House Viewings Gone Stale - Opinions Please

korabiowski

getmore4less said:

korabiowski said:

getmore4less said:

Opinions are good as a guide to what local people might be thinking but often misses some of the local info on why something might be cheap or expensive.

 
That's why I like to start with the numbers and just do a what are people buying.

Stick the house in the centre and get a sample size by growing the radius
(with a bit of local I might have done a draw area to include more of the the coast as well)

I think covid has skewed the numbers a bit as places do seem to be taking longer to complete

You get a good idea of the volumes from the for sale/SSTC and when you do the full matrix you can see where the ceiling prices are for a type and from the maps where people are buying.

with the sold follow through you can look for more comparisons and often map them back onto asking if the links are still live.

there is a lot more SSTC once you get under 250.
be interesting what the wider areas look like

The link I put up has 6 SSTC on the sea side of the man road between 270-290.

asking and first listed see better value in a few of those before you consider local location factors..

290 march
285 Sept
285 Sept
280 Feb
280 Feb
275 Nov

then for 270  jan but needs more research on location and they have squeezed a lot in.


The OP had no shortage of parking streetview has a caravan and 2 vans on the drive but a chuck of that is now garden.



doing the map thing brings in this for sale at £250

That's some serious insight into the market in our area thanks.

There are 2 of the houses you posted which were used as comparison when valuing ours.
They have both only sold recently, and one of them by our own appointed EA, so I'd like to think they have a decent inkling of the current value in the area. Hopefully they won't be proved wrong.

Just to confirm, that is an old street view, but there is a large paved area and 2 car driveway still present at the front of the house

Thanks again for your comments, much appreciated 👍

I could go back and analyse when you bought but I suspect the discount was potentially a lot to do with being overpriced at £235.

Thanks again for the reply.

Please don't spend precious time on my part.

Quickly looking, if you search for detached properties sold in the area in 2019, the prices vary massively, however it stands out there are 2 bed bungalows sold for over £230k.

It's all a guess really, and the uniqueness/quirkiness of our house makes it even harder.

phoebe1989seb

korabiowski said:

getmore4less said:

korabiowski said:

getmore4less said:

Opinions are good as a guide to what local people might be thinking but often misses some of the local info on why something might be cheap or expensive.

 
That's why I like to start with the numbers and just do a what are people buying.

Stick the house in the centre and get a sample size by growing the radius
(with a bit of local I might have done a draw area to include more of the the coast as well)

I think covid has skewed the numbers a bit as places do seem to be taking longer to complete

You get a good idea of the volumes from the for sale/SSTC and when you do the full matrix you can see where the ceiling prices are for a type and from the maps where people are buying.

with the sold follow through you can look for more comparisons and often map them back onto asking if the links are still live.

there is a lot more SSTC once you get under 250.
be interesting what the wider areas look like

The link I put up has 6 SSTC on the sea side of the man road between 270-290.

asking and first listed see better value in a few of those before you consider local location factors..

290 march
285 Sept
285 Sept
280 Feb
280 Feb
275 Nov

then for 270  jan but needs more research on location and they have squeezed a lot in.


The OP had no shortage of parking streetview has a caravan and 2 vans on the drive but a chuck of that is now garden.



doing the map thing brings in this for sale at £250

That's some serious insight into the market in our area thanks.

There are 2 of the houses you posted which were used as comparison when valuing ours.
They have both only sold recently, and one of them by our own appointed EA, so I'd like to think they have a decent inkling of the current value in the area. Hopefully they won't be proved wrong.

Just to confirm, that is an old street view, but there is a large paved area and 2 car driveway still present at the front of the house

Thanks again for your comments, much appreciated 👍

I could go back and analyse when you bought but I suspect the discount was potentially a lot to do with being overpriced at £235.

Thanks again for the reply.

Please don't spend precious time on my part.

Quickly looking, if you search for detached properties sold in the area in 2019, the prices vary massively, however it stands out there are 2 bed bungalows sold for over £230k.

It's all a guess really, and the uniqueness/quirkiness of our house makes it even harder.

You hit the nail on the head wrt it being quirky and therefore more of a niche market/potentially smaller pool of buyers.

We've owned a few such properties over the years and definitely found we got less viewings (and some were merely curious 🙄) and that most estate agents - including the so called local *experts* - struggled to pitch the price correctly in the first instance.

In addition, the fact that we'd spent a certain amount on renovations didn't necessarily equate to an increase in value of the same or greater sum. 

One property where we spent approximately £45k on a new in-frame kitchen, two new bathrooms, partial rewire, decorating throughout and garden landscaping, we actually sold for £25k less than our original purchase price.

Another, we added a huge kitchen extension, three new bathrooms (where there were two ancient ones originally), new flooring, complete rewire, new heating system etc. We spent £100k+ and sold for £135k above our initial purchase price.

Yet another underwent a complete refurb and sold for 5x our purchase price ten years later!!!

These were all *one-off* houses that sold after less than six viewings. Each time we priced realistically, going - like yourselves - with the lower estimate.

The one where we *lost* money we knew prices had dropped/we'd slightly overpaid and tbh we were very keen to sell so prepared to take a hit on the price we achieved. We paid £285k, priced it at £260k and accepted an asking price offer within ten days. Obviously we could have tried to get more but as I said we were wanting to move quickly.

If you aren't in a mad rush and are prepared to wait it out, that's your decision obviously 😉

Imho, the outside lets it down and with the warmer weather hopefully coming and people spending more time in the garden, I'd definitely be looking to improve the space you have with some colour....sell the lifestyle and all that, lol!

Good luck and hope you find the right buyer soon!

korabiowski

phoebe1989seb said:

korabiowski said:

getmore4less said:

korabiowski said:

getmore4less said:

Opinions are good as a guide to what local people might be thinking but often misses some of the local info on why something might be cheap or expensive.

 
That's why I like to start with the numbers and just do a what are people buying.

Stick the house in the centre and get a sample size by growing the radius
(with a bit of local I might have done a draw area to include more of the the coast as well)

I think covid has skewed the numbers a bit as places do seem to be taking longer to complete

You get a good idea of the volumes from the for sale/SSTC and when you do the full matrix you can see where the ceiling prices are for a type and from the maps where people are buying.

with the sold follow through you can look for more comparisons and often map them back onto asking if the links are still live.

there is a lot more SSTC once you get under 250.
be interesting what the wider areas look like

The link I put up has 6 SSTC on the sea side of the man road between 270-290.

asking and first listed see better value in a few of those before you consider local location factors..

290 march
285 Sept
285 Sept
280 Feb
280 Feb
275 Nov

then for 270  jan but needs more research on location and they have squeezed a lot in.


The OP had no shortage of parking streetview has a caravan and 2 vans on the drive but a chuck of that is now garden.



doing the map thing brings in this for sale at £250

That's some serious insight into the market in our area thanks.

There are 2 of the houses you posted which were used as comparison when valuing ours.
They have both only sold recently, and one of them by our own appointed EA, so I'd like to think they have a decent inkling of the current value in the area. Hopefully they won't be proved wrong.

Just to confirm, that is an old street view, but there is a large paved area and 2 car driveway still present at the front of the house

Thanks again for your comments, much appreciated 👍

I could go back and analyse when you bought but I suspect the discount was potentially a lot to do with being overpriced at £235.

Thanks again for the reply.

Please don't spend precious time on my part.

Quickly looking, if you search for detached properties sold in the area in 2019, the prices vary massively, however it stands out there are 2 bed bungalows sold for over £230k.

It's all a guess really, and the uniqueness/quirkiness of our house makes it even harder.

You hit the nail on the head wrt it being quirky and therefore more of a niche market/potentially smaller pool of buyers.

We've owned a few such properties over the years and definitely found we got less viewings (and some were merely curious 🙄) and that most estate agents - including the so called local *experts* - struggled to pitch the price correctly in the first instance.

In addition, the fact that we'd spent a certain amount on renovations didn't necessarily equate to an increase in value of the same or greater sum. 

One property where we spent approximately £45k on a new in-frame kitchen, two new bathrooms, partial rewire, decorating throughout and garden landscaping, we actually sold for £25k less than our original purchase price.

Another, we added a huge kitchen extension, three new bathrooms (where there were two ancient ones originally), new flooring, complete rewire, new heating system etc. We spent £100k+ and sold for £135k above our initial purchase price.

Yet another underwent a complete refurb and sold for 5x our purchase price ten years later.....

These were all *one-off* houses that sold after less than six viewings. Each time we priced realistically, going - like yourselves - with the lower estimate.

The one where we *lost* money we knew prices had dropped/we'd slightly overpaid and tbh we were very keen to sell so prepared to take a hit on the price we achieved. We paid £285k, priced it at £260k and accepted an asking price offer within ten days. Obviously we could have tried to get more but as I said we were wanting to move quickly.

If you aren't in a mad rush and are prepared to wait it out, that's your decision obviously 😉

Imho, the outside lets it down and with the warmer weather hopefully coming and people spending more time in the garden, I'd definitely be looking to improve the space you have with some colour....sell the lifestyle and all that, lol!

Good luck and hope you find the right buyer soon!

Thanks for this, pretty much sums up our situation.

The preference would be to sell asap, as we want to move closer to family, however we are not going to just give away a house that we honestly love just to do that.
Unless we get a fair offer, which we are open to mind, then we would be more than happy to stay for the foreseeable.

The house simply isn't your typical 3/4 bed, and as you say, this will probably lose us 70%+ of potential buyers.
But we originally saw past the upgrade works that were needed when we viewed it, and it ticked all our boxes on that basis.

I'm confident it will tick other peoples boxes also, but it will just take more time to find them🤞

Thanks again

Cakeguts

When you spent money doing the house up you bought a new kitchen and bathroom.  The bathroom fittings that you bought were new to you and so was the kitchen.  However you are not selling a new kitchen and bathroom you are selling a second hand kitchen and bathroom and any other improvements you made.  So work out how much you would pay for your kitchen and bathrooms now they are second hand because that is what you are selling. They aren't new anymore you have used them.

You may have spent £80k doing the place up but that £80k is on items that were new retail prices. You are selling second hand.  No one is going to pay new price for second hand items. 

Decorations and what you have done to the garden are your taste.  There is no guarantee that anyone will pay extra for your taste. You may have retiled and painted the house but the next person could easily not like what you have done and want to change it all.  They aren't going to pay you a lot of money for your taste if they know that they are going to replace it all.

I find the fact that there is no downstairs toilet and two very strange bathroom arrangements upstairs a bit offputting.  It looks as if the main bathroom is a shower room and the ensuite is a bathroom but there is no door between the bathroom and the main bedroom so the house is not finished it needs some more money spent on it to sort the bathroom arrangement out. 

korabiowski

Cakeguts said:

When you spent money doing the house up you bought a new kitchen and bathroom.  The bathroom fittings that you bought were new to you and so was the kitchen.  However you are not selling a new kitchen and bathroom you are selling a second hand kitchen and bathroom and any other improvements you made.  So work out how much you would pay for your kitchen and bathrooms now they are second hand because that is what you are selling. They aren't new anymore you have used them.

You may have spent £80k doing the place up but that £80k is on items that were new retail prices. You are selling second hand.  No one is going to pay new price for second hand items. 

Decorations and what you have done to the garden are your taste.  There is no guarantee that anyone will pay extra for your taste. You may have retiled and painted the house but the next person could easily not like what you have done and want to change it all.  They aren't going to pay you a lot of money for your taste if they know that they are going to replace it all.

I find the fact that there is no downstairs toilet and two very strange bathroom arrangements upstairs a bit offputting.  It looks as if the main bathroom is a shower room and the ensuite is a bathroom but there is no door between the bathroom and the main bedroom so the house is not finished it needs some more money spent on it to sort the bathroom arrangement out. 

Thanks for the comments.

Appreciate the bathrooms aren't to everyone's taste, but it works for us

What I am really struggling to understand is that the majority of people are saying we are over valuing the upgrade works we have done since buying. The house was a mess when we bought it, believe me!!

If there was no previous records of what we paid for the house 2 years ago, would anyone be batting an eyelid? Probably not to the extreme that people have.

We have purely put the house on the market below the advised 'current' price provided by 3 reputable local estate agents. If this is too high, then we will find out in a few weeks time, and kick ourselves.

However, the price we paid 2 years ago, and the amount we have spent upgrading since, is irrelevant in my opinion.

Thanks again

Irishpearce26

korabiowski said:

Cakeguts said:

When you spent money doing the house up you bought a new kitchen and bathroom.  The bathroom fittings that you bought were new to you and so was the kitchen.  However you are not selling a new kitchen and bathroom you are selling a second hand kitchen and bathroom and any other improvements you made.  So work out how much you would pay for your kitchen and bathrooms now they are second hand because that is what you are selling. They aren't new anymore you have used them.

You may have spent £80k doing the place up but that £80k is on items that were new retail prices. You are selling second hand.  No one is going to pay new price for second hand items. 

Decorations and what you have done to the garden are your taste.  There is no guarantee that anyone will pay extra for your taste. You may have retiled and painted the house but the next person could easily not like what you have done and want to change it all.  They aren't going to pay you a lot of money for your taste if they know that they are going to replace it all.

I find the fact that there is no downstairs toilet and two very strange bathroom arrangements upstairs a bit offputting.  It looks as if the main bathroom is a shower room and the ensuite is a bathroom but there is no door between the bathroom and the main bedroom so the house is not finished it needs some more money spent on it to sort the bathroom arrangement out. 

Thanks for the comments.

Appreciate the bathrooms aren't to everyone's taste, but it works for us

What I am really struggling to understand is that the majority of people are saying we are over valuing the upgrade works we have done since buying. The house was a mess when we bought it, believe me!!

If there was no previous records of what we paid for the house 2 years ago, would anyone be batting an eyelid? Probably not to the extreme that people have.

We have purely put the house on the market below the advised 'current' price provided by 3 reputable local estate agents. If this is too high, then we will find out in a few weeks time, and kick ourselves.

However, the price we paid 2 years ago, and the amount we have spent upgrading since, is irrelevant in my opinion.

Thanks again

Hi OP what is the total you have spent? As you say a new kitchen and landscaped garden, the main bathroom is the same as in 2013 according to the archive pictures so im guessing you updated the ensuite?

As I've said before its a nice house but I don't think it warrants £80k increase in value in less than 2 years even with the work you've done. We are all sellers and buyers and can only give you our honest opinion. The fact you have had no offers show for me its not the house you may think it is and may need to be realistic on the price to move. You say in a lot of your posts not everyone's taste but works for us, another flag as to why i think its over priced.

Looking at your RM advert and the archived pictures i would take a guess that you have spent £15-20K tops which would maybe warrant a £30k increase tops. 

ElizabethRose

korabiowski said:

 The house was a mess when we bought it, believe me!!

If there was no previous records of what we paid for the house 2 years ago, would anyone be batting an eyelid? Probably not to the extreme that people have.

We have purely put the house on the market below the advised 'current' price provided by 3 reputable local estate agents. If this is too high, then we will find out in a few weeks time, and kick ourselves.

The pictures on rightmove of the previous sale don't suggest a mess, yes the kitchen was dated but I've bought worse. I do think the bathroom situation with the master bedroom will be off putting for most and it was different when you bought it.

I've had my house valued in the past as we were considering our options and two of three estate agents gave us valuations which were ridiculous just to try and get us on their books. If we'd gone with the top valuation our house would have sat on the market as even by my own research they were over valuing. Also if you have a more unique house it is harder to value which also creates issues. 

I do wish you the best but it's a unique house which won't appeal to most families and you need to price accordingly. 

korabiowski

Irishpearce26 said:

korabiowski said:

Cakeguts said:

When you spent money doing the house up you bought a new kitchen and bathroom.  The bathroom fittings that you bought were new to you and so was the kitchen.  However you are not selling a new kitchen and bathroom you are selling a second hand kitchen and bathroom and any other improvements you made.  So work out how much you would pay for your kitchen and bathrooms now they are second hand because that is what you are selling. They aren't new anymore you have used them.

You may have spent £80k doing the place up but that £80k is on items that were new retail prices. You are selling second hand.  No one is going to pay new price for second hand items. 

Decorations and what you have done to the garden are your taste.  There is no guarantee that anyone will pay extra for your taste. You may have retiled and painted the house but the next person could easily not like what you have done and want to change it all.  They aren't going to pay you a lot of money for your taste if they know that they are going to replace it all.

I find the fact that there is no downstairs toilet and two very strange bathroom arrangements upstairs a bit offputting.  It looks as if the main bathroom is a shower room and the ensuite is a bathroom but there is no door between the bathroom and the main bedroom so the house is not finished it needs some more money spent on it to sort the bathroom arrangement out. 

Thanks for the comments.

Appreciate the bathrooms aren't to everyone's taste, but it works for us

What I am really struggling to understand is that the majority of people are saying we are over valuing the upgrade works we have done since buying. The house was a mess when we bought it, believe me!!

If there was no previous records of what we paid for the house 2 years ago, would anyone be batting an eyelid? Probably not to the extreme that people have.

We have purely put the house on the market below the advised 'current' price provided by 3 reputable local estate agents. If this is too high, then we will find out in a few weeks time, and kick ourselves.

However, the price we paid 2 years ago, and the amount we have spent upgrading since, is irrelevant in my opinion.

Thanks again

Hi OP what is the total you have spent? As you say a new kitchen and landscaped garden, the main bathroom is the same as in 2013 according to the archive pictures so im guessing you updated the ensuite?

As I've said before its a nice house but I don't think it warrants £80k increase in value in less than 2 years even with the work you've done. We are all sellers and buyers and can only give you our honest opinion. The fact you have had no offers show for me its not the house you may think it is and may need to be realistic on the price to move. You say in a lot of your posts not everyone's taste but works for us, another flag as to why i think its over priced.

Looking at your RM advert and the archived pictures i would take a guess that you have spent £15-20K tops which would maybe warrant a £30k increase tops. 

We fully reconfigured both Bathrooms, and there was only 1 toilet in the house, and we've added a shower enclosure as you can see.

The Kitchen needed everything, including taking the ceiling up to pitched roof.

The garden/fencing was a major job as you can hopefully see

Rough figures on 'main works' only :

Kitchen - 12k
Bathroom & Ensuite - 3k
Garden - 10k
French doors (to be done) 2k

I think we will just have to see what happens in the next few weeks.

Thanks again

Irishpearce26

korabiowski said:

Irishpearce26 said:

korabiowski said:

Cakeguts said:

When you spent money doing the house up you bought a new kitchen and bathroom.  The bathroom fittings that you bought were new to you and so was the kitchen.  However you are not selling a new kitchen and bathroom you are selling a second hand kitchen and bathroom and any other improvements you made.  So work out how much you would pay for your kitchen and bathrooms now they are second hand because that is what you are selling. They aren't new anymore you have used them.

You may have spent £80k doing the place up but that £80k is on items that were new retail prices. You are selling second hand.  No one is going to pay new price for second hand items. 

Decorations and what you have done to the garden are your taste.  There is no guarantee that anyone will pay extra for your taste. You may have retiled and painted the house but the next person could easily not like what you have done and want to change it all.  They aren't going to pay you a lot of money for your taste if they know that they are going to replace it all.

I find the fact that there is no downstairs toilet and two very strange bathroom arrangements upstairs a bit offputting.  It looks as if the main bathroom is a shower room and the ensuite is a bathroom but there is no door between the bathroom and the main bedroom so the house is not finished it needs some more money spent on it to sort the bathroom arrangement out. 

Thanks for the comments.

Appreciate the bathrooms aren't to everyone's taste, but it works for us

What I am really struggling to understand is that the majority of people are saying we are over valuing the upgrade works we have done since buying. The house was a mess when we bought it, believe me!!

If there was no previous records of what we paid for the house 2 years ago, would anyone be batting an eyelid? Probably not to the extreme that people have.

We have purely put the house on the market below the advised 'current' price provided by 3 reputable local estate agents. If this is too high, then we will find out in a few weeks time, and kick ourselves.

However, the price we paid 2 years ago, and the amount we have spent upgrading since, is irrelevant in my opinion.

Thanks again

Hi OP what is the total you have spent? As you say a new kitchen and landscaped garden, the main bathroom is the same as in 2013 according to the archive pictures so im guessing you updated the ensuite?

As I've said before its a nice house but I don't think it warrants £80k increase in value in less than 2 years even with the work you've done. We are all sellers and buyers and can only give you our honest opinion. The fact you have had no offers show for me its not the house you may think it is and may need to be realistic on the price to move. You say in a lot of your posts not everyone's taste but works for us, another flag as to why i think its over priced.

Looking at your RM advert and the archived pictures i would take a guess that you have spent £15-20K tops which would maybe warrant a £30k increase tops. 

We fully reconfigured both Bathrooms, and there was only 1 toilet in the house, and we've added a shower enclosure as you can see.

The Kitchen needed everything, including taking the ceiling up to pitched roof.

The garden/fencing was a major job as you can hopefully see

Rough figures on 'main works' only :

Kitchen - 12k
Bathroom & Ensuite - 3k
Garden - 10k
French doors (to be done) 2k

I think we will just have to see what happens in the next few weeks.

Thanks again

Thanks for the update which my observation stands. I think you are about £30k out on your valuation.

I hope it works out for you and will follow for interest. FYI your a good OP in terms of the mixed response, all the best.

GaleSF63

Webxite said:

If I was being really nitpicky, I'd move the chest of drawers from the foot of the bed as it's a little jarring and it makes me wonder if the house has a storage problem as there are lots of items of furniture in that room. But realistically do people decide not to view a house based on such small details? Probably not!

I also found that the chest of drawers at the foot of the bed jumped out rather. Could it be swapped with the  white chest for photographs and viewings? I don't know if it matters at all, but it draws the eye and seems to be the focus of the picture.

Not that it's much help as I'm obviously in a minority, but the wall wouldn't put me off in the slightest.

Roads on two sides would put me off. 

Being a "quirky" house means that there are quite a number of unusual/niche features and that may be the problem - you need someone who likes enough of those features that they will compromise on others, and that does limit your market considerably.