Waiting for a buyer... Anyone want to join me?

kilby_007

Wow, look at all of these feelings getting hurt because people are being told the truth about why their house isn't selling.

To all of those people complaining about this being a "support group" and that there shouldn't be any "negative talk" can I just ask - if you went to an alcoholics anonymous meeting and told them "sorry I'm late but I was sleeping off a hangover" would you expect a round of applause, or would you expect some helpful advice that might enable you to resolve your problem?

StephieWillcox

Alright... links it is!

Ours:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45967071.html

Sold:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=58401392&sale=88540266&country=england

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=37853724&sale=68435085&country=england

Houses for sale/sold in the surrounding area:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=POSTCODE%5E702185&savedSearchId=20135388&retirement=false&displayPropertyType=houses&radius=0.25&includeSSTC=true&_includeSSTC=on#prop45967071

Thoughts?

Jox

Stephie, your pics look great, can't see the downstairs hall so can't say anything about that but I guess when people come to view make sure there isn't any clutter to maximise the space. The downstairs loo is a dark colour which can make the space look smaller. If you're willing to accept £375-£380k maybe it should say that on the listing as £395k is quite a bit above that and viewers may not want to make such a cheeky offer?

StephieWillcox

Jox wrote: »

Stephie, your pics look great, can't see the downstairs hall so can't say anything about that but I guess when people come to view make sure there isn't any clutter to maximise the space. The downstairs loo is a dark colour which can make the space look smaller. If you're willing to accept £375-£380k maybe it should say that on the listing as £395k is quite a bit above that and viewers may not want to make such a cheeky offer?

Thanks, the hall isn't particularly large or small. The door is wide as with all new builds for disabled access so it doesn't feel cramped.

The dark purple is the en-suite to the master, I will take the blame for that colour (but I do still love it) we just didn't think there was much point painting it neutral, but obviously could do.

I guess we put it on at £395k as that's the same as the other ones that sold. 15 - 20k didn't seem to me to be a "cheeky" offer, I would think that's reasonable, but we certainly could lower.

Davesnave

kilby_007 wrote: »

Wow, look at all of these feelings getting hurt because people are being told the truth about why their house isn't selling.

There are ways to do that though, without the rather crass posting of some people + Crashy's links to stuff....whatever they are, because I never look at Crashy's links!

Hell, we could do it back in 2008, when things were much worse.

I doubt if anyone will have the time to do more than dip in, but here's the thread we had going then. It's not all hugs and sweetness, but it's a nicer place than this has become.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1140155

Oh, just in case someone does read part of it, I know I got some of my predictions wrong, but that's the thing with predictions......:rotfl:

SP2016

Hi Stephie, your photos look great. I can't speak much to the hallway size, but I did notice a few differences between your house and the others with the same layout.
1. I'm not sure if it's the photo, but it seems as if the other houses are on the corner while yours is in the middle of two other homes. Even if the plot size is identical, being on a corner may give buyers the illusion they have more space.
2. Your kitchen floor is less neutral than the other houses and some people may want to replace it.
3. The other homes seem to have a stone patio which would be an added feature IF a buyer is looking for that.
4. I personally prefer wood floors but I've encountered many people who are weird about them, especially in bedrooms (even thought the colour of the carpets in the other houses is hideous IMO!)

I don't mean any of these as criticisms as they are all minor and ultimately down to taste which you can never predict. I think it's helpful to know what a buyer can be thinking and I also think many people fall into the "we have the same layout" trap.

This is not for you, more for buyers in general, but I have a family member who is in the midst of an extension and is justifying the high cost because "our neighbour has the exact same layout and sold last year for X price so it will be worth it". But if they had looked at the interior of the neighbour's home,they would see that the kitchen, flooring etc are of a much higher quality, and the garden is almost double the size (their extension will eliminate most of their garden). While a year ago buyers seemed to be desperate to buy A house in order to get on/move up the property ladder, lately I'm seeing a lot more people looking for the RIGHT house. As frustrating as it is, it's going to start coming down to the little details and personal taste whereas before it seemed like all you needed was the right number of bedrooms in the right location and your home would be snapped up.

iantojones40

Steph, I too think the house looks fine, possibly the garden could be improved a little?

I'd also disagree with jox that an offer of £375k on a house up for £395k is a ''cheeky offer''... it's only 5% below asking, you'd have to be a pretty timid and naive buyer to consider that cheeky!

You can always change the ad to OIRO if you are worried that potential buyers are for some reason being deterred from putting in offers, but it's early days yet and I'd just see what transpires.

The last time I sold I had 7 viewings with no offers at all in the first 3 weeks, then no viewings at all for 3 weeks, then in the space of 1 week I had 2 viewings and 2 offers both at full asking price.. buyers can be like buses!

StephieWillcox

SP2016 - thank you for your detailed response.

1. Yes you are right about the others being on the corner in their photos, however they are in a worse position in the close so it probably about balances out (maybe!) but I will definitely keep that in mind.

2. Agreed, the floor is horrible, bleugh

3. Yes, we considered adding a decking or a patio but thought we would just put it on instead, however this is certainly something we could update.

4. One of those others (maybe both?) had carpet in the bathroom. GROSS. We changed the flooring to our taste sometime ago as we dislike carpet, but of course this may not appeal to others.

None taken as a criticism - my taste is not to everyone's! And the little old lady who lived here before us certainly had a different take on decoration

iantojones - agreed, the garden is a mess at the moment, we considered trying to tart it up a bit, but it could cause many more issues with the frost and things.

All of your comments have reassured me somewhat that nothing is necessarily wrong, just need to get some more bodies through the door and hope someone else likes our little house!

sheff6107

iantojones40 wrote: »

I can't offer the same level of support or sympathy for people who have had their houses on the market for 6, 12, 18 months or longer, who've had very little interest and been through numerous changes of estate agents... they're just greedy, stubborn and deluded and deserve all the self inflicted stress they're currently putting themselves through.

Ian, I agree to some degree but I think you are tarring everyone with the same brush. Not everyone lives in the commuter belt where houses sell in a week. By all means have a go at people who won't budge on price but in the real world it's not as easy as knocking 10% off and selling the next day. There are plenty of reasonably priced houses around me that have been on for 12 months and have had numerous price reductions. The market is stagnant and overpriced prices are not the sole cause.

Crashy_Time

StephieWillcox wrote: »

Alright... links it is!

Ours:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-45967071.html

Sold:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=58401392&sale=88540266&country=england

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=37853724&sale=68435085&country=england

Houses for sale/sold in the surrounding area:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=POSTCODE%5E702185&savedSearchId=20135388&retirement=false&displayPropertyType=houses&radius=0.25&includeSSTC=true&_includeSSTC=on#prop45967071

Thoughts?

Your pics are fine, house looks clean and fresh, but nearly 400k for that house wouldn`t represent value to me. Garden space is nice, but it is overlooked by many neighbours which spoils it for me a bit. However, good luck selling it, it will probably tick someone`s boxes.


As to the links....well I didn`t want to say it...but 50% off may not even be value! For some of them at least, the balcony flat with the view of a shared drying/dog pooping area is particularly laughable at 275k IMO. I know commutable to London is the reason this area is inflated, but come on, one of the houses asking over 300k is just an ex-council house in what looks like not the best area around? If I was selling there now I would be wary of any downturn affecting London, and would get my skates on about attracting buyers.