Help with selling a bungalow - advice needed

fackers_2

Sunnyday65 said:

Hi All,

My mother-in-law is selling her bungalow and moving to be closer to family.

Her bungalow has been up for sale for a few months and she's only had 1 viewing despite dropping the price etc.        I can see from other posts that if I post a link to it on here then some posters may have some advice for us as to what to change in the listing or anything etc.

I can't post a link as I'm a new user but if you go on rightmove and search for YO16 7HU it's the one that is currently up for £260,000

I really appreciate any help.

Thanks

Steve

looking at the first picture, the house looks all unsymmetrical and 'wonky', a very odd angle to photograph. I'd ask the agents to remove that image and make the image which is including the garage the main pic, much more appealing as the property overall seems decent with a large garden. Just that initial image is off-putting.

Can't stand "offers over" too, just makes me think the seller is difficult.

youth_leader

I was persuaded to advertise as 'offers over'.  My original EA had advised I go on at £500K, three months later advised I drop to £450K.  I did get an offer of £390K which I accepted,  but I complained to the EA I had hoped to get at least £400K.   Without my permission she asked the buyer to increase his offer, and he withdrew. 

I left this EA and signed up with another, who knew my disappointment at being 'overvalued' - she suggested I relist at offers over £400K.  First offer was £365K from a cash buyer, he withdrew.  Second offer was £355K from a mortgage buyer, following the survey he offered £305K.  I'd lost a virtual £195K and the lower numbers completely changed my future plans.  Second buyer was a chancer looking for every opportunity to chip the price down.  I didn't trust him at all and I withdrew from the sale.

I never really knew what my 'unique' house was worth and eventually sold it for a song for my freedom from the worry of it.  I do wish I had paid for a mortgage survey and had a valuation before I went on the market.

fackers_2

youth_leader said:

I was persuaded to advertise as 'offers over'.  My original EA had advised I go on at £500K, three months later advised I drop to £450K.  I did get an offer of £390K which I accepted,  but I complained to the EA I had hoped to get at least £400K.   Without my permission she asked the buyer to increase his offer, and he withdrew. 

I left this EA and signed up with another, who knew my disappointment at being 'overvalued' - she suggested I relist at offers over £400K.  First offer was £365K from a cash buyer, he withdrew.  Second offer was £355K from a mortgage buyer, following the survey he offered £305K.  I'd lost a virtual £195K and the lower numbers completely changed my future plans.  Second buyer was a chancer looking for every opportunity to chip the price down.  I didn't trust him at all and I withdrew from the sale.

I never really knew what my 'unique' house was worth and eventually sold it for a song for my freedom from the worry of it.  I do wish I had paid for a mortgage survey and had a valuation before I went on the market.

Awful, sorry to hear this experience.  I highly recommend anyone selling to provide a RICS survey upfront to save any hassle and issues later down the road, similar to the Scottish system.

RAS

youth_leader said:

Very well presented, great you have the essential floor plan and EPC. ...............

 I've had a google for sold prices and see a 3 bed detached with a fantastic garden up the road went in May 2022 for £267K - the market was very different then.   House Prices in YO16 7HU (rightmove.co.uk)

The second and third bedrooms in that house are larger, one being a double room, and the garden is lovely rather than gravel and "cloud pruning".

It also has direct access from the lounge to the garden.

With respect to MIL's house, my eye was immediately drawn to the ancillary heating? 

And it is very grey. A lot could be done with a few bright highlights, cushion covers, a sea view or two from a charity shop, flowers. Think teal, yellow or orange. 

Also the garden looks tired. There are a few pots and planters. Make use of them.

lika_86

I don't think you can price based on 2022 sold prices, we're in a different market now, although the advantage with a bungalow is presumably your market will be an older buyer perhaps less reliant upon a mortgage.

The things that stuck out to me were:
- it's not clear if the drive is a full drive, it looks short on the photo but that may be the effect of the lens;

- the only shower is a shower you have to step up into (rather than level access), for anyone looking at this as a retirement property, they'll probably be looking to replace that so will factor it in;

- the gravel garden is not particularly appealing, and I'd be factoring the cost of removal and replacement with turf.

Overall I think it's not badly presented (I might have cut off the no-smoking labels from one of the armchairs for the virtual tour!) and it'll likely sell but the lack of viewings suggest it's just a tad overpriced.

carefullycautious

The outside photo needs to be changed. If I had seen this on Rightmove I would have discarded it without looking inside.  I agree with above that the picture makes it look like a 1 bed tiny unusual shaped bungalow. 

Looking inside there is nothing wrong with it.  

So you need to show if it has a driveway/garage? as this is the first thing I would want.

Good luck

Titus_Wadd

It looks lovely and the street view gives a much better impression, so I'd try changing the opening or lead photo to give a better first impression by having the frontage photo retaken.  Perhaps adding a slightly wider shot to show the spacing of the bungalows along the curve of the road slightly. 

Around 2000 (down here where I live at least) the new estates had houses tightly packed along narrow roads; by 2015 onwards, the same developers realised that slightly tweaking the spacing and road width made a difference to their appeal and tempt folk to buy a new build over a 10 year old house only a few hundred metres away.  Your MIL's house doesn't look tightly packed with the others from the street view.  If I were buying it and on a limited budget, I'd paint the kitchen myself and postpone fitting a new one. I doubt spending time or money doing it to sell would make much difference.

Best of luck.

BungalowBel

I am in my 70s and live in a bungalow.

Inside, it is perfectly fine, although a bit dated.  I like the fact it has a third bedroom and a second toilet.

However, I don't like the outside.  It is very overlooked and the living room overlooks a garage.

This would put me off it and I probably wouldn't even look at it.

However, some people might not mind these things.  I just think that it might take slightly longer to sell because of them.

I wish you success in your sale.

Sunnyday65

Many thanks for all the replies.    We're reading each one and working out what to do.   Thanks again.

Flugelhorn

lika_86 said:

I
- the gravel garden is not particularly appealing, and I'd be factoring the cost of removal and replacement with turf.

it is interesting - I looked at it and thought what a lovely garden! Having got rid of my awful turf and replaced it with gravel, I am quite a fan of it - concentrates on the plants and not doing battle with the grass.