Why isn't this house selling?

[parmavioletmartini]

Posting for a friend.

It's been on the market for over a year.

www.johnfrancis.co.uk/properties/9766921/sales

Any tips much appreciated.

I cant see a dog either and have zoomed in everywhere.

Poor estate agent will be all excited tomorrow morning at getting 10 thousand clicks on this unsellable property

can't see the dog! Feel like I am failing at the Where's Wally game

Glad it's not just me Duck90 - I've gone back and looked twice.... where is this dog that is putting so many people off?

In the photo of the conservatory. It's outside by the swimming pool.

Thank you Owl - I'd been looking on the photo of the swimming pool

The photos on that advert are in a weird order. They should guide you through the house, room by room as you would walk round it. Also the close up photos of features always scream that there is nothing of substance to photograph so will waste time and take the focus away from the actual house.

There's no floor plan which would put me off viewing. They're obviously a lazy agent and wouldn't particularly jump at them dealing with my sale with a sloppy advert like that.

The pool and the garden aren't great, they won't suit 90% of buyers and you can only sell a property if there's demand for that particular style in that location for that price which clearly there isnt.

Not on Rightmove = doesn't exist.

Don't tell the agents to put it on Rightmove, sack them immediately!

You would do better selling it yourself and I mean that literally.

Here's what I would do:

1. Sack agents

1. Get house listed with an online agent that will do new photos and a floodplan. (We used Housenetwork about 6 years ago and they were brilliant - excellent pictures - but worth asking MNers for up to date recommendations)

1. Reduce the price by the amount that is being saved by not having to pay the agents fee. Housenetwork charged us about £700 all in (suspect it may have gone up that was a while back, but it will still be thousands less than the agent).

How much are the agents charging? If it's 1.5% then you can knock £10,000+ off without really noticing it yourself.

1. Do the viewings yourself. Get tips here for doing viewings but my top 3 tips are to

• let them go into a room first and you hover by the door (so you it doesn't feel crowded)
• let people see the house twice - taken them around yourself then offer to make a cup of tea and say they are welcome you go round again and have a look without you (this is so they can see the place properly without feeling uncomfortable that the owner is there).
• print out a copy of the particulars to take home. They will get one of these from all the houses witj agents and it helps them remember which house was which if they've seen a lot!

Actually meeting the viewers may give you a real insight into why it isn't selling.

1. Be frank when you meet them about the pool. Get a quote for taking it out and if you are prepared to, tell them you are happy to do this work as part of the sale.

1. If it still doesn't sell you need you need to make the changes / try a new agent

Whatever you do, please don't continue with the current agent. Not putting it in Rightmove is unforgivable

Forgot to say - if it still doesn't sell after all that, then you need to seriously consider dropping the price

I found the pictures confusing - without a floor plan couldn't work out what was where. Also the outside photos give no perception of the size, it's hard to imagine how all those rooms fit in.

My main thought though (as someone who has very recently bought a house in this range/size) is god I'd have to redecorate the whole thing - kitchen, bathrooms, everything. And complete re-landscape of garden to get rid of the pool. This is a doer upper house and would need to be a bargain to make me think of buying it.

Google Earth picture looks like bus stop is right outside? That would put me off.

I was going to say the price (because it's always the price - drop the price enough and it will sell), but I think in this case it's the pool. I would think there are very few people who want an outdoor pool (especially a teeny-tiny one like that) in Mumbles. Realistically how often could you use it - and you've got a beach on your doorstep so why would you bother? The pool also mean that the view through the conservatory is of fencing and boards - so when you can't swim in it (the majority of the time) you have to look at it. Only tiny proportion of people would want a pool like that anywhere in the country - the chances of someone looking to buy in Mumbles wanting one must be staggeringly small. I think the house is OK otherwise - to be honest it looks like a holiday let to me (which is one situation in which I can imagine someone wanting to advertise the pool)

I guess it's meant to be a family home, but the pool isn't very safe by the looks of it. If it was me I would either want a cover over it or a proper fence covering the whole of it.
The garden looks tiny, on account of the pool.
The pool itself must cost a fortune to upkeep and maintain.
There's no floor plan.
Every room is white.. so it's hard to work out if the next photo is the same room at a different angle, or a completely different room.
Apart from that, price I guess. Houses usually don't sell due to price. What's other properties selling for?
Have they had viewings? What was the feedback.?
Are the agents actively trying to move this house or have they just given up?
Personally I think it's a lovely looking property, kitchen seems smallish for that number of bedroom.

It looks cheap and had been badly done up, I'd guess the price needs dropping by at least 100k.

As other people have said, it's always the price (and the pool!).

I think the fact the one next door sold last year for £100K more is misleading. Presumably that was pre-Brexit which is set to have a massive impact on Wales (and not in a good way!)

Expensive house, expensive to run (bad epc), no advertising, no back garden, stupid outdoor bath and decking, stupid design features in bathrooms.

I don't think the issue is brexit!

The last one to sell on the road was very close at number 79 which was sold as a development opportunity and sold for £650k with planning in place to build 2 5bed detached houses on a really large plot with lovely bay views.
This is way over priced and on with a lazy agent who can't be bothered with the bare minimum floor plan and rightmove.

79 sold in Jan of this year

NO, but it might explain why the house next door sold for £100K more last year.

Sorry March this year not Jan

Is the pool one with jets so you can keep swimming?
It's not presented well.
Not on right move?! I don't even understand.

Those photos make me feel slightly panicky to look at.

Pool, and the busy road. Also there aren't that many people who want such a large house in the Swansea area - I know someone trying to sell a 5 bed house with no luck. Potential buyers who want a large house won't want to live on a busy road and probably won't want a pool because of the safety issue.

Also John Francis are shit, they sold my last house but took over a year to shift it. They prefer to use Zoopla and on the market, they managed to delete my house's listing once!

Also hate the black bathroom, that would put me off.

I've just driven past it and the huge front garden looks very unloved so that would make me wonder about the house's maintenance. No kerb appeal. Also Right Move essential.

photos make it look quite cheaply done, if the front lawn is fenced I wouldn't have known because it looks open to the world. Pool looks tiny.

No floor plan is annoying and small lounge.

Having heard it's not on rightmove, I think that's the biggest issue, there clearly isn't enough marketing being done and what marketing has been done is shoddy and not wide reaching.
No floor plan, poor close ups of non-features, vendor was not told to declutter before photos (music equipment etc), can't get the size of the room
Some decor dated
I think the pool issue is actually a red herring, someone out there would value this.
Plan:
Sack agent
Get better marketing