Put house on market now or wait till spring?

MrsFingersCrossed

Hello.


We are in a dilemma. Our house is a bit of an oddity, a 1920s bungalow with a an attic room - it is lovely (a bit quirky maybe) but almost one of a kind so we can't compare like with like to gauge value. It is tastefully decorated (walls mainly white - nothing extreme) and with a modern (new) bathroom and a bright and spacious kitchen which is a bit dated but still looks very nice and in immaculate condition.


But that's not really the issue. We put it on the market in June, which was a bit late in the season. We had 4 viewings and a very low offer which we rejected. The house was on for £575k and the offer was initially for £450k then after a few weeks he came back and offered £495k which again we rejected. We took it off the market in early September and did some more improvements, specifically to the eyesore unfinished brick & block building at the end of the garden which would have put anyone off if we're being honest.


That is now transformed into an attractive, wood-clad building ideal for conversion to home office / games room or just a really nice shed. It's as big as a garage, double-skin brick / block and now has a tongued and grooved wood ceiling and it has lighting though not power as such. Looks smart inside and out now, with huge potential and no longer an eyesore.


The rest of the house and garden is already well-presented, and we painted the front door Farrow & Ball blue/grey so hopefully it will look smart in new photos. We want to move next year without fail - we are ready to retire from 9 - 5 and will do as soon as house is sold.


We took it off the market so it wouldn't look like it had sat around for months. Now we are eager to get on with moving but don't know whether to wait until Spring to market the property or go ahead and put it on the market now.


My reasoning is that a house that went on in November and is still unsold in March won't have the same stigma attached to it as a house that went on in June and was still unsold the following March. And people who are serious about moving will still be looking through the winter. Maybe.


But the other side of my reasoning brain tells me that it should hit the market at peak time, when the garden looks lovely and the sun is high in the sky and hits the terrace in the afternoon/evening not like in the winter when it is in perpetual shade. Also, you only have one time to make a good first impression, and in March there might be a flurry of viewers when in November it might sit around like a damp squid and be dismissed by people who might have come and viewed it when it looks lovely in the Spring. Also our lane is an unmade private road prone to puddles and mud throughout the winter.


We tried to sell it in 2010 (had an offer for £460 when it was on at £545k) and again in 2012 and had an offer then for £535k (an elderly lady) but she pulled out within days because her daughter thought the garden was too big (150ft).


The price issue worries me. I'm certain it's worth more than £500k (we live in a very expensive area) because right since 2010 it has been valued for well over that, and last June was valued for between £575 - 595k and we chose to put it on at the lower estimate. But because of the £500k stamp duty I worry that people will continue to offer inside the threshold.


So what to do? We hope to get £550k for it, and want to market it to maximise the chance of achieving that.


All opinions welcome! Thank you.

Kynthia

I would normally tell people to market their property anytime of year as apart from August and Christmas there are always potential buyers. However you've already tested the market a couple of times and weren't getting loads of viewings or the offers you want I would say wait rather than have it sit on Rightmove for months. As your place is a bit of an oddity as well I'd probably wait until spring when there's an influx of new buyers, my mum says Easter but I'd say as soon as we get some sunny days in March, and then present your place as fresh on the market in the best possible light.

Pete9501

If you put it on the market just before Xmas anyone at home over the holidays who is interested in moving is going to have a long opportunity to view it on the internet.

Sold my first house on 2 January, the buyer was on the door step at 8am before the EA had chance to ring me and arrange the viewing.

MrsFingersCrossed

Thanks Kynthia and Pete - you both have very good points. I agree with both. And I can see from both points of view and agree completely with each!


Instinct tells me Kynthia's reasoning would make a very good plan, while impatience to get on with it urges me to go with Pete. Also the point about having the time to browse the web over Christmas with a view to looking / moving in the Spring. Getting in early might be good.


Thanks for your feedback - much appreciated.

Hoploz

It's a tricky one. Just to add though, there are different ways of marketing. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. We asked the agent to take ours off Rightmove etc over the summer holidays last year after it had been on for a little while. We had 4 viewings during that time, 2 of whom offered, as the agent was only offering it to people he knew were in a position to buy. It didn't work out that time as the offers were a smidge lower than we ideally wanted and we hadn't found at the time so we chose to wait.

Then we took it off completely for a while, then when a house we wanted to buy came available we asked them to put it back online for full marketing and sold straightaway. We never had a For Sale board but let them have a Sold board.

Some houses we viewed never appeared online at all, they were 'discreet marketed'

DRP

MrsFingersCrossed wrote: »

The house was on for £575k and the offer was initially for £450k then after a few weeks he came back and offered £495k which again we rejected.

You may find you get a lot of offers around (below) 500k due to the sdlt threshold.

Mickygg

DRP wrote: »

You may find you get a lot of offers around (below) 500k due to the sdlt threshold.

Yep the OP mentions this in the long post.

SailorSam

The trouble with having your house on the market is, you feel you have to keep it clean & tidy all the time. It can even get to you being scared to cook if people say they're coming.

ellie27

You put it on in June, you say that was a bit late - surely that is the peak/prime time, and if you only had 4 viewings then I doubt spring would be any different?

I think it would look worse to me, a house being marketed for just 3 months then removed for 6 months then put back up for sale, having had a few improvements in the hope of making more money on a sale. Just my thoughts if I was a viewer. I would say anyone who is possibly interested will have their eye on the market and know you put it up for sale then took it off then back up again.

MrsFingersCrossed

Thank you for such great replies. Lots to think about.
Good idea to let Agent know we are still open to interested buyers even if not actively marketing at the moment.

I think the stamp duty threshold will always be an issue unless it is priced above £600k, but we want to price it sensibly so we're stuck with that possibility.

In June we had just missed the peak season as traditionally things do slow down over the summer months. We took it off for the winter which is not an unusual thing to do regardless of whether improvements were being done or not. The agents we chose were not at all proactive and we wanted to end their contract anyway.
The only improvement apart from upping the general 'kerb appeal' is the transformation of the garden building, and that was well worth the time and work while the house was off the market. That was not shown in previous photos so will be a new and desirable asset. I don't see that as a problem, and think generally it often can be better to take off over winter and bring fresh to the market in the spring. The viewing public have no way of knowing whether it was under offer and fell through or for some other very good reason was removed over the winter. Better that than hanging around unsold for 9 months, in my opinion. Under these circumstances still not sure whether to go for it in November or wait till February / March. Just itching to move and get on with life.
Thanks again for your thoughts - it's great to have fresh opinions on this.

Loopy28

I knew at the end of last year that I was going to put my house on the market at some point this year so I started to keep my eye on the market and see what was coming up/how quickly listings were changing to 'sale agreed' on Rightmove. I actually became a bit obsessed, looking every day etc!

What I noted (in my area anyway).

November-a few sales but fairly slow
December-very few went to sale agreed
Jan-May-Lots of listing going to sale agreed
June-a few sales but a bit slower
July-mid sept Sept-very little sales activity
End Sept to mid October-massive sales activity, nearly everything seemed to go sale agreed all at once
The last couple weeks (end October), I haven't seen as much go to sale agreed

Yes I am sad I know. However, things slow down from about now until early January. That said, serious buyers are around every month and especially if they have sold and need to buy.

I am a prime example of this, have sold mine and need to buy. Nothing much coming to the market now and I am about to offer on a house that I do really like but I kinda feel that better could be about at a better price but I am not in a position to wait.