Advice needed! Why isnt this house selling?

ABerrisford

Saw all the great advice another poster was getting here on why no one was making offers on their property so i thought I would do the same.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38509357.html

This is my mum and dad's house, it's been on the market for about a year while they have been renting in scarborough (where mums job is) They don't have an onward chain, they just want to sell it so my mum can retire and they can live by the sea. They are talking about moving back to save money since the house isn't selling but they LOVE living by the sea and it would be a real step backwards to move back. We can't figure out why there have been so few viewings and no offers.

Any advice greatfully accepted!

k3lvc

Don't normally look at these but had a nosey

For me

1st pic doesn't really show which house it is - I initially thought it was both properties with crap parking

Lack of garage shows because ladders are having to be stored in back garden

Outside doesn't look 'prepped' in any way for the sale

Mojisola

I don't think you'll get many people interested once they've looked at the Streetview - it looks awful! Can you get the EA to change that so it shows your parents' house and not the horrible view it gives now?

PasturesNew

Looks fine - nitpickers could pick up on some room photos, such as:
- tidy up in some of the photos
- where bed is against mirror wardrobes, turn the bed round in that photo to make room look larger

So, next thing means it must be price. The price being asked is a LOT more than any other house has ever sold for in that road. There aren't many sales to compare though.... but the last terraced in that road sold for £75k. Most ever achieved on that road was £103k at the peak of the prices.

For 3 bed houses within 1/4 mile prices start at about £60k and go up to 4 bed brand new houses at £125k. So a lot of competition/better choices maybe.

There's an almost identical house, 2 roads along, that's "sold" at the same price - the photos on that one make it look much brighter/cleaner/tidier and it's retained its garage. Indicating price is right(ish) so must be presentation.

foxwales

I think price is reasonable and the insides look clean and well presented, although some furniture looks rather dated and some of the decoration is of a unique flavour.

The only real thing that would discourage me from this house is the structural appeal of the building. I don't like the style of building at all and the rooms all look rather small.

Compare other houses in the area in the price bracket, see what buyers can get for £120k and if this house isn't up to those standards, I think that's a good indication and perhaps a price adjustment is needed.

ABerrisford

Thanks for the feedback, i agree with the pictures need tweaking and that horrible streetview that plonks you round the backs of the houses opposite, i don't think they can change it as that is the centre of the postcode. :-(

I'll speak to my parents about adjusting the price, not sure how they came to that figure, will ask them!

elsien

Are they getting viewings? If not, then it may be that the price is too high. If they are getting viewings what feedback is the estate agent giving them?
How is the estate agent being pro-active in marketing the property after this length of time?

PasturesNew

ABerrisford wrote: »

i don't think they can change it as that is the centre of the postcode. :-(

You are right - however, one "tweak" that could be tried is the following:

If your actual streetview is significantly more pleasant than where somebody is "dumped" suggest to the agent that they manually insert a link directly to the correct spot.

I sometimes get "put off" houses simply because I can't find the house from where I'm dumped in streetview ... but that's me as an "idle viewer" who isn't overly/desperate to buy a specific house.

For price - consider how much continuing to rent and having their house unsold for a further year would cost them .... then reduce the asking price by that much just to "get shot of it".

Mojisola

elsien wrote: »

Are they getting viewings? If not, then it may be that the price is too high. If they are getting viewings what feedback is the estate agent giving them?
How is the estate agent being pro-active in marketing the property after this length of time?

I would seriously consider changing EAs. If, after all this time, they haven't come up with a buyer or suggestions about improving the house's saleability, they can't be much good.

Running_Horse

Forget three pages critiquing particular photos. Put it on for a million pounds, then reduce the price to one pound. Somewhere between those figures is a price it will sell at.

The other option is to move it brick by brick to Chelsea...and raise the price by five million. I'm guessing Heywood is a nice enough northern town yet to feel the London ripple.

D00gie72

People will pick over the photo's for days on here - but they look fairly presentable to me - so I don't think that's the issue. I don't know the area so can't comments on price - but agree with others if it hasn't sold in a year that's a clear indication it's too expensive.
You mention your parents now rent else where - but these pictures clearly look like the house is lived in - is it rented or is the property now actually empty? If it's empty that could be putting people off if you are actually getting viewings.
It may be worth changing agents - if for no reason other than to get a relaunch onto the market.