Where have all the people who want to move to the country gone?

[notagoodidea]

We have a large country house that we have been trying to sell for the last 7 months or so but with only 2 viewings and no offers.
We are quite rural but can get supermarket delivery's ect, so not exactly cut off from the world.
There is a village very near by with a good primary school and a coop and even a bus service every hour to the nearest train station.
The location is great and the views are stunning but is is a large house.
From the house and patio you have a view down the garden to the loch and across to the hillside opposite, it is beautiful.
From looking at other threads on here i know it is "only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it" but it is on for £10k less than the home report valuation already and is priced at less than a 1 bed flat in London.
Does no one want to move to the country anymore?

I have put some pics on to show the view form the house then from the shore and lastly one from the hill just behind the house.
What do you think?

The rooms are lovely sizes, but it looks freezing and as if it would cost a bomb to heat.
And what do people do for work up there?

It has central heating and a wood/multi fuel stove so not cold at all. Glasgow is only an hour away to drive or there is a station 4 miles away to commute by train if you wanted to work in a big city and not from home.

God, it's very tempting. Could run that as a small B&B.

Looks lovely OP. Where are you off to?

It needs a lot of updating, new kitchen, bathroom every room needs redecorating. Not many people want to live in the area (it’s lovely but will only appeal to a few people). Therefore, I think the price is high. It needs someone to fall in love with it and it needs to be almost perfect or cheaper than it is.

You're doing a better job selling it on here than your agent is! Sack them and get someone good. Floor plan is a must. The house looks bloody gorgeous, I'd move there myself right now if it wasn't for the kids' school and my job! Needs a fair bit of decoration though, including new kitchen, and a house that big normally has more bathrooms. Perhaps the cost of work is putting people off. Amazing views though, someone will fall in love with it, I'm sure.

@umadbro can we have a link to your property too please? I love a bit of property porn!

You need to keep on top of your agent, most of them are crap. Photos could be better. Doesn't look lived in or at all homely, sorry! Kitchen is not to the standard people will expect at that price. Last week there was a similar thread with loads of good advice, can't remember the title though.

#ThroughThickAndThin we are just downsizing as we don't need the space any more and want to get something smaller.
7/8 beds is a bit to much for just the two of us now.

It's a lovely house OP. I would love to move to the country in theory, I was thinking of moving to a village in my recent house search but it's not very practical for us at the moment - first of all we don't drive (yet) so would need to sort that. Secondly it's out of budget (though I do think yours is reasonably priced for such a large house). And my DH would have to commute. Those are the main reasons. Also I think a lot of people moving rurally want to retire and possibly downsize? The size of your house is quite overwhelming for someone like me who has always lived in tiny flats.

Otherwise it's a very nice place so I agree with others that you need to get a better agent and better photos done (or just better photos).

#Some it has 2 bathrooms and a shower room, we always planned to put in some ensuites but never got around to it. but the price does reflect that.

Well good luck in selling, it does look gorgeous. The views are amazing.

It'd make an incredible cookery school.

Think the disparity between rural and urban house rices has increased massively in the last ten years or so. I’ve noticed lovely big houses in villages round here stay on the market for ages.

I think you need newnhotos. A lot of them look like they are been shot with whichever lens it is that makes rooms look larger which just makes them look odd and with those room sizes isn’t needed. Could you drop the price slightly? If people aren’t booking viewings then it is probably the price that is putting them off.

Could run that as a small B&B

Exactly what I thought!

Are they marketing it at businesses? Or have you looked at planning permission - so easier to sell?

Not looked at planning permission to be honest but the garden is big enough to build another house or two down by the shore if you were a developer and you could split the house up into flats, it is plenty big enough to run a b&b or small hotel though.

Really lovely house op , but from my own experience of selling in a rural setting it has a limited audience , lots of viewers and a number of want to be buyers that couldn't actually find the money , I spent ages and ended up dropping a vast amount simply to move on ( and it was realistically priced too ) loads of people are simply dreamers and have no idea of what living the dream really entails or costs
I would persevere, find a new agent perhaps , de clutter a bit more especially if you are down sizing , and better photos with a floor plan
You will find a buyer in time

It needs a lot of updating, new kitchen, bathroom

What? No it doesn't. They look fine! I agree about de-cluttering a bit and moving the gym equipment, though.

Good luck with selling it, OP.

It makes me want to cry that it's "only" £440k, but there's a reason for that I guess in that the demand for expensive properties in the area is low?

As with anything else, it will sell at the right price.

#Passportto Not to upset you but it is £400 not £440
but if you are offering :)

OP, I use this agency & they are good - also reasonably local to you . Here's one of their blogs, about a property in a similar situation;

www.yateshellier.com/blog/22-8-steps-to-selling-castlebank-place-partick

kingjofferyworksintescos has it in one

People think they would love to run their own livery yard / small farm /smallholding / equestrian centre - they see our old barn and think B&B/project/hotel/glamping and walk about in the fields watching the birds and imagining

We get people coming here, falling in love with our horses, telling us where the manege will go (lolz), what they would build for a business, asking for previous plans - you name it

Next day - their house isn't even on the market, after saying they had cash for 500K and they disappear into the ether

Notwithstanding 'Mr Rolex' who came here with his shiny watch and horse-allergic wife in cream flannel

All fun and games but no doubt, full of timewasters when it comes to country houses - just needs someone with some gumption and they, sadly, are a dying breed it would seem

Still, we live in hope!

Wow it’s massive!

But you are seriously under bathroomed for the number of bedrooms. Most people would probably want bed 7 to be a second upstairs bathroom, and bed 4 to become part of the master bedroom with an en-suite and dressing room.

I know people are meant to be able to see past styling but lots of the bedrooms have a bed sit esque feel to them with the sofas and TVs.

Hahaha that was my thought too @Passportto ;) and desperately trying to work out if we could move there!

OP prices and sales are slowing even in the south east now unfortunately. But I agree with the others - those photos don't do it justice at all.

We've just made the move to the country, although not in your part of the country. Our sellers were on the market a year before we bought.

I would echo that you need a better agent and better pictures.

As a buyer your house comes across as spacious, with lovely views but it does looks rather cold and dated (in sorry to offend, it's meant nicely) I'd want to change the kitchen, carpets and the decor looks tired. I'm sorry, I'm sure it's lovely in person but tastes change so frequently. It reminds me of my parents house.

So my advice, if you want it:
New agent, floor plan, better pictures (in particular one of the front of the house which I really look for) and if you can stomach it, some redecoration of the main rooms. And then some staging for the photos, valances on the beds etc.

It does look like a beautiful family home, but one which needs money spent on it and in this market buyers are v picky (as shown by how long our new house was on the market)