). An established tall palm-type plant always looks good - and you can take all the tubs/plants with you when you sell so you're not wasting any money.

The lounge itself needs to be painted pastel (buttermilk or cream) and you need to buy a large mirror to hang over the cabinet/shelf in the centre of the room. That will make the room feel wider and also create light.

You should remove the pouffe, rug, any clutter-type stuff, and depersonalise as much as pos. You should also remove the coffee table and buy a set of side tables to use instead. This will free up even more space and make the room feel much more spacious.

You REALLY should get rid of the bathroom/loo carpet! Replace with tiles. Although tiles are expensive, with the area being so small the cost would not be much at all. If possible, replace bathroom suite with white one (most basic, cheap white suite will always look better than dated coloured ones). You can rich it up with nice, fluffy expensive-looking towels; accessories, and a few bottles of expensive after-shave/perfume/cosmetics (many buyers assume if a person with expensive taste resides there then it must be good!)

You should replace your king-size bed with a double - king-sizes always make the room look much, much smaller. It's all about proportion.

The camp bed in small bedroom really needs to go - that throws out a statement saying it isn't big enough to be a bedroom. Invest in a proper single bed (extra small one).

There's no mention of fitted wardrobes in the two larger bedrooms? Do you have wardrobes in there? If you do in the master bedroom I would suggest you ripped them out to make the room bigger still and turn the smallest bedroom into a dressing room.

Overall it's a very nice-looking house, and looks well-cared for. The colours may not be to everyone's taste but they're certainly not gawdy! I personally wouldn't change the colour scheme upstairs: there's thousands and thousands of identikit magnolia houses on the market - and they all look much the same. I think it looks obvious when everyone colours their homes in the identical shade just to sell it........................everyone knows why they've done it - and it all looks a bit desperate:rolleyes:

You need carpet upstairs for comfort (and to reduce noise), but downstairs you could do the laminate thing (like everyone else does) however, you will need to splash out on really GOOD laminate as nothing looks worse than cheap laminate!!!! If your lounge carpet is OK I would keep that rather than go to the expense of new flooring.

I wish you luck - and I think you're actually selling it at too low a price. Once this mass hysteria ends about investing in property (official reports say in 2 years' it will all be on the UP again) you'll sell it very, very quickly. Is there no way you could rent it out until then?

Pink

lovethymini

westv wrote: »

It is the photo. There is easy access around the bed. No, I don't mention that it's a kingsize. I suppose I should really. There's approx 1ft and half between that unit you mention and the end of the bed.
As regards the lounge, I was wondering if it would be better if we replaced the coffee table with a smaller one and removed - or moved - the cabinet. As regards two areas, I'm not sure it's big enough for that.

You could do that, but how about taking the coffee table out for now and not having anything there at all?
I think I would leave the cabinet where it is, otherwise all you'll have in the room is seating, which could look unbalanced.
How about moving the footstool to the other armchair so that it's not blocking the french window?

RHemmings

PasturesNew wrote: »

They won't, it would have the same effect as them saying "ewww ewww ewww.... you filthy pigs!!! I can smell pee pee. ewwww"

So they take the polite way out and find something else.

I would have absolutely no hesitation in saying "I don't like having carpet in watery places such as bathrooms, kitchens, and toilets.

I haven't read every word on this thread, but I wonder why there isn't a picture of the back garden. I can see some green out of the window, so there's something out there.

Putting "wickford" "4 bedroom" into rightmove, I find that there are three 4 bed properties cheaper than yours, and another one the same price. My immediate thought on seeing the photos is that yours looks nicer. Though, that lounge is never going to help. Your comment "highly motivated to sell" would certainly motivate me to start the bidding off at a cheeky level. So if you've had no offers, it looks like your local market is really in the doo-doo. If I put "include SSTC &c" into the search, I find only one 4 bed property that sold on the first couple of 4 bed Wickford pages. That's the one with a £210 asking price in Jacks Close. If I were you, I'd contact that estate agent and ask them if they'll tell you how much it actually sold for. Presuming that it's not on the LR yet.

Not that I claim to be expert in these things, but I think I usually see a higher proportion of sstc houses compared to houses still on sale. That seems to suggest even more strongly that it's the local market conditions that are the prime problem.

MrsE_2

Yours is easily the nicest in that price range. I found this at 260k in your area & I think its nicer

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-18254017.rsp?pa_n=2&tr_t=buy

But I think up to 260k yours is far & away the best.

ajbisgr8

I'm not an estate agent but am addicted to virtually all the property programmes on TV so here are a few ideas of mine:

Have an open day - get your estate agent to line up as many viewers as poss for a one day only type exercise. Interested buyers submit sealed bids at the end of the day and you can choose to accept it or not. At the very least it might give you an idea of what buyers would be prepared to pay for your house.

Offer your estate agent an incentive to 'push' your house. Its a buyers market and property is no longer flying off the shelf so agents are spending lots of time trying to sell - maybe offer them an extra 1/4 or 1/2 a percent commission if they sell your house within say a fortnight (provided that the sale actually completes).

Change your estate agent - agents spend their time pushing the newest houses as they are most likely to sell. Take a walk round your local area and see what agents boards have the most 'sold' notices.

The best advice has been offerred - your potential buyers are saying the house is a bit small so give the impression of more space. Go and have a look at a showhome on a new development near you - you'll find that there are often no wardrobes in the smaller bedrooms and other furniture is minimal (bed and a bedside cabinet, or a chest of drawers).

When you have a viewing find out what the buyers are looking for - do they have lots of kids? Do they work from home? Do they regularly have guests? Whatever their background point out an aspect of your home which would make it ideal for them.

Good luck!

jammie*dodger

As others have already said the main problem I can see is the amount of furniture you have. get rid of the table and sideboard in the lounge. Remove the bedside cabinets and drawers in the bedroom (if you can swap the bed for a standard double - just temporarily). Get rid of the big table and chairs in the kitchen, If you want to show seating in there buy a small cafe style set.

JD

MrsE_2

pickledpink wrote: »

There's no mention of fitted wardrobes in the two larger bedrooms? Do you have wardrobes in there? If you do in the master bedroom I would suggest you ripped them out to make the room bigger still and turn the smallest bedroom into a dressing room.

If you do this, people will think its an over priced 3 bed

Overall it's a very nice-looking house, and looks well-cared for. The colours may not be to everyone's taste but they're certainly not gawdy! I personally wouldn't change the colour scheme upstairs: there's thousands and thousands of identikit magnolia houses on the market - and they all look much the same. I think it looks obvious when everyone colours their homes in the identical shade just to sell it........................everyone knows why they've done it - and it all looks a bit desperate:rolleyes:

Developers have spent millions on tapping into what pushes "most" peoples buttons & pale netural walls do it for most people.

You need carpet upstairs for comfort (and to reduce noise), but downstairs you could do the laminate thing (like everyone else does) however, you will need to splash out on really GOOD laminate as nothing looks worse than cheap laminate!!!! If your lounge carpet is OK I would keep that rather than go to the expense of new flooring.

The difference between cheap & expensive laminate is in how it wears, if you are doing it up to sell, do not bother with expensive.
No point in expensive laminant anyway, either do it cheap or use oak & do it properly (but don't bother with Oak in this tumbling market).

LittleMissAspie

Well I think it looks very nice. I like the decor and I'd have no problem with a narrow living room. I just wouldn't buy a house with bedrooms that small.

Jonbvn

Is it feasible to consider converting the garage to living space, or perhaps just highlighting the possibility of doing this to prospective buyers?