Advice needed on Selling Bungalow

tarsh

Hi everyone,

We’re trying to sell our bungalow in Essex, which we’ve lived in for 27 years & not having much luck. So looking for ideas on how to improve the situation.

We started with 4 Estate Agent valuations at the end of July 2022 & put it on the market with 1 of them at £525k which was around the top end of where they all valued it.

There were no viewings after 4 weeks, so we ended the sole agency agreement, had 4 further valuations to check we were in the right ballpark & signed with 3 other Estate Agents multi agency to try to cover a larger geographical area & hoped to pick up more people from out of our area, especially moving out of London.

This didn’t yield any more viewings, so we reduced to 2 Agents, as it was looking silly on Rightmove.

We have only had 6 viewings starting from 5th September with 1 Agent and 1 recent viewing with the other Agent. A guy who had a second viewing in September seemed very eager, but then the interest rates shot up & he said he’s going to leave it a year & keep renting. Other than that, there hasn’t been any useful feedback to be honest.

The price was reduced from £525k to £499k, then to £475k to £499 guide price & now it’s on at offers over £465k, this seems in line with other bungalows in the area. Each time we dropped, it only gave us 1 or 2 more viewings, so didn’t help much.

We realize the market dropped dramatically just after we put it on, with interest rate rises slowing things right down. Also it’s early in the year, so the quietest time, but it’s hard to be patient when it is so dead.

We’re now trying to decide if it’s worth changing anything in the bungalow to hopefully encourage more people to view.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125275571#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/126753767#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thanks for reading, any ideas?

babyblade41

I would stick to one agent, it's on RM so it has nationwide viewings, so visible to anyone looking in that location.

Photos are pretty good, nice & clear of clutter .

It does have some disabled facilities that might deter the odd buyer  so eventually it comes down to price I'm afraid.

You can hang on until the "one" comes along or reduce it for a lot more interest 

born_again

Nice looking home. as above not cluttered or odd décor. Bathroom could be a issue to some, but not a expensive fix.

Getting to the time of year now when people start to look at moving. So hang in there. 👍

youth_leader

Can you do anything to improve your EPC rating?  I wouldn't buy a D rated property with the energy prices as they are.

Otherwise it's a lovely home.

tarsh

Thanks for the replies & kind comments.

Yes, we realised the disabled facilities might put some people off & have told the Estate Agents when they conduct the viewings to tell viewers that the front door ramp is easily removed to reveal the existing steps.

The bathroom seat & hand rail can also be removed easily, with a couple of holes to fill.

We were also hoping they might attract some disabled viewers, as we look out for these things. We had a wheelchair user view it & they really liked it, but they couldn't afford it when they went home & 'crunched the numbers'.

We have said that we would remove both these things for any buyer who needs it, but so far no-one has mentioned them.

As for the price, we are monitoring the prices where we want to move to & some of them have dropped, which is why we have dropped ours to try to match, if that makes sense.

Never really thought about the EPC, I'll have a look, thanks for the idea.

propertyrental

I had the opposite problem so I'm surprised.

I agreed a purchase but had to wait 9 months (yes, really!) for them to find a bungalow. They seems to be in high demand and short supply.

diystarter7

Hi
Lovely home but some negatives

We are all different and nno one wakes up in the morning thinking I'm going to buy that house

Off putting: The disabled access shower room, pusts people off as diffuclt to keep floor like new and may remind them of clincical settings

Too many gardens joining your fence

Over looked

Station a bit far

Kitchen dated

The price you are asking is too high IMO if it had a shower/bath modern and a kitchen and have tress along the boundary so garden is not overlooked like that then IMO it iis worth 500+ all day long


Advantages - nice property

Bunglaow has charachter as does garden and drove

Like our house, bright and airy and masses of glass

Parking fr several cars

Seems like good area

Potential for massive new modern kitchn and bathroom/shower

As it is, target market, is the elderly/frail and possibly at least one with fraility and using a frame to wlak, wheelchair or heading that way.

If done up or at least the bathroom redone and I can see from the bed lever why you have that shower room, if done us as suggested then 525 all day long

IMO, you have to lower price or spend time and money on it


I hope I've not offeend you and the area where is is not for me, becuse like most i like where we live south of river - but if I lived around there and was considering a bungalow, I'd buy it as long as some shops within few mins walking sitance ie 10/12 mins

Good luck - it is a nice property.

Wyndham

It's listed as three bedrooms, but it's more like two as bedroom 2 and 3 are open to each other. And yes, you could put a wall in (and each room already has it's own door), but it's another thing on the 'to do' list. If a buyer is looking for three bedrooms, they generally want three self contained rooms.

Personally I think it's a great use of space, and do like it, but I'd be looking for a bedroom and an office space, so wouldn't mind the combination. If I had two teenagers who both wanted their own space though, it would be a very different matter.

tarsh

Thanks again for the replies.

We thought being a bungalow, it would be in demand & most of the viewers have said they have someone with mobility issues who would either live with them or visit, so we're still hopeful on that front.

Lots to think about there, no offence taken, all comments welcome.

There's not much we can do with the bathroom, as we need to use it while we live here. We did have the original hospital style flooring replaced with a nicer version.

We thought about replacing the kitchen, but the Estate Agents say don't bother as people will want to put their own one in anyway. Maybe we could just paint or replace the cupboard doors to make it look fresher.

The bedrooms were split when our son lived here, but we took it down to give my daughter more room when he moved out. It's only a stud wall & we have told the Estate Agents to tell viewers that we are willing to put it back if required.

Before we decided to move away from the area we were going to look at extending out of the front, as we are way behind the building line & some of the viewers are interested in this, as well as building into the loft.

diystarter7

Thanks OP

I dont trust EA's but about telling you not to change kitchen etc, I'm with them

Good luck

youth_leader

Good luck OP, the market will pick up in the spring, it is worth waiting for 'the one'. 

I hope you are out and about 'looking' so you can look in earnest and complete the chain quickly once you've received an offer.  My friend has offered on two bungalows and two sellers (one couple, one widow) have withdrawn after her waiting patiently for months, because they couldn't find anywhere.  She lost her buyer the second time, very frustrating.

You do occupy a great plot and I'm sure someone will buy it for the land.