Selling our house but no viewings

Davesnave

I feel people are clutching at straws here.

When we were looking in West Wales 3.5 years ago, we found that the full extent of the Crash hadn't really hit home, because Welsh property can take quite a time to sell. A year on the market was nothing unusual and people couldn't quite believe that the good times had ended. As a result, we couldn't find anyone who'd deal.

We went elswhere, but I've kept an eye on property in the areas we were searching, and prices are now far more reasonable than 3.5 years ago.

West Wales isn't your area, OP, but I imagine a similar thing has gone on there. It's tough, but even if your house is the best on the street, the extras and the pleasing decor won't necessarily raise it much above others price-wise, especially if you want to sell quickly.

I'm sure it will go, but if you want that to be now rather than in six months, you may well have to take a hit on what you paid to make it a stand-out bargain.

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

The only thing that I have noticed is that it's "oil-fired central heating" - which is :eek:

In the country, oil central heating is 'normal,' gas is non-existent and electric is as expensive as everywhere, especially when there's no gas for dual fuel deals!

This leaves coal and logs. How are your muscles?

seven-day-weekend

I love your house, I know your lovely village and if I were going to buy a house in N. Wales I would be very interested. We thought of moving to N. Wales eight years ago, but went to Spain instead (now returned).

Maybe as other people say, things will move better in the spring. Best of luck.

moneyistooshorttomention

Davesnave wrote: »

In the country, oil central heating is 'normal,' gas is non-existent and electric is as expensive as everywhere, especially when there's no gas for dual fuel deals!

This leaves coal and logs. How are your muscles?

Duh! Shoulda thunk of that - ie maybes no gas supply. Wonders how cost of oil-fired central heating compares to electric storage radiators fer instance...

How can you tell a "townie" when you see one? Ahem....

Davesnave

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Duh! Shoulda thunk of that - ie maybes no gas supply. Wonders how cost of oil-fired central heating compares to electric storage radiators fer instance...

How can you tell a "townie" when you see one? Ahem....

Oil has almost doubled in price in the last few years, but then other fuels have also risen dramatically. Storage radiators aren't too flexible, so need some back-up at times of peak need.

One up-side in the country is that logs can often be found reasonably priced, but they require more storage space than this cottage seems to have.

Modern water heat banks linked to a combination of sources, including solar, look like the way to go, but they aren't cheap. A relative of mine links his to panels on the roof and then tops-up via a boiler and/or log burner as necessary.

DarlyPaws

Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I apologise for taking so long to reply. I had the quiz night in Llanberis that I was helping with and when I returned, the forums were down.

I agree that the garden is a tough one. Since the pictures were taken, the rain let up and I was out there weeding and scrubbing. It looks better now but I agree that I need a better picture with the table and chairs out and some more plants.

I'll get rid of the dining table picture as I can see it puts people off. There is actually plenty of room for the dining table in the kitchen but the pictures don't show it and probably wouldn't. This house has quite a few odd angles, which aren't great for picture taking but don't create issues otherwise. We don't actually eat at the table in that location. It is usually out in the room but that is where the EA put it.

I don't know where the estate agent got that the kitchen was 18' long and 6' wide. They used one of those laser measuring things. It is actually 16' long and 10' wide. All the measurements are way off. They make the bedrooms sound tiny when they really aren't. I've asked for them to remeasure or to put something on the listing that says measurements aren't necessarily accurate but just a ballpark figure.

As for the oil central heating, not much can be done there, I'm afraid. We don't have mains gas here and electric is ridiculously expensive. However, I can say that when we fill our tank, it lasts us 18-24 months for heat and hot water. It costs us about £600 to fill. I personally think it is a bargain.

Someone asked about transport. The bus company actually operates out of the village (but is situated on the fringe of the village so doesn't cause issues with noise, etc) so there is very regular service to pretty much anywhere you want to go. We have a Post Office, a shop, a primary school, a village hall, and playing fields. In order to get to major shops, you can either drive or take the bus. However, it isn't as easy as living in Bangor, for instance.

I have some work to do on the back garden but I don't think it would take much. It isn't the biggest garden in the world but that is common here. It is larger than quite a few gardens on the street! A couple of new pictures should sort the various issues out and hopefully, we will get some more viewings. I do think it is combination of that and the market. I'm not convinced on the price yet (although, I would concede if it truly was) because a lot of the houses are just sitting on the market right now (some truly beautiful ones at that) because people just aren't in a position to buy. It stinks but I'll do all I can to sell and if that includes dropping the price in the future, so be it!

Shegirl, the paint in the living room is Dulux Soft Fauna 5, which is a greenish blue but came out more blue in our room for some reason. At first I wasn't sure but I really like it now.

Thank you all so much for your help! I really do appreciate it! :T:j

ETA: The EA has removed the dining table picture as he thought that was a good move (well done, folks!) and the price is being dropped to £117,950. We do need to move as we have to accommodate my father-in-law. As gorgeous as our cottage is, it won't work for his health needs so we can't wait around for 9 months for the house to sell. We still would like a fair price for it. We are expecting a sunny, lovely day tomorrow so I'll update the pictures of the back garden with table, chairs, and tall plants. Fingers crossed it actually works and we get some viewings!

Gracchus_Babeuf

DarlyPaws wrote: »

Hello all,

I am new to posting on the forum but have been reading it for quite some time. We are now trying to sell our house because my father-in-law needs to move in with us so we will need more room.

The house has been on the market since late August. We have had one viewing through the estate agent and one viewing from a gentleman who I saw writing down the contact information from the for sale board. I invited him in and he said it was gorgeous and that he would contact the estate agent and bring his wife back to view. That was a month ago.

The first couple who viewed loved the house but decided not to offer because they felt they needed a fourth bedroom, which is fine.

I know of two people who haven't viewed but are seriously interested. They haven't viewed because they have to sell their house to buy ours and aren't having much luck with the sale. Our house is on the market for a lot less than it was valued.

Would you please view our advert on Rightmove and provide some feedback? Sorry, it seems I can't post a link. If you could go to Rightmove, type in Trefor, Gwynedd and we are the first house listed for £120,000 (stone mid-terraced). Haf Jones and Pegler are the estate agents. I should mention that we did have two offers from investors (that never viewed!!), both of which were accepted, and both couldn't get their buy to let mortgages in the end.

I don't think it is the price putting people off but I'm not sure. We would like to get the house sold so we can accommodate my father-in-law but the lack of viewings confuses me. When we bought the house, there were five offers on the table and ours was chosen. At that time, the house was in very good condition. We have since painted and put in a new back door and re-sealed the flat roof on the shed. So, it isn't drastically different from when we bought it.

Thank you for your help!

Lower the asking price and even consider auctioning it. Failing all of these, use a housebuying service. Otherwise just sit and wait.

Davesnave

Gracchus_Babeuf wrote: »

Lower the asking price and even consider auctioning it. Failing all of these, use a housebuying service. Otherwise just sit and wait.

No respected poster on this forum would recommend a "we-buy-any-house" company.

DarlyPaws

We would never use a house buying company. They just prey on the desperate. Yes, we need to sell but we don't want to hurt ourselves and risk having no deposit for our next house.

Fire_Fox

Have them remeasure when they take new photos of the courtyard, you are paying thousands for this service. Saying the measurements are not accurate is a cop out meaning they might be a couple of inches over, not two feet under! That could make a difference between someone viewing and someone passing it over.

Well done for already weeding and scrubbing the patio! :T