House not selling (quickly enough for my liking)

[Justbloodysellwhydontyou]

Is it worth adding an agent? We've not been on for ages - very end March. We've had a sale fall through, reduced the price, but the market is definitely hard round here (St Albans).

I'm being inundated with 'we see your house hasn't sold' 'we have clients ready to view'. Surely to goodness anyone looking is on Rightmove etc and it makes little difference. The agent seems engaged and active, but viewings have dwindled since coming back on a week ago after our sale failed.

We’re in your market OP, with our house on the market (have just gone on with a new agent after a bad experience). You are in the bracket we are looking to move up to and I have looked wistfully at your house a few times on Rightmove - though it’s not in the secondary catchments we would like so wouldn’t be an option for us even if we had a magical offer!

All agents are saying it is a very odd market in St Albans right now. There is masses of stock - apparently they were would usually be around 500-600 properties for sale and at the moment there are c900. Prices have also slipped even in the last few months.

I’m not convinced that there is much you can do that will make a difference other than price. I think you were possible a little steep price-wise before but it is a beautiful house! It may be that starting with a 8 helps but it may still be a waiting game.

Smiling at the comments on loads of pictures - it’s trademark for that agent and I do sometimes think ‘bloody hell, no need to see the house now’

I have had my eye on several houses for a few weeks that we will view if we go under offer - normally I would have expected them to have gone but they are all still available - it’s really really slow.

I just keep thinking how nice it will be to be the buyer in this buyer’s market if we can get an offer. Sigh.

I think there are way too many photos.

I also hate houses with a guide price. I never know what that's meant to mean! Could you just put it on as the price not a guide?

I know that where I am south of London houses are still selling fairly quickly up to about 700k but it seems pretty static beyond that. If there isn't much going under offer locally to you it might be a bit of a waiting game especially if you think the price is about right.

I’m not sure how helpful this advice is as I don’t know if there’s anything you can do about it but the furniture in the rooms makes it look quite cheap.

It makes me feel like I’d have to spend all my money on the actual house and have none left each month to make it look great.

Metoo's comment might have it, actually. Secondary catchments. We got our house 20% cheaper than the 20% smaller houses across the road because catchments!

Is next door’s garage butted right up to your gable end wall - it looks that way from street view? If so, then it’s not as detached as I would like it to be, I would think of it as more like link detached.

The description says that the front area is suitable for off street parking, which on reading made me think that there was no dropped kerb. I’d emphasise that it provides off street parking if the kerb has been dropped (again street view suggests it is?)

It's a lovely house OP - a bit bland when it comes to the bedrooms. Price wise it appears to be priced correctly, possibly a bit too high. The pp who stated it's a link detached is right, though it's only the garage that's connected.

Two things stood out to me: it's had everything done and you couldn't add value without knocking the extension down and starting again and I dislike those cream coloured floor tiles on the ground floor and there are lots of them. If I liked the feel of the house the tiles wouldn't be a deal breaker. It just feels as though there needs to be something to give a nod to the fact it's not a modern house rather than those clinical tiles.

metoo supply is high, prices fall. .. I suppose that's the key. Catchments is also a biiiig thing here. We are the girls school catchment which if you want that, we are one of the few non main Rd locations.

I will speak to the agent. Thanks all

It’s a beautiful home, my advice would be to cut down on photos and re-do the outside ones.
Make sure there are some nice bedding plants in bloom in the back, you’ve said you’ve added a hanging basket out front, try adding a large pot or two and plants as well because both front and back look very bland (probably partly to do with time of year taken).

Overall the issue will be price though, not to say your house might not sell but how long are you willing to wait it out.
I do know a few people who’ve ‘given up’ and are trying again next year hoping it will be better then.
Are you buying in the same area? If so you could reduce your price and then make some offers on your next buy if those sellers have had the same issues as you, if you can’t find something to buy you could try again next year? It is hard though when you’ve mentally moved on.

It is a lovely location because it’s close to town, there’s a park very nearby etc and detached can be hard to find at this price point - we would love detached.

I think it is worth getting the pictures retaken just because everything looks much greener now than March. Our last ones were February and the new ones look much better because of the season.

It’s hard not to think you’re doing something wrong (I find) when actually it may just be a very tough time to sell. There are so many gorgeous houses not selling at the moment.

I suspect another factor is that people who would be buyers for your house are struggling to sell. We definitely fall into that category. Our house is a classic ‘leaving London’ house and maybe the London market is making people nervous.

Can you tell I spent waaaay too much time thinking about this?!

Lovely house and garden, more than enough photos, lucky with sunny day too, bright rooms. I've no idea of price as not my area. Good luck.

God I want your kitchen!! Beautiful. No more to add to the # of photos, but they have gone a bit too happy with the colour tweaking. Makes it look heavily photoshopped. No need for the maps, that's already on the listing.

I suspect it's mostly market slow down.

Haven’t read the full thread, but I’m completely shocked by that price. I’m sure it’s representitive of the area, but nearly a million pounds for a standard house in st albans, not even London?

For reference, this is what you can get for 565k in a beautiful part of Sheffield, next to a park with excellent schools and amenities:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65502988.html

I think house prices will keep going down in the SE. If I had that kind of money (and I’m not far off), there is now way I’d spend it on that. No fucking chance.

But, there’s nothing wrong with your house that I can see OP! Nicely decorated, neutral, light and airy. What have houses in the same area gone for recently?

Lovely house:

Too many photos

I personally don’t like the orange in the kitchen but that could be changed but at the same time it’s a reason for people to try to lower the price

I wouldn’t put a picture of the living room as it’s not too attractive when the house itself is very nice imo.
Also, when I was selling my house I noticed one picture of my living room had been ‘stretched’ making it look bigger than it was leading to disappointment on viewing IRL.

I wonder if this has happened on some of your photos?

The market is definitely a bit strange at the mo as well.

I think house prices will keep going down in the SE. If I had that kind of money (and I’m not far off), there is now way I’d spend it on that. No fucking chance

Wow. Well that's a bit nasty and uncalled for.

I personally don’t like the orange in the kitchen but that could be changed but at the same time it’s a reason for people to try to lower the price

For a couple of hundred quids worth of splash back?

@bluntness100 🤷‍♀️ Not meant to be ‘nasty’, but that’s my opinion. The average wage in the U.K. is 25k. If I had a million quid I’d want to be something aspirational in a vibrant area, not a standard 4 bed family home. But I appreciate that’s what it buys you down south. My point is, surely this will correct itself with Brexit looming, and foreign investment pulling it of the U.K.

Your house is beautiful, I think it's just that people will be more cautious to buy property at that price level in a falling market. You can either wait or you can reduce the price a bit and see what happens. The garden could do with a bit of colour perhaps but that's all I'd do in terms of making changes.

@Bluntness100 yes because I couldn’t guarantee it would cost that especially in SE
In a buyers market buyers are lazy, a house like that would be in the bracket of move in and live not move in and rip out part of the kitchen because it’s bright orange. In my experience buyers really can be that fussy.

If we looked at a house in that price bracket we would expect not to have to change it initially. The orange is too much for me and would put me off buying it. I only speak from my opinion and OP wanted opinions.
I had a lot worse on the house I sold and I absolutely loved my house, I still found it helpful to hear ie perhaps OP can put pics without the orange unit in, it may look better IRL.

The issue I think is most of the booming SE housing market has been driven by equity. The flat bought for 250k in 97 sold for 500k, the house you then bought for 550k sold for 900k etc. But now a 2 bed flat in a crappy area is 500k & it’s harder for ftb to get on the market. I don’t see how it’s possible for prices to ever increase.

Nice house. To help to try to sell it I would:

• Add pot plants to every room
• Buy flowering plants for back garden
• Place large colourful planter (or two) near front door, cascading with flowers
• Iron duvet covers/pillow cases
• Remove the silver bin next to the bed
• Replace the front door mat

Good luck.

DrScully St Albans Thameslink is 16 minutes to West Hampstead and 22 to St Pancras. It's not in London but central London is very accessible - hence the price.
My zone 2 commute could take longer!

That's when Thameslink is running of course 🙄

Beautiful house. I’d definitely ask the agent to reduce the photos to ten or twelve as there are so many it’s either going to overwhelm people, or make them feel they don’t need to view. Weird approach from the EA when viewed are key to actually selling.

Some greenery or art on the bare shelves would be nice as well.

I'd agree with cutting the number of photos down, but I think in particular I would be tempted to lose the photos showing the back of the house as IMO they make the house look really overextended. I don't think it gives that impression, especially when you see the neighbours either side.

I don't mind the orange splashback, but I'd lose photo 3 where it totally dominates the picture. Really, cut the kitchen shots right down, there are 10 of them and it's just going to irritate especially as most of them aren't adding anything. I'd probably strip it to photos 2, 5 and 6

I'd try to make the family area feel a bit more like a second living space - I don't think the smallish lounge is necessarily a problem but at the moment the family area just feels like a big sofa parked in your kitchen. Actually, I think if it was me I'd be tempted to have the family area with a (more modern) dining table in it, and the dining area as a family sitting space so it feels more like there are two distinct sitting spaces which would be more suitable for a house of that size. If that won't work then I'd get a rug down, maybe a coffee table or footstool in front of the sofa. I'd also put some sort of runner in the hall - I find the vast expanse of tiled floor very cold and offputting, I think you need to break it up so it's less of a dominating feature.

Dining area feels like a bit of an odd mish-mash; old piano, antiquey chairs, and a bunch of ikea stuff. It just isn't working IMO.

The duck egg blue bedroom - I'd try to dress the bed more, get some cushions etc in. Photos 12 and 13 are more than enough though.

I'd say photos 26-36 are all unnecessary and just confusing - I agree with trying to order them so there is a flow to the house too.

FFS - most of the orange in the kitchen is the OP's sofa. Change the pendants and the splashback if you don't like it. Hardly a big deal. If a buyer were that fussy then imo they're not a serious buyer you'd want to deal with.

I don't think the house looks over extended - that photo of the back of the house helps you to work out what is where. I stand by my earlier comment that if someone is looking to add value then the OP's house isn't the right house for them. If they want to move in and do nothing then it's perfect.