About to hit the market.....

phoebe1989seb

Hi all,

I haven't posted for ages as we've had some nasty stuff going on - my dad passed away and my mum (who has Alzheimer's) has been pretty ill too plus we've been incredibly busy attempting to finish our restoration project which was originally intended to take 5+ years but has been (more or less) completed in three.

Anyhoo, we had been deliberating whether it not to sell this year or next when I rather foolishly fell into the trap of finding the perfect next property when browsing Right Move. The (vacant) one-off period house had been SSTC but the sale had fallen through and it was being re-marketed. We (again stupidly) booked a viewing, fell in love with both house and location and suddenly our minds were made up - a move sooner rather than later was now firmly on our preferred agenda

So, we're now at the stage where we've had five EAs round to value, chosen *the one* and are awaiting the professional photographer to come (later this week) to do their stuff.

Our current house is a thatched Georgian village house of around 2500 sq ft with quite a lot of character features. It has been restored sympathetically and finished to a high standard in a classical, timeless style - as originally it was our intention to stay here long term. We have spent around £150k on the work (including extending)/kitting it out and it now has a thirty-odd foot kitchen, four/five beds and three bathrooms as well as sitting on a large-ish (1/3 acre approx) plot that is not overlooked and is unlikely to be as we have watercress beds to the rear and steep hills to the front elevation.

However, it is situated on a rural (but fairly busy) A-road which is likely to be the main issue preventing us from achieving a quick sale.

We worked out the average asking price based upon the *valuations* of the five EAs we invited round and this came to £450k, but as we want to move quickly we have decided to market it at £435k, which our EA thinks is an excellent price for what we are offering.....but he would say that, lol!

If our house were on a quiet lane it would be priced (and selling) at around £600 - £650k.

In our area properties are not flying off the shelves within days - unless they are upper end (£1- 4 million) or lower end (£200k) - but unusual properties do get snapped up so we are hoping ours fits that criteria.

There is nothing at all locally on the market - or recently sold and appearing in RM's sold listings - that compares, either style, size or finish-wise. Most are real *projects* or rather dated and in need of superficial stuff.

What I'm trying to establish here - and apologies for all the background info - is whether we can do anything else (apart from the price) to invite early offers? I've seen the phrase *vendor suited* on some RM details, but wonder if a) buyers know what this means or b) it smacks of desperation and will only attract stupidly low offers?

Our chosen EA doesn't like the idea of offering incentives to encourage buyers - we were thinking of £2k cash back for exchange within 28 days - so maybe our only option is to sit tight and hope when it hits RM/Zoopla etc its character and our hard work speaks for itself and it literally flies off the shelf......

That said, any ideas or suggestions would be gratefully appreciated

Cheers guys x

lessonlearned

Hi Phoebes - nice to "see" you again.

First of all so sorry to hear about your parents. Dreadful time for you. My mum has vascular dementia and my FIL has alzheimers - both utterly awful. Both are probably not long for this world.

Just to let you know my husband died a couple of weeks ago, the funeral is on Thursday. I know its a cliche but it really is a blessing really - his quality of life was so poor. He had had enough.

Anyhoo ……..

You've got itchy feet again (me too…….:rotfl:) Like you I've made the classic mistake of looking on Rightmove. So far Ive not viewed the property. I'm biding my time. Its a 6 bedroom Grade II listed in 2 acres. I must be mad even considering it. :rotfl:

"Vendor suited" What on earth is that supposed to mean. Sounds like a daft gimmick. TBH I think its best to avoid all gimmicky stuff, just price it right and make it look beautiful (which Im sure you have done).

As you say the road might be an issue and it will impact on the price but it sounds like you've got it about right, well under the £500K stamp threshold so enough to leave your buyers some wriggle room if they want to add further value at some point.

As well as the usual avenues would it be worth putting an add in one of the your local "country life" type mags. It might also be worth putting an add in the Sunday Times. It might appeal as a weekend retreat for stressed out city types.:D .

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Lord_Baltimore

My condolences to you and your family on your sad loss and your mum's illness.

I have only a small piece of advice. Remember that you have been through a terrible experience and it is natural to look toward a life change; please don't let this lead you to undervaluing your property which could well be the dream property of someone else as it was yours.

Go to the market at the value you feel your property is really worth. Make no allowances for prospective buyers (who may consider your home cheap at £450k) and absolutely forget cashbacks as it smacks of desperation and you're not.

Good luck. And remember if this doesn't work out, there is always another property.

Better_Days

Hi phoebe1989seb

Lovely to hear from you again :hello:, but very sorry to hear about your Dad passing away and your Mum's very poor health.:( You must be exhausted :grouphug:.

Sorry not much advice on your housing issue. I would think that price would be the biggest attraction, although don't go too low, buyers may wonder what's wrong with the property. Only other thing is that August is a quiet time of year, but should pick up in September. You could ask your EA when it tends to pick up in Sept, so you hit the ground running as it were, rather than risking listing in the 'calm before the storm'. I wouldn't bother with 'vendor suited' or listing with multiple agents.

And of course, make sure the RM listing is spot on - excellent photo's, accurate informative description, floor plan etc.

I do hope your plans work out for you after such a difficult and emotionally draining time.

Better_Days

Hi lessonlearned

Very sorry to hear that your husband passed away recently . I recall from your posts last year how poorly he was and that he was trying an experimental treatment. I do hope that the interventions that were offered did do something to improve his quality of life, but it sounds as things were pretty awful for you both. You have my sincere sympathies. :grouphug:

Thrugelmir

If you've choosen the right agent to market the property. Then they should have a list of people looking for this type of property. As most certainly will only appeal to a limited group of buyers. Price is key to how soon you'll receive an offer. Though potential buyers may well have properties to sell themselves.

lessonlearned

Better_Days wrote: »

Hi lessonlearned

Very sorry to hear that your husband passed away recently . I recall from your posts last year how poorly he was and that he was trying an experimental treatment. I do hope that the interventions that were offered did do something to improve his quality of life, but it sounds as things were pretty awful for you both. You have my sincere sympathies. :grouphug:

Thank you, you are very kind.

phoebe1989seb

Thanks all, your advice and kind words are much appreciated

Lesson - so very sorry to hear about your husband's passing, but totally understand that in such circumstances it's a blessing how ever much it may not seem that way at the time. Sending hugs and sincere sympathy your way.....and sorry to hear about your parents too

Do hope your future plans pan out - very sensible not to view the prospective purchase too soon in the process......it sounds amazing though!

BD - lovely to hear from you too - hope you are keeping well? You're right, both DH and I do feel emotionally and physically drained, what with the stresses of parents (his dad also passed away with Vascular Dementia last year ) and doing such a lot of the work on this place ourselves, we haven't had time to breathe over the past few months and desperately need a holiday - haven't had one since 2006

I think everyone is right about the gimmicky ideas for attracting buyers/a quick sale - last house we sold we thought it would take forever (property in that location typically takes years to shift), but we priced extremely realistically and achieved an acceptable offer within two weeks......here's hoping for a similar outcome.

The EA we've chosen uses a professional photographer which will hopefully help sell the place, which I admit is presented pretty well - weekend guests said it should be in a homes magazine, although they were possibly just being polite. They also have a dedicated London office for those looking for a country pad.

One agent we had round said "if we don't get the pics right first time, we'll keep trying till we do" - which wasn't very reassuring Another local EA - who sells mainly to the London second homes market - wouldn't even stoop to visit the property as his buyers "want peace and tranquility, and to not be on a main road" :mad:

Will keep you posted how we get on....

Thanks again x