House not selling

ReenieMac

Annie35 wrote: »

at a glance there's a good choice of houses in that bracket for any buyer, most have a similar state of decor & electric heaters is that typical to the area? so i can see why the agent says not to bother. A weekend brush up might give it a bit more of a spring in it's step still. Trouble is £100 to paint turns into new carpet & worktop before you know it, haha. It may be a better to deep clean & spend any money to fix any sticking points you know could hold up a sale (if there is any, damp patches etc)

I wouldnt drop price anymore yet but would make it clear you're up for negotiations on it.

With that level of competition & slow market you want your agent to be working it. Have they done a phone campaign of their database, have they contacted past viewers to let them know the price reduction, are they cross promoting it when a buyer views another house. Are you in the best possible position you can be. Could they do an open day, could they take some new pictures in the sunlight now, make them work for the sale.

Sadly we have very little confidence in the estate agents, it's hard to imagine them doing anything you have said! We're probably a bit reticent to chase up the estate agents as we're not sure exactly what is their responsibility, newbies to house selling! You're right re the way a wee tidy up can quickly expand! We were thinking set a limit of a few hundred and do our best within that. Thanks for your input.

Annie35

ReenieMac wrote: »

Sadly we have very little confidence in the estate agents, it's hard to imagine them doing anything you have said! We're probably a bit reticent to chase up the estate agents as we're not sure exactly what is their responsibility, newbies to house selling! You're right re the way a wee tidy up can quickly expand! We were thinking set a limit of a few hundred and do our best within that. Thanks for your input.

Reenie, their responsibility is to sell your house, no doubt they banged on about how they're a traditional high street agent which is better then that there PB because they're a traditional high street agent. (Honestly that does seem to be the argument) make them work for it, they have local contacts, they can do open houses, they have phones. Talk to them & ask them to do it.

ProDave

Another thought. The Help To buy scheme has skewed the market in favour of new builds, which there seem to be a lot of around here at the moment. It's much easier for a buyer to buy a new build than a second hand house.

Good points with yours, it appears to have off road parking, which is a MUST for me.

Your Move do seem to be doing well selling houses around here, so mush that we will probably use them next time we try to sell ours.

ReenieMac

ProDave wrote: »

Another thought. The Help To buy scheme has skewed the market in favour of new builds, which there seem to be a lot of around here at the moment. It's much easier for a buyer to buy a new build than a second hand house.

Good points with yours, it appears to have off road parking, which is a MUST for me.

Your Move do seem to be doing well selling houses around here, so mush that we will probably use them next time we try to sell ours.

Aye that's a point re the new builds. To be honest we wouldn't recommend Your Move, they seemed keen to get us on their books but we've noticed a huge difference in responsiveness and performance after we signed up. We're left wishing we had gone with an online estate agency like house simple (who we almost went with) or another Scottish based one whose name escapes me just now. But we may well have had the same problems, hard to know, but maybe worth investigating if you do come to sell.

ReenieMac

Annie35 wrote: »

Reenie, their responsibility is to sell your house, no doubt they banged on about how they're a traditional high street agent which is better then that there PB because they're a traditional high street agent. (Honestly that does seem to be the argument) make them work for it, they have local contacts, they can do open houses, they have phones. Talk to them & ask them to do it.

Thanks yes I'll have to get brave and chase them up, or ask my hubby too...:rotfl:

kinger101

Buyers can work out how much a tin of paint costs. You need to reduce your price. To many Phil and Kirstee wannabees on here.

seashore22

The decor and the amount of work that needs doing on the house wouldn't bother me. We've always bought houses that were a bit tired, to say the least. The garden is another matter. There's not a patch of earth or single plant in sight and it's not a small space. It looks so depressing and the work required is daunting. My own personal opinion.

Davesnave

seashore22 wrote: »

The decor and the amount of work that needs doing on the house wouldn't bother me. We've always bought houses that were a bit tired, to say the least. The garden is another matter. There's not a patch of earth or single plant in sight and it's not a small space. It looks so depressing and the work required is daunting. My own personal opinion.

It does look dated and depressing to this southerner, who's pretty dated himself!

What you and your agent need to realise is that many people clicking through the properties on Rightmove choose those they can identify with, and yours won't appeal to many younger people, except maybe those who enjoy DIY.

Add to that a garden that looks like Hiroshima did in 1945, and that's a extra turn off, even for those who might be nifty with a paintbrush.

I'm pretty capable with renovation, but when I look at a house like that, I know it won't stop with paint. Also, if I want stuff done in a reasonable time-frame, I need to get skilled help in. IMO £5k off the valuation isn't enough, simple as.

And if it's been on the market 5 months without a serious bite, that's pretty much what others think too.

Tough love is what you get here. Sorry!

seven-day-weekend

seashore22 wrote: »

The decor and the amount of work that needs doing on the house wouldn't bother me. We've always bought houses that were a bit tired, to say the least. The garden is another matter. There's not a patch of earth or single plant in sight and it's not a small space. It looks so depressing and the work required is daunting. My own personal opinion.

Yes, mine too. The rest of the updating is either doable pretty easily and cheaply or liveable-with until you can afford it. The garden is so depressing and would cost a lot of money and hard work to put right.
Even if you just stuck a few colourful pots around it would look better. It also would look better done with golden gravel rather than that horrible grey.

So, imho, it is not the house that is the problem.

ReenieMac

seashore22 wrote: »

The decor and the amount of work that needs doing on the house wouldn't bother me. We've always bought houses that were a bit tired, to say the least. The garden is another matter. There's not a patch of earth or single plant in sight and it's not a small space. It looks so depressing and the work required is daunting. My own personal opinion.

That seems to be the consensus, we'd probably look for a tired house ourselves but yes the garden is harder work, thanks for your input!