Help - 15 viewings and no offers. (Is that bad? It feels bad)

[Ladybard]

Any constructive advice appreciated. Our house has only been on the market for just over a month. We have 'priced to sell' and had what I think are a lot of viewings, which tells me we are probably at the right price point, but no offers. It is a bit more cluttered than in the brochure/pictures online, but I have three kids under 7 though I do do my best for viewings (clean, hoovered, smelling nice, couple of bunches of fresh flowers, the basics). We live in a village and don't have parking (only parking nearby) and I suspect this is killing it for a lot of people (in fact I know it is) but WE bought it, and don't find the parking close by a problem. Also, if it did have a drive or other parking it would be up at a much higher price. ANYWAY, I am getting paranoid now that it is other stuff - does anyone have any tips to make a house look like a must buy?? Am I forgetting something? It's a period cottage, pleasant without being chocolate box on the outside, really charming inside, completely renovated by us 5 years ago. Many thanks...

I am not averse to cutting the price actually, but two things on that: we are already selling for less than it was valued at, and on Zoopla (which I know can be very inaccurate) it is valued at something like 484k.

Hi Lady, that makes sense. But honestly, even if I'd looked round a house and liked it, if went back to rightmove and saw that it seemed to have sold for so much less so very recently, I'd walk away because what I would think was a fair offer would be so much lower than you would accept. When I was buying a house a few years ago I would always look at how much it had sold for before and when, as well as how much comparable houses in the area are selling for. But that may be more of an issue where I am, where developers will shove a few spotlights into the ceiling, stick in a high gloss kitchen, and slap some greige paint on the walls and then try to sell for 200% of what they paid 18 months before.

Even if there are only one or two people like me, you still want them to have a second think about what looks like a really beautiful house, so since it's so easy to correct, I'd sort it out.

I think there is something wrong somewhere (we have tried to correct it before) because on Zoopla it has it being bought for 133k in 1993 (which I think was correct, the elderly couple we bought it from had been there about 15 or 16 years)

Zoopla is a load of bollocks as it works on price increases based on date of last sale taking no account of price ceilings in an area.

House next to me was valued at over £600k on Zoopla but sold for £350k which was right for the market.

Have a look on the long running threads on here- there's loads of examples of people who went with EA valuations and had to sell for much less in the end.

The previous sold price is very important though, plus time since sold so you really need to get that sorted.

Well I like it - but then I live in a very similar property.

One reason you may get so many viewings but no offers is that lots of people think they would like to live in a cottage but don't really when they see one and realise the layout.

I was completely committed to buying a cottage and didn't consider anything else and when you have viewed a few, you can see the receptions are always weird, it's a rare cottage that has a proper family bathroom, some rooms will be pokey, there are likely to be ongoing maintenance costs etc etc. And you pick the one that seems the best compromise to you.

But if you are just considering buying a house and EA has taken you to this pretty cottage you won't feel the same. And suddenly you are happy to pay less for a modern house with a standard layout but no roses round the door.

I suspect your photos are a bit deceptive too and make the rooms look a bit bigger than they are. I turned down a house I viewed mainly because it has a massive bed that made the room look tiny - if they'd had a standard bed it would have looked much better.

But then, it's not your typical cottage either, is it? Outside it doesn't give you that feeling. It's mostly the awkwardness inside and the beams.

I do believe with 'quirkier' houses, you need more time to sell as someone will love it/ see it as a fit for them, but it won't be 'most' people. Our house is quite large with a very small garden and sandwiched between 2 roads. The indoor space is fab but outside not so much. I initially rejected it, but my parents, sister and dh all wanted to view - and then it was so nice inside, they convinced me. I think a lot of families wouldn't want it, would prefer more balance of inside/ outside space so it is probably going to take more time to sell, I think.

If I were you OP, I would just be patient. Don't spend too much time looking at houses till yours is being sold. Someone who wants it will pay the right price.

I agree with others that the beams seem sort of overwhelming and the overall feel of the place is rather dingy and gloomy, but those are things that are easily remedied with a lick of paint. I love period cottages and enjoy DIY, and I'm sure there are plenty of others like me out there.

However, now I've finally figured out which cottage is yours using streetview and satellite view, I would have to say it is the lack of access which would put me off from buying. No onsite parking is one thing, but how do you ever have anything (furniture, appliances etc) delivered? The path between your garden and the road doesn't look wide enough for vehicles to get down at all!

I agree with Merry. I don't think the price is wrong, just needs someone to fall in love with it. If the people who have viewed it really liked it, but thought it was overpriced they'd have gone in with a low offer still.

The main thing that would put me off though is that it is a four bedroom house, but the living space it what you get with a two bedroom. Not helpful I know, because you can't really do much about that.

You can make it a 3 bedroom with a study, which is another living space. The kitchen is big so it's not like one reception and small kitchen.

I'm not sure the words "tucked away down a footpath" help. To me, that doesn't suggest that there is parking 15 seconds away. It just suggests mud, lots of it!
Is the parking which is 15 seconds away always available or just if there is no one else there? If I get back from work at 6.30 on a Wednesday, will I always find a spot? What about at school drop off or pick up time? If I want any building work done, where will they park?
I'm always suspicious if not all of the rooms are included in pictures. I have already dismissed the two spare rooms as being my room as they don't have enough storage so which would be my room? Why doesn't it warrant a picture?
Good luck. It is so personal, isn't it, when people traipse around your house & reject it.

It's a lovely house...if you are planning to stay local are you sure you can't stay? If you change the spare rooms into a room each for your children they would have plenty of room even up to teens and the garden is definitely large enough for a conservatory or extension to give you more downstairs space...

Again, thanks everyone.

Vitamin - it isn't wide enough for a vehicle! it can only be accessed on foot. But everything has been delivered down it, all the furniture came through that way. Sure, the delivery men hate us. But we can live with that.

Peas - I suppose in theory the parking on the village green is only available if someone else isn't there. But in nearly 6yrs we have only not been able to park there fewer than a dozen times. Maybe less than that actually. There is also a close over the road which visitors have on occasion used but they can usually park on the green as well. Ditto workmen.

Faux, if it doesn't sell soonish we will do just that. We have our eyes on another house - not on the market but had an offer accepted - and it will go on the open market if we haven't sold by the summer and therefore we might lose it (and don't want to move anywhere else)

I'm not suspicious or put off if a listing doesn't show photos of all the rooms. I believe in having the best quality photos of the strongest rooms and a good, but not wordy description.

I could go through the photos and suggest changes, but you've had plenty of that and over and above, there are some things (like rearranging the living room furniture because it looks awkward and a poor use of the space) are just not achievable for your possessions and your family.

A massive declutter and tidy up is definitely top of the agenda, no one wants to see mess and it only serves to cause questions about storage and the practicalities of living in your house.

What you're trying to do is a) get viewers in. Which you seem to be doing and b) convince them that they want to buy and move in to your house. Your bathroom presentation for example, would do that for me, but the other rooms and garden wouldn't.

I would certainly spend some time tidying up outside. Move all the utility things to the oil tank area. If you have money to spend, try screeing that off somehow and then put a nice table and chairs on the patio part with the standard bay behind. Make it an area that people can imagine using with a morning coffee or a glass of wine more than a utility area with bins and bits and pieces.

I imagine you've had either tourists or people who so wanted the house to work for them, but decided in reality it wouldn't.
Your best bet would seem to me to be a couple, or family with an older child or children. The first floor being a master bedroom and perhaps a dressing room or study and the top floor being a guest or family bedrooms and/or a study, as required. The split and separation is going to put people off I think, moreso than price, but there's very little you can do about that other than present the rooms to demonstrate how well they could work for your target market.

I haven't read all tbe most recent posts OP, but here are some more thoughts.....

Regarding having photos of every room - our last two house sales the EA has suggested not having pics of every room as you want the details to leave potential buyers wanting to view in person. A lack of pics of every room wouldn't be an issue for me.

Last three houses we sold have been quirky, character homes that we had fully restored and the last three sales attracted their fair share of tourists/nosey parkers - some actually admitted as much! The right buyer was out there each time though - pricing realistically and staging the house for sale meant we went SSTC in 10 days and 5 weeks on the most recent two occasions. In 2014 (Wilts village) we reduced the price 4 weeks in, to 10k above the lowest we'd accept (we'd found our onward purchase & didn't want to lose it) which prompted three offers, two at the lowest price we'd have taken and one at asking price. That was a very niche house - 200+ yr old stone, thatched 2500 sq ft with five beds over 3 floors, beams galore, annex, 0.3 acre garden and small windows......fronting onto a busy rural A road. One viewer remarked that it was dark - what did she expect - but we/our EA put all lamps and lights on for every viewing and we do have masses of (antique) mirrors that reflect light everywhere.

Which brings me into furniture - whilst I agree you need to show your house isn't cramped/bursting with stuff, I don't agree with the paint everything white/neutralise advice. We have shed loads of antique brown furniture and have never contemplated painting it white to achieve a sale (have sold most recently in 2007, 2011 & 2014) - in fact the buyers of the 2007 & 2011 sales wanted to buy our furniture as well as the house! I would move the kitchen table though.

I do agree it's a bit top heavy - which is obviously something you can't change. We had the opposite issue once - five receptions plus kitchen, conservatory & two shower rooms d/s with only two beds and an ensuite u/s. A family of 5 fell in love with the house and planned to utilise some of the d/s space as bedrooms. They're still there and now have 5 DC, so buyers will find a way round something if they fall in love with the house. Could you look into getting plans drawn up for a small extension/garden room to show potential purchasers what they could do?

Regarding the staircases, we have two in this house (1853, extended 1920s) and foresee it might put off future buyers with DC - maybe your ideal buyers are like us (couple in our late 40s, DC flown) or with one teenage DC - as I know that when we were selling a 6 bed house over several floors in 2007 buyers with young DC didn't like the idea of the multiple stairs and DC sleeping on different floors. Think about targeting your potential buyers.....

Parking wouldn't be an issue for us - we previously had a house with double yellows outside and rented a garage opposite - but again families with young DC may not be as keen. DS was 2 when we moved there and it was a pita coming home with shopping and a sleepy toddler when there was no parking immediately outside. We sold that to an elderly lady, even though it had 4 beds. Someone will overlook this though just as our last buyers overlooked the road - they knew that was the trade off for getting a house of that size/standard at such a good price.

Your garden looks a good size - I'd definitely want to pretty it up a bit with large planters full of Spring colour. Having inherited everything from shoulder-height brambles to exquisitely manicured lawns from our previous vendors I know how bloody expensive and time-consuming landscaping/maintaining a garden can be and IMHO buyers of the country lifestyle will want that aspirational cottage garden look. Our current garden looked a picture in the EA blurb but we weren't anticipating the overgrown mess that greeted us on viewing - turned out the house had been empty 2 years and the gardener not kept on - so we spent a fortune last year replacing dead shrubs, but you can do a lot with not much cash bringing in pots of colour you can take with you when you sell.

I get it now with your front/back house issue. Funnily enough we have a similar thing going on here (see pics) where our front door is actually at the pretty side back where the garden is and the side that fronts onto the lane is fugly! Again it's a marmite thing - and some people just don't get it - but yours is a lovely looking building and the person that falls in love with your house is not going to give a flying fig whether the front door is at the front or not

Well it's really obvious that your estate agent is the problem since they say in the particulars that the garden is to the front. And they put the back garden in the first photo but tell you it's the front.

I looked at it and thought I'd never go and see a house where the garden is at the front.

I suspect others are thinking the same.

Get the estate agent to remove the " tucked away down a footpath" bit because it conjures up struggling down a dark muddy path with your shopping/ buggy / DC moaning and bins in the pissing rain and wind. IMO:)

Just put parking on the street in this lovely quiet and friendly village. And maybe part of the garden could be a parking space?

Otherwise it's lovely- I'd live there in a heartbeat- would you accept a huge reduction in price? :)

Raphaella - thank you so so much for your long, kind, encouraging post and pictures. Colourful pots and planters will be purchased this weekend, along with some other things to pretty up the garden a bit. You are right, as are the others who have said it. It DOES look too bland for the house.

Also, I have been having a hard look at the house today and trying to bust a bit more clutter. I am also going to do things like buy new lamps for my bedroom - just generally try to make ALL the rooms more glamorous somehow.

I am encouraged by your 2014 story (house sounds a bit similar) and am going to chat to DP tonight about price.

I even think (gulp) we need to think about moving the table. Trouble is...we eat at it! Especially the children.

Also I think getting plans drawn up for a small extension is really worth considering I feel a bit more positive now. I have felt so despondent the last day or two, just feeling like we are not going to sell it and feeling overwhelmed and like the downpoints are out of my control. But there are SOME things we can do so I am going to have a jolly good go.

I do wonder whether part of the problem is the EA sending people to view your property and your neighbour's on the same day. They see the larger downstairs space, extra storage (cellar, she'd and so on), parking, maturer garden and then feel a little disappointed when they see yours.

Although yours has distinct advantages on price, bathroom and no structural problems they can't get past its differences with the property next door. The realisation your neighbour has problems (like damp in the bathroom, I assume?) also creates a feeling of nervousness about older properties.

Is the EA the only suitable one locally?

Laurie - yes, it's confusing. I think which is the front and which is the back is up for debate. So I could say whatever is the most appealing...really, though, I would say the only entrance is at the back as it is definitely a 'back' garden.

Lavender, I had never thought about it like that but as a few people have mentioned it, maybe it needs looking at.

Silver - it's hard to know. There are other agents and we did agonise over whether to use this agent for various reasons, but they do usually get results.

I feel like I'm going mad.

What clutter? and I can't see a cot ..... have I lost the plot?

I think it's a lovely house, maybe just pull the table out of the way for the kitchen photo though?

Good luck op! We live in a similar house and I dread the day we have to sell it as I suspect it will be to a very limited market!

Snowy, you aren't going mad The clutter is in rooms not shown, or is out of shot. The cot is in my bedroom, which is not pictured.

Well, viewing tomorrow lunchtime...here's hoping. Waiting for feedback on the two yesterday...

My parents have recently sold a cottage very similar to yours. Like you, they got a lot of 'tourists' and the comments to the estate agents were all things that they could do fuck all about.
the bedrooms aren't big enough (dimensions are on the plans that you can read)
We want to knock half of it down and build an extension (not allowed on a listed property actually).
There are too many beams (sorry, they actually hold the house up)
the garden's too big (well, pave it over then)
but the doorways are low (yes, that's a thing with some old buildings)
local secondary school not so great (yup, but you could have found that out before viewing)

But, a few people fell in love with it and eventually there was a bit of a bidding war and the house sold very suddenly.

I think when you have an old or unusual house the right people will come along eventually but it's not like selling a Barret Home when the same people might buy the identical house round the corner that has a better cooker. They have to be special people for a special house who really really love it and they may be the next viewers or you may wait a while - but they're out there.

By the way, it's beautiful. I'd buy it if I had the money Good luck.

Thanks a lot Haffdonga. All you lovely people who would buy it in theory are cheering me up!