Three views in three months and absolutely no offers!

[VendorZilla]

The EA was very much over excited with our Art Deco house and expected it to sell well. We didn't sign an agreement as we went on a handshake. The listing missed huge swathes of info about the property and the plans were all wrong - they under measured by over 200sqft. It was put in the hands of a drip who didn't even respond to messages and left the house unlocked after 2 viewings. (He's since been sacked.) We've just told them to take it off the market and feel desperately disappointed. I want to get a different agent in now but DH is still trying to be nice to the rubbish agent in the hope something happens.
Thing is, it's a unique house. The only similar one in the area - right next door - has been un-characterised; roof terrace converted to pitch roof, windows changed, all the Art Deco soul (features and appearance) has been sucked out. All other houses in the area are pretty much bog standard 30s mock Tudor. EA reckons planning permission to extend upwards (convert part of the roof terrace to a master bedroom suite) will be a real draw to potential buyers. Don't really know what to think/do about that one!
What to do..? Tearing my hair out and just want to move.

I'm addicted to that website!

Your house is stunning.

No idea why you haven't sold it. It's a beautiful house, the photos are really good. Sorry, not really much help.

Not sure if this is still on the market.

I grew up around here and have recently bought not very far away. I spent nearly 2 yrs looking (!) so know the area and market fairly well.

If I may offer some well meaning advice...

Although I love the area, I do agree with a pp that people looking to live here are not going to be interested in the Art Deco thing at all. This is an area for families, schools, and practicality, and although buyers might like a hint of period, I think this property is too extreme for this market.

I think the flat roof would put buyers off too. It put me off when I was looking and I'm an ethnic minority, so who knows, maybe the agent had a point?!

I think it is extremely over priced - the agent has had to reduce 2 out of 6 properties in this area that were priced over the £500k mark. In this area people are expecting to pay up to £600k for a 4/5 bed and even then the standard of deco (I don't mean superficial) would have to be such that there is no work required. In contrast, the bathroom here will need replacing (I understand it's a feature, but I think buyers will just see it as 'old fashioned'). Also, the kitchen is tiny compared to the rest of the house.

Other houses in the area will boast extensions at the back, making for larger kitchens, and for less money. With pointy roofs. Sorry.

3 viewings is shocking and I do feel for you. Your agent(s) are doing a terrible job :(

I would advise that you tone down the art deco thing and post more pics of the kitchen looking as large as possible.
Also post pics of the front door as I think people like to visualise where they enter the house. Also I would remove the pic with the car and just show the front of the house with all the driveway space.

I do think you need to lower the price as well, I'm sorry but I do think the Art Deco style is actually taking value off your house for the market in this area. Good luck and I hope I'm wrong about everything and it sells today!

Sorry me again just wanted to post this - I think this is the kind of thing you're up against.

I completely understand that there will be a buyer out there who will bite your hand off for an Art Deco house, but you seem desperate to move so that's why I've mentioned the stuff I have. Best of luck.

People who think the bathroom need replacing DelphiSwimsLate will not be people who would think about buying this house in the first place.

If you're the kind of person who sees it as just "old fashioned" then you're not going to be the kind of person who is prepared to pay a premium for the art deco thing, which I think is what the vendor is doing (asking a premium for something more unusual and with rich history and styling).

What do people not like about a flat roof (genuine question)?

OP I would always buy a house like yours, and never a house like the one posted above - the two don't compare, even with the hefty discount!

Good luck, if I were moving to North London, we'd LOVE to have your place. What is the square footage?

What a beautiful house OP. It's all gorgeous but I particularly love the bathroom. DelphiSwimsLate - I don't understand why you are comparing OP's house to the Harrow one at all. No comparison.

The harrow house is so mundane. OP your house is stunning, replacing the bathroom would be a crime. I love white suites but if I had that one I would never replace it, it totally fits the house. Find and agent that loves your house, I really believe you must have a passion for this type of house to be able to sell it.

Boobz you are exactly right - my point is that I don't think that people who want the Art Deco style and are prepared to pay a premium for it, are really looking in this area.

The harrow house is mundane, but it is one street away from the ops, so location wise is is comparable. My point was that for a lot less money, a buyer can get a 4 bed place in more or less the same location.

I don't deny that the op has a stunning home at all. It is absolutely beautiful. But she has said she want to hurry up and move, and three viewings in three months must be very disheartening. So my tact would be to play down the Art Deco thing and appeal to the mass market for that area.

Again - I sincerely hope I'm wrong and the house gets snapped up just as it is!

Also, the op said on page 1 that there was no premium incorporated into to the asking price.

I see entirely why Delphi is posting the other house. A buyer looking for just "a 4-bed house" in that area could spend £650K on the Sheridan Gardens house or other similar properties or could spend £200K more on the OP's house, which has smaller bedrooms (although also the extra study/box room) and a smaller garden (although with treehouse (no pictures of that to entice viewers in, though)).

Yes, obviously if you really like Art Deco the OP's house is nicer, and worth the extra money. But that means that her market is effectively restricted to people who like Art Deco. People who just want a 4-bedroom house in the area will buy in Sheridan Gardens and save themselves the £200K. And that in turn means that she should probably expect fewer viewings than the norm and for the house to take longer to sell -- it needs to find the right buyer.

(this agent does appear to be massively incompetent, though)

In a similar vein, for £130K less than OP's house someone could buy this four-bedroomed house and for only £30K more than the OP is asking they could buy this six-bedroomed house (which I would want to immediately redecorate, but six bedrooms is six bedrooms).

I hope that the OP has the time at her disposal to find the right agent for her house and wait for the right buyer, because it would be a crying shame to have to mess with it and I assume she can't afford to drop the price significantly.