Honest advice re housing market

Cakeguts

I am just wondering if the bit with the sun loungers is a filled in pond. The previous owners or the ones who owned it in 2009 seem to have been quite keen gardeners as the front garden is lovely. Nothing like the huge carpark it has now.

phoebe1989seb

I'm afraid I agree with previous posters, OP - as currently laid out/presented it looks like a project property, both inside and out. Such a shame you have those large outdoor spaces that currently look barren and empty. A blank canvas for someone, though.

We used to live on the Wiltshire/Dorset border and DH worked in Ringwood (we also both grew up in Hampshire) so know the area fairly well and imho it is overpriced for the amount of work required to update, even though it is considered a desirable location by some. In fact I just realised our sparky friend lived in nearby Fir Tree Close - we visited his home a few times and the area is fairly leafy/some interesting mid century bungalows, iirc.

For that amount of £££ I'd expect some kind of wow factor - a stunning kitchen/large living space overlooking a beautifully landscaped garden etc.....

When we sold our fully restored, five bed period house on 1/3 acre back in 2014, it was the FTB houses/multi million £££ estates that were selling, whereas middle range properties such as ours (and yours) were taking up to a year to sell but by pricing keenly we found a buyer (at asking price) within five weeks.

At the right price everything will sell - even dated properties in need of major reconfiguring - but I get the impression that as you are not desperate to move you are merely testing the water/kite flying at this stage.......

getmore4less

treecol wrote: »

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-82009289.html

Ok here it is...nervously waiting for opinions!

Have you done a more like this analysis to see what is selling and research on sold through prices.

Must be load of data if you have been on 4 months.

Think like a buyer

treecol

Well thank you for being honest! The reason the front is like it is, is because we host a group of 20 - 25 people each week and it does help not to have the entrance to the cul de sac full of cars, so the 15 or so vehicles park on our drive. We also have a large work van and trailer plus caravan and car. The large entrance hall is where we all eat, so for us it works well, we had long tables in there and seated 30 for dinner.When we bought the house it was a wreck and both the entrance hall and en suite are extensions by previous owners.
All we've done is replaster, paint, new ensuite, new kitchen and take down all the huge trees that took all the light from the front and back garden. It was all with a view to suit us whilst here and then sell when we felt like it.
Just called our agent and they are coing out to take some new photos and have suggested we run with those for a while and see what happens.
BTW the house posted up thread on Breaside Rd is very close to the A31 and much noisier than we are.
But once again, thank you. Our friends who visit all love our house, but then they aren't potential buyers!

treecol

MobileSaver wrote: »

Fair play for being so brave!

Ultimately you are trying to sell something and, unless bowled over at first sight, human nature is that people raise objections to justify why they shouldn't buy something.

As PasturesNew says, that house at that price simply doesn't have any "wow" but does have lots of niggles that together will be the reason you are getting little interest; the following is not meant to be mean but hopefully constructive criticism to give you an impartial insight into any future buyers thought process.

How does yours compare to 8 Malmesbury Road which sold for £60k less?

Theirs was smaller and needed updating. The current owners spend who knows how much on extending it. Don't think the inside had been touched since the 60's. Really difficult drive to get in as it's up a steep bank.

Cakeguts

treecol wrote: »

Well thank you for being honest! The reason the front is like it is, is because we host a group of 20 - 25 people each week and it does help not to have the entrance to the cul de sac full of cars, so the 15 or so vehicles park on our drive. We also have a large work van and trailer plus caravan and car. The large entrance hall is where we all eat, so for us it works well, we had long tables in there and seated 30 for dinner.When we bought the house it was a wreck and both the entrance hall and en suite are extensions by previous owners.
All we've done is replaster, paint, new ensuite, new kitchen and take down all the huge trees that took all the light from the front and back garden. It was all with a view to suit us whilst here and then sell when we felt like it.
Just called our agent and they are coing out to take some new photos and have suggested we run with those for a while and see what happens.
BTW the house posted up thread on Breaside Rd is very close to the A31 and much noisier than we are.
But once again, thank you. Our friends who visit all love our house, but then they aren't potential buyers!

While you are trying to sell your house it might be a good idea to have the people hosted somewhere else because after all if you sell that house they aren't going to be coming there anymore.



Then get the front and backgardens landscaped. At the moment your house has no kerb appeal. People are going write it off as soon as they see pictures of the front with the carpark and the grass area with the fence around it. When you find out how much it will cost to landscape the front and back garden and then also how much is would cost to update the house you will find out why people are not viewing.



People are not viewing because they feel it is overpriced for the amount of work that needs doing. It needs a new kitchen, two new bathrooms, and the decor is very dated so the whole house needs modernising, plus the gardens need landscaping to bring it up to the standard that someone buying an expensive house in that road would expect to get.



You can tell that your potential buyers think that it is overpriced by the fact that you have only had 2 viewings in the several months it has been on the market.



What you have done to the gardens (back and front) has probably devalued the house from a selling point of view because your buyers are not interested in the fact that you need a carpark on the front and at the moment the house has no kerb appeal. No one is going to drive by and say what a lovely front garden it has. If they only have two cars they don't need a carpark that size so they will only see how much money it is going to take get rid of what you have done. What they are interested in is whether they like the front garden and whether they can see themselves living there. At the moment no one else can for the price you are asking.


If you have done something extreme to a house like this when you come to sell it you either have to do the work to modernise it and landscape the gardens or you have to reduce the price so that the buyer can do the work.


No one is going to make you a low offer because they know that you won't take it. So they just don't view they find something better somewhere else that doesn't need a lot of money spent on it to modernise it.


The market in that area is telling you that as your house stands at the moment it is overpriced. If it wasn't you would have had a lot more viewings. What you have to do is to find the price at which you get viewings and offers. The estate agent's valuation is a guess. They don't actually know what it will sell for because it is only worth what someone will pay you for it. They also tend to overvalue to get your business. So if it is on the market now at the value the estate agent gave you then you can be sure that it is overpriced. The way to get a good idea of prices is to look at what is selling in your local area.

PasturesNew

You have to also remember that most people aren't looking to buy "a house in your street", or "a house in your village".

They might have it at the top of their list, but they'll look further afield, or to their 2nd/3rd areas if what they want isn't available where they'd like it.

I've got a preferred area.... that's got about 35 I could afford but don't like. Then there's my 2nd area, that's got about 10 I could afford but don't like. Then there's my 3rd area, that's got about 20 I could afford but don't like..... so I keep an eye on about a 15-20 mile radius, measuring each for what it can offer.

If I can't have what I can put up with where I want it .... then I'd look elsewhere - and your potential buyers will think the same way.

Nobody is so wrapped up in living "in a particular street", or "a particular village" that they'll buy "just anything" to achieve it.

People have choices, options, other areas that might do.... your competition is possibly miles away in reality, not within 1 mile.

GDB2222

This property has been removed by the agent.
It may be sold or temporarily removed from the market

Does everyone else see that?

treecol

babyblade41 wrote: »

Right here goes..please don'tbe offended

Not at all. If we loved the house, we wouldn't be moving :rotfl:

treecol

GDB2222 wrote: »

This property has been removed by the agent.
It may be sold or temporarily removed from the market

Does everyone else see that?

Yes I spoke to our agent earlier and thay are going to retake some photos so I think as I was talking about removing it from the market to re-think, it'll be off until new photos taken. I shared some of your comments with him. We will try with the new photos and then he said we can look at what is selling in our area with similar square footage and see if we need to drop...I think based on your comments we do.