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Why is this house not selling

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  • moneysaver12
    moneysaver12 Posts: 2,088 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 30 August 2024 at 4:10PM
    daveyjp said:

    If the price doesn't reflect those costs a further price adjustment may be needed, but better photos may be a cheaper option.

    No, it won't.  A "good" price will compensate for a "bad" set of photos, but a good set of photos won't compensate for a bad price.  Drop £100k so it's £190k instead of £290k and you'll be shot of it within a month, regardless of the photos, parking, decor etc
    There is no way we would drop it that much.  Three bedroom semis are at least that price where I live.  There would be no point us selling it for that price then to buy a three bed semi
    There is an argument that you bought a 3 bed detached, but with some internal walls moved/added...
    It was an extension to the house,  not just some walls moved.  The previous owners had the extension done.  It was worth 160000 back in 2006 when the previous owners bought it as a three bed
    And 190k when you bought in 2016 as I 5-bed I assume.  I'm not sure there's been 50% price rise in the WF postcode since then.

    Looks like the extension was building on top of the garage?

    Three bed a mile away 315000

    Three bed up the road from us. £277500 Our house does have 4 bathrooms,  two are en-suite,  main bathroom and down stair toilet

    I think your house, if it was 3 bed, would be somewhere in between these.

    Problem is, you have 2 rooms that look like they couldn't possibly be bedrooms, 1 that seems to have a very slim single bed in, and one where it's hard to tell the room size because it's children's furniture.

    That 315k seems to have been built as a 4-bed, bedroom sizes 4.2m x 2.9m, 5.3m x 3.6m and 3.4m x 3.0m

    You have 3.1m x 2.9m as the biggest, then 3.1m x 2.6m and 4.3m x 2.2m (so a bit smaller but still 'bedrooms') - followed by 2.4m x 2.2m and 2.3m x 1.7m.

    If people come to yours expecting 5 bedrooms (or maybe even 4 + office), they will be instantly disappointed - unless they are a niche viewer who wants many smaller rooms because they have a lot of young children.
    Both children’s rooms have full size single beds in there.  The people that lived here before had one room with bunk beds and the other three with single beds and then the master bedroom.
    Married 09/09/09
  • moneysaver12
    moneysaver12 Posts: 2,088 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    daveyjp said:

    If the price doesn't reflect those costs a further price adjustment may be needed, but better photos may be a cheaper option.

    No, it won't.  A "good" price will compensate for a "bad" set of photos, but a good set of photos won't compensate for a bad price.  Drop £100k so it's £190k instead of £290k and you'll be shot of it within a month, regardless of the photos, parking, decor etc
    There is no way we would drop it that much.  Three bedroom semis are at least that price where I live.  There would be no point us selling it for that price then to buy a three bed semi
    There is an argument that you bought a 3 bed detached, but with some internal walls moved/added...
    It was an extension to the house,  not just some walls moved.  The previous owners had the extension done.  It was worth 160000 back in 2006 when the previous owners bought it as a three bed
    And 190k when you bought in 2016 as I 5-bed I assume.  I'm not sure there's been 50% price rise in the WF postcode since then.

    Looks like the extension was building on top of the garage?

    Three bed a mile away 315000

    Three bed up the road from us. £277500 Our house does have 4 bathrooms,  two are en-suite,  main bathroom and down stair toilet

    I think your house, if it was 3 bed, would be somewhere in between these.

    Problem is, you have 2 rooms that look like they couldn't possibly be bedrooms, 1 that seems to have a very slim single bed in, and one where it's hard to tell the room size because it's children's furniture.

    That 315k seems to have been built as a 4-bed, bedroom sizes 4.2m x 2.9m, 5.3m x 3.6m and 3.4m x 3.0m

    You have 3.1m x 2.9m as the biggest, then 3.1m x 2.6m and 4.3m x 2.2m (so a bit smaller but still 'bedrooms') - followed by 2.4m x 2.2m and 2.3m x 1.7m.

    If people come to yours expecting 5 bedrooms (or maybe even 4 + office), they will be instantly disappointed - unless they are a niche viewer who wants many smaller rooms because they have a lot of young children.
    The previous owners sold it for 225000 in a part exchange,  it had been on the market for that price.  The builders who bought it then listed it for 197500 and accepted 190000:  The builders part exchanged quite a few properties where I live then sold them on for less.
    Married 09/09/09
  • moneysaver12
    moneysaver12 Posts: 2,088 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Also to add a much smaller three bedroom than our house,  sold for 232000 2 years ago.  This particular house was built smaller than this house I’m living in,  for example it has stairs in living room,  kitchen is very small.   Compared to next door neighbours both sides our back garden is much bigger 
    Married 09/09/09
  • moneysaver12
    moneysaver12 Posts: 2,088 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Also thank you to everyone for your help.
    Married 09/09/09
  • daveyjp said:

    If the price doesn't reflect those costs a further price adjustment may be needed, but better photos may be a cheaper option.

    No, it won't.  A "good" price will compensate for a "bad" set of photos, but a good set of photos won't compensate for a bad price.  Drop £100k so it's £190k instead of £290k and you'll be shot of it within a month, regardless of the photos, parking, decor etc
    There is no way we would drop it that much.  Three bedroom semis are at least that price where I live.  There would be no point us selling it for that price then to buy a three bed semi
    There is an argument that you bought a 3 bed detached, but with some internal walls moved/added...
    It was an extension to the house,  not just some walls moved.  The previous owners had the extension done.  It was worth 160000 back in 2006 when the previous owners bought it as a three bed
    And 190k when you bought in 2016 as I 5-bed I assume.  I'm not sure there's been 50% price rise in the WF postcode since then.

    Looks like the extension was building on top of the garage?

    Three bed a mile away 315000

    Three bed up the road from us. £277500 Our house does have 4 bathrooms,  two are en-suite,  main bathroom and down stair toilet

    I think your house, if it was 3 bed, would be somewhere in between these.

    Problem is, you have 2 rooms that look like they couldn't possibly be bedrooms, 1 that seems to have a very slim single bed in, and one where it's hard to tell the room size because it's children's furniture.

    That 315k seems to have been built as a 4-bed, bedroom sizes 4.2m x 2.9m, 5.3m x 3.6m and 3.4m x 3.0m

    You have 3.1m x 2.9m as the biggest, then 3.1m x 2.6m and 4.3m x 2.2m (so a bit smaller but still 'bedrooms') - followed by 2.4m x 2.2m and 2.3m x 1.7m.

    If people come to yours expecting 5 bedrooms (or maybe even 4 + office), they will be instantly disappointed - unless they are a niche viewer who wants many smaller rooms because they have a lot of young children.
    Both children’s rooms have full size single beds in there.  The people that lived here before had one room with bunk beds and the other three with single beds and then the master bedroom.
    That could be the photos making them look small as well then.  Although many people now seem to want every 'bedroom' to easily take a double.
  • pseudodox
    pseudodox Posts: 502 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 30 August 2024 at 5:13PM
    I initially viewed my current house out of curiosity because the location was good but it was being marketed as a 5 bedroom townhouse and I just could not visualise the reality.  It does have 3 decent size bedrooms, the fourth could only be a baby's room but it's not on the same floor as where parents would sleep - it is now my office.  The fifth "bedroom" was just a ground floor storage room built into the hillside behind the garage with no windows and no means of escape in case of fire.  I refused to let the EA who sold my previous house market the tiny boxroom as a bedroom.  I will sell this on as 3 bedrooms with an office and storage.

    Estate agents like to "big up" properties.  All they do is make for disappointed viewers so definitely revise your spec to 4 bedrooms and office/study or even 3 bedrooms and 2 offices for that professional family where more than one person works from home.  Or hobbies rooms, sewing rooms, TV snug for the kids & their mates etc etc.  5 bedrooms is aiming at big families,  3 + 2 is a different market.
  • housebuyer143
    housebuyer143 Posts: 4,258 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Third Anniversary Name Dropper
    Now you say it was a 3 bed I can see it. It has the typically 3 bed downstairs layout, which is fine for a family buying a 3 bed, but a family buying a 5 bed might find the downstairs space and the garden too small. 

    I think most people expect a master you can get a king sized bed in. You are probably best of pricing and marketing it as a small 4 bed with an office and at least it's setting expectations. 

    4/5 beds that are built to be that normally have hallways, larger bedrooms and just more sqf as a matter of course. You can't change that, so I think it's a matter of getting better pictures, reducing the price and setting expectations. Get the agent to put the room sizes on the floorplan because that's the first place I looked for them before having to go through the description, which I actually don't think that many people bother with. 
  • theoretica
    theoretica Posts: 12,691 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    The link has been removed, but I agree with the comments about making sure the description prepares potential viewers for the reality of the property. Can you reword the blurb to sound more like a 3 bedroom with useful and versatile extension? It sounds like it might better be marketed to a small household which would like some extra rooms and space rather than to a family that would fill out all five rooms with beds and maybe adult children who also wanted parking.
    But a banker, engaged at enormous expense,
    Had the whole of their cash in his care.
    Lewis Carroll
  • BonaDea
    BonaDea Posts: 208 Forumite
    100 Posts Name Dropper
    If the house has the footprint of a 3-bed then it needs to be priced as a 3-bed, but towards the top of that range to account for the versatility offered by the internal division of space.  That'll likely sell it.
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