Lots of viewings, no offers...what now?

goldbyron

azkaban420 wrote: »

Hi all, just to let you know, I asked a guy to come and have a look at the possibility of making a driveway upto my house a few months ago and at the time he said it was possible but an awful lot of money, so we left it at that. I rung him just now to ask him what was the price he had in mind and he said £100,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He said as it would need designs, no idea about drainage/sewage systems running through the bank that would need to be changed/moved etc, and even if there wasn't any of that kind of work, he said it would be about £60k!! I told him I could buy three houses with that kind of money LOLL!! He was obviously talking from another planet but as you can imagine, if he's quoted that kind of ridiculous amount, it means the driveway is difficult to make!! Gonna go ring some people who live on this planet now....!

First of all - that quote is just ridiculous and you are better off just dropping the price!

Asides from that I thought I would write as I can completely empathise with your situation. I put my 2 bed flat (Zone 4 - East of London on central line) on the market in early Oct last year. I had literally racks of viewers trapsing through and I became so demotivated as none would make an offer even though handfuls really like it. I mostly had comments referring to the size of the property however not something I could do anything about. I reduced my price in Jan and then again in March (it was now priced 10k less than what I paid for it in mid 2006) and was one of the very cheapest 2 beds in a 2 mile radius (and the area is a good area).

Finally as the price dropped the comments got a little more positive (although there were still 'its too small') and then....2 weeks ago....an offer. Let me say I have accepted an offer 10k under the asking price in effect so it is going for an absolute bargain. However I was so fed up of the viewings (it totalled 80 in the end). Obviously I am still going through the process and hoping I exchange. However I will seriously consider going to an auction if this falls through. At the end of the day I have accepted a 20k loss (which pains me) and an auction will no doubt be a similar outcome with no anxiety after the hammer comes down.

I would say to you - drop your price to under the 200k mark (as low as you will go) and give it 3-4 weeks. If you are really not prepared to go lower and do not wish to continue what can be a disheartening process...then maybe investigate renting it out. In the meantime I completely empathise and hope we all manage to get into the house we long for....

puddy

op could you stay put for a year or so?

dianah

we viewed a house a couple of weeks ago: we liked the inside; my husband really liked it, i didn't like the garden - there was a lot of concrete and i want grass for the dogs but my husband could have fixed that.
unfortunately, it was in a really tight cul-de-sac with not much parking available. we have two cars and my husband brings his work van home every so often - that was the deal breaker really.
parking was a very important factor for us.

Cannon_Fodder

Spookily goldbyron had the same issue - no designated parking...

azkaban420

NAR they say they sent letters and offered consultation but practically all of the residents say they sent letters with no option of a response even if someone queried it, and then did/say nothing for almost 2 yrs, then painted the lines. I never heard anything until I saw the lines, and I was there for 2 yrs before this happened. It's a bit of a minefield really but will see how things go...

CF thanks for the info, it's food for thought as with any other comments...

Goldbyron thanks for your post, it is really frustrating but I think I will be going for the price drop sooner or later. I just hope it works out for all of us who are struggling to sell one way or another

Jenner, unfortunately as with everything, there's always complications. I'd like to move now as my daughter moves up to a new school in Sep. Thus my preference to move this year rather than next. In addition to this, I have a 6 yr old son who is deaf, and he goes to school out of town, so whilst he is in the middle of the schooling years, I've got to kind of balance the move to be suitable for both of them....nothing is ever straight-forward is it :S

azkaban420

Hi all, thanks so much for all your help and comments, thought I'd let you know, I am thinking of going the Multi-agency way for now, unless by some miracle I get some good news for the viewings over the weekend. I've negotiated a 'winner takes all' deal with the agencies so that I don't have to pay double fees. That way they can both promote the property rather than one (who I'm not with atm) rubbishing my house/area which my EA hinted some other agents do tend to do in competition of each other. I will let you know how I get on, but the price drop is the second option...although I'm not ready to do it just yet....hope that makes sense

dander

From what you've said here, it sounds as though the house is on at an appealing price if you're getting viewers, but people are perhaps coming along thinking "big garden, we could put parking in," and it's only when they see the property that they realise the garden isn't suitable. I think it's a horrible situation to be in because it's one thing to have no off-street parking, but to have no off-street parking and double yellows is going to really put people off.

How near is the nearest street parking? Is it close enough to really push to viewers that you can park easily just around the corner and it isn't that difficult to cope with?

azkaban420

Hi dander, thanks for your comments. There is street parking nearby - across the road, and in the next road before and after, and also further up the hill. It just depends on when viewers come (if it's a busy time, there's already cars parked there), sometimes they don't see the immediate parking options as we do. We've coped with it for 6 mths, and if I didn't have kids, it wouldn't bother me so much. It's just that with the double-yellow lines and the difficulty in creating off-street parking given my house position, it's infuriating.

It's also that our house is at the end of the alleyway, so with the car parked round the corner, it can still mean a 1-200 metres (ish) walk to and from the door of the house.

I am going to continue pushing the council to remove part of the lines, but I've tried everything else and they just won't budge or help.

maryotuam

Try visiting your local MP. They naybe able to reach parts in the council that you can,t also see if you can getyour local paper to run a feature.

Cardinal-Red

You know that old saying they have - first impressions count.... well picture the first impressions of some of your viewers (going from what you say!) - struggling to find a place to park, perhaps in next street or the one after that... then struggling either up or down a hill (both ways) to get back to the car and presumably seeing others cruising for spaces... that's even before they see your beautiful garden and £10k worth of improvements.

There is, seemingly, nothing you can do about this sadly.

By way of example, when I was selling a place in Brighton, near the Hospital in Kemp Town, tons of viewers, eating sandwiches on my balcony admiring the sea view - hardly any offers.

As soon as the council permitted the streets for residents, offers started flooding in.

I don't know your personal situation but as most family sized buyers own at least 2 cars, their troubles are multiplied by two as well.

I realise this post is unhelpful but just my tuppence worth :-)

(I also agree with the poster who commented on house prices in London -2007 was peak year and things have come down since then!)