Need some help

pepperjulie

Hi all, need advice from "the boards". Some of you may know of my story but will not bore you with details. Got divorced, took property and mortgage on myself. Have almost 18 year old daughter but she is moving South to live near brother. Am keen to sell as soon as possible but not desperate if you get my drift. Want to go live in Scotland to be with new BF. House been on market since April. All valuations came in at £185k- £190K. Plumped for $186 and had 3 viewings within 2 days of being on market. Since then nothing....although EA states I have plenty of hits on rightmove. Reduced to $180K plus ensured that they stated no upward chain and I will pay stamp duty. My house is different to everything around and although does not look big on the outside is like a tardis inside.
Would welcome your views on what I should market at. Don't want to give away as I need money for a deposit on a house when I find one. I have a mortgage of £98,000 taken out in my sole name in October last year. Mortgage payments should be £905 per month but have been paying £950 (not a lot I know, but all I can afford for now). I know this is not the right time for selling but it is needs must.
If I cannot sell I have thought about renting out. Know that I will still have to add to make the mortgage payment but am hoping it will be only half. I presume if that is the case that I would need to change my mortgage.
Any advice to help my propery sell for the best I can plus what to do if it didn't would be most gratefully received.
Julie
xx
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-17778568.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

phlash

If you really want it to sell, price it lower.

It's more of a right time to sell than in a few months!

If you sell for 170K, you won't care anyway.....think what £70K in the bank earns pa!

pepperjulie

I was already thinking of £175k, but don't want to come across as desperate because I am not really. I could move and rent out if needed to but want my life to start again and leave Leicester behind so am keen to sell really. Obviously I want to sell for the max I can get. Just looking for everyone else's input. So thanks for that
Julie
x

pinkshoes

If you search for "3 bedroom houses" on rightmove for under £190k within 1/2 mile of your postcode, then 17 come up, and yours is first as it is the most expensive. This means that anyone searching for a property in this area will probably view the other 16 first, and if they haven't found one you like, THEN they'll come and view yours.

Perhaps somewhere between £160k and £170k would be a sensible price?

The photos aren't great either. The only bedroom looks really cramped with the bed pushed against the wall, and the kitchen looks tiny at that angle. Is there a garden, or just gravel?

pepperjulie

I agree the photos don't do it justice. If you look at the floorplan you can see that it is the biggest bedroom. And it is big. I have the bed at one end of the room and the built in robes and drawers at the other end. Just difficult to get a pic that can highlight the size of the room.
The garden is just gravel. Low maintenance. And it is Japanese style with a pond, again which is not shown in the photo. I think EA thought not everyone would like a pond in the garden. We have always had it, but I guess everyone's taste is different hey? No matter what you do there is always going to be something in your house that someone does not like.
If you had seen my house when I bought it, you would have thought I was mad, but I could see the potential. Am I mad or can people not see that now. Or is it that they are just wanting to move into a house that has been designed for them?

pinkshoes

I think you really need to get some good photos taken, and reduce the price a bit so it falls into the middle of the 3 bed category.

TBH I didn't even open the floor plan, as the rooms seemed small from the photos.

My suggestions:

1) Something green out the front, as it looks a little concretey!

2) A proper view of the bedroom, showing how big it is. Pushing the bed against the wall makes it look small. Wide angle lens or something?

3) The kitchen needs to be re-taken to make it look more spacious. Again, perhaps a wide angle lens??

4) The trees are obscuring the view of the garden, making it look tiny and overgrown. Could the garden be taken from the upstairs window or something? Or from up the tree??

I like the lounge photo.

Bathroom?

pepperjulie

Oints taken. Did think about putting some pots out front. Yes it does look concretey. Bathroom is not huge. Normal size I would say. But newly fitted in the last year. All white, floor to ceiling tiles (white) new bath suite (white) new floor (white). Problem for some is that is downstairs. They can't get beyond the fact that this is an extended bungalow. People still think bungalow's are for old people! I didn't and the extension was done when I bought it. The rest of the bungalows in my close are 2 beds. And no they are not all old people who live in them. They are a nice bunch and my kids grew up having about 10 sets of would be grandparents!!

poppy10_2

Teach your estate agent how to use paragraphs. The "full description" on rightmove is just one big mass of text making it unreadable.

But ultimately, price is key. Your mortgage is only £98k, so you have plenty of equity. Don't be greedy. Lower your price to a reasonable level., and the viewers will come. Don't chase the market down and end up having to slash the price even further in a few months.

P.S. don't understand why your payments are £950/month on a £98,000 mortgage? I make that a rate of 11%, even if you took out a new 25-year term.

Eon4

Crikey that full description is hard to read!! I agree I'd get that broken up, also get the photos to do it more justice if it is bigger than it looks, especially that bedroom shot....is that the master?

PS....remember your Rightmove viewing figures will go up a bit more now you've posted a link!!

PasturesNew

This one isn't that dissimilar on first glance, is in almost the same road and has just sold with an asking price of £149,950:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-9317607.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

Your EA hasn't put the room sizes on/it's difficult to read. Means people might just not bother as you're making it harder for them to find out the details they'd be interested in.

So I can't compare the two.

UPDATE: There's quite a lot "of that style" in your area for sale at lesser prices.

pepperjulie

The reason why my mortgage payments are so high is that I took mortgage over 12 years. When me and my ex split, we had 12 years left on mortgage. I am in a good job and did not want to be paying a mortgage into my 70's! Hence the 12 year mortgage. I can still afford it but want to be somewhere else. Yes there is plenty of equity in my house but I chose the house over my ex's £400k pension. Foolhardy probably but he walked away from my 16 year old daughter (at the time) as well. It was the only place she knew as home and I wanted to make things stable for her.

Things have changed now and I have met someone new and she is branching out on her own. I don't want to be greedy. I just want something to show for what I have been through. Yes, I appreciate prospective buyers aren't interested in that and it is personal to me. All I am looking for is some input into what I can do to achieve more viewings and potential buyers. My house has been redecorated within the last year, I am mindful that people like neutral so they are the colours I chose. I've had a new fitted kitchen and bathroom and there are three double bedrooms. Plus I have paid for a new garage and had the front and side block paved. The garden is landscaped, yes to my liking I know, but it is very easy maintenance. I live 2 miles from the motorway junction and the same from a huge out of town shopping area.