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!!

I had enormous square pots outside my front door when my flat was on the market and they were so bloody heavy that it would have been very difficult to get them away quietly and quickly

Just a thought re renting...cam you swap your mortgage to interest only so that the rent covers the mortgage? Normally easy to do.

If it's only been two weeks, my advice is to hold on for now. I know families who have bought north facing tiny gardens in our area where large gardens are the norm, because the garden was their lowest priority. Ditto for a busy road.. Some folk will care, others won't.

Just my tuppence worth! It's a lovely home and I hope it sells quickly.

As Dowager days if you get very heavy pots it woudl be hard to steal them!
Put some bricks in the bottom if needs be.

This house is an esp good example of how much difference planting can make to the front of the house and its kerb appeal.
I would bung a few climbers in around th eporch if you dotn want to change the door as that woudl soften the effect plus paint the door a dark colour such as navy or dark green.
www.backtofrontexteriordesign.com/gallery_detail5.html

Yes, that does look good. Can't wait to get started now, if the rain would only stop!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and support, feeling more positive now. Will let you know how I get on! X

You need plants in front of the house. It looks uninviting. The house is beautiful, I would love to move in!

But, you can easily add some plants that are not going to make it look dark inside. For example a Choisya (Orange blossom) or two. It has beautiful foliage and lovely white blossoms and a gorgeous scent. Another nice one is Spiraea, also white, with cascades of flowers. Ceanothus has beautiful blue flowers, is evergreen and does not grow very tall either. It is splendid. For evergreen winter interest, get a Camellia, they have gorgeous red or pink flowers, with nice and glossy foliage.

Weirdly, I was looking at the details last night (am local to you and having a general nosy on rightmove...) Totally agree with people who have said ditch the 2nd picture (front door) - it looks a bit odd tbh. The other pics are beautiful and there's a pic that shows the whole front of the house - the front entrance looks better when seen in context. I thnk, knowing the local market pretty well, that your asking price seems about right. We also live on that same busy road (but slightly set back) and noise is just never a problem but we have double glazing in our much less nice house.

The EA may well be on the back-foot tomorrow after your dh has been in, but will proudly mention all the Internet traffic your house is getting

Agree that the front needs softening with planting - just to have a visual, even if not literal barrier between the house and the traffic would help.

Harpers and Hurlington are notorious for never including photos of upstairs rooms - it drives me crazy (we're looking to relocate to your area, but further north).

Good luck!

Another minor thing (and this wouldn't prevent me viewing but...) are the trees along the right-hand side looking towards the summerhouse yours? They look a bit overgrown (I'd want to face them off to allow more light in). This isn't a problem if they are yours (it would just be on my to-do list once moved in), but rings a little alarm bell for me as I can't tell which side of the boundary they are on from the details, and it would worry me if they belonged to a neighbour as they look like fast-growing evergreens...

I think you need to stop the agent saying it's on the road - anybody looking for a house uses Streetview etc and can work it out for themselves. You need them to get people to fall in love with the house first and then persuade themselves that the road isn't a problem. If the agent mentions it then I suspect people will think it's really bad. Wow them with your lovely house, then if they mention the road say that the pricing does reflect the proximity of the road, and they wouldn't get a house like yours anywhere else at the price....

Good luck, it's a dreadful process, particularly when you are under pressure.

Property not selling is purelyba function of time on Market or Price. The lack of viewings suggest the price is too high.

Read the post.
Now off to look.
Hope hubby helps kick some butt today

We've just been discussing this whole topic (house prices over the next year and the best moves in the current market) on another thread for over 20 pages - so to avoid repetition - can I just suggest you read the thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1449496-to-feel-seething-resentment-towards-those-who-profited-from-the-house-price-bubble-and-hot-anger-at-the-Governments-who-allowed-it-to-happen

And can I politely suggest that if the house is not selling at the current price - raising the price would seem to be entirely illogical. Whilst some buyers might be put off by something appearing too cheap I would venture they are in the minority, and the majority of buyers are put off because they can't get the finance in the current climate.

It is a very lovely house btw. And remember - you fell in love with it and bought it (you might have to think about what sold it to you? and emphasise that), so someone else will too provided the price is right.

What did you buy it for and how much did the last vendors pay? Is it possible you over-paid by buying in the bubble years? Prices seem to be back to 2004-06 levels (depending on where you are in the country) so perhaps consider that. I know that the first thing I do (now we're in a buyers market) even before I go and view a property is look at the Land Registry and see past sold prices - if it has risen rapidly, my first question to the seller is what has been done to the property to justify any price increase in a falling market?

We've considered properties on busy roads - if you fall in love with them, then you take that into account. I do think the Radio 4 tip is a bit tricksy but a great idea too...

'price fixes everything.'...Jim the realtor 2008

having said that you could with the EA not bringing the road up.Imagine the thought process for a potential buyer ie it must be really bad if the EA is mentioning it.And what may seem bad to the EA may not actually bother a lot of people.I don't know the road,but there's loads of people living on roads jsut like it in the UK.

reality is that someone will buy it but maybe not at a price you can proceed with.the mortgage market is constrained a tthe moment for several reasons beyond your control

fwiw it's a lovely looking house and there's not much wrong with the colour scheme,the pot plants,etc

you could just cut the price regularly until you get lots of viewings/an offer,thereby telling you where the market is.no point in you suffering the stress of trying to sell at £450k for three years if the bid is at £350k/£400k is there?

best of luck

Perhaps it is to do with the price? Asking £450k, bought two and a half years ago:

2nd Oct 2009 xxxxxx, Hawkhurst Road, Cranbrook TN17 3QD £412,500
30th Oct 2003 xxxxxx, Hawkhurst Road, Cranbrook TN17 3QD £280,000

If you accept that there has been house price stagation as a minimum since 2008, then your asking seems a little bit high?

It does rather look like you might have overpaid? If those are the Land Registry figures - or did you do major work to warrant the additional £37,500 on the asking price in a falling market?

The OP's already said that she has yellowwellies.

I don't think it's overpriced for the area when a house on the same road is on the market for over 100k more. Obviously that may be overpriced as well but I have definitely not bothered looking at houses that are suspiciously cheap. Long experience has taught me that it's an utter waste of time

Not sure about that DowagersHump - I've seen plenty of houses sell after being reduced but can't think of one that's sold after the price has risen; likewise, the vast majority of 'suspiciously cheap' houses I see go on the market sell within days/weeks.

I reckon if the OP prices it at what she paid for it - there'll be no loss of equity, she can just think of her mortgage payments - basically being the price you pay for putting a roof over your head, it'll sell and you can get on with your life and relationship with DH. We don't expect to make a profit by selling a second hand car - so why - a second hand home? Yours looks to have been a very very beautiful place to live for a few years, so hey it's not been all bad? You might have overpaid but trying to find someone else to overpay in a recession might take a lot longer than trying to find someone to overpay in a bubble.

Dowager I do think your attitude is very 2007... no offence intended but the market has changed. Yes there might be houses on the market for £100k more in the neighbourhood but those are asking prices - they haven't sold at that price have they? So they could just be more kite flying sellers looking for the 'greater fool'?

It's a beautiful house, but the lack of front gates would worry me - I have DCs with no road sense and I'd worry about them running out without thinking. There's obviously not much you can do about living on a busy road - was it so busy when you bought the house? (clearly it didn't bother you enough to stop you buying, so it may not bother others as much as you think, particularly if they don't have little DCs). I agree that you need more pictures of upstairs, and an EA who can put a positive spin on things

I last bought and sold in early 2011 so I have no idea what I'm talking about clearly

Hi again, sorry, didn't realise people were still posting! Thanks all for your points, i was more interested in suggestions on how to make the house appear better/ manage EA than an in depth discussion on price. Raised issues with EA in email as did not have time to go in, but will be going in on mon to look at further pics etc But some better news, by the time I emailed, they had booked 2 viewings which happened today so I am happier now. Let's hope it continues and I will keep you updated!!