Long time on market

AdrianC

CleoTheCat wrote: »

What's the point of having a HR valuation if the property won't get anywhere near that value?!!

ANY valuation, for any purpose, by anybody is only theoretical - right up until the moment that somebody comes forward and says "Yep, I'll pay that for it" and hands the cash over.

I swear I have no idea how poeple make any profit on property. This is the second time that we have sold a property and made no profit.

It's not just property. The art in making a profit is ALWAYS to buy the right thing at the right price.

slowpoke_rodriguez

CleoTheCat wrote: »

10 Bennecourt Drive is a completely different style of house.

How? It looks a similar size, similar accomodation, but is much warmer and welcoming. Both front and rear gardens are landscaped and presented well. Your garden looks unused and unloved.

You've dropped the price by 3.5%. Do you really think that is going to make a difference?

seabass90

CleoTheCat wrote: »

The house is currently empty (we have moved to a new area) and is costing us to heat, insure and pay council tax.

I don't know about Scotland, but in England/Wales, my understanding is that if you can prove that a property is unoccupied, you can be exempt from council tax..? Or a discount at the very least? A few EA's have told me that when I was looking to buy a house (when I was looking at houses that needed a bit of work before moving in, i'm living with my parents at present and in no rush to leave).

I've just bought a house which was new build end of 2006/early 2007 so a similar age to yours. The vendor accepted my offer of £142,000 when they bought the property brand new for £145,000. So they accepted a loss. I'm no expert, but this supports what others here have suggested about you buying at an unfortunate time? Not to mention the fact that new builds naturally depreciate in value after the first owner anyway, right?

pleasedelete

I would retile the kitchen and the coloured strip in the bathroom. That 1st picture is awful- you think if this is what they have chosen (dated tiles) as the 1st image then what on earth must the rest be like.

All the photos are poor and grainy quality. Why only 1 bedroom picture but a lovely shot of the house number? again you just think what horrors are they hiding that they cant include photos of every room.

The things you cant change- the bedrooms 2 and 3 are tiny. With no pictures you just think that bedroom 3 must be too small even for a bed- so if it has one then put a picture in.

cells

CleoTheCat: Not only is the house costing you money (insurance/council tax/etc) but if you sold you could pay down your current mortgage or put the sum in savings account saving/making you some money. even if you only get 2% that is still over £2k a year so you are losing that too

The simple truth is that houses in much of the country have not gone up in price for 10 years. The north east and north west England prices are down if anything on 10 years ago. Its only really London and SE that prices have gone up quite a bit

Try another agent but if you still have no luck over the next 2 months you are probably going to have to do something on the price

pleasedelete

cells wrote: »

north west England prices are down if anything on 10 years ago. Its only really London and SE that prices have gone up quite a bit

Not all of the North West- some edges of Manchester have really risen.

kinger101

seabass90 wrote: »

I don't know about Scotland, but in England/Wales, my understanding is that if you can prove that a property is unoccupied, you can be exempt from council tax..?

Not necessarily the case anymore. Different councils have different policies. Many offer temporary exemptions, but houses left empty for long periods of time usually pay higher council tax rates now.

Cakeguts

From looking at a lot of pictures of houses on Rightmove etc over the years I have noticed that if the 1st picture is not of the front of the house then you know that the house will not have any "kerb appeal." This house does not look attractive. So what you have is an overpriced unattractive house.

New houses have a premium on them and you often don't get back what you paid for them for a long time. No one is going to pay what you think this house is worth they will only pay what they think it is worth to them. How much a house cost when it was new is of no interest to someone who is buying it 2nd hand.

If the only offer was around what you paid for it new that is close to what it is worth now. So you will have to reduce the price to around what you paid for it new if you want to sell it.

AnotherJoe

CleoTheCat wrote: »

Thanks for your comments.
The photos were chosen by the estate agent - says a lot really!
and no, the front of the house doesn't get the sun - it's North facing and not easy to get a decent pic

North facing doesn't stop you moving a lot closer or using the zoom control on camera ! You need to show the front Much closer, It's not even clear which is the house for sale !

Bottom line though. It's price. Ask your agent to put it up at £125 or offers and get some new pics. Open with front of the house with mostly just the house in frame,not half the street, and at least one pic of every bedroom. If a pic of a bedroom is missing I wonder what's up with it.

I think the doors and the strip of tiles in bathroom are an irrelevance (I only mention as a couple have made these points) I was expecting something horrendous reading those comments. Not my taste but ok.

It's the price, and fix the pics since they aren't helping. Take a loss if need be, as said every week that passes it's costing you.

DRP

CleoTheCat wrote: »

119k offer is no longer on the table.
What's the point of having a HR valuation if the property won't get anywhere near that value?!!
I swear I have no idea how poeple make any profit on property. This is the second time that we have sold a property and made no profit.

First lesson is don't buy in an areas with (historically) slow growth.
Second lesson is don't buy a house at a premium price (new build) in those areas.
Third lesson is don;t repeat your mistakes (given that this is the 2nd house you've had trouble with).

Sorry