Advice sought please!

gcpc1

Hi folks, I wonder if you could give me some advice please.

I have had my 3-bed mid terraced house on the market since Feb 07 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-9532479.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

I was with one agent between Feb-Sep 07 (and had two deals fall through with them) and my current agent since Sep 07, where there have been no offers.

The house immediately next door is also for sale, at £10k more than mine. My bathroom and kitchen need updating but I believe this is taken account of in the price. There is a house further down the road for sale at £20k more than mine. My property is empty, I have a solicitor in place and a HIP is not required as it has been continuously on the market since pre-Sep 07. I have reduced the price three times since Feb 07. The last reduction was 20 March (from £164,950 to the current £159,995.) If you search for 3-bed properties in the EX2 area you will see that mine is one of the cheapest, so I don’t believe my property is overpriced. In fact, I know it’s not overpriced. I am currently renting in a different area of the country and just want shot of the house.

The lock-in period with my agent has expired and they are charging a set fee of £2,600. If the house sells for its asking price of £159,995 this is a commission of 1.63% plus VAT. Initially this figure was £2,800 but I renegotiated it with the agent. Obviously they have little interest in what my property sells for as their fee is set. I am totally exasperated with the lack of movement here. I am thinking of shopping around and going dual-agency for 2% and asking for offers in excess of £150k and will look for figures of £155k and above. This reduction to £150k will increase the Rightmove traffic. I am a realist and know the market is in a downturn. I think 2% is realistic for dual-agency in the current conditions.

My house is structurally sound and newly repainted in neutral colours.

My question is – what do you think of my thoughts. Is there anything I should do differently? Is 2% for dual-agency too high/too low? Should I aim for multi-agency for 2%. How should I play things?

Any responses are much appreciated! :cheesy:

RHemmings

This house is up on rightmove having gone SSTC for an asking price much more than yours. This doesn't mean that it sold for that price of course.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-16762384.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Not that I believe that such small differences make that much difference to sale prospects, look how much nicer their garden looks than yours. That is an end of terrace property, and presumably larger, but there's a clear difference in the quality of presentation.

The price you're asking is broadly consistent with sale prices from 2005 and 2006 for what may (or may not be) similar properties. However, I notice that while there were three or four properties sold per year in your street in 2004, 2005, and 2006, none at all appear to have been sold during 2007. This makes me wonder if the market has come to a halt in your area. But lots of houses sold in Barton Road for prices similar to yours in 2007. How would you compare your house to theirs? If I were you, I'd get a list of houses that have sold near you, the prices they sold for, and go have a look around. Because something seems to have made a difference. Some sold in Coleridge Road too, though not as many in 2007 as in 2006. Duckworth Road too, lots of houses sold there for good prices during 2007. So why not yours? Could the OP give us more background on the houses that did sell and the differences between the properties and the OPs?

I looked at your EAs site, and you are the cheapest equal three bed property. The other one looks, externally, slightly nicer, but is in a different area and I wouldn't know how the areas compare.

Given the total amount of sales in roads around you, I personally would be wondering about the competence and/or motivation of the Estate Agents you've been using. While some will argue (not unreasonably) that the housing market may be on the turn, you've certainly had it on the market for a reasonably long period of time when things were selling. Your agent looks like a smaller local agent. Not necessarily a bad thing, but something hasn't worked in your favour.

Would it be rude if you gave us the entire price history of the property from Feb '07 to now? It could be that you were always on at the wrong price at the wrong time.

Note that even if your property is priced at less than other similar houses, that doesn't mean that it cannot be overpriced compared to what buyers are prepared to pay. Or, in current crunchy conditions, what they are able to pay.

Spamreported

i would have some of the photos retaken.

1) the frontage - i spotted tight car parking and a street lamp outside the window which as a buyer would indicate that there will be a bright light outside.
2) The garden seems heavily overlooked which you cant really help, but as a buyer i would be thinking that there really is £2k worth of work to be done shifting all that debris to create a garden. remember 3 bed houses = children and having a hard paved garden will not be fun for cash strapped parents.
3) The kitchen needs ripping out, i would leave this picture out.
4) i love estate agents when they take pictures of room corners. have this retaken with a cleaner looking skirting, looks like mould.

Apologies is this sounds picky, but as buyers look at hundreds of properties in an area, they need reasons to discount properties.

sarah_elton

Can you get some cheap (second hand) or free (freecycle) furniture to put in? Just a few key bits - even a sofa and bed would help. It looks nice from the outside, then abandoned inside. The pictures don't shout "warm happy home" and in this market it'll probably need to in order to attract the few buyers that do exist...

gcpc1

Thanks to all those that have commented so far.

I take on board the house SSTC which appears - from the Righmove map - to be in the same road as mine. I say ‘seem’ as I currently live 80 miles from my property and the gardens in my road are no way that size or grassed (I believe they’re all paved courtyard types - the way the houses were built means that there is a lack of sun in the back gardens.) The asking price for the SSTC was £30k/19% higher than what mine currently is on for, which is a huge difference. I was disappointed with the pics my EA took. It ended up with me photoshopping the main pic, as the EA took it with the 'For Sale' board of the house next door in view :lipsrseal My asking price history is:

Feb 07 £172, 000
Jun 07 £169, 950
Sep 07 £167k (coincided with new EA)
Jan 08 £164, 950
Mar 08 £159, 995

I realise my house pictures aren’t the best but I really believe the price accounts for this. Like I said, the house next door (which is identical to mine, in terms of room/outdoor sizes) has a more modern kitchen/garden but they’re asking £10k more.

The main point of my original post was to gauge opinion about my intention to go dual or multi agency and a realistic commission rate. I’m the first to appreciate that I need to change something. The issues around the poor pictures will be changed when I move agents.

Thanks again :cheesy:

Doozergirl

I don't see any benefit in dual agent at all. Your fee should be 1% + VAT and no more than that. The current fee is outrageous - anyone can get 1.5% without even asking.

It is difficult to sell an empty house, even an immaculate one. It's essential to have heating on in the winter or people simply won't be able to wait to get out!

You either need to dress the house properly or remove all of your furniture altogether, including those curtains.

Really, I'd spend the money getting the house ship-shape. Clean magnolia walls, a simple kitchen with a fitted oven/hob, new carpets (your's dont look bad but empty houses show evey single fault) and some wooden Ikea slatted blinds. There isn't that much to be spent on it and will reap the reward in seeing the house sold. You will be far bettter able to compete with the neighbours and can still be cheaper.

The picture of the yard needs to go as the amount of concrete to be lifted looks petrifying to me and believe, I've seen it all! To be completely honest, you will amost certainly improve the value of the entire house by grassing that area and being able to properly call it a garden - whether or not the neighbours have concrete yards is irrelevant, you are competing against far more than your immediate neighbours and in order to sell a house for the best price you need to eliminate every problem you can.

You can easily get the house in great condition with a few weekends or a bit of annual leave and a small amount graft. It's a crime, IMVHO, not to get it finished.

What has the feedback been for the property?

gcpc1

Hi Doozergirl,

Thanks for your comments. The feedback so far has been stuff like the 3rd room is too small; only want a 2-bed house; too much work required; etc. etc. To be honest, any extra work required is accounted for in the price. Like one of the earlier posters said - I am the joint cheapest house in the area on my agents' books.

I don't want to spend ££ on kitchens, back gardens, etc in the current climate. My attitude is that I want to sell it asap and would rather take, say, £5k off the price rather than faff about putting new kitchens, gardens in, which any prospective viewer may not like anyway!

I'm thinking of offering it around to agents for 2.25% multi-agency inclusive of all fees/charges.

tomstickland

I bought my flat after it had been on the market for a year (2 years ago, so bouyant times). It was unfurnished, slightly unloved, but actually totally sound. All it needed was cleaning properly and painting. I paid about 15-20% less than what the others went for.
So being empty and needing minor work does put people off.
Hence, either tart yours up, or price accordingly, but then maybe wait a long time.

SouthCoast

so I don’t believe my property is overpriced. In fact, I know it’s not overpriced.

Everybody who is unable to sell their property says this.

You are chasing the market down.

gcpc1

tomstickland wrote: »

I bought my flat after it had been on the market for a year (2 years ago, so bouyant times). It was unfurnished, slightly unloved, but actually totally sound. All it needed was cleaning properly and painting. I paid about 15-20% less than what the others went for.
So being empty and needing minor work does put people off.
Hence, either tart yours up, or price accordingly, but then maybe wait a long time.

Exactly. I have priced accordingly. The paintwork is all totally new and all carpets 1 year old.

Like I've said, I live 80 miles away from the property and so can't get to it as often as I'd like. I'm reluctant to throw ££ at it to tart up bathrooms when the house is already cheaper than virtually all competitors. The more I think about this and take on board your comments I am more inclined to go multi-agency and drop the price to take offers in excess of £150k.

Doozergirl

gcpc1 wrote: »

Hi Doozergirl,

Thanks for your comments. The feedback so far has been stuff like the 3rd room is too small; only want a 2-bed house; too much work required; etc. etc. To be honest, any extra work required is accounted for in the price. Like one of the earlier posters said - I am the joint cheapest house in the area on my agents' books.

I don't want to spend ££ on kitchens, back gardens, etc in the current climate. My attitude is that I want to sell it asap and would rather take, say, £5k off the price rather than faff about putting new kitchens, gardens in, which any prospective viewer may not like anyway!

I'm thinking of offering it around to agents for 2.25% multi-agency inclusive of all fees/charges.

You could cover the cost of work by using an agent like House Network and still drop the price by £5000! Throwing money at more agents won't really help you sell any quicker - it just makes you look desperate and is likely to attract even lower offers. Improving the house will help a lot more than using many agents and paying them even more money. £1500 will see the place perfect, IMO.

There are kitchens you can purchase that will appeal to most. You only need to provide a blank canvas.