Help with selling House - Been on the market for most of Summer

ognum

dx052 wrote: »

@ognum: easier siad than done persuading an oap to modernise the place : )

I am not sure how much a new kitchen would costs? (12x9)? could be costly/can it be done on a budget. The lick of paint is a good idea, could do with one I think.

How far does one go with the declutter?

Declutter means just that remove all the nick nacks and even furniture that is too big or not needed.
I am aware of how much stuff old people have sadly my mother died earlier this year and it took 3 months of working everyday to clear all the 'stuff' she had.
Everyone who sees her house now cannot believe how big it is and the valuations for sale now are several % higher than they were at probate when the house was full of stuff!
Its not easy but maybe you can persuade her to let you box it and store it until she moves

geoffky

It is the price...otherwise you would of had some serious interest and you have not..painful as it is you can not always get back what you paid at the hight of the market...near me we are 20% down from peak prices.
A house where a lot of homework has been done regarding price in this market attracts buyers..Do not rely on your estate agent to do this for you as most of them are pricing high so they can get the instruction.

PasturesNew

I'm putting an older person's house on the market next month - and the price difference between more modern and this one is about 5%. If you drop the price by 5% it might fly off the books.

shortchanged_2

It always boils down to price. If the price is right it will sell.

Not convinced, try halving the asking price and see if it sells.

dx052

Hey! I hear you re the price. She may as well stay put then, I mean she thinks its at the right price already, I personally think its 10k the wrong way.

MissMotivation

dx052 wrote: »

Hey! I hear you re the price. She may as well stay put then, I mean she thinks its at the right price already, I personally think its 10k the wrong way.

Without meaning to offend you what she thinks is irrelvant! The EA's have tested the market and 15 people have viewed the property and no-one has bought it. I would say that the market is telling her that it's too expensive.

GAH

OP, it will be one of three things or a combination of the below three

1. Presentation of home.
2. Marketing
3. Price

ash28

dx052 wrote: »

My mothers house seems to be still unsold despite 2 other properties a few doors away have both been recently sold. To my knowledge the house is on the internet & I would say its at the right price point even in current times even though it needs a few things doing to it. We have had at least 15 people view the property to date (and I am sure they had less) & I am starting to think what the estate agents are doing to push things along. The other houses a few doors away which have been sold are no bigger in size although they do seem to have a bigger garden. All three are/were up with different agents and I am starting to think about changing agents if that would make a difference, any thoughts would be appreciated. Oh! I forgot to mention that the other two houses were priced more as well.

We sold our house in 4 weeks and our neighbours house was on the market for a year before they took it off.

Ours was priced higher and we have a bit smaller garden. The gardens face the same way - we have the same amount of parking - had very similar extensions done (ours is a bit bigger). We have in the houses a similar length of time.

The big difference was in the presentation - ours had been decorated from top to bottom - 3 of the bedroom carpets had been replaced - one bedroom had new curtains and poles and 2 of the bedrooms had new bedding. It had been cleaned and decluttered to within an inch of it's life.Everything we didn't use often was boxed up and put in the loft - things we didn't use we got rid of. We kept it like that until it sold.

Our neighbours house although the kitchen was newer the worktops had been chosen by someone suffering from colour blindness and very cluttered - they have one carpet in the hall, a different carpet on the stairs and a different one again on the landing - all variations of the same colour. The whole place is very dated and tired - it's a nice house in a nice area - they thought the location of the house meant it would sell itself - it didn't. Decor is dated, carpets need replacing, furniture is dated (not really an issue) - and to this day they can't understand ours was priced higher and why ours sold and theirs didn't.

ognum

dx052 wrote: »

Hey! I hear you re the price. She may as well stay put then, I mean she thinks its at the right price already, I personally think its 10k the wrong way.

Perhaps you could talk to the EA and ask him to come out and talk to your mother about realistic pricing It is to their benifit to set the right price - no sale =no fee

Acc72

ognum wrote: »

Interesting does it really mean that? If it has had 15 viewings you would think it would at least have has a cheeky offer around the right price! The OP does say that so maybe it is in the wrong price bracket or being marketed to the wrong people

I would think so.

The fact that there have been 15 viewings shows that people are interested in the size, type, style of house and the area etc.

The fact that it has not sold (whilst others nearby have sold) would indicate that the asking price is the issue.

You could argue that the decor etc. may not be as modern as other houses, but this is soon resolved by adjusting the asking price to take these factors into account !

Interestingly, the OP just says that the house has not sold, but does not mention if any of the viewers have made an offer - it would be interesting to see what feedback the viewers gave the estate agent.

As somebody else has said, if you drop the price by half then you will sell the house today ! It is just striking the balance between your own expectations and what somebody is willing to pay.