House has been on the market for 6 months

abc978

We went through this a year ago so totally understand how you feel cleaning tidying for viewers when you have a young child, it's not easy!   We got a buyer after 3 months, lost 3 months later ... 3 months later got a new one then 2 weeks later lost to reasons outside our control.. decided enough was enough and we are now extending our home instead, is this something you could consider?
  

Smalltownhypocrite

We can't drop the price any more as we only have a limited amount of cash and the next step up for us is 100-150k more!

What does that mean? your house is only worth what its worth, theres no such thing as 'steps' the housing ladder is an outdated notion and a lie sold to millions. You wanting to step 'up' to a house £150k more is not a buyers concern.

abc978

leriloo said:

The other houses have come on the market a few months after ours, at the time our EA said they'd put it on at 400k with offers accepted - we were prepared to go 35k under, but can't really afford to do that now it's on for 375k. We've just refreshed the images, added the garage (extended) to the floor plans and re-written the description to include schools/train station/town and shops. Garden is approx 7m x 7m, we've had work done on it last year - new grass, edging and patio, it also has a lot of planting and is very wildlife friendly. It has 2 double bedrooms and 1 single bedroom (currently used as an office). 

You could try turning office into bedroom to stage for viewers i bet some people see it as an office and may think oh only 2 proper bedrooms...

RelievedSheff

leriloo said:

The other houses have come on the market a few months after ours, at the time our EA said they'd put it on at 400k with offers accepted - we were prepared to go 35k under, but can't really afford to do that now it's on for 375k. We've just refreshed the images, added the garage (extended) to the floor plans and re-written the description to include schools/train station/town and shops. Garden is approx 7m x 7m, we've had work done on it last year - new grass, edging and patio, it also has a lot of planting and is very wildlife friendly. It has 2 double bedrooms and 1 single bedroom (currently used as an office). 

7x7m is quite a small garden for what is essentially a family home.

Ours is 9x9m and feels tiny. Wouldn't say I would consider anything smaller and we are not exactly keen gardners.

Granted there isn't much you can do about that but you would need to be priced to take that into account.

Tabieth

leriloo said:

We put our house on the market in September 24 and 6 months later have only had one offer, which was 50k under! We've had 35 viewings and the feedback has always been really positive and complementary. There's a few things that have been pointed out - upstairs is too small and the garden is too small, soo obviously we can't do anything about that. But they are the reasons why we want to move! We've dropped the price twice now (from 400k - 375k) and other houses near us are on for 425-450k! It's a 3 bed detached on an estate in a quiet market town, approx 20 mins walk to the centre. We've had a new kitchen, doors, windows, fascias, guttering and it's been rewired. Re-decorated and decluttered throughout. We can't drop the price any more as we only have a limited amount of cash and the next step up for us is 100-150k more! I'm getting so fed up of cleaning and finding somewhere to go (with a child and a dog!) whenever we have viewings and I'm close to the point where I'm just going to take it off the market. I just can't understand why it's not selling?!

I do sympathise. There’s not much you can do about the size of the garden and upstairs beyond dressing it well - getting beds into all the bedrooms for example. The other houses nearby - are they comparable? Same size, same number of bedrooms etc.? Look at them with an independent eye and compare with your home. What does the EA say?

And (to state the obvious) the value of your house is independent of the price of your next step up home. Buyers don’t care what you “need”, they care about what they think your house is worth and what they can afford. I don’t know if you need to drop the price or not but, if you do you do. 

ReadySteadyPop

leriloo said:

We put our house on the market in September 24 and 6 months later have only had one offer, which was 50k under! We've had 35 viewings and the feedback has always been really positive and complementary. There's a few things that have been pointed out - upstairs is too small and the garden is too small, soo obviously we can't do anything about that. But they are the reasons why we want to move! We've dropped the price twice now (from 400k - 375k) and other houses near us are on for 425-450k! It's a 3 bed detached on an estate in a quiet market town, approx 20 mins walk to the centre. We've had a new kitchen, doors, windows, fascias, guttering and it's been rewired. Re-decorated and decluttered throughout. We can't drop the price any more as we only have a limited amount of cash and the next step up for us is 100-150k more! I'm getting so fed up of cleaning and finding somewhere to go (with a child and a dog!) whenever we have viewings and I'm close to the point where I'm just going to take it off the market. I just can't understand why it's not selling?!

Are you trying to sell it for a lot more than you bought it for? Remember that buyers regularly check price history, and that borrowing costs have risen steeply in recent years. Having said that though 35 viewings indicates that price might not be the main issue.

ReadySteadyPop

FlorayG said:

Who knows? There's a lovely bungalow two doors up from me been on the market  six months, doesn't need any work doing, perfect for retirement - not a single offer in all that time. Price has been dropped and still no takers. 
Unfortunately with the historic information on the internet available some people may be wondering what's wrong with yours that you have to keep dropping the price - they may be suspicious that there's something more than just 'we are desperate to sell'

A survey would quickly put their minds at rest? Most places are seeing reduced demand as borrowing costs have risen.

ReadySteadyPop

Tabieth said:

leriloo said:

We put our house on the market in September 24 and 6 months later have only had one offer, which was 50k under! We've had 35 viewings and the feedback has always been really positive and complementary. There's a few things that have been pointed out - upstairs is too small and the garden is too small, soo obviously we can't do anything about that. But they are the reasons why we want to move! We've dropped the price twice now (from 400k - 375k) and other houses near us are on for 425-450k! It's a 3 bed detached on an estate in a quiet market town, approx 20 mins walk to the centre. We've had a new kitchen, doors, windows, fascias, guttering and it's been rewired. Re-decorated and decluttered throughout. We can't drop the price any more as we only have a limited amount of cash and the next step up for us is 100-150k more! I'm getting so fed up of cleaning and finding somewhere to go (with a child and a dog!) whenever we have viewings and I'm close to the point where I'm just going to take it off the market. I just can't understand why it's not selling?!

I do sympathise. There’s not much you can do about the size of the garden and upstairs beyond dressing it well - getting beds into all the bedrooms for example. The other houses nearby - are they comparable? Same size, same number of bedrooms etc.? Look at them with an independent eye and compare with your home. What does the EA say?

And (to state the obvious) the value of your house is independent of the price of your next step up home. Buyers don’t care what you “need”, they care about what they think your house is worth and what they can afford. I don’t know if you need to drop the price or not but, if you do you do. 

That`s right, and often it will be the buyer`s lender who actually decides the price when they do a valuation, so there is little point in making plans with a set amount of money in mind until that point, if the next house you want won`t negotiate the shortfall could be made up from savings or a part time job?

twopenny

Down here we too have bungalows that have been on the market for a long time. It's very unusual.

This has been going on for the last year or so.

When I moved they were selling so quickly that I was on the doorstep for a viewing for property new on the market and the agent came to say it was sold. It was a very quick turn around.

But there is no telling.

A friend had a nice bungalow and I couldn't see a reason, had the comments 'garden too small' and other random stuff even with a dropped price. Took over a year and then it was quick.

Its the right person at the right time.

I'm guessing that you've had Christmas, a long cold spell, prices of basics going up continuously and there is no sign of it stopping, people just being over cautious about a big purchase. While the rate has dropped it's only a small difference.

Herzlos

ReadySteadyPop said:

FlorayG said:

Who knows? There's a lovely bungalow two doors up from me been on the market  six months, doesn't need any work doing, perfect for retirement - not a single offer in all that time. Price has been dropped and still no takers. 
Unfortunately with the historic information on the internet available some people may be wondering what's wrong with yours that you have to keep dropping the price - they may be suspicious that there's something more than just 'we are desperate to sell'

A survey would quickly put their minds at rest? Most places are seeing reduced demand as borrowing costs have risen.

Borrowing costs are just starting to come down - some may be waiting for better deals. But I don't think that's the problem.

I suspect it's more a case of the house feeling a bit smaller than the pictures indicate, because some estate agents photos can be a bit misleading. Our house felt huge in the photos when it wasn't.

Did the EA give any feedback on the 34 people who viewed by didn't offer? Did you try a counter offer for the folk that did make the offer? Can you go back an accept that to get it over with?