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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask what to do when you just can't sell a house?

92 replies

lavenderlily · 16/10/2017 09:03

I bought my house in 2009 for £110,000.

(Please don't all start marvelling at how cheaply northerners live Hmm)

It is a three bed terrace. I have now relocated and we are CRAMMED into a flat. I want to sell the terrace. But it will not sell.

Reasons - well, no off road parking, which didn't bother me when I bought it but appears to bother everybody else Sad There are also wooden steps leading up to the garden which I love but everyone else seems to hate! The bathroom is ridiculously small and there is only one.

Since 2014 it's been let out and brings £500 a month. Should I just accept that it's mine for life and brings in £500 a month?

EAs have all valued it at £120,000 but I haven't ever got any offers at all, even so called 'cheeky' ones.

OP posts:
Enwi · 16/10/2017 09:30

I'm not sure quite how it works, but when we bought our home a few years ago it was the current owner who showed us around the house. I can't put my finger quite on why, but it just made me want to buy the house. We visited 20-30 properties and this was the only house we even put an offer in on.
She was brutally honest about the place, we were obviously being positive about the place as she owned it (rather than an EA doing their job) and that positivity likely stuck with us when we got home. She could also tell us details about the property that the EA wouldn't necessarily know, which helped a lot. She also told us her visions and ideas for the place, what she had recently done and what she would have done had she been staying. It was really useful, and once we had that personal relationship I felt like the whole buying process was a lot smoother.
I don't know if this is an option for you, but it is definitely what I plan to do when we do eventually sell.

Didiusfalco · 16/10/2017 09:32

I agree - unless a house was very desirable or a real bargain I would avoid one with tenants.

bridgetreilly · 16/10/2017 09:33

Existing tenants would be a huge turn off for me, tbh. Getting rid of them if you wanted to live in the house isn't always straightforward and people generally don't want to buy a house that they can't move into immediately.

drspouse · 16/10/2017 09:36

We are not quite at this point yet - have been on since Feb - but the market IS very very slow in the North.
We have had two serious expressions of interest. One was an offer that was way way too low (over 10% below asking price - and below what we need to clear our debts). One is from someone local who loves the house and feels the price is right(ish) but needs to sell their own place first... you guessed it... market is slow.

Sometimes you can't just keep lowering the price and it IS worth renting it long term. If we haven't sold by Christmas we are going to do that.

ShoesHaveSouls · 16/10/2017 09:42

You drop the price Sad

It's always the price.

Original poster
lavenderlily · 16/10/2017 09:44

The tenants weren't in there when it was last on the market, though ... I only got them in when I thought I really would not be able to sell it.

I haven't heard about any changes to rental income but there is no mortgage on the property so everything I take home is profit after a fashion.

OP posts:
Oliversmumsarmy · 16/10/2017 09:53

Have you a link.

Re the parking, Is there anywhere close by that you could direct potential buyers as a possibility that a car can be parked.

Where do your neighbours park?

Where did the EA park when he came round to value the place. Where do potential viewers park.

Solely as an investment at £120000 and only getting a £500 per month return it is unmortgageable. The figures don't stack up.
Just to get a BTL mortgage you have to show you can get 25% more income than your monthly mortgage repayment.

Could you up the rental income by about £70 per month to make it more attractive to investors.

Otherwise drop the price.

.

1981trouble · 16/10/2017 09:56

Have you asked people to critically review your listing?

Have a read through the “have a look at this” thread on the house buying forum on moneysavingexpert.

Houses that don’t sell are price vs advert. The advert isn’t selling it compared to the price compared to the market.

The description may need more detail (talk about the local catchment schools, local facilities, selling points).

It never fails to astound me how poor the write ups are from estate agents and how poor their photos are. We finished up providing all our own when we sold ours last one

Badders08 · 16/10/2017 09:58

It's the price
It's always the price!
EA bed ours at £150k in 2011
Nothing
We dropped it - against EA advice (they would get less comission!!) - to £130k and got a cash buyer in 4 days

HolyShet · 16/10/2017 10:03

I was looking for a similar property for my mum recently.

Short term tenanted houses and empty ones all had a feel that was hard to see past.

80sMum · 16/10/2017 10:06

Every house will sell if the price is right. A property is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

I think if I were you, I would take it off the market and "rest it" for the winter, then remarket it in the spring, say around March or April.

Think carefully about the asking price though. Check out what people are asking for similar properties in the area before you decide. If yours looks expensive, nobody will want to view - and no viewings virtually guarantees no sale.

Witsender · 16/10/2017 10:07

Sounds like it needs a price drop and a remarket in the new year. Is it all up together or does it need tweaking?

Tbh, if you have lived in and enjoyed it then I wouldn't see it as losing, there is never a guarantee that you will make or maintain house prices.

Jux · 16/10/2017 10:08

I'd hang onto it and revel in having an income.

TheTurnOfTheScrew · 16/10/2017 10:12

you could be describing houses on my street - standard northern terraces, no parking, small bathrooms - and they still sell. Apart from one, which is priced at a good 25% over what I reckon it's worth.

Jingleberry · 16/10/2017 10:13

I would continue to rent it out but maybe advertise as 'rent with option to buy'

We bought our house from our LL and they were able to knock 10% of valuation and it be classed as our deposit- this might be attractive for FTB unable to save a deposit. We also managed to get it valued at more than they wanted so they didn't really lose 10% iyswim

ssd · 16/10/2017 10:16

whereabouts are you op?

SingingMySong · 16/10/2017 10:19

At that kind of price, £5k difference in price could make all the difference between having no viewings and selling easily.

The mechanics of where people have to park when viewing could come into play too.

With the steps to the garden, could it be people worrying about toddler safety?

Original poster
lavenderlily · 16/10/2017 10:27

There's loads of parking on the street, just not in a drive or garage.

OP posts:
SockEatingMonster · 16/10/2017 10:32

I think the problem you are having might be because you are so close to the £125,000 stamp duty threshold. From talking to friends who have bought and sold houses recently, it seem that if your house is valued at just over one of the stamp duty thresholds you are encouraged to list it a little cheaper. So a house that is valued at £130,000 might be advertised at £125,000, but with an expectation that it will achieve this, or near this price.

This might mean that a house like yours, valued at £120,000 is competing with houses valued at £130,000, IYSIWM. First time buyers who are not so savvy with knowing how and when to make offers, might not realise that House A at £125,000 is likely to sell for £125,000 (since, essentially, it's already been discounted), whereas House B at £120,000 might sell for as little as £115,000.

What do you actually hope to get for your house and is it worth advertising it at that price with no offers?

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 16/10/2017 10:34

There's loads of parking on the street, just not in a drive or garage.

Ours is like this too. It's a terrace, surrounded by lots of other terraces ie this is the norm for properties in this area yet I've had viewers say no off street parking is the problem and it always leaves me a bit Hmm like why would you expect off street parking in this area.

drspouse · 16/10/2017 10:39

Those who are saying "it's always the price", do you think that e.g. halving the price (i.e. half the price of comparable properties) is worth doing if the market is slow or dead?

Because many, many sellers (like us) can't afford to do that. And most other sellers wouldn't - they'd rather wait a bit longer and get a better price.

I really don't think it's always the price. We are not the only people struggling to sell in our area - and from the EAs' POV it is really worth them suggesting lowering the price if they think it will help because they get something rather than nothing - yet they also seem to think that it is the market, and that lowering the price (unless everyone lowered the price to 10% of current asking), would not help much.

drspouse · 16/10/2017 10:41

Re parking ours is also the same but nobody has complained - they have however complained there is no garden. You can see there's no garden on the listing - and there are no gardens in period terraces in our area - again, why expect one?

brasty · 16/10/2017 10:44

The price will be too high. If the price is right, parking does not matter. Drop the price.

BarbaraofSevillle · 16/10/2017 10:55

I think the problem you are having might be because you are so close to the £125,000 stamp duty threshold

That no longer applies as SD is now progressive. The amount paid when just over the threshold is so small it makes hardly any difference and would be just a few quid.

Dowser · 16/10/2017 10:59

I've just sold a mid terrace three bed, 2 bath with garden back and front and space on drive for two cars in north east in a very nice area for £56k
I thought I would get £80k when it went on the market. Sadly with loads of viewings at £75k no one put in an offer.
Dropped it to £65k and took the only reasonable offer I got.

If I'd wanted to te let it I would have had to spend £10k doing it up and I just didn't have the stomach for it.

New owners ( from Surrey) got a bargain.