Struggling to Sell - Hints and Tips

fiisch

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-57871044.html

We are selling (or trying to!) our four bedroom house and have been listed on the market since August. We had ten viewings with the first agent in the first couple of months, and a couple of offers, but both didn't seem wholly genuine (one didn't have their house on the market and was slow to list, the others are up-sizing from a one bedroom flat which I think is overpriced).

We've gone with a different agent for the last three weeks and had an open day at the weekend. One viewing arranged in the eleventh hour, no feedback, so that seems a non-starter. We are on a new build estate where new builds are still going up, but I *think* we're priced well by comparison.

We're looking at using a Smooth Move incentive with Bovis Homes to help sell our home - we're looking to relocate to Buckinghamshire and are keen to get things moving in what is admittedly a slow market.

Interested for some non-biased perspective on our house - should we be looking to drop the asking price? Anything we can do to entice more people through the door?

One thing that is really winding me up is that the latest ad shows the wrong location on the map - I've been telling the agent for weeks but they seem incapable of fixing....

jonnygee2

Personal opinion but I find the advert text patronising. I don't bake cakes and my mum would be horrified by that decor, not impressed.

Maybe think about getting them to write it normally?

dawyldthing

It’s expensive and a mile away from Gatwick, it’s not going to be a quick seller. Plus if there still developing it might put folk off.

If you sell it to the developer they will under value it as they want to make a good buck from it too. Plus it’s winter.

It might be worth reducing it a bit now, plus have a look what recent ones have sold for. It’s not easy to tell on the site but I’m sure it’s somewhere

dawyldthing

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=OUTCODE%5E2168&maxBedrooms=4&minBedrooms=4&maxPrice=500000&minPrice=300000&radius=3.0&sortType=1&propertyTypes=detached%2Csemi-detached%2Cterraced&primaryDisplayPropertyType=houses&includeSSTC=true

Within 5 miles there’s 240 odd properties between £300k and £500k (a lot a lot lower, including some that was new built in 2007). As soon as you buy it it’s lots it’s new appeal too. Other thing I noticed is your .2 mile away from a school too.

pinkteapot

Also CANNOT STAND agents who write these sort of creative listings. When you're buying a house you want to see the pics, see the floorplan, and read the room dimensions. Waffle like this is completely pointless, especially on a standard modern estate house. *Maybe* I can see the point on a £2m unique Grade II mansion.

That alone wouldn't put me off viewing. What might is that in my area at least, the agents who write these sort of listings are also the ones who persistently overprice houses.

Also: Your 'owner story' really needs to be deleted. Firstly, it tells people it's AMAZING to own a new-build. So it'll probably make them look again at the new-builds still going up on the estate. If they can't afford one, it tells them they're going to miss out on an amazing experience and just winds them up. Secondly, you say "don't discount Forge Wood before you have seen it first hand" - if I don't know the area that suggests to me it has a bad reputation locally.

All that being said though, if you want a quick sale, all you can do is drop the price. The more you ask for the house, the smaller your pool of prospective buyers and the longer it'll take. As above, a developer will almost certainly under-value so you're probably better off dropping the price slightly and getting a buyer the old fashioned way.

It'd be worth asking the developer what they'd give you though - I do have a friend who moved to a new-build via trade-in and the price they got wasn't terrible.

The pictures look decent and the house is neutral so anyone could walk into it and not have to do much. So price is all I can suggest. It is a really slow market at the moment, unfortunately.

Edit: Finally found you on Rightmove and I can get a new-build good-sized three bed detached, or a 4-bed semi (smaller rooms than yours but much more kerb appeal) for £400k and £390k respectively. New-builds always have a premium over second hand, so your price is too high.

Doodles

I think your house is clean and the kitchen is great.

However, what puts me off is the following:

Looking at the map the first thing I see is a sewage treatment works, followed by the airport.

New builds aren't everyone's cup of tea, so from my eyes your house looks quite clinical in most rooms, and the garden is very overlooked.

Mutton_Geoff

Doodles wrote: »

I think your house is clean and the kitchen is great.

However, what puts me off is the following:

Looking at the map the first thing I see is a sewage treatment works, followed by the airport.

New builds aren't everyone's cup of tea, so from my eyes your house looks quite clinical in most rooms, and the garden is very overlooked.

The location looks excellent for someone who works at the airport. The sewage works shouldn’t be a problem most of the time as the prevailing wind in the UK is from the west (it’s why the runway is aligned as it is).

I’d cut the vomit inducing prose and wait until the spring when markets pick up. Not many people start their house hunting this close to christmas so I doubt you’ll have many new enquiries now excepting any of the three D’s.

(Death, divorce, debt).

ancientofdays

The agent's description is rather cringe worthy. In your piece, I would remove the bit about not discounting tge area. I don't know your area at all but suggesting this made me wonder about the local perception of it.

It looks clean and well cared for so that us a big plus - the garden is very overlooked and that will not appeal to everyone.

fiisch

Thanks all very useful stuff! The fact a lot of you have picked up on location is interesting - the map is wrong we’re much further from the sewage works on a completely different road, and house not on the flight path.

I agree re.: description - our comments are an out and out lie, but I was assured that guff sells houses. Will have a chat with agent as it obviously isn’t working.

We’re open to dropping price - I’m assuming it’s not worth messing around and to drop in brackets I.e.: £425k —-> ££400k?

Davesnave

How do you get into your house? The downstairs floor plan is surely missing a door!


I agree that the blurb is patronising twaddle, but it's also bad news if your agent places an interior shot first. If you aren't ashamed of the house, then lead with an exterior shot, hopefully with something cheerful growing near the front door. It's painfully obvious that you're either not gardeners or too rushed off your feet to care about the barren garden. Fair enough, but it adds to the transient, unloved feel the house is generating through a lack of any personalisation. Yes, many properties are over-personalised, but one gets the feeling you've put no roots down and just want out.


Picture 11 is diabolical. It tells me the reason no one did anything in the garden is because they felt watched out there. Sadly, it's the same as very many new properties in this respect, but there's no need to advertise the fact.

PasturesNew

It's usually price ... but, right now, it's a very slow market as a lot of people are waiting for some Brexit fairy to make their life choices for them.

If nobody's buying today, there's nothing you can do about that and price makes not one jot of difference.

Only your agent knows your area and your house type....

P.S. I didn't really see many photos of your house ... LOTS of neighbours' houses in shot everywhere though.... many/most people will put "don't want to be overlooked" as a criteria.