Unable to sell house

Cloth_of_Gold

Bailey1980 said:

Thank you for this; I've always liked radiator covers and I am looking to see if I can find ones already painted a neutral colour for a reasonable price. 

For the rug, I was thinking of a pastel colour, the sofa I've managed to get is on the darker side of grey but was going to jazz it up with some coloured cushions, maybe yellow as grey and yellow do seem to work together but may be overkill with the yellow on the front of the house! 

I was going to get some window boxes for the front and maybe some tall potted plants either side of the front door. 

Radiator covers: I think that's a good idea but if you can't it's not that important.

Don't overthink it! No one is going to worry about cushions, which they won't be getting anyway, being the same colour as the exterior. Grey will go with most colours so as long as your cushions aren't too bright or have a very bold pattern they should be fine; just make sure they don't clash with the rug. It's just about making the place feel more like a home and giving a bit of colour to offset all the neutral colours everywhere else.

I agree with what others say about the price - just list it for £175K, if that's the price you have decided on.

The other agents you have consulted sound as if they are giving good advice.

You have a great house and it's a good price and the buying season is about to begin so I'm sure it will sell soon. Have faith!

Bailey1980

Bonniepurple said:

The more I read, the more I wonder a couple of things.  Firstly, *have* there been any actual viewings, given that there’s been limited feedback until recently.  Secondly, it’s reading very much like the current agents have got someone interested who can’t afford the house as is, but would if it had all the “improvements” done AND the price dropped.

I suspect that you will sell quickly with the new agent.  As you’re not there, ask the new EA for some form of confirmation of viewing (I know that data protection comes in, but surely first initial and circumstances would be okay (J, single, 3 children)?  I suspect that agent 1 would have had the same person viewing (J, single, 2 kids, K, single, 2 kids, L, single, 2 kids) who wants a house with new carpets, doors and shower.

Thanks for this. The current agent we are leaving was always sending through via email  the viewing appointments which included the person's name and the date/time of the viewing. 

Any feedback they managed to get was emailed to us but it always said that such and such is of the view it needs too much work. After the first five times this feedback was received I called the estate agent and asked if there was anything specific work wise people felt needed doing to help inform us, all we got told was that it wasn't to the viewers own personal taste and the EA specifically told us that there was nothing we could/should do to the property and to leave it as is. 

Anyway there were more viewings with the same non-specific feedback, again I called and got told the same thing which was just before Xmas and they said things go a bit quiet viewing wise around that time which we expected. 

Price dropped slightly on boxing day as we know the busiest period on rightmove is between boxing day and new years. 

Some more viewings, not too many though, but again the same non-specific feedback and it was here I then called and got asked "if they could be brutally honest" and listed all the work and that even with that work we needed to reduce the price and were unwilling to reduce unless we did all the work. I queried why all of this alleged work was not told to us previously and got a very vague, unsatisfactory answer. 

So I arranged to go to the property myself the following week and admittedly I spotted some minor things, but I was being super super picky and had other agents come in to value it as well as seeking advice from the forum. Some of the forumnites did pick up on things I didn't think was an issue when it went on the market such as the hallway radiator and bathroom mirror. Interestingly the estate agent only mentioned the bathroom mirror. 

A couple of viewings took place after I made a list of the tweaks we were going to do and we let the estate agent know so they could pass it on, but we had no feedback so....

robatwork

That's twice you've used the phrase "brutally honest" and "estate agent" in the same sentence.

I suspect that very occasionally EAs are honest. But not often. Brutally so? Rarer still. Just take what they say with a dump truck of salt, and trust this forum and your friends. 

BobT36

"We have had a couple of other agents out who have all said it is priced right, but suggested some minor tweaks to make it more sellable - nothing major or on the full scale that the current agent has recommended."
Clearly not else it would have sold already! 

Also yes just the flat fee, all the silly "offers over" etc. are irrelevant, I'd still offer under (or over) based on the worth. 

amandaleeds

MorningcoffeeIV said:

Bailey1980 said:

Hi there

We've had our house on the market for. about 3 and a half months and have had over 20 viewings but no offers. 

The estate agent valued it at £195K but given the state of the market/mortgages it went on for offers in excess of £180K. 

After Christmas it was reduced slightly, albeit not by much - offers in the region of £178K but despite continued viewings, still no offers. 

We've spoken to the estate agents on at least five separate occasions about what the feedback has been and each time they have said that it just hasn't been to each individual potential buyer's personal taste which isn't something we can really do anything about. 

I spoke to the estate agent earlier this week (different person who I had previously spoken to and who has apparently carried out some of the viewings). They said that in order for us to sell it we need to replace all of the bedroom carpets (3 bedrooms) and the carpet on the stairs and landing, replace all of the internal doors, install a new shower and a new bathroom mirror as well as deep cleaning the bathroom and de-odourising the house as there is apparently a pet smell and once all that is done, the price needs to be reduced to £175K and if don't do any of this then we have to reduce it to £170K. 

The house however has been vacant since September 2023 and it was re-painted throughout an off white colour and we had it deep cleaned (all done by professionals which we paid a fair penny for)  before it went on the market so we are a bit skeptical about the alleged smell and needing to deep clean the bathroom. We checked it over after it had been deep cleaned and it was absolutely spotless and no sign of any smell, but apparently that is no longer the case. 

There's a couple of issues, firstly, the issue with the feedback being it's not to buyer's personal tastes for the last 3 and half months but now it's being said that there's all these issues. 

The second is cost, if we reduce to £170K we won't break even on what we paid for the house and what we invested in it (new kitchen, external wall insulation etc) but if we do all the work the estate agent has now told us we need to do and we reduce it to £175k again we won't break even. 

New internal doors throughout including labour and materials is about £800 - £1000. 
New carpets including installation we have worked it out to be roughly £500. 
New electric shower plus installation looks to be about £200-£400 
A further deepclean will be £200-£300. 

I guess we are just really struggling with what to do. 

You wouldn't necessarily expect to break even, depending on how long you've owned it. 

You don't get to add on the cost of things like a new kitchen to the selling price.  It just makes it a bit more attractive to buyers 

That's interesting, as I'm looking at a house which is feel is 10% over priced, and the sellers and EA are arguing that their estimated increase in value of 90k over the past 3 years since purchase is due to the work they've done on it. I can see maybe 30-40k of work max, and the kitchen (whilst lovely) has been designed with a poor layout, limited worktop space and cramped area for a dining table. I'd also need to repaint over some of their tastes and add carpet in some rooms. The 3rd bedroom and bathroom is very small, and garage isn't big enough for a modern car. It would be fine for me, but might be a bit cramped for a family.

My previous home could have done with a more modern kitchen, but I was warned against it as I was told it wouldn't add the value that I'd spent. 

amandaleeds

Bailey1980 said:

Photos of the house

Looks great to me, and carpet wouldn't put me off as I'd prefer to choose my own. I'd also prefer skirting board left unpainted.
I expect it's because it's unfurnished, so you can't sell a 'lifestyle' or make to look cozy or show the potential of the space e.g. can fit a king bed, dining table for 6 people etc