House selling blues

girl_under_the_stairs

Hi there,

I’m a new poster and in need of some general advice.

In a nutshell, I have inherited the property that I’veresided in for the past 28 years through the death of my mother and father. There is no mortgage on theproperty. Initially I had thought aboutretaining the property and applying for a mortgage to purchase another houseand possibly rent out my current property to cover my mortgage etc. I didn’t even get off the starting mark – I saw an IFA who applied for a mortgage for me through the Halifax and was declined due to a loan default from some years back (the loan has now been repaid in full and the account closed). The IFA said that theHalifax are generally quite flexible with who they will lend to taking intoaccount credit scoring etc. and I walked away feeling rather deflated. I realised that ultimately in order to move I will need to sell my house first. After a lot of thought I decided to put my property up for sale. I sought theadvice of three separate EA’s to get a valuation of the property and decided tomarket it at £149,950. I admit I wasincredibly optimistic about achieving anywhere near this price as a property recentlysold (within a fortnight of it going on the market!) a few doors away from me for the asking priceof £124,950 (though there was a fair amount of work that needed to be done, modernisingetc.).

My property has been on the market for a month and I’ve not had any interest. I spoke with my EA onMonday. They told me that “things are moving generally” and the market is picking up but their “concern” was that it was not getting the interest it should. They showed me properties in my area that had sold for around £146,000 that had a garage and three double bedrooms (I have no garage, two double bedrooms and a smaller third bedroom). I had already given thought to reducing theprice and the EA agreed with me this was probably the right way forward so reduced the price by £10,000. I am in what I would consider to be a central location with great access to local amenities, road networks and local schools. I’ve recently had the livingroom completely refurbished and the overall condition of the property is really rather good and would make a lovely family home.

I viewed a property that I fell in love with but am in no position to make an offer. I don’t want to let the house I have my eyeon slip through my fingers; does anyonehave any hints/tips to pass on so I can attempt to sell my house relatively quickly? I’m quite happy with the description and picturesof the property that feature on the EA’s website and RightMove. Short of harassing my EA I’m really not surewhere to go from here. I appreciate I need to be patient as these things take time but it’s already starting to stress me out.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Dan-Dan

Its over priced still , get it on at £129,950.......

I_have_spoken

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Give us the reference on Rightmove/Zoopla and you'll get feedback on price and presentation.

Ms_Chocaholic

Are you happy to post a link to your property on Rightmove? We can then all point you in the right direction (hopefully)

girl_under_the_stairs

Thanks for your replies, unfortunately I'm not allowed to post on her with links as I'm a newbie How might I overcome this?

Dan-Dan

tell us post code and road name!

girl_under_the_stairs

NP20, Lyndhurst Avenue

I appreciate the front needs a little sprucing up. Weather permitting I'm going to get some pots sorted this weekend to stick at the front to give kerb appeal...

Okydoky25

Drop the price and paint the front

pmlindyloo

This one?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41610092.html

Looks a nice house.

The pictures are too light (for the front of house)
Too dark for the rest of the photos.

Or is it my computer?!

Without being incredibly picky I think the presentation is good.

As a potential buyer I might be put off by parking on road (not sure what you could do about that)

Otherwise - I'm afraid it's down to price.

Fingers crossed you get some viewers from the recent drop.

phoebe1989seb

If I were looking to buy in that area at that kind of price level, I would want to change the metal front door (and windows?) to the front elevation, put in a new bathroom suite and get rid of the black colour scheme in the reception room (:p)........but that's all down to personal taste and only IMHO.......

To sell relatively quickly - or at least attract potential buyers - I would definitely spruce up the front with a lick of paint and some colour by way of tubs full of bedding plants, but most importantly drop the price to a more realistic level

DaftyDuck

I'd agree with Okey above. It'd be worth repainting the front to smarten up first impressions, and possibly paint over that strong wallpaper on the chimney breast to lighten the interior and be more neutral in decor.

Otherwise, it's all down to price.