Keen to sell but little interest. Advice needed please!

RHemmings

netwalk wrote:

Phone call received from EA this morning quoting exact words of prospective buyer, "too immaculate and pristine" and nothing else. Do you ever get the feeling you're :wall:?

If I was buying and I said "too immaculate and pristine" it would mean "I can't afford it and I can't see enough reasons for the price coming down enough for me to afford it". I've said similar things to estate agents myself in different circumstances. In one case when being shown a house for rental I found it had a previously unmentioned extra staircase with a full floor ensuite bedroom at the top. My comments to the EA were that I didn't want to pay what the house was worth, and therefore felt that there was no point in negotiating.

No reason to believe that your propective buyer was thinking along the same lines, but that never shut me up before.

bunking_off

For me, the fact that you've had some people through the door...albeit not as many as you might like, tells me that it's not ridiculously over-priced. Part of the problem is that after a while a house for sale gets dated...it can be worth withdrawing from the market for a couple of weeks then going on with another EA/different pictures etc.

One observation...clutter. Your home certainly isn't overly cluttered. However, I notice that in one of the bedrooms you have an expanse of pine furniture, and in another two, settees. Apologies if this is all a bit nosey!!. I can only speak from experience, but when my last house wasn't shifting, we took a hard look and took all but the most essential furniture out of the bedrooms (plus the obvious magnolia paint being rolled out). House sold on the next viewing. Just a thought...

netwalk

RHemmings wrote:

If I was buying and I said "too immaculate and pristine" it would mean "I can't afford it and I can't see enough reasons for the price coming down enough for me to afford it".

I tend to agree but wish more people were truthful and frank rather then trying to make an excuse.

We had one viewer who was totally honest when arriving and said they had been to see a house earlier that day they loved and were going to put an offer in on that and so it wouldn't even be worth looking around. Their frankness saved themselves and us 30 minutes and didn't falsely raise our hopes. In my view they did the decent thing.

Anyway, we have another viewing booked for Sunday although the EA is less hopeful on that. I'll keep anyone who's interested informed. Julian.

diesel1974

Hi,

I wanted to say don't give up. We had our flat on the market for nearly 6 weeks & were getting really frustrated because like you we had loads of veiwings & no negative feedback so couldn't understand why we hadn't had an offer.

We decided to drop the price by 5k, had fresh pictures taken for Rightmove and then had 3 2nd veiwings within a week, the result of which is that it has now sold for asking price.

I know its really stressful, but it only takes 1 person to buy your house & they will be out there somewhere.

Try & keep positive & dont let anyone's negative comments get you down.

Cindy08

Hi everyone new to this forum, but reading this post was like reading about our own situation so Netwalk you are not on your own, the only differences are we Live in a small village near Chester and are hoping to move to Portugal when we eventually sell, we bought a plot of Land last year and have had an architect draw up the plans and they have now been passed by the Local council so the only thing holding us up is selling this house as we can't start to build until we sell here.
We have had few viewings also and are in the same price rangedropped from £275,000 down to £239500
I spoke to Estate agent Yesterday and she informed me that the market is odd at the moment very bouyant at below £200,000 and over £300,000 we seem to be in the price range not selling, she couldn't give me an explanation why, but said we should not drop our price any more as we are one of the cheapest in the area now for sale and aren't too many left.
I think it's a case of just waiting for that buyer as everyone keeps telling me it only takes one.
Will keep you informed if anything exciting happens and I will be watching this post with interest

netwalk

Cindy08 wrote:

We have had few viewings also and are in the same price rangedropped from £275,000 down to £239500
I spoke to Estate agent Yesterday and she informed me that the market is odd at the moment very bouyant at below £200,000 and over £300,000 we seem to be in the price range not selling, she couldn't give me an explanation why, but said we should not drop our price any more as we are one of the cheapest in the area now for sale and aren't too many left.

Hi Cindy08, thanks for letting us know about your sale as well. It can be very disheartening to be tied to the UK by a property so my feelings go out to you.
You sound to be in an identical position to us regarding prices; I don't think many of the readers of this forum in the big cities (i.e. London) could comprehend having to knock £35,000 off a house price to drum up interest in this supposedly "booming" property market!

Since reducing our property to £240,000 over 2 weeks ago we've had 2 viewings; one totally unsuitable as they were looking for a small retirement bungalow (?) and the other couple loved the house, thought it was perfect, but wanted "more outside space". Not a lot we can do about that seeing as everything outside is cut back and decluttered as much as it can go; we just can't make it any bigger!

One piece of feedback both viewing gave was similar to what your EA said, "the property isn't overpriced and is good value". It's nice to hear but until that one elusive buyer comes along it isn't much comfort. We are tempted to drop the price further but the EA agrees it is well priced but there just isn't much activity in this price bracket. Other cheaper houses are moving fine even when they offer a lot less value, i.e. priced less than £200,000.

Good luck with your sale and keep updating as things happen. We've had no viewing no for 10 days so are going to get back on to the EA on Monday to see what's happening.

Regards, Julian.

ITman_2

Hi everyone,

I just chanced upon this website and this forum caught my eye - as I'm in a similar position to netwalk in wanting to sell my property but suffering from very low interest. However, following this thread,I'm surprised to see that no-ones suggested any of the property companies that offer to purchase your property from you.
Now, I'm not suggesting that this is the right option for everyone, but it's worth looking into. Incase anyone reading this is not aware of these companies, the idea is this: you call them and give them you property details (no. of bedrooms, house type, etc) and tell them what you are asking, they will give you a price at which they will offer to buy your property, which you can either refuse or accept (it seems they do not negotiate!). If you accept, the whole process can be completed within a few weeks, or a timescale to suite you. You have a guaranteed sale, cash in the bank, no chain to break, etc,etc.

Now, the downside: the offer they will make to you will be substancially lower than your asking price, possibly upto 20% lower - they will argue that they are taking on the risk of a property that has trouble selling, and of course they want to make a profit - fair enough.

My experience is this: my property was up for sale for a year at £325000 with only 2 viewing and no offers. We reduced the price to just under £300000 in an attempt to get some interest, still nothing. As I found a property I wanted to move to, I decided to call one of these companies. I was quite surprised at the (low) offer they gave, so called 3 or 4 more, however, they all seem pretty much the same - all offers came in between £225000 and £250000.

I'm still considering the highest offer (there is a time limit), afterall, a property is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it, and at the moment that person is this company. BTW, some of these companies charge an extortionate 'valuation fee', which you get back if you accept their offer.

these are some of the companies.
https://www.nationalhomebuyers.co.uk
https://www.a-quick-sale.co.uk
https://www.ukpb.co.uk
https://www.all4property.net

Sorry for the extra-long 1st post, but I hope it's been useful!

ITman

barnaby-bear

netwalk wrote:

HI, I'm looking for advice on where to go next with selling our home as it seems to be taking ages. A little background; my wife and I are in the process of emigrating to New Zealand with all our visas sorted but the only thing holding us back is selling our home in Lincolnshire. It is a 1980's 4 bedroom detached house and around a year ago we had installed a new fitted kitchen and 2 new bathroom suites while in January this year the house was professionally decorated top to bottom with carpets fitted throughout.

Following the advice on this site we had 3 agents to view and value the property in March giving valuations between £260k and £280k with them all saying the house should sell quickly as it is "immaculately presented". We went with an agent we have past experience of and put the house on the market at £265k with an expectation of accepting an offer for £250k (we are that keen to move and there is no chain!). There were no viewings at all in April so we dropped the price to £250k and have had just 7 viewings since and no offers.

The feedback, according to the agent, has been 100% positive with people loving the house, decoration, position (rural) etc and not a single comment that it is overpriced; just no offers! I put the house onto Houseladder which has generated a couple of silly leads (part exchange for a £600k house in Surrey etc) but don't know what to do next. Yes, we could just about afford to drop the asking price to £240k and hope to get £235k but that would be loads less than the valuations given by the "professionals" just 5 months ago and who's to say it will then sell? We read in the press each week that the market is fast moving and average properties are rising by 10% pa but there is no sign of that here.

The only crumb of comfort is that is the local area (Louth, LN11) few other properties appear to be selling either and the ones that are are renovation jobs. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get more interest in the property and that elusive offer? Should we go dual agent (if our current one is willing)? Swap agents? Advertise privately? Lower the price further? Anything? Everything? Or is it just a case that properties in this price bracket take months to sell and we're being unrealistic expecting anything quicker?

I would really welcome some advice as we are getting desperate to move and start our new lives down under.

Thanks in advance,

Julian

Fantastic en-suite.
However this is clearly a *family home*, 2/3 kids professionals - is there work in the area, the lounge looks a bit corridor-like - 2 chairs next to a big hole through to table, can 2/3 kids and parent sit in cosy telly-watching scenario, is that the best picture/furniture arrangement, kitchen likewise? Corner bath and en-suite shower, no full bath in house?, bit off-putting for me, I need a full bath and not over keen on paying for a done bathroom I have to then redo.
Blue bedroom - not keen on colour. Cream bedroom looks small bed - wall of furniture - house looks impressive and massive outside - inside photos look a bit anti-tardis can you cut the furniture down a bit. could that weird space with the bookcase have a small desk and be redefined a family computer/study area.

House much nicer than mine, bathrooms lovely finish, however its Lincolnshire and just can't image what I'd do in rural Lincolnshire for work - suspect that may be the problem. I imagine some home business/study/office setup might work - is there some space you can advertise as potential for home business use - mention suitable site for those weird garden shed offices/potential for conversion/extension of garage electricity/broadband.

Mrs_Optimist

barnaby-bear your house is absolutely stunning, if only you were in Devon, we would definately consider buying it. Prices seem much much cheaper in your neck of the woods as opposed to down here. I am absolutely amazed that you haven't been able to sell at that price. A similiar property in Devon would add at least another £100k to the price tag, AT LEAST. I haven't got anything consturctive in terms of selling your porperty because I can't believe it hasn't sold, Mr O has just had a look and is dumbstruck as well. it is exactly the sort of place we are looking for but our budget would not stretch to £340 -£360k which is what it would sell for here. All I can say is GOOD LUCK - there is a buyer out there somewhere.