Ideas needed please to help us sell our house

ordinaryangel

I just wondered if anyone out there has any ideas to help us sell our house. Its been on the market for 5 years!!!:(
We live in a very rural part of West Wales, 2 miles from the sea. The house has 3 bedrooms and there is a seperate 2 bedroom cottage, a lovely garden, off road parking and some lovely views. We've lived here for 14 years and operated a successful holiday let however I now work shifts and cannot do change over day. When the market was boyant we had 40 viewings over two years but no offers, 90% of the viewers had been watching Escape to the Country and did'nt realise how rural we were, hospital 35 miles away, nearest M&S 35 miles away etc!
Since the market crashed we have hardly any viewings. We've changed estate agents and are now on our 5th. We've completely re-renovated the cottage, put a new kitchen in the house and are constantly painting and tidying.
We are unable to let the cottage either for holidays or short term in case we do sell. Although seperate we cannot sell the properties individually due to access issues.
The main sticking point for viewers is that we are on a main road but a main road in rural Wales is different to a main road say in Surrey. It's never bothered us at all. We have a bit of a rush in the morning and then in the evening but thats it but when we let the holiday cottage we put a sign on the road and got lots of custom.
We have reduced the property from £305k to offers over £250.
The local market is dead due to lack of population so we have to rely on viewers from away.
All the agents we have used have been complacant. We would love to move because the cottage is costing us money for rates, utilites and we are'nt using it.
Any ideas would be great
Thanks

Werdnal

Have you got a Rightmove link? As a newbie, you cannot actually post the link itself, but you can copy the url address and add spaces bewteen it so it shows here, or just give the Postcode and someone will search and post link for you.

Be prepared, people can be blunt, but sometimes fresh eyes looking at a property that you live in 24/7, will see it as a buyer would, and can give you a frank opinion. You may get some critical comments, but if you want genuine impression of what "strangers" will think when viewing, here is a good place to ask!

Also, are you using a standard, run of the mill, high street agency? If the property has rural charm and an "Escape to the Country" feel, try looking for an agent who specialises in rural property, as they will have a specific market for your type of location.

Have you included a reference to the past holiday letting potential and an idea of the income it can generate? Does the cottage have a holiday use only restriction, or can it be used as a "granny flat"?

beedeedee

Could you contact the TV companies who make Escape to the Country etc and see if they would be interested in featuring your house? You never know - it might be someones dream......
Failing that, how about advertising it in London or other big city?

ordinaryangel

Thanks for the replies. The postcode is SA43 2AS and it is the only one on Rightmove on this postcode.
It is a run of the mill agent. We have already tried agents specialising in rural properties but had no viewings with either. There are a few specialist agencies we have'nt tried but they only deal with properties with acreage.
The cottage can be used as anything, I've asked all the agencies to list it as such for example artist's studio/gallery, antique shop, tea room, brothel!! but they never have.
We have been with the current agents since Jan and have constantly been asking for more photos.
All the agents we have used are really complacent. The market here is completly stagnant, their windows are full of properties but because of the local market nothing is moving.
We have also tried agents with links to London offices and have had a few viewings but we get comments like
'we didn't realise you were so far from the bridge'
'we don't like it because we can't keep goats here'
'I want to grow veg and there is'nt enough garden'
99% of our viewings come from England usually in Jan, Feb & March as people want to start a holiday business before the summer.
We've had one viewing since Jan.
Good idea though about contacting the BBC

Moneybot

Hi

Is this it?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37273648.html

Do you have views? As there aren't any photos taken from inside out if you see what I mean.

PasturesNew

ordinaryangel wrote: »

Its been on the market for 5 years!!!:(

Has to be one of: price, price, price, price, price, price, price, price, price, price or price.

It is always price.

You can make it nicer, cleaner, tidier to try to achieve your price .... but it might still be price if it's overpriced.

PasturesNew

Had a look:
Need floorplans - essential.
Photos are gloomy.
Photos don't show everything
No clue as the income potential on the holiday let
Sounds at first like a 5 bed + holiday let, when it's 3+2.
Of the current set of photos, photo 2 makes a better Lead Photo
Too few photos for the size of property.

Moneybot

PasturesNew wrote: »

Has to be one of: price, price, price, price, price, price, price, price, price, price or price.

It is always price.

You can make it nicer, cleaner, tidier to try to achieve your price .... but it might still be price if it's overpriced.

What about location?

This is the back end of beyond.

I would have said try for the second home market but it wouldn't be that easy to pop down for a weekend from Cardiff let alone London..

ordinaryangel

I definately agree about the photos but I've been nagging the agents about those. I took some of the photo's myself because they wouldn't come up but we've exhausted the pool of agents in the area.
Views, again they've been asked and actually have some of the views but haven't used them.
Price - we have just reduced it from £285k
Floorplan -good idea
Location - Can't do anything about that - it is the back of beyond - but a lot of the people we have had to view actually want that.

japmis

Spruce up the conservatory, those chairs look like an old people's home.

Tidy away all the cat things for a photo shoot.

Make it look like a show home for a rural cottage lifestyle and get some new photos taken.

lindens

I think you need to be more firm with the agent - YOU are the client and he should be doing what you ask of him! If you have 12 photos, I would send them to him and say"here are 12 photos, please put them in the following order".

I think the property is absolutely gorgeous but the listing is pretty dire. There is not enough detail , I am having trouble working out the layout of the land and the house to be honest. I think one of those photos from a plane would help with the land layout. and definately a floor plan of both properties.
Also there is certainly not enough detail about the potential of property 2.

There is quite alot of clutter in the house, lots of "your stuff". it wouldn't hurt to reduce some of that and re-photograph. eg ironing basket in bedroom, cluttered bathroom window sill.