How quickly should i drop the price?

Charitymanager

Hi All,

I asked for advice on here recently on a house we are selling which was incredibly useful. I wanted to ask people's opinions as I am not the sort of person to leave it sitting on the market holding out for a mythical price.

So.....about 8 weeks ago we put the house on the market. It is a 3 bed EOT cottage in a beautiful part of rural West Yorkshire. The EA we chose advised putting it on at 150k, we very swiftly reduced to £140k (which was our initial thought anyway) at that point we started to get some viewings.

Couple of viewings and a month later we decided that in order to capitalise on the summer months we would drop to £130k. We now have a steady trickle of viewings but not offers or second viewings. Our house is an awkward layout as the living room is in the attic. This means that firstly it is a long way to go for a cuppa, and secondly there is some reduced head height. The upside is that the views are amazing and it is so quiet you would not believe.

Feedback from viewers is that it is beautifully presented a lovely house, but either they dont like the layout or that they dont get 'the feeling'.

As I see it, we have three options:

1) Leave it on as it is and accept that I am just plain impatient and an offer will come along at some point. We know we have a restricted market, but we bought it because we loved the quirkiness and there will be someone else who does.

2) We have the option to covert the cellar, relocate the kitchen and make it a four bed house with a more conventional layout. This would cost about £20k, and would add value and probably add saleability - but obviously is a risk as we could just end up in the same position but £20k poorer, albeit in a more sensible house.

3) Drop the price again. We paid £135k in 2007 and Zoopla reckons it should now be worth £125k. TBH we would happily accept £115k which would pay off our mortgage and allow us to move on, however obviously any surplus we can attract is a good thing. Is it too soon to drop the price again, and is there any point.

I suppose there is an option 4 which is to put £20k into doing the house up and hold tight for 5 years by which time the mortgage will be tiny, but the main reason we are trying to move is to give the kids some decent outdoor space before they are too old to enjoy it.

So as I am sitting in my office this afternoon, trying to pretend that I am not frustrated by the whole process and would appreciate the views of the good people of MSE :beer:

kaylz39

Why dont you let us take a look at the property on right move?

Other people might be able to spot something obvious as to why the property might not be selling. Could be something simple like a cluttered kitchen, overgrown garden, dark lounge etc.

Home owners dont always see these themselves...I for example think my home is perfect :0

Charitymanager

kaylz39 wrote: »

Why dont you let us take a look at the property on right move?

Other people might be able to spot something obvious as to why the property might not be selling. Could be something simple like a cluttered kitchen, overgrown garden, dark lounge etc.

Home owners dont always see these themselves...I for example think my home is perfect :0

TBH I have posted a link previously and got some useful feedback, mainly relating to the layout of the property.

I think the reason I feel frustrated is that when we bought we were not expecting to have children and we just want them to have run of a garden. Nevermind I am sure we will get shot soon!

GAH

8 weeks is a huge amount of time to have had your property on the market, and now the summer holidays have kicked in, this is traditionally one of the quieter times to sell.

I don't know the yorkshire market at all, but i imagine it is tough at present.

THe vast majority of people don't like unconventional layouts in a home, even if the views are great, so this will limit your market.

I personally wouldn't throw anymore money at the house, as you aren't guaranteed a return.

2007 was the peak of the market, and apart from london, no body is paying 2007 prices at present.

Everything sells for a certain price, so it may just be best to reduce price. Other alternative that wouldn't hurt is to have a couple of other agents round and ask them for a very honest appraisal of your home.

amcluesent

would appreciate the views of the good people of MSE

Your EA has a special login to Rightmove which shows the number of times your property has appeared in a search, # of views and # of detailed views.

Get the EA to run the report, if these are are trending downwards, then it suggests that the people interested in your property are tailing off and have already come around to view it.

I think you'd best sit it out for August now anyways.

Better_Days

Are there any comparable properties nearby with a more conventional layout so that you can gauge value more accurately and decide if it is worth investing £20k in the alterations you describe?

The other question is how quickly you want to move....have you already mentally moved out to a property with a bigger garden? Or can you see your self there in 5 years still loving the quirky layout and wonderful views?

If you want to go quickly then my gut reaction would be to reduce to £120k, especially as this will take you below the SDLT threshold, and make your property much more attractive.

If the stamp duty thresholds remain as they are then I think it would be quite difficult to you to recoup your £20k in alterations.

kaylz39

Is there no way of relocating your living room to a lower floor?

I know this may not be ideal but you're only doing it for those viewing. Some people lack imagination and need things laid out for them in black & white.

I think £20,000 is alot of money to invest in a property you no longer want to be in & 5 years is a long time to sit in it- who knows what will happen in those 5 years.

Looking at other recently sold house prices may give you an idea of what people are paying. After all, they want a bargain.

go_cat

Previous thread here with RM link

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4083747

Charitymanager

amcluesent wrote: »

Your EA has a special login to Rightmove which shows the number of times your property has appeared in a search, # of views and # of detailed views.

Get the EA to run the report, if these are are trending downwards, then it suggests that the people interested in your property are tailing off and have already come around to view it.

I think you'd best sit it out for August now anyways.

My EA has given me a log in to the report and since day 1 our views and downloads of information have been consistently higher than the branch average.

Charitymanager

go_cat wrote: »

Previous thread here with RM link

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4083747

Thanks I had no idea how to do that

Charitymanager

Better_Days wrote: »

Are there any comparable properties nearby with a more conventional layout so that you can gauge value more accurately and decide if it is worth investing £20k in the alterations you describe?

The other question is how quickly you want to move....have you already mentally moved out to a property with a bigger garden? Or can you see your self there in 5 years still loving the quirky layout and wonderful views?

If you want to go quickly then my gut reaction would be to reduce to £120k, especially as this will take you below the SDLT threshold, and make your property much more attractive.

If the stamp duty thresholds remain as they are then I think it would be quite difficult to you to recoup your £20k in alterations.

Yes mentally we have moved into somewhere better i suppose.

I agree with what you are saying. I think I am probably just being exceptionally impatient which is in my nature. The problem with this local area is the diversity of properties. There are very few the same, and on the same street you can pay £100k or £300k quite easily. My benchmark has been that sqft wise, ours is much bigger than anything in the area at either 130k or 140k and most at 150k. Also there are no 3 bed houses in our area at £130k. In fact there is a 3 bed terrace 200 yds away which has been on for ages at 198k. My hope therefore is that in time we will find a buyer who values space over 'feel'.

I suspect that in actual fact, what is a slow market everywhere is even worse in Yorkshire and that there are just not the buyers out there at the moment. You see virtually no sold board appearing in the local area at all.