Our house wont sell!

[Deleted User]

What a beautiful house! I'd also be concerned about the pond, having a toddler, but it wouldn't put me off buying it!

Poppy9

Ok I'll be honest. Your home is lovely but it's not to my taste. I put your asking price of £485k in on the search of your agents and a trad. detached house also came up. For the money I preferred the house. I'm obviously traditional in my taste.

I think extra special properties like barn conversions attract a certain sort of buyer. Are there any in your area?

I agree with another poster many buyers have no imagination. Your deco is neutral but your furnishings and kitchen reflect your personal taste. They might not be able to see their minimilist furniture in place.

Ask a good friend who you trust to give you an honest opinion of whether they would buy and if so what they would change.

Good luck.

lisyloo

Houses of this size and value usually DO take some time to sell.
This is because only about 5% of the population can afford a house like this so you hve limited market compared with selling a £100K house.

There are basically 2 choices.
1) drop the price for a quicker sale
2) keep waiting for the right people to come along

I don't think a year is particularly unusual for this sort of house in this climate (slow market).

All th indications are that the market is picking up a bit (and the figures are looking particularly good for this time of year).
Mortgage approvals (which are a "leading"indicator) are looking healthy which indicates that the market will be picking up a bit.

You haven't said how desperate you are to sell (although fed up), but I think I would be wiling to wait rather than drop the price given the improving picture at the moment.
Of course, not a lot happens around this time of year with the market.

By the way - it sounds like you have been round to view other peoples homes to compare with yours (so not a serious buyer), so it seems logical to expect others to do the same.
Not being nasty but it just seems logical to me. Unfortunately you have to tolerate it. If you try and put conditions on buyers then you might put off the one person that was going to buy it.

conradmum

Sorry but I think your house is overpriced. It is beautiful but it only has three bedrooms. Compared with the house for sale at the same price it has far less living space. I also think barn conversions are going out of fashion. I would be in the market for a character property but wouldn't buy a barn conversion. I just think of them as done up barns, rather than a house which is 2/3 hundred years old and has stood the test of time.
I know this isn't what you want to hear but I would seriously consider dropping the price substantially as, personally speaking, I would never pay that much for a three bedroom house unless was a proper period home full of character.

hobo28

I think Lisyloo is right. Only a small proportion of people can afford a house @ £485k so will take longer. Plus from the looks of things, your in a rural location so is commuting an issue for people?

Lovely house though but for £485k, I'd want a lot more than 3 beds

meanmachine_2

My honest first reaction when I saw it was "gah, what an ugly old barn!".

But others might have the opposite reaction.

Also I have no idea about the area, so can't really comment. Which has never stopped me before.

I must confess there are some lovely properties on that website. Yours - to my mind - is the least attractive.

But you only need that one buyer to walk through the door. So my advice is to spread the word as far as you can and be prepared for lots of people to walk through the door.

Mortgage approvals point to a sustained market. But your place belongs in a very niche sector.

If I had 485K to spend on a gaff - I have closer to 5K at the moment - I would expect something incredible. But then, if I had that money, I'd probably be quite eccentric and unique anyway. so who knows?

[Deleted User]

This proves that you either like barns or you don't, personally I love them. But I agree that £485K is a lot of money, I'd expect to pay that in London, not in the Midlands...

BobProperty

Two comments one of which has been made already. It's only 3 beds. Your two rival barn conversions have 4 beds (at £525k) and 4 beds, 2.8 acres and paddocks (at £595K). £40k for another bedroom looks good value. Especially if you consider they may be expecting to sell at £500k for stamp duty reasons.

Second, and excuse me for appearing rude, but who the flip wrote those website descriptions? The cleaner's teenage son? Your website description reads like "its nice but they picked all the stuff themselves".
(Dear reader, if you haven't checked the full description says "Possibly one of the best barn conversions currently for sale, fitted to owners specification." Other properties have 8 line write ups.) The writer also appears to be unable to use the shift key except to put a capital letter at the start of a sentence.
Why no information in the details like who made the kitchen, product names of bathroom fittings etc. People spending £500k on a property don't expect the kitchen to be from B&Q and want to feel they are getting some quality. I'd be curious how another estate agent would describe it.

Finally, as has already been asked, how urgently do you want to sell?

Just done another general search for Stourbridge £300k-£600k. Once over £375k there was only 1 property with 3 bedrooms, everything else had at least 4.

Ian_W

Just to add to what Bob has said, look at the other property with your agents at the same price - Sandon House, Stream Road, Kingswinford. I don't know the area so it may not be as expensive as yours but for the same money you not only get 4 bedrooms, one with en-suite AND dressing room. You also get 2 downstairs loo's, a huge conservatory, a snooker room and bigger sizes to all rooms!! On the face of it, at least, a lot more bang for your potential buyers bucks.

Try running the price you paid when you bought through the NW house price index for the midlands HERE and see how close your asking price is to the general rate of price increases in your region since you bought. £485K to-day, was £403K 2 years ago, £270K 4 years ago. Not foolproof as there are variations within regions but if you're a long way off I'd certainly have another think about the price.

a lot of the feedback has been with kids,

I don't think your buyers when they eventually materialise will be a family with 2 kids, for that sort of money they'll want more space and probably an extra bedroom [or 2]. I think it will more likely appeal to a childless couple like yourselves or with 1 child but if you're getting negative feedback about the pond, could it be tastefully fenced off? Don't treat what they say as stupid, with half a million quid to splash out on a drum, it's discerning! [no matter how stupidly so! :rolleyes: ].

The average price of a detached in the midlands is £250K, so a 3 bed barn conversion at nearly double that is a very small niche in what is a very slow market - if it's priced right it will sell but will take time. If it's overpriced make that a VERY long time!! Best of Luck, anyway it does look a lovely property even if not to my taste or pocket.

trigger_mike

i think it's a nice place but like the others have said, £485k is a lot of money for a 3 bedroom home, though i do think that you should try changing agents, get it on https://www.rightmove.co.uk so you get a lot more hits on it, i sold mine though barstowe eves in ipswich, house was on market 2 weeks, i had 8 viewing and sold it for full asking price, though mine was only £120500 compaired to your £485k, 20 viewings a year is naff! good luck :j