Offset Garden

Littlebobo1981

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=64112144&sale=5470588&country=england

This is on the busiest road in the town and super busy ...i know it's presented nicely but don't you think that given this also has a downstairs bathroom and no front garden we put it up at 220 ?

karcher

OP don't give up just yet.

Did you heed the advice about de-cluttering and getting new photos done along with adding a plot and floor plan to your selling details?

If not, you really should do this, then get some new quotes from EA as to what you can realistically sell for.

As said earlier your front garden is bigger than most back gardens so your offset garden is an added bonus. Moving the path in the front garden to one side would allow plenty of space for kids to play/ table and chairs etc.

It has only been on the market for 5 weeks so it's far too soon to abandon ship just yet.

Littlebobo1981

Thanks Karcher, I did talk to the EA and they are loath to change the photo's and tbh we have had 13 viewings so i'm not certain the photo's are the issue ?...we have requested a floor plan and have also de cluttered as much as we possibly can, i also have quotes coming in for fencing the back garden to make it more 'private' so will need the EA to take new photos of that anyway ..they did mention they might take new photo's if the sale goes on a while ...If we don't sell we will advertise with another agent anyway so will make a point of getting better photos done then ..

Just feel like I have been sucked in by estate agents massively over valuing our property and giving us false hope

iammumtoone

Littlebobo1981 wrote: »

Just feel like I have been sucked in by estate agents massively over valuing our property and giving us false hope

Giving you false hope is normal I would ignore anything they said about your house selling in x amount of days/weeks they dont know that anymore than you do.

However it is not in their interests to massively overvalue your house. They want to sell it so would not massively overvalue it, they might add a bit on to try the market for a few weeks and gain your business before they sugest you reduce but they won't have deliberately priced you out of the market, they have nothing to gain by doing that.

I will sell it does have some every goods points you just need to find the right person who can see them.

karcher

Littlebobo1981 wrote: »

Thanks Karcher, I did talk to the EA and they are loath to change the photo's and tbh we have had 13 viewings so i'm not certain the photo's are the issue ?...we have requested a floor plan and have also de cluttered as much as we possibly can, i also have quotes coming in for fencing the back garden to make it more 'private' so will need the EA to take new photos of that anyway ..they did mention they might take new photo's if the sale goes on a while ...If we don't sell we will advertise with another agent anyway so will make a point of getting better photos done then ..

Just feel like I have been sucked in by estate agents massively over valuing our property and giving us false hope

Once you get the new fence installed and now you have de-cluttered, insist on new photos and the floor/plot plans to be put up asap. You are paying them remember. They will not hugely over value your house as they don't get paid until it sells.

Deep breaths OP you are admitting defeat far too early imho.

Littlebobo1981

iammumtoone wrote: »

Giving you false hope is normal I would ignore anything they said about your house selling in x amount of days/weeks they dont know that anymore than you do.

However it is not in their interests to massively overvalue your house. They want to sell it so would not massively overvalue it, they might add a bit on to try the market for a few weeks and gain your business before they sugest you reduce but they won't have deliberately priced you out of the market, they have nothing to gain by doing that.

I will sell it does have some every goods points you just need to find the right person who can see them.

Thanks, i think it does just feel like no one sees the potential in this i do, if i was me 10 years ago i wished i had just moved the bloody bathroom upstairs when we had the chance

karcher wrote: »

Once you get the new fence installed and now you have de-cluttered, insist on new photos and the floor/plot plans to be put up asap. You are paying them remember.

Thanks Karcher, i'm not very good at this and they made me feel REALLY GUILTY when i complained because as i said we have had 13 viewings which i think is pretty good in 5 weeks ?

karcher

OP, you really might benefit from reading this thread

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5737249

It's long but lots of good advice given to the OP who heeded it all to good effect

Cakeguts

Littlebobo1981 wrote: »

So the estate agents have incorrectly valued our house then ? they actually said more than we have put it up for !?..

We paid 144995 for it 13 years ago, given the amount of work we have had done to it ( new central heating, 3 damp courses, structural work, guttering, flat roof, new boiler, bathroom replaced i'm kind of !!!!ed that now it's not likely anyone will buy it because the gardens not attached to the property..yes we were young and stupid when we purchased ( i was only 23) but the garden is huge and someone with a vision could easily add an outbuilding there ( such as my neighbor has) and use it as an office ...perhaps i can convince husband to do that and we will just have to stay here for ever ..sorry venting but totally fed up with this house ..our loft is bursting full of stuff we have saved and saved despite me losing my job and husband also loosing his..add a young child to that and well we should be happy with what we have !

I think if we put it on for 200k that would be a steal as there are much smaller homes on busy streets going for that round here ..maybe i have an over inflated idea of how much my house is worth ..SIGH !

Sorry fed up with it all and so very tempted to just give up and accept we are stuck here forever.

The point is that the estate agent valuation is only a guide. It isn't what the house is worth. Some estate agents give high imaginary values to get houses onto their books and some give lower imaginary numbers. However they are imaginary values because the true value is what someone else will pay you for it.

Since you haven't had any offers no one is interested in even making a low offer based on your asking price so that means that everyone thinks that it is much too expensive. People who have the amount of your asking price to spend won't spend it on your house because they can get one for less with more bedrooms.

How much you spent on it is of no interest to someone wanting to buy it. They don't care if you spent more on the house than you are ever going to get back. They aren't going to pay you for it especially since the house has clearly got the same kitchen in it that it had when you bought it. It is quite possible that you paid too much for it when you bought it if it needed all that work on it.

You need to find out what a 2 bed house with no back garden and a downstairs bathroom sells for in your local area. That is the price that your house has to be put on the market at. Houses which have gardens that are not attached to the house never sell for as much has houses where the back garden is outside the back of the house.

If you wanted to build a structure like an office in your unattached garden you would not be able to get power to it so you would only be able to use it when it is light.

warby68

The sales listing and photos give no clue to the actual meaning of offset garden. You might NOT have had 13 viewings if it had been immediately clear. Its a key feature of your property (for better or worse) so as a minimum the agent should make it clearer by floor and plot plans or more relevant photos what the set up actually is.

I like a garden to take a drink into on a pleasant evening (for example) - the front garden (on view) and a walk to the back one so I wasn't in easy reach of my refill just wouldn't work for me and I would not like land directly outside to be under someone else's control or whim. With no prior knowledge, I assumed offset meant it was a bit to the side rather than the back but not completely detached.

This and price (as always) look like the most likely features with 13 viewers but no offers - it looks like they came expecting something different - but its always hard to be sure when the listing and presentation are not up to scratch (potentially misleading).

In your case I missed downstairs bathroom as well without the floorplan, another key 'love/hate' feature.

If you want to try a bit longer I'd insist on amending the listing properly for the offset issue and floorplan even if you don't have other new photos (although the agent's refusal would get my hackles up and, as the customer, I'd insist)