Would this start alarm bells for you?

PWFZ12

I've agreed to buy a property with fabulous sea views in a popular seaside town in south Devon - mainly as an investment with a view to selling in approx 10 years time.

The house is stunning, modern and everything I've been looking for.

BUT, I've since discovered the same family have tried to sell the house in 2012, 2014 and 2015 and it'd already been on the market for well over a year by the time I'd seen it last month.

Maybe there's a perfectly innocent explanation for it? But I can't help wonder why the property hasn't sold. The purchase price seemed reasonable enough for the area.

Would this send alarm bells ringing for you?

SmashedAvacado

House prices have fallen by 10% in the last year in some parts of south devon. It might be simply the market. . You could ask the local agents - particularly those who marketed last time if the details are floating around on the web. They might tell you. They might just say that the price was too high or that the sellers were wasting time.

sal_III

One explanation could be that they were "chancing" it at over inflated prices several times, just in case. A friend of mine rented a flat for years and the LL was trying to sell it several times way overpriced, so couldn't, my friend ended up buying it last year (still slightly overpriced).

Try and ask the vendor, they might be forthcoming or not, but worth a shot.

FreeBear

Things to look at...

Coastal erosion.
Type of construction (mundic ?)
Aspect and prevailing winds - If it is in an exposed location, winter could be grim.
Neigbourhood.

Nice sea views are all well and good, but if the garden is disappearing on to the beach or it gets battered by winter storms, it isn't going to be a worthwhile investment.

Paully28

Hard to tell from that description alone. Could be all sorts of reasons, from they couldnt sell last time, to circumstances changed and they didnt want to sell.

Has it come down in price in all those years, what have others in the region sold for, if they have? Is it over-priced, is there land between the house and sea that is prime for other houses/a giant tower block (for example).

PWFZ12

Thanks for those excellent replies. I'll certainly be getting a full survey done. I noticed online the house was for sale in 2012 at exactly the same price it is today so maybe it was considered too much back then.

It's not likely to be under threat of coastal erosion but would certainly be exposed to the elements on a windy day.

Will see what the survey throws up and take it from there.

Thanks again

pinklady21

Could be that they "sold" it but the buyers decided to pull out? That might or might not have been anything to do with the property.
We had ours on for 15 months, and three "sales" in that time, but each time the buyer failed to complete for different reasons.
Equally there may be something wrong that has come up in due diligence. Check there is nothing in the offing that may affect the sea view - planning application for a large house in front of you etc etc.

stator

If they are using an estate agents, ask the agents directly why other sales fell through. They are supposed to tell you the truth if you ask them directly.

Hoploz

Another reason could be the seller's position. Assuming they live there, they might have had trouble finding a onward property to buy. Have they got somewhere now?

Crashy_Time

Maybe they thought it was an "investment" to "sell in X years time"? That is the main alarm bell I think you should be hearing. Property is very illiquid, and not guaranteed to perform like it has over the last few years, or guaranteed to sell when you want it to at the price you might like.

sitesafe

Do you have a link to it? If not which town?
South Devon market has been quite slow - I'm always getting Rightmove notifications that a property has been reduced after only being online for a short while. I have a place in south Devon myself