Problems selling and best plan

EssexHebridean

Yes, and if you have tacky bathmats or doormats, get rid! Personally I'd also paint over any "inspirational" quotes on walls as well - not everyone wants to either dance in the rain, or have to get the paint out as soon as they move in, and while it's a small thing, if everything else is equal between viewing yours, and viewing another, the one with the "wall art" might lose out! 

ReadySteadyPop

Herzlos said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Herzlos said:

BACKTOBACK said:

Sorry if this sounds silly but its my first time selling. Is there companies that will do the staging and also take new pictures. Otherwise i will be buying things to display which will be thrown away afterwards

What you're doing sounds like enough. By staging I mean decluttering (and hiding stuff in other rooms whilst you take photos), making beds, plates on the table, flowers in a windowsill, that sort of thing. 

Buyers have, on the whole, no imagination. You need to make it as easy as possible for them to see themselves living there. 

 if the Japan story has legs mortgages are going to get a lot more expensive.

It doesn't. Please stop trying to derail everything with off-topic and banned nonense about a house price crash. You've been banging that drum unsuccessfully for 20 years. 

ReadySteadyPop said:

Herzlos said:

BACKTOBACK said:

Sorry if this sounds silly but its my first time selling. Is there companies that will do the staging and also take new pictures. Otherwise i will be buying things to display which will be thrown away afterwards

What you're doing sounds like enough. By staging I mean decluttering (and hiding stuff in other rooms whilst you take photos), making beds, plates on the table, flowers in a windowsill, that sort of thing. 

Buyers have, on the whole, no imagination. You need to make it as easy as possible for them to see themselves living there. 

Too general a statement I think, the main problem buyers have is the cost of borrowing

Not true. Many people can afford mortgages fine, or they wouldn't be looking to buy a house in that price bracket.

ReadySteadyPop said:

EssexHebridean said:

On the photos  -   Choosing a bright day and shooting with a phone rather than a camera is likely to give good results. Personally I would avoid having room lights on if you can - that gives an impression of a dark house and might put folk off. IMO too many agents try and get fancy with DSLR cameras and tripods when in fact they’d do better to use HDR mode on a phone!  Be cautious with wide angle mode too - it will in fact make rooms look bigger than they are, which in turn can lead to people feeling disappointed when they view in person. 

I would say many won`t bother to view as soon as they see "staging" tricks now, they know the seller is a chancer/kite flyer, people are interested in size, location, and how much they can borrow now not chancers pretending their house is something it isn`t.

Have you got any evidence for this? Staging is present in virtually every for sale listing I've ever seen, it's a completely normal thing and not 'chancing'.   Using a really wide angle lens to distort a room or fitting undersized furniture to make a room look bigger is definitely dodgy, but we're not talking about that here. 

Unfortunately (if you have debt) it does have legs and is massively important to the process of buying and selling if mortgage debt is involved. 

ReadySteadyPop

BACKTOBACK said:

My bungalow has been for sale just over two months with no interest. The area where i am there is very few sales at the moment.
Property valued around £230k and advertised for that. I would need minimum £225 to secure my next property.
I got a cheap deal with an agent but they only use rightmove and onthemarket (not Zoopla) i didnt think that mattered too much.
I am not in a rush to sell but would like it to be within six months.
Zoopla (i know its not accurate) have this month alone deducted £6000 from the value (3% in one month)
What are my best options?
1. Should i wait until February then deduct £5k
2. Deduct £5k now for two weeks, then if not sold remove it from the market for 14 weeks and put a new listing on rightmove in March?
3. Something Else?

I think it just comes down to market dynamics, more people are struggling to sell larger properties to downsize therefore there is less demand for bungalows, it probably needs a price cut, you shouldn`t rely on a property to produce enough money for the next move but when demand drops like this many properties don`t sell even with price cuts.

Sapphire189

If your only with one agent, that is most certainly the root of the problem with a slow or little interest in your property. Why take a drop in price? I took advice from a good source recently. When selling a property, put it on the market with at least 3 estate agents. Why? Because they will compete with each other for the sale. In your case, if you can relist it, asap. You could drop the agent your with and start over. A sole agent is never a good idea, they'll offer you a "good deal", then leave your property sitting on the market. The sole agents intention is that you will believe there's little or no interest and  drop your price. Why should you? I would suggest you get several agents round, negotiate their % fees don't sign a tied contract e.g. 6 months contract,  present your property at its best and relist. 

Slinky

A property listed with too many agents always smacks of desperation in my view.

monkey-fingers

OP, I'd not be taking much advice from someone who has been banging on about a potential house price crash and his lack of investment when he could afford it, now stuck in an Edinburgh bedsit.

I'll let you work out which negative nelly that is.

BikingBud

Smudgeismydog said:

Agree with the other posters about a really good declutter, think minimalist, and then some. Depersonalise everything, this includes toiletries in the bathroom, kids toys, coats/shoes in hallways, and any extra appliances on kitchen worktops (only leave kettle and toaster).
I know this might feel you are taking away some warmth, or homely touches, but you just need to do this for photos and viewings. It will help to maximise the feeling of space, and give the impression of plenty of storage. 

Good luck

And how long should people live in this fantasy world, 12, 18, 40 weeks while potential buyers show no interest.

Impression of storage - I wonder how that is captured. There are 4 imaginary double wardrobes and 10 hidden kitchen cabinets.

Oh and the toilet and shower aren't used because we imagine carrying out ablutions.

Smudgeismydog

BikingBud said:

Smudgeismydog said:

Agree with the other posters about a really good declutter, think minimalist, and then some. Depersonalise everything, this includes toiletries in the bathroom, kids toys, coats/shoes in hallways, and any extra appliances on kitchen worktops (only leave kettle and toaster).
I know this might feel you are taking away some warmth, or homely touches, but you just need to do this for photos and viewings. It will help to maximise the feeling of space, and give the impression of plenty of storage. 

Good luck

And how long should people live in this fantasy world, 12, 18, 40 weeks while potential buyers show no interest.

Impression of storage - I wonder how that is captured. There are 4 imaginary double wardrobes and 10 hidden kitchen cabinets.

Oh and the toilet and shower aren't used because we imagine carrying out ablutions.

My suggestion to go minimalist just for photos and viewings - as above

BikingBud

Smudgeismydog said:

BikingBud said:

Smudgeismydog said:

Agree with the other posters about a really good declutter, think minimalist, and then some. Depersonalise everything, this includes toiletries in the bathroom, kids toys, coats/shoes in hallways, and any extra appliances on kitchen worktops (only leave kettle and toaster).
I know this might feel you are taking away some warmth, or homely touches, but you just need to do this for photos and viewings. It will help to maximise the feeling of space, and give the impression of plenty of storage. 

Good luck

And how long should people live in this fantasy world, 12, 18, 40 weeks while potential buyers show no interest.

Impression of storage - I wonder how that is captured. There are 4 imaginary double wardrobes and 10 hidden kitchen cabinets.

Oh and the toilet and shower aren't used because we imagine carrying out ablutions.

My suggestion to go minimalist just for photos and viewings - as above

BACKTOBACK said:

My bungalow has been for sale just over two months with no interest. The area where i am there is very few sales at the moment.

So currently 8 weeks then!

Herzlos

Clearing out will make the moving part easier too, but there's no need to avoid living in the house for the duration. 

Just stage everything as nicely as possible for the photos, and tidy up before viewings. In both cases it's pretty common for people to hide stuff in their cars for a couple of hours.