Cant sell our house!

villa2010

Hi all,

Evening all just after some wisdom as ever!

You have probably worked it out by now we are having difficulties selling out bungalow.

- Its a new build 3 years old, well insulated, low utilities cost.
- village location with amenities
- modern decor
- front and back gardens with side garden parking for 1 car.
-2 beds
-popular street

Its been on the market for 5 months..we got 4 viewings in the first 2 months we have had 1 in the last 3!

Do Bungalows hold their value...the feedback has been that the kitchen is too small but a nice property!

Just wandering if there is any advice. Its was valued by three different estate agents at 190 to sell for 185, its on now on for 176 so we have reduced the price.

Is it a case of being patient?

Thanks all.

paint

Unless there's anything particularly off-putting, it must be overpriced.

villa2010

paint wrote: »

Unless there's anything particularly off-putting, it must be overpriced.

Hmm Yes that's what I was thinking. But the stats dont suggest that.

Not one house on the street has sold for less than what is was bought for, there have been 15 house sales. (New build street). We have it on for 3 thousand over the price we payed for it 4 years ago to cover costs.

Do bungalows hold their value?!

p00hsticks

villa2010 wrote: »

Hmm Yes that's what I was thinking. But the stats dont suggest that.

Not one house on the street has sold for less than what is was bought for, there have been 15 house sales. (New build street). We have it on for 3 thousand over the price we payed for it 4 years ago to cover costs.

Do bungalows hold their value?!

Presumably those 15 sales include those of the initial new builds ? (otherwise I'd be wondering why everyone is so desperate to leave after such a short time...)

MobileSaver

villa2010 wrote: »

Not one house on the street has sold for less than what is was bought for, there have been 15 house sales.

As p00hsticks mentioned if there have been 15 re-sales then I'd be concerned there's something wrong with the area. If most or all of those 15 sales are for actual never-lived-in-before new builds then you're comparing apples with oranges (as you are not selling a new build.)

villa2010 wrote: »

Do bungalows hold their value?!

In general bungalows hold their value and historically increase in value over time, as do most other types of houses.

However New Builds do not in the short term... all other things being equal why would someone pay the same for a genuine new build with shiny new appliances and a house that no-one else has ever lived in as they would pay for a "second hand" house with three year old appliances, marked etc?

In very general terms, when you bought your New Build you probably paid around a 5% to 10% premium simply because everything was brand spanking new so I'd expect your three year old house to be discounted by the same from what you paid for it.

Davesnave

Bungalows hold their value relative to other properties just fine, if they give the usual advantages single storey living brings. Traditionally, areas where bungalows dominate tend to have more 'mature' residents and reasonably good-sized gardens. The one I inherited was in a cul de sac with no children, which was a definite draw for those interested.

If a bungalow is plonked into a modern mixed development, some of these advantages might be lost, especially if the garden is the usual postage stamp and privacy is compromised.

It also depends where it is. A bungalow in Sunderland isn't going to see the same sort of demand right now as a similar property in Sidmouth.

At the end of the day, (and prime selling season) your bungalow is visible to the buyers out there, so you either resign yourself to a possible long wait or reduce the price to a level where it sells.

Having fixed ideas about the price, like "on for £3k over the price we paid.....to cover costs" might make you feel better, but the question to ask is, how will you feel if you're still there next May when you want to be somewhere else?

macman

New build street-so are all the properties similar or different? If the former, there may simply be an oversupply of bungalows, and yours does not stand out amongst the others.
Bungalows tend to appeal to a specific type of buyer, are such buyers present in sufficient numbers in the area? The lack of viewings would indicate that it's not the details of the house itself, but the price or area-or simply a poor agent. I'd try a new agent if you are out of contract in another month.

harrys_dad

OP, maybe you could post a Rightmove link so everyone can tear your house to pieces (or suggest better photos etc). What evidence did the EAs give for the valuation? Not selling, and few viewings, usually comes down to price.

Why are you moving from a new build so soon?

lessonlearned

Is the development complete or are they still building nearby. This could have a big impact on both price and saleability.

Unfortunately, from what I can surmise, the north east has not yet seen the ripple effect from price rises further south. I understand the market is still quite stagnant in certain areas of the country.

I'm in Derbyshire and prices are stable. Exceptional houses do get snapped up if they are priced correctly but in general the market is still fairly slow. Perfectly nice houses are remaining unsold for months. It usually takes some pretty hefty discounting to shift them in the end.

villa2010

p00hsticks wrote: »

Presumably those 15 sales include those of the initial new builds ? (otherwise I'd be wondering why everyone is so desperate to leave after such a short time...)

What makes you think they are desperate? ! There are over 50 houses on our street there have been roughly speaking 10 to 15 moves in 4 years thats an average of 4 moves per year ?!

Is that a lot....I certainly would not describe that as desperate more so average !

villa2010

harrys_dad wrote: »

OP, maybe you could post a Rightmove link so everyone can tear your house to pieces (or suggest better photos etc). What evidence did the EAs give for the valuation? Not selling, and few viewings, usually comes down to price.

Why are you moving from a new build so soon?

Village location
New build
Flat area
Easy to aceess
All local ammenties
Only new build bungalow in area
Strong local house prices