Difficult house to sell - long sorry!

[MrsApplepants]

DH's job has moved 300 miles away, so we need to move badly. Currently he lives in hotels Monday to Friday, paid for by his employer for the time being but they will only do this for the next couple of months and then we will have to find him somewhere to rent.

Unfortunately, paying this rent as well as our current mortgage is going to be really tight financially (as well as the effect on our relationship of him being away so much) so we are desperate to sell. House been on market for 2 weeks, 3 views in first few days, nothing since.

Trouble is, while it is a really great house; very spacious 4 double bed character detached with parking, large garden, summerhouse and double garage, it's on a busy A road, with constant traffic noise in the day, although dead quiet at night. Otherwise, good location, outskirts of pretty Kent village, in catchment of excellent secondary school, lots of good local primaries and good commute to London.

We've priced it well, we are after speed, not greed! We do have some room to drop if necessary. Similar properties but in a quieter location command 125K more, so the price has def taken the road into acccount. There's not much else in the area at the price the house is at and the location is popular.

I don't think the issue is price, it's this dratted road. I just don't think anyone's ever going to buy it.

I know it's only been 2 weeks but I'm really worried that this is going to be a millstone round our necks, both financially and emotionally.

Thanks for reading, any support, suggestions gratefully received!!

Could we have a link in case there are suggestions we can offer re the particulars?

Are you brave enough to post a link to the details? We might be able to make suggestions to help sell it. And have you checked your selling price against recent prices on the same road, if there are any?

Have you based your price on what the agents valued it at or on actual sold prices from the Land Registry? They are overvaluing to get instructions at the moment so even if you get 3 valuations and they all agree, it doesn't necessarily mean it's right.

We had a similar problem. Lovely house, good area, on a v busy road. We kept telling ourselves that we bought it so there would be others who would be prepared for the compromise. We did sell, but it took some time. Is renting your current home out an option to get you down to your DH?
It may be that if in a good catchment the school admissions lottery might work in your favour at the moment?
Nothing you can do about the road, make the house as seductive as poss to your target market, they will then be prepared to compromise on the road.

Watching with interest mainly to have a nosy at the house as I too live on a busy road and am looking to sell.

Heres the link.

m.rightmove.co.uk/quickPage.html;jsessionid=B2646A8C9470EC51CC0F2DC03AD1F2BA?page=8&cc=html5%2Fhomepage.html%3Fgoto%3DHOMEPAGE#details

The house does look better from the back than the front, not much I can really do about that though! The floor plan tells a better story! EA says lots of enquiries but everyone is concerned about the road, although I am sceptical towards agents and think they all try to tell you what you want to hear!

No houses have been sold on this road for yonks, and all the houses are individual, so it's quite hard to compare any prices with others. The agents all gave us higher valuations, so we set the price much lower ourselves. It has had about 50k of work done to it since we bought it a few years ago but that isn't reflected in the price either.

There seems to be plenty of houses in the 500k + bracket (Oasts and amazing houses!) and lots in the less than 350k bracket (teeny cottages and terraces) but not much in the middle, as ours is. I thought that was good as less competition. But TBH I don't really know what's good or not anymore!!

I don't think renting is the answer as the rent wouldn't cover all of the mortgage and would make selling it more difficult. I just want shot of it!!

I couldn't get the link to work!

cooeee Mrs Applepants!

Try this, can't get the rightmove link to copy correctly.

www.harpersandhurlingham.com/site/go/viewParticulars?propertyID=194898

I love it! Wouldn't care if it was on the road as I live on a busy one anyhoo. If only I had another £200k after selling this one

Actually your lounge and kitchen are very similar to mine, except bigger.

Does the road noise bother you in the house or the garden?

In ours it is quite loud but you get used to it. Mind you we are about 4 foot from it.

I googled "advice for selling house on a busy road" and got the following - these may not be possible in your circumstance but worth a thought:

• Triple glazing - three layers of glass, with one highly-absorbent laminated safety glass - should keep out most noise.

• Grow hedges / trees in your front garden - gardening experts recommend yew, cotoneaster and boxwood.

• Reconfigure the internal rooms - rearrange accommodation so primary rooms face the back.

• Change the main access to the house so that you don't enter directly onto the road.

Also - if you are desperate have you thought about the intermediary companies that buy your house off you and them sell it on? They will obviously buy it at less than market value but might be worth an enquiry.

Is council tax band G very expensive?

Sorry - x-posted.

The house looks absolutely beautiful BTW, I think you are right that it is the road that's putting people off.

Personally, i dislike the front door picture and would bin it. More bedroom pics as yours are quite well sized.

This would give a better overall view of the house (atm, most are outdoor) and also show that the whole house is not 'beige'. Kitchen and sitting room are lovely, but gives an overall 'beige' view.

Agree with triple glazing and also spiel to tell viewers when it is quiet - maybe evenings & weekends?

It's a beautiful house. My parents bought a house on a fast busy road- when they viewed radio 4 was on in the rooms facing the road!

Auction? I don't know how they work, but maybe you can set a reserve price? Or is it only houses needing real renovation that land up on auctions and your house is lovely but with a bury road. I just had the idea after the suggestion of the companies that buy any house but at a reduced price.

That's a lovely house. I wish I could give you some useful advice, but I don't think there's anything else you can do to the house. About the only thing I'd suggest is planting a small pretty tree or large shrub in the front garden to soften the space between the road and the house. Purely cosmetic but might help.

How hard is your EA arguing with people worried about the noise? Are they telling people it's not that bad and they should come and check it out for themselves? Are they arranging evening viewings when the traffic is less? I think once viewers see the house they might be able to rationalise the noise as it's so lovely.

Also, if you're in a catchment for a good school, things might pick up as you get closer to September.

Wish you lots of viewings and a buyer soon.

It is a nice house, but yes, it is a family house on a busy road so you are right, it is going to be tougher to sell.

BUT I don't think the details are doing you any favours tbh. The photos are samey - why two of the kitchen? And why none of upstairs? Are you trying to hide something? It's as if the EA ran out of ideas.

Also, as a buyer I would prefer to see 'family room' renamed 'study' or 'dining room.' It gives another angle to house and makes it seem bigger - family and sitting room are rather similar.

Could you/EA do an open house weekend? You might whip up interest and competition?

OP that's beautiful

Fingers crossed for you. I think Whatthecatdraggedin is excellent advice.

*gave

That's a lovely looking house and I think it is probably priced sensibly for the area (but see paragraph 3).

My advice is to do something about the front fencing. From the photo it looks like you have partial fencing but no gate across the drive at the left-hand end (I can't see what there is in front of the garage) - is this right? Anyone who is wanting to buy a house that size will have a young family, and if it's by a busy road my first concern would be "there is nothing to stop my toddler running from the front door into the road if I take my eye of him for a second". If you have a fence and gate completely enclosing the front garden, such that purchasers can see that they can safely open the front door without risk of a child running into the road, having the car parked on the drive with the gates shut, and only open the gates once their children are firmly strapped into the car, they will feel reassured that the main road is less of a problem.

The details don't mention double glazing at all - this would seriously put me off a home right by a main road - I had a house on a main road WITH double glazing and it was noisy enough. If this is an oversight and you do have it, get the agent to add this fact to the summary ASAP. If there isn't, you can afford to knock a bit more off the price to take this into account (or even get it fitted if you can get it arranged quickly) - you can afford this, as anywhere 300 miles away from this area is going to have plenty of properties at least this size or bigger available for less than £300k so you have room for maneuver.

Thanks everyone!
Fashion: Noise loud in front garden, not too bad at back, as house and neighbours house and trees at other side screen it. Don't hear it inside anymore!!

LaGren: about 2k per annum I think. ( don't get me started!!)

What the cat: house has partial triple glazing, but I will investigate cost of doing the rest, we considered hedges etc but they would make the main downstairs rooms really dark. Aside from neighbours's house, farmland and woods surround the house, so no way to access it differently.

Octo: I don't get the agents point with the porch pic either! It's odd to me! They seem reluctant to use bedroom photos too, but I will get them to put at least one on, esp as the second bedroom has just been decorated! In cream colours. When you say 'beige view' do you mean beige as colour or beige as in boring?! Or both! I thought people wanted neutrals when buying a house?!