Why can't we sell our house!

[cocomom]

Long story short we've accepted 3 different offers off 3 different people all for them to 'change their mind' in less than 72 hours.
Lowest offer being 5k under asking and highest full asking, I think this is now really affecting our chance of selling as our house has been STC on rightmove three times now only for it to pop back up a few days later

Unless your improvements have added square footage you can't really hope to see your asking price reflect your outlay. So new windows and roof are immaterial. It's what people can see that they are concerned with.

I also think people are looking at your garden and wondering how much time, effort and money it will take to rip up all the stone and put down grass and greenery or a flower bed or two, and that goes for both back and front. They are also thinking about your wallpaper.

If they can find a house that won't require so much changing around for similar or lower price, then I can see how they might jump ship.

The bottom line is - if your house is more expensive (and also if it guarantees more expense or labour once bought) than comparable properties in your area then that is your problem.

Inside is lovely but the garden is awful. Doesn't look like it goes with the house in terms of inside is modern and really well done.

Bad gardens put me off because i think it'll cost me at least £5k to get someone in, rip out the current stuff and put in new lawn, patio, beds etc.

It's probably just because it's a bungalow. It's a smaller pool of potential buyers. You make good points about floor space, and about marketing actively to people looking at 3 bedroom semis - the agent should be able to entice people looking at semis. Have you considered changing agents?

I agree with PPs about the garden, get some photos taken with the new plants so it looks less barren, and have a table on the paved area.

I suspect the decor isn't the deciding point, it's just the excuse people are using. It's beautifully finished. If you wanted to make it more universally appealing I would take down the black and white wallpaper and paint that wall, introduce some colour into the kitchen (coloured toaster, coloured curtain etc), introduce some colour into the bathroom (towels etc) and remove the pink from the bedrooms (too gendered for people who don't like pink or have boys). And probably put in a bath.

I don't find people need to make an excuse when giving feedback and as you have had 23 viewings, all saying its too modern, I think you can rely on that.

I have recently sold my house after over 40 viewings and the feedback was mostly that the rooms were too small. There wasn't a great deal I could do about that but fair enough.

I am viewing properties to buy now and always give honest feedback eg the garden was too small or the kitchen was outdated, whatever the issue was.

Past history of prices in that road mean you are breaking the ceiling price by quite a long way and asking for offers in excess (which is very off-putting. )
From when you bought the house you have obviously spent a lot on the refurbishment but not an uplift of so much from your purchase price if someone does not like what you have done. Personally I am of the age group who live in bungalow-land (although I hate them) and I would find the decor (especially the garden) not at all to my taste and when one has few years left to enjoy a house the potential buyers (OAPs) do not want to spend it planting the garden and redoing the decor.
Hope you find someone who likes it as it is

Agree with others - first impressions count and I suspect most of your viewers hearts dropped when then saw the living room, far too monochrome and stark. I would seriously think about redecorating and doing something with the garden - your DH laid all those slabs, it's time he took them up!

As PPs say bungalow means limited pool of buyers. Garden is terrible and would cost a lot (time and money) to restore to greenery. Decor, especially living room, won't be to a lot of people's taste and again would cost to change.

I think its just a bit overpriced although lovely, and families will be going for a 3 bed semi with garden instead, while older people might not like the decor (it is lovely) and back yard. also the price you paid in 2012 vs price now. I know you did a lot of work but it makes it look overpriced now.

My thoughts are about the living space in particular, where would my furniture go. You have one sofa and doesn't look like there is much space to put anything else. Why is the dining table pushed against the wall? Does that mean there is not a good enough space for a proper table in the dining part. I think the wallpaper is putting people off. The garden looks like it needs a lot of time spending on it.

There's not much room to add value so unless it's a family with similar tastes then you've a really small pool of buyers. Downsizers might only want two bedrooms or less square footage to maintain.

Apart from the person who couldn't get a mortgage, what were the other reasons for potential buyers pulling out?

Overvaluing and promising special marketing is a classic EA ploy to get the business. You are not on a direct train route to Manchester which could put some buyers off.

I wouldn't buy a bungalow, wouldn't want a house with no bath and your super modern decor is not to my taste. So I wouldn't view your house. But people who have viewed it must like all those things so I am stumped! As I say, not my taste, but you have done a fab job on the house and I think it's reasonably priced for the size.

The garden really doesn't match the rest of the house though, you say you have prettied it up a bit so could you get new photos? In the ones you have it looks like a prison yard!

I agree - whilst yout hint it needs nothing doing, as a PP said many would think it needs a new bathroom with a bath, implement redecoration and serious landscaping to get rid of the "prison yard" look. Modern decoration appeals to a certain group of people, a bungalow appeals to a certain group of people and there may be a very smallsubset of people who likeboth.

People might well pull out when they reconsider the work maybe and have seen somewhere else that doesn't need it for them?

I think the question about why the other two buyers pull out is key? And we're all 3 buyers the same age group and if so what was that?

Get what you're saying about the square footage of a semi but I think most people with children will prefer a house as there is something about having the separation of the stairs at night and not wanting DC to sleep on ground floor. I say that as someone who would happily live in a bungalow and has a DC who refuses to sleep upstairs.

If all the offers were from older people without families then I think you have to accept you aren't going to get the family market and have a think. As said, to you it doesn't need work but to a lot of people it will need redecorating, a bath possibly and the garden sorting . A friend and I had to persuade another friend that if she liked a house she was looking at but not the kitchen tiles then it didn't matter if they had been newly put in , that it wouldn't be 'a waste' to rip them out when you are talking in the context of a house you plan to live in for years. Suspect you're coming up against the 'it would be a waste' thinking.

I'd consider painting over the wall paper with a neutral light paint , changing the cushions and getting a couple of pictures. The garden needs some furniture on a defined patio area, the fence painting, a flower bed somewhere with some planting and some plants in nice pots. Maybe extend the grass area. The slabs aren't necessarily negative as I know people who see them as low maintenance and easy to shut the garden up whilst they go away. But it has to look appealing to sit in.

Also I think presenting one of the bedrooms as another sitting room or study is a good idea as some people are not keen on open plan.

The garden is terrible - get rid of the slabs and put grass and flowers down. You need to soften it up massively.

As others have said, it needs quite a lot of work. The garden needs doing, a bath needs putting in so a new bathroom and, if it was me, i would need to get rid of the wallpaper so completely redecorating. It's overpriced for all the work that needs doing.

Inside is lovely although I would have pictures on the walls in the living area to break up the white and black but it's the outside which would put me off - concrete back and front with no proper garden. Where's the grass, trees, shrubs and flowers.

I think I'm just going to end up reiterating what others have said. I think the problem is that you have priced it as a 'doesn't need anything doing to it' house. The reality is that by going for an ultra modern look in a not ultra modern house, you've limited your market significantly.

The older generation probably won't appreciate the decor, families won't like the lack of bath and I think both will dislike the garden. The garden needs grass and plants to soften it, flower beds (lots of older people love their gardening).

The reality is that unless you happen to find someone that has exactly the same taste as you. Most people will want to do quite a bit of work on the house (new bathroom to fit a bath and £'000s ripping out the garden and starting again). So it will be price that is putting them off offering.

If you've already sorted the garden then def get new photos of it. Personally I agree with the idea of re launching it, but you either need to put in a bath and get rid of the living room wall paper (paint it a warm colour and add a couple of pictures to the walls) or drop the price.

Your house is actually harder work than a wreck as from a buyers perspective they're paying top rates but having to re-decorate, put in a bath, rip up the tiles running through the diner living room, rip up the slabs in the garden.... vs a wreck which is basically a blank canvass and cheaper to start.
Your house really is lovely but obviously not to the taste of the market you are targeting, you said it was your forever home so you obviously have spent lots of time and money and love on this house but if it's no longer suitable to be your home you have to emotionally detach from it.

I think if you do the minimum of putting in the bath and redecorating the living area it'll make a world of difference.

Round here older people go mad for bungalows. Those papered walls would frighten them off. Younger people would think we'll change them. Older people would think l haven't the energy. I couldn't spend one hour in that house without getting rid of the wallpaper...sorry.

What is your estate agent saying? It's clearly modern from the photos, so are they attracting the wrong people to view it?

Agree with a PP who says take the listing down and put it back up as new. If I saw a property had been on the market for a while I'd wonder what was wrong with it.

We wouldn't view your house because-
Garden is small, sterile and overlooked. No screening from neighbours and looks very closed in.
Place would have to be redecorated throughout. You might love the loud wallpaper but many don't. I think it looks a bit hotel bar, to be honest.
There is only one bathroom and that has no bath.
The living space is small compared to bedroom space.
Breakfast bars are not good for families or anyone beyond first flush of youth.

I think you've not done the place up in keeping with the property. The average bungalow buyer is probably not looking for an ultra modern apartment look. My guess is bungalow buyers are quite traditional and my experience is bungalow owners like chintz, ornaments, are passionate about their garden and want somewhere for the cat.

I can't really catch up on most of these comments BUT, it doesnt NEED a bath going in at all, that's personal preference, we have added quite a great deal of square footage to it, it is a lot bigger than any others that have previously sold in our street, that and the fact all the rest needed roof, windows etc. Does justify the price, it isn't priced because of its standard, it's priced because it's a lot bigger than the rest and it doesn't need 'big' work doing on it (structural etc.)

The garden flags are the exact same as the driveway ones, very bad picture of them (they was so expensive too) haha

We didn't do it up to apeal to anyone but ourselves! But like I said circumstances change and we now need to move

The OP was advised to paint the fence and sort the garden out when she posted as the house was about to go on the market. So some of the advice on this thread is identical.

The problem with one off houses is that it is very difficult to find comparables. The price has been reduced since it was first listed and I do think there was an element of EAs over valuing in order to get the OP's business. Someone either loves what you've done or wants to change it and starts factoring in their costs if they are thinking of making an offer.

No bath in a family house is a bit no no for most people so instantly prospective buyers are thinking of the cost of redoing the bathroom.

The upshot of all this: it's overpriced.

The garden flags are the exact same as the driveway ones

That changes nothing. It's still a paved yard.

The point about the bath that many people will think it needs one and those people aren't going to buy the house.