Fustrated seller needs advice

Notamondayfan

Hey guys,

Basically I'm posting looking for some advice regarding my house sale.

I have for sale my 2 bed house...

If you goto rightmove and search for "HD8 8HU" and its the mid terraced priced at £129950 (sorry I cant post links yet!)

Anyway, its been up for sale since June, and we thought we would be moving along a bit quicker than we currently are.

We have only had 4 viewings, and no offers. All viewings have been good, good feedback on the interior, well finished, etc. One viewer didn't like the garden as it wasn't big enough, and the others just never gave much feedback.

It was initially priced at £137000, which was about the average of the estate agents, and was probably slightly high, but we thought start high and we can always drop.
So now we are at £130000, which hasn't made much difference, no further viewings. At £130000 we are just above the stamp duty level, which is our absolute lowest amount we would accept.

I just don't know what to do, I dont see the point in dropping to £125000 as people will expect to discount that. I don't think the house is badly priced at all considering the surrounding houses, but our area doesn't seem to sell many houses anyway. The similar houses on the main road have been for sale for at-least 12 months.

The house has recently had everything done to it, heating, electrics, carpets, windows, so other than extending, there's not a lot I can do!


I'm just sick of being stuck in limbo, several houses have come and gone that we liked, a lot of our stuff is in storage to make the house less cluttered, and it's all pretty depressing.


Anyway, I'm hoping a fresh set of eyes might help!!


Cheers, Dean

suki1001

Your house?

The problem is when people selling houses state "i can't accept anything less than..." means you could be stuck, this is different to what someone will offer and what they think the house is worth. We bought a house that started at a similar amount and bought if for 125k. The seller was not willing to negociate to this, but then they got their buyers to lower by 5k less and the deal was done.

googler

You're selling a Two Bedroom mid-terraced home, but have no pictures of the bedrooms on your RM listing (although you DO have a picture of the attic room)

If there's no pictures, some folks will immediately ask "What's wrong with the rooms that don't have pictures?"

GAH

You bought the house in 2007 peak for £118k. I can see you have done a lot to the house and it looks lovely.

In this market and especially with the wealth of information now available on the internet, I think you will be lucky to probably get back what you paid for it, plus any falls your area as had as well.


You have probably spent a bit of money on the house, but with people looking to purchase thin on the ground, most buyers will expect quality and at the best price.

You could try changing your agent, 4 viewings isn't a great number in the space of time you have had it on.

It doesn't hurt to have another two/three agents out to give you their honest opinion of what it could sell for. It may hurt a little bit if they came in lower than you expect, but at least you know what your options are then.

Wobblydeb

A couple of things occur to me, and unfortunately you may not be able to do much about them.

Does the attic extension have planning permission?

Does the front door lead straight into the living room?

You might want to investigate any (affordable!) remedy to the above two potential issues.

You are also probably just short of buyers who can get a mortgage at the moment. FTB type properties seem to be the hardest to shift. There will be a price at which it will sell but that may not be enough for you.

Personally I would advertise at a fixed price / no offers £124,950 because I bet a lot of people are searching up to £125k and your house will not be appearing in their searches.

lincroft1710

Notamondayfan wrote: »

So now we are at £130000, which hasn't made much difference, no further viewings. At £130000 we are just above the stamp duty level, which is our absolute lowest amount we would accept.

I just don't know what to do, I dont see the point in dropping to £125000 as people will expect to discount that. I don't think the house is badly priced at all considering the surrounding houses, but our area doesn't seem to sell many houses anyway. The similar houses on the main road have been for sale for at-least 12 months.

So if houses aren't selling, it's often a) not a good area, so reduce the price, or b) houses are considered too expensive for the area by potential buyers, so reduce the price or c) wrong house types for potential buyers.

hazyjo

Generally, prices are lower than in 2007. I bought in 2006 and sold this year for exactly the same price (had added combi-boiler, new shower, some flooring, new kitchen - not cheap, and done a bit of decorating).

And that was London!

Why aren't the sizes on the details? They're on the plans, but that's not clear in places. Is that second bedroom only 5'9" wide?!

Jx

Slinky

You say you'd go reluctantly at £125, but it's priced at offers over £129,950.

The road behind you, is it called 'School Access Road' or is that just what the EA has decided to put on the map? I'd get that removed or changed to Access Road. The thought of loads of kids trooping past my back gate wouldn't encourage me to come and look, but if I didn't know that's what it was, you may get me through the door and who knows, I could fall in love with it at that point IYSWIM

Catslovelycats

You mentioned stamp duty.
I didn't buy a house on the basis the asking price took it just over into the next stamp duty band and the sellers would not budge.
They had been on the market a long time - maybe for that reason. Depending how much the stamp duty is, you need to remember that that adds to the cost of the house for the potential buyers.
Might that put them off???
I don't know, just wondering.

Notamondayfan

GAH wrote: »

You bought the house in 2007 peak for £118k. I can see you have done a lot to the house and it looks lovely.

You have probably spent a bit of money on the house, but with people looking to purchase thin on the ground, most buyers will expect quality and at the best price.

You could try changing your agent, 4 viewings isn't a great number in the space of time you have had it on.

It doesn't hurt to have another two/three agents out to give you their honest opinion of what it could sell for. It may hurt a little bit if they came in lower than you expect, but at least you know what your options are then.

Yes bought at the peek, but we were lucky we bought something that needed work, so the loss / lack of gain isn't as bad as it would have been if we had bought a finished house. I know I wont get back all I have put into it, but over 3 years I have paid back any loans and work, so just after a deposit to up-size a bit.

googler wrote: »

You're selling a Two Bedroom mid-terraced home, but have no pictures of the bedrooms on your RM listing (although you DO have a picture of the attic room)

The EA said they generally don't do bedroom pictures. I never really questioned this as they are the experts. There's nothing to hide, maybe some dodgy furniture, but nothing bad!

suki1001 wrote: »

you house

Yes cheers!

lincroft1710 wrote: »

So if houses aren't selling, it's often a) not a good area, so reduce the price, or b) houses are considered too expensive for the area by potential buyers, so reduce the price or c) wrong house types for potential buyers.

The area is brilliant, that's why we moved there in the first place. Everyone comments on how nice the village is. No trouble at all, and nice schools all around. Plus great views over the dales, but only 20 mins from town.

Slinky wrote: »

The road behind you, is it called 'School Access Road' or is that just what the EA has decided to put on the map? I'd get that removed or changed to Access Road. The thought of loads of kids trooping past my back gate wouldn't encourage me to come and look, but if I didn't know that's what it was, you may get me through the door and who knows, I could fall in love with it at that point IYSWIM

Umm interesting, I didn't think of that. It's just a road the kids use to walk to the school, no parents cars are allowed to drive up there. It's a very small primary school, and a well respected one too, with quite a long waiting list, so again, no trouble at all from the school.

catslovelycats wrote: »

You mentioned stamp duty.
I didn't buy a house on the basis the asking price took it just over into the next stamp duty band and the sellers would not budge.
They had been on the market a long time - maybe for that reason. Depending how much the stamp duty is, you need to remember that that adds to the cost of the house for the potential buyers.
Might that put them off???
I don't know, just wondering.

Stamp duty is 1% for £125 - £250, so not a massive amount, but as you say, it's another cost. When we bought we looked at £125 as it was around our budget. We would sell at £125, or maybe even offer to pay stamp if the buyers were really put off by it.



Thanks for the advice so far, much appreciated!

So to continue, would you think it's worth getting another EA on board? I've already paid £250 for the first one, and with Christmas on the way, money's tight as usual! I haven't really thought about a 2nd EA just because right-move advertises every thing anyway. I cant complain about the current EA as they are easy to get hold of, make changes to the brochure when asked, and give feedback, but the lack of viewings is depressing.
If I drop the price to £125, I would have a deposit and funds for a move, but any less then I'll be struggling, and there wouldn't be any point in moving. If I put £125 no offers, I think it might look arrogant and put people off.

Also, returning to a 2nd EA, how generally would this work? Would only the EA who got the sale take the commission and the other EA would get nothing?

Sorry for all these newb questions, I'm new to house selling!

Man, renting was so much easier!!!

phoebe1989seb

hazyjo wrote: »

Generally, prices are lower than in 2007. I bought in 2006 and sold this year for exactly the same price (had added combi-boiler, new shower, some flooring, new kitchen - not cheap, and done a bit of decorating).

And that was London!

Why aren't the sizes on the details? They're on the plans, but that's not clear in places. Is that second bedroom only 5'9" wide?!

Jx

Agree with this - we bought in 2007 (Essex) and sold this year for £20k less than we paid then........and we had spent a further £30k+ on two new bathrooms, new solid wood kitchen with granite w/tops, landscaping, decorating all rooms, some new electrics etc........:(