What else can we do???

[guineapiglet]

We have had our house on the market for 10 months - it is in a wonderful part of cheshire, takes 10 minutes to get to Peak District, is commutable into Manchester, has good schools and a fabulous community for bringing up children. Sadly having to leave, but cannot sell house, it is a large, four double bed house, with two sitting rooms, lots of storage, lovely garden - we are utterly desolate that, despite maybe 15 viewings we have had no offers. We took advice from two agents and did some internal and external work following feedback. We have now gone joint agents with a national and local EA. We have dropped the price taking into account it is a buyers' market and we really have to move because of a change of job. Really at breaking point as we really need to sell, but may have to realistically face the prospect of renting house out, the worst of all worlds as we are moving 250 miles away and really want a clean break, fresh start etc. Has anyone tried one of these companies who promise to buy your house ( obviously for loads cheaper than the value) - too dodgy? Any ideas or help greatly appreciated!

Could you link to the particulars so that people get a better idea what they're advising on?

My friend looked into one of those companies and they offered unbelievably low. This was a couple of years ago when the market was stronger too. I can't remember the figures but it was something like 40% of the value of the house.

I agree with pootle, let us have a look and see if we can advise!

Rather than go with a vulture corporate buyer, could you bear to drop your price any futher?

We also looked into it some years ago when we had a house which just wouldn't sell, and like oreo said, the offer was awful. Dropping the price might be the lesser of two evils?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36771956.html - would be grateful if you could have a look and see what you think- it is on with two agents, one of whom you will notice has taken dreadful photos, and we have asked them to redo with a professional photographer - we went on with a national agent as thought it would help, in effect it has been utterly counterproductive as their photos were amateurish and did not do the property any favours. Comments anyone?

It is out of my budget and not in my area but for what it's worth-I think it looks wonderful!

I know the area well. Bollington of course is lovely and your road is in a very convenient location for the shops, local primary and the leisure centre. Of course you know all this!

Looking at the land registry figures for a 3 month period from mid Dec to mid March a total of 21 places sold in Bollington - only 4 of which were over 200k. That' a quiet time of year of course but there were still only a couple of >300k houses sold over three months.

I just think it's really quiet and most potential buyers (including me - and our search area includes Bollington!) are being cautious unless they see something perfect and/or a bargain.

I'm sure if you dropped the price far enough you'd get a buyer, but you might have to go a lot lower than you'd be comfortable with. The problem for you is that the market may stay the same/worsen for years to come given all the financial media coverage at the moment.

Look into what you'd get from renting it out, but remember to allow for empty periods, management fees, maintenance and income tax - you don't end up with loads - even worse if it continues to fall in value during that period.

Sorry to be a bit doom and gloom...

Thanks to you all for your input - it is appreciated. - I take on board everything you have said RCheshire, - it is helpful to have someone who knows the area. The fact is this is a very unique house, tons of space, etc etc, and for some unknown reason we have had NO viewers with slightly older children, for whom the house would be perfect - the living space downstairs could also be self contained - so you are getting a lot of house for the money.The absence of larger families is a strange conundrum given that Bollington has 4/5 primary schools and several high schools on the doorstep! Where are they all?

GivetheAnarchist - good advice, will explore new builds where we are moving to and see what is available there - will let you know!

I think you may just be a victim of the market. Your target market will always have a house to sell, and people are wary to even look if they are worried about selling their own and may have decided to "sit it out" to see if things improve.
that said, you have had viewers. Americans say: no viewers, drop by 10%; viewers but no offers, drop by 5%.
Good luck!

I think you are right about the market- have just been reading latest RICS report about the growing north/south divide, ie a stagnant to low market up here and a fairly buoyant one in SE, similar pockets all over country. We have already knocked 5% off original asking price and are very reluctant to have no room for manoeuvre by shaving off more, we had thought we would negotiate on an offer with a view to reducing more, however this plan has not worked. Sadly we are moving to a 'bubble' area in SE where house prices seem to rise every week, its amazing. We dont want to be in a position where we have to give the house away at rock bottom, especially as we know how much we paid for it in a much stronger market. Yes, I know - suck it up! ( as my kids would say!!)This is an area with very few large family homes, but it is its own market - we have had viewers who are sitting in rented property waiting, waiting for a bargain, as you say...... rental market here we come!

You probably won't have any luck with PEX if you are moving to a new area I'm afraid. We thought that would be the answer to our relocating problems but every company refused to deal with us once they heard that the house we were selling was 200 miles away :(

It looks a lovely house but two things struck me when I looked at the pictures...

You don't have a dining kitchen - they are popular with families I think.

It doesn't look like you have a door inbetween your bedroom and ensuite. That would really put me off.

Please don't take this the wrong way - but according to the ad on zoopla your house (it was easy to find) was bought in 2004 for about 73% of the asking price it is today - i.e. over 33% more than you bought it for.

Considering sales prices are in many areas back to about 2004 levels, do you feel that you have done enough work on the place to justify asking a 6 figure sum more than you paid for it?

This is not intended to be a snide comment - I'm asking because that's how buyers will see it....

sorry that should say your asking price is 33% more than you paid for it in 2004.

I don't know the area that well but I do know it. I've discussed this house price business with friends. And I think the trouble is this. Say somebody had a three bedroom house to sell. These are lucky to fetch around £200,000 - £225,000 give or take some. Now the person who wants the much bigger house has to find an extra £175,000. And the gap is just too big.

I know it doesn't help you. But I think it's part of the reason for bad markets. And lots of people such as civil servants and local authority workers are worried about their jobs. But a buyer might just come along.

Exactly Mary - and at the bottom of the chain is the FTB, who definitely can't afford (or indeed should be paying) these prices.

People don't seem to get that if prices come down, the gap on them moving up the illusory ladder will also become less.

I agree with you Slobby - ALL house prices should come down in a fair world - there is NO WAY we could afford a similar size house in the area we plan to live, you could add another 200,000 on to what we are asking for this, easily, but that is not a potential buyer's problem, its ours ( and others in the same kind of boat!). As you say, when we bought it was the at the height of the market here. SInce buying we have completely gutted, renovated and updated the house, including the roof, central heating system, new kitchen, bathroom, layout, garden etc etc but mainly creating the living space you see on the third floor which was an empty void and uninhabitable when we moved in. We reckon, in 8 years we have spent enough to justify the hike, it is a COMPLETELY different house to the one we bought, unrecognisable in fact.

No, we decided against a 'dining kitchen' - we like having a separate cooking area, and a space for entertaining/doing homework etc > Personally I cant stand eating in kitchens where all the pots and pans, cooking smells etc are hanging around, it is a matter of pure personal taste I admit, but having an 'archway' linking the two creates enough privacy to be separate. Others in the road HAVE one big kitchen and several of them regret it. As for the ensuite, when we moved in the kids were small, and there was never an issue, we are that kind of family!!! - Now if anyone other than us requires a shower in it, we just lock the bedroom door. TBH, it has never been an issue, but again, down to personal choice.

guinea - In that case I'd try and make sure the advert emphasises just how much work you've done to the place since you bought. With the amount of easy access to info buyers have these days, seeing the figure you bought it for next to it in 2004 makes it seem like you're chancing your arm given the market, whereas in fact from what you've said the improvements have been extensive. Good luck, and I hope you find a buyer - there'll be someone hopefully who will be wanting a like for like swap (price wise) from another area.

You MUST put a door in between the bedroom and en suite. That's horrid tbh.

Unfortunately the answers to your question is on this thread and it's not what you want to hear. Your house is too expensive for the market. At the present time you aren't going to get back what you've put in to it. So either take the hit or rent it out. I would do the latter and rent in the SE till you're sure you're staying there AND you know the market and the area you want.

Thank you, northern, for your direct 'lets call a spade a spade' tactfulness - always nice to have aspects of your house call 'horrid' on a public forum... I know I asked for opinions, but probably won't do so again.

yes, we have acknowledged it is a tough market, but 'taking a hit' is financially hard to swallow ... expecially when you have ploughed your life savings into getting your house how you like it, horrid or not.

For what it's worth, I don't see any issue with the lack of a door between the bedroom and the en suite. Now, a WC where a bedside table would normally sit....that might disturb me.

(Purely from a house prices perspective) you are moving North to South at a very bad time. The latest land registry report came out today, and if you take a look at page 5 the current North/South divide in house price movements is stark.

My view is that Northern house price falls will accelerate, and we will start to see more downward movement in the South. Parts of the SE are down in the year-on-year figures (e.g. Hertfordshire) but much is currently resilient.

You basically have to take a bet on house prices. If you let out the Bollington house and house prices fall between now and when you come to sell, then of course you will wish you'd dropped now. The opposite could happen too.

My money (quite literally) is on them falling a lot further - hence why I'm in rented since selling last year. But I could be wrong and find I can afford less in 6 months/1 year/2 years time...

I can't see house prices rises very much in the current economic climate. I'd certainly put a door on the en suite. And look round for any other little improvements. When we were selling, (years ago granted) the estate agent said a few changes wouldn't make any difference. But we did some improvements anyway and we sold.

I would agree that the lack of door to the en-suite is a little off-putting, but putting a door in isn't going to create a flood of viewings and a sale in weeks. In the current market people are really only looking at the numbers, and if they want a door then they could put one in themselves at minimal. The problem then is the asking price, and I think this is almost always the real problem when trying to sell at the moment.

So it comes down to your personal choice. Keep dropping asking until it sells, or rent it out with a view to market recovery. I would do the former, and spend time finding a good buy where you are heading.

Thanks for your comments. Sadly, I wish it was just down to personal choice - ie to just keep dropping the house until it sells - as explained, we just can't afford to give the house away, the 'choice' is essentially being dictated to us ( and others of c ourse) by the market - even if we keep dropping the price ( and we have dropped it twice since February) the finances will eventually not add up. Other circumstances/deadlines then take over, ie having to move by a certain deadline for school places, etc, so then the only course of action is to seek tenants to cover outgoings.....or leave house standing empty. Others have written about likely future predictions about prices, and have got themselves positioned to move when prices drop further. It IS the wrong time to move from a comfortable home in the north, to a tiny house in the south - it is a compromise, and again it is our choice.I have some experience of EA-ing, and was once told that the best time to sell a house is when you dont have to - ie no external pressures,confinements, deadlines etc. They were the days!!

Hi guineapiglet... if you have to move though, not being realistic now might end up costing you more money (and being much more stressful). We are probably moving abroad this summer, and have been in rented for a while now so that we have no selling stresses when the move comes about.

I know it's hard in todays market, but I believe that if you lower the price until a house sells, then you are selling at the correct price (i.e. not giving it away). What makes it hard is that EAs seem to be quoting massive starting prices to win business (so they get the commission), but then getting you to drop and drop until a buyer is found. The fact that you have dropped twice and not sold pretty much shows this has happened again.

I suggest to take a step back from what the EA said, and base the asking price on local house price trends and original buying price (to somehow get the "true" value). We instructed the EA to sell at that, and it sold at that initial price. As it took around 3 months to find a buyer we were sure we hadn't given it away either.

I would guess that if you bought at 280K (from the Zoopla reference), you would normally be looking at 260-280K today based on Halifax indices. Now it sounds like you did a lot of work (although nothing structural), so perhaps you added enough to take it to 300-320K. That looks more realistic, and does show the EA over-valuation problem really well.

Now, having said all that, we have friends who have sold recently for a fantastic price. The buyer really overpaid. So there is a chance you could suddenly end up with a sale at full asking (and your house is lovely). And then the question comes back... how much do you want to (or are able to) leave it to chance.