Well Located House Not Selling. Wait, or What?

Davesnave

Thanks for the answers so far, many of them highlighting my concerns.

To answer a few questions, I'd say the outlook is preserved and my friend thinks there is enough leeway in the price to allow for the CH and updating of kitchen, bathroom etc, as similar properties have gone for around £375k this year. However, they may not have come with the landscaping challenges of this one.

My friend also feels the detached nature of the house is of more value than I do. True, parking might be an issue in terraces or period property nearer the beach, but every house type has its issues and people will sacrifice much for character, of which this house has very little. Some, like the cob & thatch one linked to by Adrian may have too much for many, though! Main street Starcross is also a no-no for those who know it in summer.

I agree the biggest problem is falling between family and retirement markets. I renovated on retirement, but that's because I had too few other options to get what I wanted. This sort of property isn't so hard to find. Why bother?

Things have gone quiet now viewing wise, but it was getting people in the door initially. That was still summer.

Soot2006

I do think summer is a better time to sell a house with an impressive conservatory and sun window. Empty houses feel so cold, physically and psychologically, so that probably doesn't help.  Like  I said, I like it and would have viewed it. It might well suit a young couple for example. (or an older couple with dogs like my household ahem!!)

youth_leader

Wishing them the best of luck.  I viewed in that area , great location, the allotments were lovely.  

AdrianC

Davesnave said:

To answer a few questions, I'd say the outlook is preserved and my friend thinks there is enough leeway in the price to allow for the CH and updating of kitchen, bathroom etc, as similar properties have gone for around £375k this year. However, they may not have come with the landscaping challenges of this one.

Hmm... Immediate locality sales of similar...
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=84473813&sale=90820884&country=england
January, £350k - "done".
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=63241083&sale=11034592&country=england
October 2019, £340k - "done".

Things have gone quiet now viewing wise, but it was getting people in the door initially. That was still summer.

So people were seeing the details, liking enough to view, then going off it once they saw the reality.
That would tend to suggest that the "bit dated" in the pics was actually being a bit flattering...

<£10k would see GCH and a quick inoffensive redecorate. He's already knocked £10k off the asking, and still not got any interest...

Scotbot

Decor as mentioned is dated. A key thing that would put me off is no window in the downstairs bedroom other than the one into conservatory.  So no privacy not ideal for a bedroom.
The pine in the conservatory looks naff and I  suspect it looks evrn worse in real life. The garden is unloved.

RelievedSheff

AdrianC said:

Davesnave said:

To answer a few questions, I'd say the outlook is preserved and my friend thinks there is enough leeway in the price to allow for the CH and updating of kitchen, bathroom etc, as similar properties have gone for around £375k this year. However, they may not have come with the landscaping challenges of this one.

Hmm... Immediate locality sales of similar...
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=84473813&sale=90820884&country=england
January, £350k - "done".
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=63241083&sale=11034592&country=england
October 2019, £340k - "done".

Things have gone quiet now viewing wise, but it was getting people in the door initially. That was still summer.

So people were seeing the details, liking enough to view, then going off it once they saw the reality.
That would tend to suggest that the "bit dated" in the pics was actually being a bit flattering...

<£10k would see GCH and a quick inoffensive redecorate. He's already knocked £10k off the asking, and still not got any interest...

Those examples would seem to suggest that this property is quite overpriced and that the £300k offer they had on the table was a fair offer.

theoretica

I have a personal dislike of estate agents blurbs which like this one say 'view early' or otherwise imply it will sell quickly and expects competition among buyers when it clearly hasn't.  Makes me worry about dealing with an unrealistic seller/agent.  A small thing and more easily changed perhaps than things about the house.

getmore4less

Not done a more like this for a while.

3mile radius  for sale/SSTC 
no shortage of buyers at that price point even in 2 beds

price	2bed	3bed	4bed+
250-300	23/38	32/41	6/9
250-325	32/49	35/63	6/18
250-350	38/56	51/82	8/24

there was a 4 bed on that road for £10k more(2 agents)
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/78333031#/
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76127595#/

MovingForwards

Oddly enough I've been looking at that style if I do move up the ladder, gardens are not always a decent size though.

The dated / needing modernising look wouldn't put me off but the electric heating and stairs to the garden would be the reasons I wouldn't look.

Having a quick browse at the other local ones for sale, being cheaper and not detached, I would have picked from one of them as they had more potential.

It does appear to be overpriced and not offering enough to justify it.

phoebe1989seb

The cottage we purchased in early 2018 has 9 steps to the front door (due to an ancient undercroft) and I believe that is one of the reasons the property took so long to find a buyer.....although it also had no water supply and required the drilling of a borehole 

It was on (and off) the market for several years, during which time it was occasionally tenanted before eventually being repossessed in 2017.

Internally the layout was awful too - the middle of three original bedrooms upstairs (well, actually it was originally a mill with no habitable rooms) had been converted to a huge, windowless shower room in the '90s and on the ground floor the rooms seemed badly thought out and unsuited to their purpose.

By the time we bought it, the price had been reduced by £125k and speaking to various local people who had previously viewed, the primary reasons for it not selling were....

a) access/layout (inside and out)
b) the completely overgrown 0.5+ acre grounds
c) in this location new builds are preferred as they are considered a status symbol 🙄
d) lack of water supply
e) price 

We knew it was a *marmite* property, but took it on knowing we had the cash available to completely restore it, reconfigure the layout plus add character features (internally there were none) and that eventually we'd have a non-listed period cottage in a good location, designed to our own personal taste 

Like your friend's house, Dave, ours is in a great location, but even that couldn't persuade anyone locally to buy.

Given the sold prices quoted by other posters, I'd say your friend's house is definitely overpriced for a project property..... which
I'd say it is given that it requires more than a mere refresh. Coupled with the access and garden issues £300k seems more realistic to me......