Can't sell our empty house

Metermaid

Our house had now been on the market since last July - we had sold but it fell through at last moment - we've been living in rented in another part of the country since November. We have now had just short of 100 viewings! It's an 9 year old estate house, 4 beds, en-suite etc, 3 parking spaces, conservatory, backs onto open farmland, canal walks etc. Obviously the EA has no problem getting people in so we haven't gone down the route of changing. We are having the garden kept up to scratch and all parties are at a loss as to why we haven't had any more offers. It's very reasonably priced comparable to similar properties.

Does anyone have any tips on what we might do - I am a bit worried that people are disappointed when they view an empty house after having seen the Rightmove pictures which were taken when it was furnished and look really good. We actually wondered if it now appears too cheap, there is a property nearby with exactly the same layout but a North facing garden and no conservatory which is on for 15K more - maybe we should start again with another EA?

Astaroth

Your agent should be talking to the viewers afterwards and pushing for the reasons why they arent interested and feeding this back to you.

Personally I do not like viewing empty houses as it is very difficult for me to imagine how the room would fit together (where do the sofas/ coffee table/ tv etc go) and how much space I would have. So I see a double bedroom on the sales spec but when I turn up the room looks small and has no bed in it so I start to wonder if double bed means the bed would actually be touching 3 walls to fit in.

itsakidsworld

I think that maybe a change of agent could help, after all they have had it on the books for long enough.

Regarding furnishing, it is difficult this because some people like to visually see how things look and some people like to create an image when it is empty.

You could maybe furnish it with cheap furniture which will look good as it has not been used, put the price up to cover the furniture then change agents.

Then offer the house fully furnished and ready to live in?

Just a thought to try to help you.

IAKW

clutton_2

why not considering taking it to auction and put a reserve price on it.

Murtle

Try freecycle in the area to get some items of furniture in to give it some character. When we looked at selling my Mums house we bought some furniture to make it look warm and cosy and homely. It could be that the Estate Agents are taking the wrong people to the property or it could be wise to remove it from sale for a couple of months and then put it back up again, people who watch the property papers may wonder why it's been there for so long, especially if the price hasn't changed. If the price is no longer competitive for the area then you may want to reasses that, or failing all of that, is it suitable to rent out to cover the mortgage?

funky-footprints

I prefer viewing an empty house, its easy enough to take the measurements of your sofas etc with you, which in most cases you have to do anycase. Its far easier to view with none of the previous owenrs rubbish in (sorry op I mean in the case of the last 2 houses we have bought they have both been empty)

in the case of where we live now it had been on the market and empty of nearly 6 months, it was in dire need of redecoration, but to us it was perfect as it was empty so we knew all the room sizes etc.

Id speak with the agent, what is the feedback from the viewings you are getting ? ? ? maybe consider changing agents. Is the other house (15k more) up with the same agent as yours ? is there a devolpment close by, sometimes viewers prefer brand new homes ??

our neighbours house has been up for sale for 18 months with a local agent, next door to them went up to sale with an agent from a neighbouring town, it opened both houses up to a different market (they both had boards up, lovely gardens , tastefully decorated, modern kitchens etc one priced £320k the other £295) The more expensive house (with the agent in the next town) drew potential viewers to the cheaper house, and both houses have sold within the fortnight. (hope that makes sense)

good luck op !!

Robert_Sterling

Change to multiple agency.
"Use phrase offers in the region of"
"No onward chain"

enor

We viewed the last house we bought when it was funished and loved it even though the decoration and furniture wasn't at all to our tastes. When we moved in its was empty (obviously) and we hated it to the point that my wife wanted to put it straight back on the market. Once all our funiture was in it looked absolutly fine again.

It may well be worth furnishing it again as we would never have bought our house if it had been empty when we viewed it.

muttley

Has the Estate Agent given any feedback at all?
Empty houses are definitely less enticing than a well presented furnished property, but your problem seems to lie in receiving an offer rather than getting viewers.Doesn't that suggest that your asking price is too high rather than too low?

PJD

Obviously different see things in different ways, personally speaking, an empty house wouldnt put me off at all - I think rooms look bigger when they're empty, & I'll view the property as a "blank canvas" - wouldnt put me off at all.

100 viewings, & only one offer?

No feedback from the estate agents? Given that the property has been on the market for so long, with so many viewings, then the EAs should be going out of their way to get solid feedback, & should be offering constructive advice on the way forward.

You've remained with the same EA for nearly a year? You've already attempted to retrieve feedback from them - they have nothing to offer - you have no more use for them - so give them the sack ASAP.

Good advice there from Robert Sterling IMO.

Metermaid

Thanks for the replies folks - to answer a few ques and clarify the position. We sold the house for the asking price, we also had an offer of £6K over this price a couple of weeks later, we continued with the original purchasers as it didn't seem fair to take the higher offer - this meant we were doubly gutted when they pulled out at the last minute! We therefore feel that the price is not the problem and as I say it stacks up well against properties of the same design close by which have sold for 10K more. We looked into multiple agency but our agent is all or nothing with the fees so other agents won't work with them on joint agency - therefore we would have to change completely - we don't really want to lose the photos of the house furnished which are on the website.

Feedback - everyone seems to have one or other of several niggly negatives - upstairs fine (3 of the 4 beds are doubles) but dining room is open plan through an arch, lots of peeps seem to prefer separate - also the open farmland at the back, lots of people are worried it will be built upon etc.

I would be interested in opinions on the specific question of whether losing the furnished photos on the website would be a problem?

Thanks for everyone's input - it's good to have some ideas and options to consider.