Why will my house not sell?

westlondonbuyer

£190k sounds like a crazy offer, but if your asking price is £240k it's quite reasonable for an opening bid. Are they proceedable? Is it worth going back to them indicating you're willing to do a deal around halfway? That brings you to £215k which in this market - and alongside the historical comparables that others have found - really isn't bad at all.

zaksmum

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

£190k sounds like a crazy offer, but if your asking price is £240k it's quite reasonable for an opening bid. Are they proceedable? Is it worth going back to them indicating you're willing to do a deal around halfway? That brings you to £215k which in this market - and alongside the historical comparables that others have found - really isn't bad at all.

Totally agree. If there's any way the 190K offer might be still viable I'd grab it.

You're not likely to get much more than that really if the house stays on the market much longer.

We looked at a bungalow last month priced at 200K in a road where an identical one in similar condition sold in July 09 for 120K. The vendor of the 200K one said they will not consider offers.

So it's going to be on the market for a long time before they realise what it's value really is.

mumm

Yes I agree 215K would have been reasonable. But those buyers were not, I think, really interested. When the agent asked them if they'd like to up their offer, they just said they were not sure about the area, and that was the end of that. That offer was made some months ago now.

CloudCuckooLand

mumm wrote: »

I agree 215K would have been reasonable...

Then why the heck were you asking for over £250k and still asking for £240k...?!?

Not everyone is a mind reader who will knock off 10%.

Get to £225k. Gives you £10k negotiating room.

westlondonbuyer

Did your agent keep their contact details? It's worth going back to them to find out what their position is, and to enable your agent to scope out their interest.

Otherwise you may want to consider taking your house off the market, and then putting it back on with ONE decent agent, properly incentivised, in the Spring. And go for an asking price closer to what you can realistically achieve. Most people won't be confident putting in a 20% under asking bid (as those buyers did), but a price cut could still get you the price you need.

When_is_the_reset?

Has anyone mentioned that you price might be too high?

Just a thought, you know, not sure if you have thought of this; as it is not obvious is it?

shortchanged_2

Question is what is your cut off point? What did you buy the property for?

Did you buy the house in the peak and are wishing it is worth more than it currently is?

Or did you buy a few years ago and feel that you should be making a good profit based on house prices from a few years ago?

Horrible as it may sound many people think they should automatically make more money on a house than they paid for it and are not realistic about the current market conditions, which many on here would have you believe that the housing market is quite (cough, cough) buoyant.

isy1011

Its the climate. Too few buyers. Our house was previously valued at 240,000. Now worth 218,000. Its heartbreaking but true. The good news is any house you move on to will be in the same boat.(probably)

*miaomiao*

Hello OP! Looks like you are getting a lot of very good, specific suggestions. I can't really help with price suggestions and, of course, I don't know how much you 'need' to sell it for (ie. mortage, avoid neg equity), etc. But I do think that you should consider spending about 1% of your asking price (which isn't too much) and see if the suggestions below can help.

It would be really worthwhile IMHO to declutter your home again. I know it's really hard but you are looking to leave so think of it as a task that will really help you. Because your home is full of things you love, it looks a little small (and I have the same problems at mine, so I do understand!). I've had a look at the photos on your listing and my suggestions that might help you sell much faster are:

-improve the curb appeal (it's actually quite nice) by adding 3 or 4 large pots with brightly coloured plants around your front door and a few towards the back. Be sure to get some plants that will look good through the winter. Maybe place a similar one near the back door(s). Actually, I've spotted in the garden photo that there are a few hanging baskets, but they are empty. Maybe fill these with a few flowers too. And for goodness sakes, set up the outside table and chairs in the garden as they are really nice and say 'we can really entertain out here!'.

-get rid of the pink and dark blue paint (and any other strong colours too) around your home (too strong a choice for buyers)

-take some of the "yellow lounge" furniture out as it looks comfy but a bit too large and a little old-fashioned now. One sofa and a chair would look better. Put a light-coloured very nice throw over your remaining sofa & chair. Put a mirror up on the lounge fireplace mantel and take the extra objects off it.

-you have a very nice kitchen but your table looks too large in it (I know it's practically very good), but could you take a leaf or two out of it (at least for photos and viewings)?

-Aside from the paint being too bright, the bathroom could use a few soft furnishings to fit in with the luxury feel you have tried to give it. Maybe a rug in front of the bath, a few luxury bath products, a chest of drawers from elsewhere moved in here with some soft, fluffy, matching towels on the top. Flowers. Put a painting/framed picture up on the wall or something too.

-your second "blue lounge" could use a little trick here or there. Put away the childrens toys and put a rug down in the centre with the footrest/leather table in the middle with nice tray for a vase of flowers to stand on it, etc. Move one of your extra chests of drawers to the left of the fireplace and put a lamp on the top. Hang a picture above it. Get rid of the pelmet as it's too old fashioned for the style of the room.

-get rid of any extra beds (it looks too crowded and you mentioned that there is at least one extra in your room and that will be making your room look small).

-put some of your bedroom furniture in storage (loft, paid storage, with family or good friends). The number of chests of drawers/wardrobes/bookshelves/chests at the end of the beds makes the rooms look small and there are far too many of them. Then move the furniture that's staying into areas where it doesn't look crowded. Put some mirrors up over the dressers as they reflect space and light. Take the curtains off the four poster bed (you can put them back up when you move when you take the bed with you). Put some new duvet covers (Primark, etc) on the beds. The ones in the photos are really personal, but would do better as light coloured ones (white, cream, etc).

Absolutely get rid of your crap estate agents and find/stick with the one who is actually working for you! Talk with them every week and make some reasonable requests/demands in your contract with them. Get new photos of all the rooms and why don't you take a few from several angles. I hate that agents often take bad photos of properties and don't cover all the rooms/baths listed on the listing.

Don't forget some fresh flowers (at least for the pics) on the kitchen table and the fireplace mantels, in your bedroom, etc.

You really do have a nice, clean, well decorated house! Good luck. I know that some of these suggestions may not seem practical (because you have a big family, because of clothes, toys, etc) but they might help you get where you want to be: in another home!

Good luck!

dizziblonde

People search within a price range - if you've overpriced with the intention of getting undercut, have you overpriced it out of your target market's search terms? We looked at a few grand over our price range - not a few ten-grand. Wouldn't have looked at anything in the equivalent price range to yours using the figures you've quoted when we were looking - hubby might have done, I would have been too worried it was a recipe for heartbreak myself.