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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To just want to have a massive moan (House not selling )

71 replies

CoCoPopswithCruncyNut · 12/10/2018 18:08

So sorry but I have to write it out! House went on the market in February with first estate agent. They were rubbish. Loads of viewings, 1 offer. They were very bad at giving feedback, turned up an hour early/late for viewings, not telling us viewings were cancelled etc...

New EA from July. She is lovely. We get on, good communication loads of viewing, one ridiculously low offer.

It's October. Me and my boyfriend are tired... all in we must have had 30-40 viewings. We dropped the price once by 5k.
First asking price was 315k. Now it's on 310... house is detached with a small garden. Completely refurbished apart from kitchen. If anyone came in 5-7.5-10 k under the asking price and said its cause of the kitchen of totally understand. I'm tired now... my boyfriend works away a lot so it's me prepping the house for viewings all the time. I just want someone to buy it and so we can move on (literally) it's been dragging for so long . Up till about 2 weeks ago we had constant viewing ... nothing the last 2 weeks. EA says in the current market we probably need to drop it to 300k but then people will come in and offer 280-290?! What do I do? I can't go on any longer

OP posts:

Oddcat · 14/10/2018 13:11

If the EA has said feedback hasn’t mentioned the kitchen being a problem then what has the feedback mentioned ?

Xenia · 14/10/2018 13:15

Good luck with the latest viewings.
Ther is another possibility which is keep the first house (is it in bouth yours and boyfriend#s names?) and then let it out and buy a second as well - you will need legal advice on the stamp duty payable but sometimes that works well although if house prices for the new one and the old are all dropping might not be a good time to be investing a lot of spare money in property.

HowToBeBetter · 14/10/2018 13:31

Feedback wise we had:

kitchen too dated

-single room too small -conservatory was too dated(since we redone this and getting positive comments on it)

didn't get the family home feel (it's a 3 bed detached. Probably big enough for a couple with a toddler but I agree it's not a family home for bigger families of 4/5. If you want a big family home in this area you need to be prepared to pay 500k +
loads of people didn't offer as they had their house on the market but hasn't sold

Bluelady · 14/10/2018 15:25

Xenia, you live in a different world, don't you? Where is OP going to find a deposit for another property? Why would she want to give the government 20% of the rental income which could easily leave her out of pocket? Who wants the hassle?

To be honest, OP, it seems the housing market has stalled with people seriously spooked by Brexit. This is apparently the worst market for ten years. If you don't have to move, it might be better to see how things are after next March.

Noodledoodledoo · 14/10/2018 15:41

The market is weird at the moment, I have just sold my grandmothers house and we went in with a very low guide price, based on one estate agents advise, I was unsure but we ended up going to sealed bids and getting 13% above asking price. It is in serious need of an update acress the board!

I also am in the camp of would not buy a house with a new kitchen unless it was exactly what I would have gone for, we didn't offer on one house as the kitchen was brand new but so badly designed - house otherwise perfect!

Ericaceae · 14/10/2018 16:34

Kitchen chat is interesting - we sold a few months back and this year had spent £2.5k on refacing our kitchen doors, and putting in a new worktop, sink and hob. It was enough to make it fresh and modern, and got a lot of compliments from viewers.
I think it depends on the type of house - we were selling a pretty bog-standard, new build, small starter home. Its likely folk who were looking at it were near the bottom of the ladder and didn't have the funds to be ripping it out and starting from scratch.
On the other hand, we're moving to something much bigger and older, and the new but not to our taste kitchen nearly put us off. Decided it was OK, because we have the equity from our sale to decide if we want a major change.
So yeah, by all means scrub and dress it to an inch of its life, but don't spend £££ on it unless it's visibly falling to bits.
The DIY/property board is great for some hard truths too.
Good luck, OP!

anniehm · 14/10/2018 17:31

Your house is only worth what someone is willing to pay - you can either hold out for the money you want (at some point someone will want it I suspect) or drop the price. Personally I would try offers over £300k and see what happens rather than the traditional asking price

Belindabauer · 14/10/2018 17:38

Have you checked what houses nearby have sold for?
Not what they are for sale at but what they have sold for, two very different things.

Jojobos · 14/10/2018 17:43

Yes I have checked and they all sold in the region of 295-310k

RayRayBidet · 14/10/2018 20:33

I agree with @juneau, your EA is not doing the job.

Belindabauer · 14/10/2018 20:51

Is your house in as good a condition as the sold ones?
Is the position as good.
The garden tidy and presentable.
Make sure it has kerb appeal.been
Are the bathroom and kitchen as high tec/modern?

QOD · 14/10/2018 21:03

We went on in September for £365 k
I looked on right move and made them drop it to £350k straight away. We were £25k more than equivalent houses!
Anyway. 1 person came to view after a week or so. No more interest at all. No one even discussed it with the agent.
That 1 person came back in week 2 and said they couldn’t get it out of their mind but needed to sell. Had bad 7 viewings of their house
Anyway. A week later they sold. We sold too 😀
We sold it for £335 k

So technically we dropped £30k but truly I think £340 was the right price. We just decided that £5/10k is a drop in the ocean when not one other person in 3 weeks expressed any interest

greendale17 · 14/10/2018 21:10

Your house is overpriced. Also house prices have dropped since February but you have only reduced 5k?

Bluelady · 15/10/2018 10:20

Where's the evidence for that statement? It's not true across the board. Prices have dropped in London, not necessarily everywhere. The UK is a network of micro markets which all behave differently.

The fact is that Brexit uncertainty is making this a very tricky market and buyers are myopic. Sales aren't going through despite far fewer properties going on the market. The way to get the best price for a property now is to wait it put if you can.

If your house is overpriced, OP, it's mighty odd that hasn't featured in your viewers' feedback.

greendale17 · 15/10/2018 10:50

I live in the south west and prices in my county and the neighbouring county have dropped 15% + since the start of the year

SoyDora · 15/10/2018 10:51

We’re in the midlands and prices have increased since April.

Ariela · 15/10/2018 11:19

Can you whip the kitchen doors off, replace with something looking more modern, and redecorate? Then remarket ?

Original poster

CoCoPopswithCruncyNut · 15/10/2018 13:24

I am not going to do the kitchen... it's not worth it. Also I'm agreeing with the ones who said rather have an old kitchen and the new buyer can update it for his/her style.

The kitchen is white tho. Simple white , flooring is tiled greyish/white. It's not a hideous kitchen- has a bit of a country cottage feel to it but it's an ok kitchen. It's just not new!

Rest of the house is fully refurbished.

There are so many semis coming up in the area for 320-325 that doesn't make sense either. And they don't have en suite etc... it's just a bit confusing. Today I got the email that there is 3 new semi s added between 320-325. Same location more or less and much less modern than ours

OP posts:

FrankIncensed · 15/10/2018 13:39

Honestly, if your area is anything like mine (price wise it sounds it), the estate agents are still pricing for a market that existed 1-2 years ago. They give you high quotes so you sign with them. Here houses come on and just sit for a few months, get reduced, sit for a few months more. Houses that come on at £350k I know will sell for closer to £310-325k eventually (I've been tracking sold prices religiously). Yet buyers like me with a max budget of £325k are not being allowed to even view these houses as we can't offer the asking price. And so the houses just sit there and then sell for a price we could afford in the first place but we were never even allowed in to view. It's nuts!

Original poster

CoCoPopswithCruncyNut · 15/10/2018 13:48

It is a bit shit. I really rather the EA s wouldn't overprice the houses and the whole thing would be smoother.

OP posts:

tillytrotter1 · 16/10/2018 00:05

Are there other issues involved. Our last house took almost 4 years to sell! It was a fairly standard detached, through living/dining room, extended kitchen etc but since we had bought, 15 years prior, the area had become an aspirational area for Asian families wanting to trade up from the terraced houses nearer town. Unfortunately the through layout was unsuitable as it didn't give them a seperate room for the women and they were buying the older semis with a seperate dining room. Because those that had sold had sold to Asian families, non-Asian families weren't interested, rightly or wrongly. We did sell, to an Asian family who were less strict but since then 8+ years not another house on that small estate has sold.

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