Selling our house is making me ill anyone have coping strategy

[Pixy83]

Hey. Currently we are in month 3 of selling our home on the east of scotland. We have a brand new house to go but the builders have stated being pushy. We have a 3 bedroom semi-detached house valued at £135000. We have just dropped the price to £127000 fixes. Had 12 viewers in 9 weeks but had no one for a month. Thought the change in price may help but still nothing. I suffer from depression but can usually manage to control it. But the house thing is pushing me over the edge. Constantly feel ill about the while situation.

Hi
Do you have confidence in your agent?!
That will help curb your anxiety if you feel like they're doing what they should be doing.....x

I remember it well! We were under huge pressure to sell from our builders (also moving onto brand new house). Constant phone calls while I was trying to work and look after a crawling baby. In the end I had a massive rant at the building company over the phone to the point that they backed off completely and started being very, very nice to me! I think they thought we might pull out as they were so pushy. Obviously only do this if you are willing to possibly lose your new house. I was at the end of my tether!

Thanks folks. I thought our estate agent was good he seems to be selling every house but ours!! We are going to give it a month at a reduced price then maybe changed. Yes I am at the point where I am going to lose it at th3 builder's. In our first meetings it was all the don't worry there is no pressure to you must drop the price now! People have liked our house but said rooms are a bit small. We have shifted stuff about binned furniture to makes rooms look bigger. All with a demanding 2 year old just don't know what to do now. Want our new place so bad. We are also tied with price as we need cash for deposit and flooring ect. So bloody hard.

Do they offer part exchange?

Hmm. Normally if houses don't sell it's because they are over priced. Can you provide a link?

Who valued it, the estate agent?

A house will sell at the right price.. are you confident it's valued right through comparable sales?

If it helps the market is very quiet and has been for a while now

Op I can absolute empathise with you! Been sold since Jan then my buyers pulled out last week. I've had to put the house back on the market and potentially lose the one I want to buy. I have anxiety anyway and this has exacerbated it 100% as it's dominated my life. I've separated from h so I HAVE to move, no choice. Gah I hate it!!

I have been looking to buy for some time and am often astonished by the mistakes people make when selling. Firstly make sure everything is very very clean and ordered. Hard when you have a 2 year old. Make sure the garden is as tidy as possible, door is clean and painted, windows cleaned. Put some attractive pots outside, cut the hedges etc. If there are obvious faults with the house, think how you can downplay those. Small rooms, try and make them as uncluttered as you can. Paint them light welcoming colours, put some eye catching details in there like a nice picture on the wall, colourful throws, rugs whatever. Talk up your neighbourhood! Tell buyers about anything positive about the area and try to slant it towards their situation. Transport links/childrens activities/schools/great community/quiet road/good neighbours. Most of all, don't draw attention to the negatives. Also, don't talk at them. The number of times i have been talked at until my head is spinning, or given no information , or negatives. Just lead them round the house, be positive and warm, then leave them to look in peace whilst you sit outside . In my experience agents are useless at showing properties. They don't know your house or area and you can do a lot better yourself with the right attitude. Try to look at your house through a strangers eyes. If there is peeling paint/mouldy shower/weeds in the garden, that will put people off.

House was valued my a surveyor who is independent. We have done everything possible to the house to make it right. Had no one in for the last month to even try to sell too.

www.findmybuyer.co.uk/property-details/879/angus/montrose/44-charleton-place-1

I've got to be honest pixie the video is really poor.....and I'm sure it doesn't do your rooms justice. Plus the outdoor space at the back could do with a bit of colour/tlc

Wrote on here for support not to be told my garden is crap. I don't think the garden colour is going to sell a house.

There's no need to get defensive, the PP was just trying to help you.

Remember that potential viewers can only go by what's online so if it doesn't look up to scratch from the pictures then you won't get any viewings.

Has the agent done a floor plan? I couldn't find it on the link.

Whats the situation with the builder? Are there people queuing for this house, was there a deposit etc. I think telling them to back off could be a good tactic.
It's really stressful. I never want to do it again.

Do you have to move or do you want too - because your house is lovely so if the worst is you have to stay there a bit longer that's ok.

I sympathize OP, it's a very stressful time. I would perhaps look into the following suggestions:

1. Strip out the wallpaper and paint. Fussy patterns and the dado rails make rooms look smaller. (If you do nothing else, do this!)

2. Remove all of the shampoo bottles, etc. from the bathroom and just have a couple of ornaments, etc.

3. Remove whatever is to the right if the single bed (as you face it).

4. Remove the logo/saying thing you have in the hallway

5. Remove everything from your backyard except the play set (including all of the random toys), as it looks cluttered

I think generally the house looks fine but anything you can do to de-personalize and make it look bigger, would be hugely advantageous. Good luck!

I really like your house as the rooms are large & it's bright & sunny. The are looks nice & there are many schools nearby which is good. If I was thinking of moving I would view your house. The back garden is a good size.
The only negatives are that I can't work out how to get into your back garden as I can't see a back door. And I think the bush/tree thing outside the front window is blocking the view and might put people off so my suggestion is get rid.

The patio doors at the front are a bit unusual too. Where they already there or did you put them in? If you put them then say why and how they benefit.

Now the estate agent hasn't marketed your house very well as to brutally honest the photos look crap. When we sold our last house the estate agent used a wide angled lens camera to take the shots and as it was an overcast day brightened the photos. We also had a larger floor plan on the selling site.
I would change estate agents.

And I think the biggest issue is that you are not listed on Rightmove. Well I can't find you using a 20 mile search of your street.
Prospective buyers usually head to the Rightmove website first.
And I'd price your house at offers over or fixed price at £129, 000 as then it should appear near the top of the search on Rightmove.

Now I hope I haven't offended you in anyway. I'm just being honest.

I mean the area looks nice.

That's what builders do unfortunately.

Did you chose your agent or did the builder put you onto someone? Was the home report completed by an independent surveyor or one attached to the builder?

No floor plan

You are not on rightmove

Your decor may be putting buyers off

The master bedroom looks tiny

Your kitchen and bathroom are pretty dated

Your price point is good for first time buyers but the dated decor and fixtures and fittings may put them off.

Where is the house advertised?

Oh and two last things. How close are you to the A92? Does the noise of the road impact you?

When folk ask why are you moving. What do you say? Now we moved because we were relocating for work. Move before that was we wanted to live in the village our friends had moved too and wanted a bigger house. But we told prospective buyers that we were moving closer to friends & also to work. And also stated the benefits of where we lived at the moment.

Op, could it be over priced? Looking at house prices it looks about 120 is the right range. It does need a little tlc internally i.e. The kitchen and the decor. It's lovely but you can maybe see why someone may wish to update to their own taste, it's quite bold in parts, which some love, others not so much,?

It's also got a very small third bedroom. In addition the pics make the rooms look really big, but the dimensions would indicate otherwise. I think if it doesn't sell in the next couple of weeks I suspect you may have to drop the price. 😔

Sorry if that's upset you. I'm not sure why you've posted the link if you don't want advice/feedback
Good luck with your sale x

I've found you on zoopla. Scotland relies on rightmove and any local SPC branches. Zoopla generally isn't popular.

When I looking at houses i only ever used rightmove...if you're not on there people won't see it

Rightmove isn't big on the North East Coast - need to be on s1homes and the local solicitors property centre.

The things I noticed where the dead fir tree at the front of the house, and the car through the dining room window, maybe redo that photo without the car? I thought your home looks very clean and tidy with no clutter.

It's a nice area - I know it well. The house looks lovely and clean and bright - which is positive.

However -

Lots of people don't like wallpaper (me included) - and you have very strong feature stuff in just about every room. Ideally get rid and paint in a neutral colour, or as a quick fix if you can then paint over the paper.

The kitchen does look dated. Have a look at kitchen spraying firms - if the carcasses are in good condition then you could get them sprayed (the results are good and some firms can do it in situ rather than taking it apart and off site). A kitchen that size should cost about £500-700 to have done and it would completely transform the room.

Bathroom - again the tiles and bath panel make it look quite dated. Tile paint in a neutral colour and a new bath panel (or if it's wood, then paint it).

Bedroom - wallpaper needs to be stripped or painted over.

Hallway/stairs - the wallpaper needs to be stripped or painted over.

Garden does need attention. You need to clear away the kids toys and swings for the photos. It would also really benefit from a few pots with something colourful in them.

You also need to declutter - your agent has let you down here. You need to clear phones, babygates, personal pictures etc., when you have your photos done - and your agent should have told you this. The photos aren't great quality - I'd really recommend getting proper photos done and it's worth paying the extra for (once you've painted/decluttered). They should have also told you that being on Rightmove is absolutely essential.