Selling a victorian terrace house, should I try to sell it myself (e.g. purplebricks)?

NibblyPig

Rightmove link: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77698990.html

Been trying to sell my house for months but without much success.
I think the problem is twofold, that it's generally first time buyers who say they like the size/layout but they don't want to buy it because of the colour/decor/floor or something changable, or because they see something like that looks like a problem that has been put right but they can't tell. And I think the estate agent isn't helpful here or they make up their minds. For example, there is a small sign of water ingress on the front wall. The front render waterproofing had failed, so I had it repainted, rewaterproofed, and the windows resealed which 100% fixed the problem (and interestingly, pretty much every house in the street also had this done around the same time, my neighbour said she had the identical problem). On the inside, I sanded and painted but I am not a professional. If you look closely, you can still tell there was some historic effect. This has put at least one person off who said the house had a damp problem. Frustrating.

There are some things that could be done to improve it, for sure. Whether very minor cosmetic stuff like above, or much bigger stuff that seems like a waste of money for me to do them versus the buyer. For example, the bathroom floor is in dire need of replacement, and everyone that views it seems to pick at it and pull small strips out so holes in it are getting bigger every time I have a viewing (seriously, don't damage people's houses, !!!!!!).
The bathroom is located downstairs. I would guess sensible people buying would probably want to move the bathroom upstairs, but I don't think first time buyers think of this.
I could replace the bathroom floor, but it seems stupid, because what's the point in me doing it (cheap, cheerful) when instead they could just reduce their offer, and get exactly what *they* want done - they might move the bathroom out upstairs, or they might want to repaint and choose a nice flooring to match, etc. maybe get it tiled.
The agent told me that one viewer thought the walls were cold to touch so the house must have a damp problem (um, it's a brick victorian house painted not wallpapered). It doesn't have a damp problem, has been treated years ago under warranty, the walls are just cold cos they are well, walls... and the EPC is not great as displayed clearly on the website. The only room with a condensation issue is the small box room and it just needs an air brick putting in / cracking the window or running a dehumidifier in the winter.
I'm pretty sure the agency just lets people in and waits for them to look around, asks for feedback, and that's it. I reckon I could do a much better job myself, because I can explain. They can say, the floor in the bathroom seems damaged, and I can say yes, it needs replacing, could get it done super cheap for like £300 but rather than do it myself, why not make an offer £300 less and you can get it done however you like? We could even do it between exchange and completion. Or if you want to move it upstairs, you could do that. Or maybe you want tiles instead of laminate?
Everyone on here seems very rational about buying houses, looking at the cost, deducting for work they want doing etc but it seems in real life first time buyers just say silly things like I don't like the colours, or the garden is small (seriously, there are full photos of the garden and measurements, why come if you know you want a big garden?).

I'm a bit fed up of the effort involved in keeping the place immaculately tidy for viewings and I'm not really sure the estate agents offer much of a tailored experience, and I am wondering if perhaps a house like mine needs to be able to guide people through if they have questions, if only because it's mostly first time buyers (still, it's priced just over £300,000).

I wonder if anyone has advice about selling a victorian terrace house that isn't a shiny perfect new build, or is it just because the housing market is not good at the moment?

numbercruncher8

IMO it will make no difference.
Buyers on the whole ain't stupid and will run their calculations accordingly to what they see.

Without a link to the property I don't think anyone can give you any detailed advice, but if you've had no success for months I reckon the underlying cause is that you're trying to charge the same price as properties that don't need the work, or the discount for the condition isn't large enough.

ElizabethRose

You sound like you're getting a lot of viewers but how does it compare to other property in the area? For an extra £10k can you get the finished article which is putting people off? If you put up a rightmove link you'll get some honest feedback which will hope help.

RelievedSheff

If people are commenting on the bathroom floor then for a few quid get an off cut or roll end of vinyl from your local carpet shop for a few quid and put that down. I suspect it is more than the bathroom floor putting people off though.

It is hard work getting a house ready for sale. You do have to be prepared to do a few odd jobs to sell the house.

You say there is evidence of a damp patch that is now repaired. Well that will certainly put off first time buyers. You need to paint the walls in that room to cover the damp stain.

Marketing the property on Purple Bricks won't change the things that you say are putting people off.

NibblyPig

Okay, I've put a rightmove link in. A steady stream of viewers, like 2-3 per week it seems.
I painted the walls to cover the damp areas but I don't have the skills to make it seamless, I only know how to sand and paint not to sand it down to the plaster and repair it seamlessly (skim it?) and then repaint without it being noticable.

To repaint the whole wall I don't have enough paint and it seems the paint is not available, I don't know why but wilko have ditched/changed most of their paint colours, I think it was a mistake to buy anything other than dulux if you ever want to repaint in the future (I have a small amount left for touchups)

tweet86

As a buyer (whether first time buyer or just moving house) I would be unlikely to buy a house which looks like it had a damp problem as I’m inexperienced in any form of renovations. Something could end up costing more than expected which is off putting. I know you say that you could explain to buyers but it doesn’t guarantee what the problem is and how to fix it. 

What are the photos like on the website? If the photos don’t show any issues then you’re going to get viewers that are expecting a perfect house.
How do nearby houses compare? 

You have two choices. Make the improvements now or reduce the price 

ChewyyBacca

Just the bathroom floors isnt going to put off buyers. As you mentioned, there are lots of other things in your house that may cause concern to buyers -FTBs or otherwise. Also there is no point just calling FTBs stupid.. they are a little green, but certainly not stupid. they know the value of their hard-earned money, skinting to make good the deposit, hence would not want to jump at the first property they see.
Im curious though, have you been getting just FTB viewings? No veteran home movers, BTLs?
@NibblyPig Also posting a link here might help you, forumites can give you valuable advice.

NibblyPig

I should add that it is priced slightly less than other properties on the street because the condition isn't quite as good, but it has an extra bedroom due to a ground floor extension around an adjacent garage (not my garage). So you're getting a slightly bigger garden, and a whole extra room.
There was a valuation done and it was found to be roughly accurate.
I would accept much less than the asking price just to sell it but if I lower the price to say, 300k, then people will just offer like 280k and so on. I did have a 300k offer which I accepted but it fell through because they got a detailed survey done and it raised some issues, some of them were historic but the report did not say that, so it put the buyer off before I could even explain.

Falafels

What I don't understand is that you openly acknowledge stuff like this:
There are some things that could be done to improve it, for sure. Whether very minor cosmetic stuff like above, or much bigger stuff that seems like a waste of money for me to do them versus the buyer. For example, the bathroom floor is in dire need of replacement, and everyone that views it seems to pick at it and pull small strips out so holes in it are getting bigger every time I have a viewing 

...and then don't do anything about it! A lick of paint and a tidy garden won't materially increase the value of the property per se, but they will give an impression about whether the property's been cared for or not and hence its saleability. Whether rightly or wrongly, if small things haven't been attended to, it will look as though large, more important things won't have been either.

You don't need to put in an expensive bathroom floor, but there's something about icky floors in kitchens or bathrooms which are just, well, icky. If people stay in a property for any length of time, chances are they'll change bits of it - but probably not all at once, and it's nice if it feels clean and cared for in the meantime. Resiting a bathroom isn't something you 'just do', like rearranging furniture, but it can be really offputting to some buyers and will be more hassle than they'll be willing to take on. It doesn't stop them being 'sensible'.

Of course, you may be selling on the basis that the place will need a bit of work - in which case does the price reflect the financial cost of doing so, along with all the inconvenience? If not, I think you may have your answer. It's got nothing to do with whoever's showing people round. Viewers will look and make up their own minds.

NibblyPig

I edited the post there is a rightmove link at the top.
It seems like to fix the signs of repaired damp would be extremely expensive just for a slight cosmetic touch up but I guess I will get a quote, I suppose they will have to strip all the paint/plaster, repair, repaint, just to fix three spots 40cm x 40cm)?

I can safely say I will never ever ever ever buy a house that isn't a new build ever again

RelievedSheff

NibblyPig said:

I edited the post there is a rightmove link at the top.
It seems like to fix the signs of repaired damp would be extremely expensive just for a slight cosmetic touch up but I guess I will get a quote, I suppose they will have to strip all the paint/plaster, repair, repaint, just to fix three spots 40cm x 40cm)?

I can safely say I will never ever ever ever buy a house that isn't a new build ever again

Well it certainly isn't a grey house!!

I think that part of the problem is going to be that you have a very unique decorative taste and that isn't going to appeal to everyone. All people are going to see at the minute is that they are going to have to move in and redecorate pretty much the whole house.

Not a lot of people will want to do that especially first time buyers.