Selling a house backing onto a building site

Charliezoo

We live in a nice cul de sac in Hertfordshire where houses usually sell reasonably quickly. We were planning to sell and upsize in about a year but typically a unique house we've fallen in love with is on the market and we'd really like to try and get our house sold soon.

Unfortunately an area of land directly behind our house, literally at the bottom of our small (30ft) garden is in the middle of being developed with 20 new properties being built, due to be fully completed by May 2017. It's noisy, ugly and can be disruptive and of course we are concerned it's going to put potential buyers off so it's less than desirable although it should actually be quite an attractive development when finished, better than the ugly NHS mental health unit which was there previously.

Can anyone advise on what to expect when we put it on the market, will silly offers be made and should we expect to sell for less because of it? Will viewers turn on their heels immediately? Is it a complete waste of time to try and sell now?

I'd be grateful for any opinions on selling during this awkward time! Thanks

Grenage

It will put some people off, but many will see past it; don't be offended or take lower offers personally, as they can happen with any sale.

Put it on the market and see what you get!

dc197

Yes, people will be deterred, including by the uncertainty. The viewers don't know how long the building works will last but moreover not know what it will be like when finished.
I'd guess that a finished eyesore would put off fewer people than a building site where attractive buildings are planned, but not because of the disturbance during works.

getmore4less

What are the plans for the part directly over your fence?

have they started that bit so people know what is going to be there?
things like how close how high will it block the sun on the garden.
flats, house etc.

If your place is nice and what is going to be there is no worse than any other property in the category then a lot of people will see past the building site and a year is not that long to wait.

The previous view etc will only be known to locals so do your places tend to sell locally or outsiders.

The more uncertain the development is the more cautious people will be

Charliezoo

The development plans are all available to view so potential buyers can get some idea of what it'll be like. We'll have the rear of a 3 bed house and garden backing onto ours with a similar sized garden to ours. Unfortunately the back of our house and garden will be overlooked by the new house's bedroom windows - I don't know how imposing or close it will feel or how much light will be blocked but I can't imagine it'll be any worse than most new build estates in the area. Some of the new houses have been partially built but they're too far down the development to really gauge how they'll be nearer our house, they're still digging foundations in the bit over our fence, it's a bit of an eyesore from our bedroom window unfortunately.

Hoploz

You might be better off selling now - if another house will be directly looking at you at that kind of distance that's not good.

What a shame you didn't go last year

nicmyles

We were really concerned we'd be unable to sell our flat, due to development land at the back of the neighbouring property.

Work hadn't begun, but there had been a number of planning applications submitted and rejected, some of which would have adversely affected our property had they gone ahead.

The uncertainty, and the unsightly nature of the vacant land, definitely put a lot of people off, and it took about three months to sell, but we sold it. Buyer knew the area well, knew the history of the site and was prepared to take the long view.

That said, we definitely paid the price in terms of what we could sell for - I'd say we took a 7-10% hit on what the property should have sold for without those issues. But we baked most of that into the asking price, so the agent could be up front with people and if asked say it was already factored in, to discourage silly offers.

We didn't get any silly offers, it was more either a flat no or an offer in line with what we expected (i.e. 2-3% below an already artificially low asking price).

This is in London, by the way, obviously other areas will differ.

Charliezoo

Hoploz wrote: »

You might be better off selling now - if another house will be directly looking at you at that kind of distance that's not good.

What a shame you didn't go last year

True but there was a derelict building and planning application (initially for more houses and 3 storey ones at that) in process so it wasn't a good time to sell then either really with all that uncertainty and a possibility of a far worse application being accepted. We were intending to sell next year when the new development was finished and potential buyers would've known no difference, it's a shame that we've spotted this house that we like now at this less than perfect time to sell.

Doozergirl

Once those buildings are up, they will have no effect on your price. New people won't know what was there before and will simply base their judgement on what is.

In the meantime, price and saleability is affected.

We have planning permission for a house at the bottom of the garden. Ours is a 4 bed semi, we couldn't sell it for £20k less than our identical next door neighbours had literallly just paid.

Since then, a visibly much smaller three bed semi, in need of work, sold immediately for the same price as ours was up for.

Needless to say, we'll wait until the new house is finished before trying again.

DaftyDuck

Since the plot behind was effectively an eyesore, I'd hit viewers upfront with the fact it's improved as it will be built on - "... now the area behind is being tidied up, it seems like a good time to sell..."

I do agree that the process of building does put some off, but there's no reason not to float the house on the market, and see what happens.

Mind you, May 2017 is only 10 months away....

Mickygg

People will see past it. Put it on for a reasonable price and someone will see past the building work.
Look at how many people buy houses before they are even built!