Six weeks in and not One viewing !! What's wrong ?

clutton_2

the house next to me was bought by a developer for £100k about 2 years ago, he put it inot auction immediately, and sold it for £128k. the young builder who bought it was told by his bank that he would sell it for £285k. i valued it at £235. After 12 months work and a few viewings it sold at £225k,

houses dont sell quickly for two reasons

there is something wrong with them

or

they are too expensive

RHemmings

GavP wrote: »

And according to www.houseprices.co.uk no property on your street has ever sold for more than £230,000.

I searched through a number of nearby streets. I managed to find one property that sold for £287K, but that was the most. It appears that you have a house that's much more expensive than anything around it. Perhaps this is your problem, that people with enough money to buy your house wouldn't be looking where you are.

Pez2

My guess is that the agents who valued at £375k and £350k basically valued the house in line with other old rural houses in the area, without bother to take into consideration the fact that it's now on the edge of a ruddy great housing estate, and then added a chunk on top of that to try and secure the comission. I wouldn't be surprised if the £180k valuaton, although a bit low, is actually closer to the truth once you take the location into account.

The sad thing is that the first two numpties have now falsely got the OPs hopes up. !!!!!!! estate agents!

happypig

Can't comment on price, but a few things you could do..

Approach agent and tell them you are NOT happy. How long do you have left on your contract? How do the fees compare to others? Depending on the answers to these Qs, ask them to sub the property to another agent or, better still, ask if there is another agent that they are prepared to go on a Joint Agency with at the same fee.

Ask them to take a new picture of the front. I can see it's a gorgeous house, but the picture isnt particularly appealing. Ask them to take it from an angle that shows the depth of the house (providng it has some depth). If possible, take it on a brighter day - blue skies can make the world of difference. Or take your own picture, if you think you can better theirs. A new picture also means that it won't be so readily overlooked by those that have already seen it advertised and discounted it.

Do your agents do floorplans? Ask for them to be added to details.

The third bedroom could be considered a double - again ask for this to be added to details.

Good luck!

Gonzo

We're looking around there (but WAY lower in the food chain!).

The house does look lovely, but that area isn't really a glamorous one!

I think the estates near to you are feeling the pinch already, 4 bed detached houses are dropping in price fast and there's quite a few houses that have been on a while. Although yours is different and much nicer, it does then make it look expensive in comparison for the floor space you're getting?

It depends how desperate you are to sell I suppose... the house will sell at the right price... but maybe not at that price.

I believe popular thinking around here says:

If you've had no viewings, it's too expensive.

If you've had lots of viewings but no offers, then you're taste in interior furnishing is hideous. Or it smells like somebody died there.

Good luck anyway!

happypig

GavP wrote: »

The sad thing is that the first two numpties have now falsely got the OPs hopes up. !!!!!!! estate agents!

It really isn't in their interest to purposely overcook the price - the property doesn't sell, they fork out for marketing week in week out and the upshot is that they don't make a penny.. in fact, they make a loss! Be more wary of those that go in too low.. nice quick sale for very little work! With two out of three coming up around the same price, I would say that they genuinely thought this was a fair price. Unless.. Did either of the £300K agents ask whether you'd already had it valued? And at what price.. or who with?

Davesnave

I agree that £350k for a house without an upstairs bog is a difficult one, and a floor plan would help to show whether a cloakroom would be possible, as I suspect it is.

Not knowing your area, I can only read the aerial photo and note that you're in a place that's obviously in a state of flux, with old industrial sites, some re-landscaped, possibly waiting for redevelopment. The proximity of a sewerage works also doesn't help. There must be an element of uncertainty there. This means your agent should be accentuating the positives, particularly if you have something like a school with a good Ofsted on your doorstep (the family-friendliness element is missing:)

Still, it looks like a really nice house and it will go at the right price. Your real problem in a falling market is knowing how fast to reduce. You don't want to react with a fire-sale price, but neither do you want to chase it down.

neas

Its worth half the value you put it up for.... You went for the highest valuation because you was being greedy.

Out of question when you bought the house how much did you think it was worth?. The internet these days arms the masses with more tools in their fight against crap house prices... for example when i purchase a house using property bee I will see how many times a person has reduced the house down :P. Yours is severely overvalued.... hence no visitors.

In a declining market, everyday your loosing more and more money.... kinda pleasing/ironic because you went for the greedy 375k instead of the acutally realistic 180k valuation :P.

RHemmings

neas wrote: »

Its worth half the value you put it up for.... You went for the highest valuation because you was being greedy.

In a declining market, everyday your loosing more and more money.... kinda pleasing/ironic because you went for the greedy 375k instead of the acutally realistic 180k valuation :P.

Where is this £180K valuation? They had two valuations, of £375 and £350, and they're now priced at the lower one.

mr.broderick

If you decide to sell for £180k then for gods sake please pm me.