Loads of viewings but house not selling.

moneyistooshorttomention

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Nothing wrong with the house IMO - good size rooms.

For me it would be the garden every time.

I know you haven't got the funds to do what you want (and it may not suit the buyer anyway!)

So, you've cleared it up - good. Now find some money from somewhere and power jet the walls/paint them, put in groups of planters, even tall mini trees - some good ideas if you google about concrete gardens - make it a place that can be used in the immediate future. Put out a nice table and chairs. Would be a nice gesture to leave the plants so you could mention this.

Looking at the garden it would need a relatively small amount of money to make it look like somewhere you could use.

Good luck!

Think thats about the best you can do basically - ie to follow this advice.

Right at this moment - its just "A.N. Other House" basically (sorry....but it is).

At least have people having a "second thought" about it might help. Those hills there in the photos are "Views" and might get a few people having a "second thought" about it - ie if they hadnt been distracted by a garden that is also just "A.N. Other House".

That's me fresh from checking out latest automatic Zoopla houses for sale email that came through and thinking "Oooh...character...nice" about a couple of houses and then being thankful that I know the reason why they are cheaper than I think they would be (Japanese knotweed nearby in the case of this area...:mad:).

I doubt you've got an "area problem" nearby - so its down to yours being "A.N. Other House".

teddysmum

The 'garden' area looks neglected, especially with all the weeds showing (Weedkiller is cheap and acts in 24 hours) and the unguarded drop to a concrete surface is a danger for children or small dogs.


White exterior walls with, perhaps, a nice pale green (or blue) for the 'chalet' (remove the tacky flags), shed and gate.


Tesco have a 4-seater patio set with umbrella and table for just £59 in store, at the moment.


Plastic, terracotta tubs are cheap and B&M Bargains do trays of bedding plants from £2 for 20 plants.


I'm afraid that the house does look like one of the 'Council house' designs used in the 1960s and it appears that the particular viewer wants it to be known that the house is privately owned, after spending so much on the purchase.(Snobbery, perhaps, but people know what they want)


The patio set and tubs can move with you, so no wastage is involved.

StumpyPumpy

I have to wonder how many of the 32 viewing had decided "no" before even stepping over the threshold. The listing makes a very good job of disguising the fact that the house is in more than a slight dip, in fact the road is only slightly below the bedroom windows and it appears to be a bus route too! I'm sure that has put quite a few people off.

I actually struggle to see where you will get any light on the front especially as it is north facing and I wouldn't fancy climbing up and down those steps at the front or back with shopping and a couple of toddlers in tow. None of which is hinted at with the listing.

Obviously, listings are designed to show houses in the best light, but there is a balance to be made that should give people an idea of whether or not a place is worth viewing otherwise it wastes your time, their time and the EA's time showing people around an unsuitable house.

I don't know the area but as others here have said, a quick look suggested plenty of (at first glance) better properties at or less than you have yours on the market for which would suggest that your confidence on the price of yours may be misplaced.

SP

moneyistooshorttomention

Clutterfree wrote: »

I agree it's the garden that's the problem. It's not really a garden, more a backyard.
You need to do a cheap makeover.
Paint the walls to brighten it up.
Buy some brightly coloured lots with colourful plants and a few taller shrubs to give some height.
Get a cheap patio table and chairs.
Jet wash the patio slabs.
Lick of paint in the shed and playhouse - bright colours to lift it.
All of these things can be taken with you to your new home (bar the paint) so it's not "wasted" money.

Absolutely:T

I had one of those "courtyard gardens" in my last house (to use the euphemism) and made the best of it for my own sake and tried to make it look reasonable.

Come the time I sold it - and the buyer promptly asked if I would leave a couple of the "bits" that particularly appealed to them. I just shrugged shoulders/sighed and left a couple of portable bits I would have preferred to remove - but the "upscaling" had done the trick and I was going to leave some of it anyway.

Flyingpig

AnnieO1234 wrote: »

Can you take a look at the two period properties on hillside road (0.5 miles away apparently) and see the differences from your own? They're both on at £150K and are immediately more appealing.

There's a lot of 3 bedrooms locally so whilst people might be looking at lots to edge their bets, they will most likely be offering on the lower priced ones that tick the same boxes iyswim.

There's a few thousand pounds to get the garden right, plus a lot of hard work if the buyer didn't use a contractor. Question on the garden, does it back onto another road? Xxx

Our house is in a bit of a weird location sandwiched between 2 council estates but on the edge of the part of the town where people want to live 'river'. Hillside road although only a stones through away is not one of the 'nicer areas' and the houses often sit up for sale for a very long time and are brought buy investors who rent them out. Yes there are lots of traditional period properties in the area they are more often than not in the very run down parts unfortunately.

There is a private road that runs behind the house that lots of the other residents use for parking, not that parking is an issue.

Flyingpig

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Absolutely:T

I had one of those "courtyard gardens" in my last house (to use the euphemism) and made the best of it for my own sake and tried to make it look reasonable.

Come the time I sold it - and the buyer promptly asked if I would leave a couple of the "bits" that particularly appealed to them. I just shrugged shoulders/sighed and left a couple of portable bits I would have preferred to remove - but the "upscaling" had done the trick and I was going to leave some of it anyway.

I strongly suspect it is the garden (estate agent told us it isn't!). Funds are really tight at the moment but come payday I will give it spruce up but it is what it is, and I will only have at max about 150 to do anything to it. I know you can get cheap easy to lay decking from ikea so I wil price that up too. Get some paint and stick some planters about. I can borrow my mums table and chairs too.

AnnieO1234

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

I actually struggle to see where you will get any light on the front especially as it is north facing and I wouldn't fancy climbing up and down those steps at the front or back with shopping and a couple of toddlers in tow. None of which is hinted at with the listing.

SP

It never occurred to me to look at streetview, but given what you've just said, wow. There is just no way that the property is worth £160 given the others available, but the bigger problem for me would be what else is being hidden? Because it's been hidden from the photographs, what else are you possibly hiding? (I'm not saying you are, I'm just saying as a potential buyer that's how I would feel) xxx

moneyistooshorttomention

teddysmum wrote: »

The 'garden' area looks neglected, especially with all the weeds showing (Weedkiller is cheap and acts in 24 hours) and the unguarded drop to a concrete surface is a danger for children or small dogs.


White exterior walls with, perhaps, a nice pale green (or blue) for the 'chalet' (remove the tacky flags), shed and gate.


Tesco have a 4-seater patio set with umbrella and table for just £59 in store, at the moment.


Plastic, terracotta tubs are cheap and B&M Bargains do trays of bedding plants from £2 for 20 plants.


I'm afraid that the house does look like one of the 'Council house' designs used in the 1960s and it appears that the particular viewer wants it to be known that the house is privately owned, after spending so much on the purchase.(Snobbery, perhaps, but people know what they want)


The patio set and tubs can move with you, so no wastage is involved.

A lot of that is worth taking on board - BUT weedkillers arent the only thing that work extremely quickly. One of the methods I've used to deal with weeds here is just plain water from a kettle that has just boiled. Pour on said boiling water and weed is dead within hours - and then removed by me.

I also distrust signs that a house-owner couldnt be bothered to remove weeds - but that is a perfectly "eco-responsible" way to remove them.

************

BTW - re comment from previous poster re "concrete gardens" - I think many of us might appreciate tips for dealing with them please:). I've got a proper garden here in this house for instance - but, right at the moment, I'm still busily working on translating it from "concrete garden" into "proper garden" - whilst being thoroughly puzzled as to why it isnt yet (ie as "concrete gardens" have been old-fashioned/widely perceived as "yuk" for several years now to my knowledge).

AnnieO1234

Flyingpig wrote: »

There is a private road that runs behind the house that lots of the other residents use for parking, not that parking is an issue.

Could the private road be putting people off? Do you have a right of access to it? Do you have to pay for it's upkeep? Is it maintained? Is it lit? Does it potentially attract undesirables?

xxx

Andypandyboy

Op inside the house is fine, unfortunately, the outside both front and back is not. It lacks kerb appeal. My guess is that people are looking to see if they can get past that, and when they arrive feel that they can't. To be brutal the back garden looks like a dog run.

Both the front of the house and the back need a make over. You can't change the other negatives - the dip of the house and the fact that the garden is very overlooked due to the height of neighbouring properties, but you ccan give it kerb appeal to a degree.

You bought it, so someone else will too, but they will factor all the negatives in and offer accordingly. I dont know the area but if it is sought after then that will be a positive, as will good local schools and amenities. It does come down to price though for most people if it isn't their "dream home".