Why is this house not selling?

patricia..xx

I am from a different part of Brum, but I always was led to believe Castle Bromwich was err, less desirable. Therefore, knowing the prices in South birmingham, I would say it is too expensive.

I also would only look at a house for sale with Shipways if it looked perfect in every way, they have a habit of overpricing and being staffed by teenagers who couldn't give a damn (at least round me)

00ec25

scotnan wrote: »

Next, I look at the street view and then the map view and this is where I would have a problem, it appears to be on a main road and the commercial building behind looks as if it's high enough to overlook the rear of the property. Also I'd be concerned that this may be sold in the future and goodness knows what built behind the houses (sadly I've learnt this from a friend's experience).

if you look you will see it is a BT building, probably once the local telephone exchange, and is now labelled as British Telecom Castle Bromwich Skill Centre. there are a lot of BT vans there so presumably it is used for staff training

that said the Op's house looks to be well screened by trees on their back boundary so I'd not be too bothered about being overlooked and at least with a building like that it "should" only be in use during the day so no noise late at night from wild parties held by the neighbours

captainhindsight_2

The EA is part of the Sequence homes group who are notorious for bad service. Try a different agent, a small local firm of chartered surveyors will without a doubt give you better service and help you sell your house.

Denise89

Thank you for all the input so far.
Firstly, as 00ec25 says, the building behind is owned by BT and has been there forever, I wouldn't think there was any worry about it being sold any time soon. Not too sure what they do there, but it's always quiet there.
The back of the garden is also screened with trees, but perhaps adding a photo of the back of the garden to show that would help?

With regards to the area, Castle Bromwich is actually the nicer part if North Solihull, most houses are privately owned, not council properties, and a few minute walk away there is the Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens etc. Lots of lovely old buildings nearby too including Castle Bromwich Hall and old pubs etc.
It is on a main road, but the noise is not really noticeable, and the area itself is quite peaceful. No kids hanging about, no boy racers, and the neighbours are all lovely and friendly, and quiet!
The transport links are fab, and it's not far to local shops etc.
It's by a lovely large green area, and there's a lovely little war memorial over the road. It's a lovely little area, especially in comparison to other local areas like Chelmsley wood, Castle Vale and Erdington.

Several agencies have said that it isn't overpriced in comparison to the other properties available locally, but it looks like it might be something worth looking at, perhaps with another EA.

ognum

It know this seems like an odd reply but your house looks lovely and I can't comment on the price because I don't know the area but when I look at it I wonder where I can add any value or make it better than it is?

Answer is I can't and that for me is a problem, I would never keep it a showy as it is in the pics and it would always be a disappointment for me.

Odd I know but it's the way I feel when I look at the pictures! it feels like you can't actually 'live' there.

Soleil_lune

The house itself looks nice inside, but it is overpriced for the area IMO. I don't think the area itself is awful, but it doesn't look really desirable to me. I can't imagine it's a exactly a highly sought after area.

Also, this design of house/estate where the houses are just a few feet apart I find really offputting. There is no room for expansion, and hardly any privacy, and from experience (of people I know,) the sides of the house get damp, because they get so little sun. I know many people who have houses like this, and damp and condensation is a problem.

Even if this were £50K less, I wouldn't buy it. I also hate integral garages. That's just my view, but if I think that, others will too. Also, I can't actually find the house on streetview, but I am assuming from where it's placed, that it's on a busy B road? That would put me off too.

Maybe all these things don't put everyone off though. I think you need to drop the price though; especially as it's only a 3-bed. I think you'll be lucky to get more than £200K.

Sorry. But you did ask.

getmore4less

MY first stab is more like this.

less than 1/2 a mile away
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45004478.html?backListLink=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Fmap.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DPOSTCODE%255E1416495%26minPrice%3D200000%26maxPrice%3D260000%26minBedrooms%3D3%26radius%3D0.5%23locationIdentifier%3DPOSTCODE%255E1416495%26minPrice%3D200000%26maxPrice%3D260000%26minBedrooms%3D3%26radius%3D0.5%26box%3D-1.80946%2C-1.75144%2C52.48949%2C52.51870%26popupPropertyId%3D45004478&fromMap=true

Does not look as new.

Allthough the term corner plot does seem to have been an exageration looking at the maps it has a squashed rear east facing garden

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Beechcroft+Road,+Castle+Bromwich,+Birmingham&hl=en&ll=52.506754,-1.782293&spn=0.000001,0.000741&sll=51.815241,-0.815437&sspn=0.075664,0.189686&hnear=Beechcroft+Rd,+Birmingham+B36+9SJ,+United+Kingdom&t=h&z=21&layer=c&cbll=52.506754,-1.782293&panoid=T5LX1esIkRIomF-tP2m9ZQ&cbp=12,106.38,,0,0

getmore4less

If you do a more like this then change to one mile then change to sold STC and look what gets added.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42510628.html

Looks at the top edd and the stuff that is selling is cheaper.

JimmyTheWig

Denise89 wrote: »

As the thread title says really, why is this house not selling? The price is in the right area etc. but other than a couple of viewings in the first week, it's been fairly dead since.

How long has it been on for? A couple of viewings in the first week isn't great but is ok. "Fairly dead since" as in two further viewings in the following two weeks, again, isn't great but is ok. "Fairly dead since" as in only one viewing in the following four weeks suggests there's something wrong.

There's not a great deal that can be wrong to be not getting viewings...
1. The rightmove listing could be poor (e.g. bad photos, etc).
2. The estate agent may not be interested in selling it and so are pushing callers towards other properties.
3. It may be a bad time of year.
4. The price is wrong.

There's other stuff like the location, the layout, the size of rooms, etc. But you've got no control over these. Ultimately they just affect the price.

1. The listing looks fine to me. I agree with the poster who said that it looks a bit too "finished", a bit show-home like. The canvases on the walls are a bit too much for me. But nothing there that would put people off, I wouldn't have thought. Though possibly gives the idea that you are hoping to get more for it than it is worth.
The only thing I really don't like about the listing is the "offers over". Are you saying that you wouldn't accept an offer of £230,000? Would you accept £230,001? Why not list it at what you do want for it? If my top budget was £235k I may look at a house on at £240k knowing that I should be able to get £5k off, but I may not look at a house on for "offers over £230k" as I don't know that I can get it for £235k.

2. As has been suggested, get someone you know to phone up and see what reaction they get.

3. I don't believe that this is the case. The estate agents should be able to confirm this.

4. Unfortunately, this is likely to be the issue. I know that you've come back and countered people's objections which is all well and good, but for some reason you're not getting the viewings. No-one can find anything particularly wrong with the listing. So really it has to be the price.
If people are coming to look but not offering then there's something wrong with the house. But if people aren't viewing then the people looking don't think it is worth what it looks like it is worth.

milliemonster

Agree with the above, sorry I don't know the area at all but for me, £230k for which is essentially a shoebox is far too much, as showy as it is inside, it just looks soulless and cramped and by showing it in this way I am pretty sure you are competing with brand new houses that buyers will prefer with help to buy helping them etc.

I used to own a brand new house and couldn't wait to get out, biggest mistake I made but trying to sell a house a few years old but still newish was difficult because we were competing with brand new houses!

I don't think you can do anything to change the interior or exterior to make it more appealable to be honest, you just have to get the price right so that it will sell.