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Original poster

House not selling (quickly enough for my liking)

129 replies

Justbloodysellwhydontyou · 06/06/2018 19:36

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.

OP posts:
AllIHaveToDo · 07/06/2018 10:20

@welshmist if only I had the money to buy a house like that 😍 I adore Wales

AllIHaveToDo · 07/06/2018 10:22

I was shocked at the price OP but I don't know your area. Up in the north west that would be overpriced for sure. Would probably be more like the 600k mark.

To me the house is lovely but I would try to make it more homely looking. Also as PP said, too many pics and they need to be ordered correctly

TheFaerieQueene · 07/06/2018 10:25

If you are seriously looking to buy a property, too many photos isn’t an issue. Their quality is poor though and the dressing of the rooms is not quite right. Bedding needs looking at and your dining table/chairs are wrong for the ‘look’. Can you put them in storage and get something else.
Other than that, it has to be price or location issues we can know about online.

BonnieF · 07/06/2018 10:30

It’s a very nice house, there’s nothing significant wrong with it, it’s in a good location, therefore if it isn’t selling the issue is always price.

LivingMyBestLife · 07/06/2018 10:53

I am not a fan of open-plan living areas so it's not the kind of house I would normally look at - but, having said that I agree with the comments about the dining area - the piano and table seem to match each other (and the trunk in the living room) but the shelving unit doesn't quite go with it.

Being an old gimmer, orange to me is very 70's and would put me off as well but that may be an age thing! We have always bought houses that 'required modernisation' so have been prepared to do work, but if you are buying a house that does not require major work then some buyers may be put off - they just want to move in without a project in mind.

The large tiled downstairs floor looks a bit wonky near the cupboards in photo 7 - I think that's the way they have taken them rather than how the floor actually looks so I'd definitely get rid of photo number 7!

Good luck with the sale OP, it is such a stressful time especially when you have to go back on the market after one falls through - this happened to us and I remember dreading the first set of viewers because I wanted to get buyers so we could still have the property we'd offered on, yet you don't want to go through the whole hassle again!

clutterbugger · 07/06/2018 11:07

Beautiful house, it's very similar to ours just now (bar the loft room) and we'll be lucky to get £200k for ours (Scotland) so I'm Shock at the price but then again down south is another planet for house prices! Hope you manage to sell soon, it's really lovely!

reasonableme · 07/06/2018 11:20

Wow it's so rude to say things like I don't like the orange in the kitchen or your lounge is too small. OP it's your house and your choice and you don't listen to self-proclaimed interior designers who think they know the best. Your house is lovely and tastefully decorated. It's just that the market is really bad for expensive houses to sell quickly. Hope you find a buyer soon x

DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 07/06/2018 11:25

Beautiful home. No need for 46 photos.

What's the competition like in your area?
Do other properties have the edge? If it's a tricky time for everyone you just have sit tight and be patient.

Hope the new hanging basket works. Wink
Saying that, lower the price a fraction as a sweetener.

ElinoristhenewEnid · 07/06/2018 11:53

Sorry when i saw your rightmove entry i immediately thought sinkhole area which i know worried a lot of people at the time. Would worry me about getting insurance and maintaining value of house

hange · 07/06/2018 12:03

I didn’t mean to be rude mentioning kitchen but if I had the choice between two similar properties and one had that kitchen I would go for the other. That’s an option and if it really is as someone else posted, £100 to fix I’d go get it sorted.

It doesn’t mean it awful it means there’s a reason you don’t see a lot of orange splash backs in houses and I don’t believe that’s down to cost.

Racecardriver · 07/06/2018 12:08

So long as you are on rightmove and zoopla there is no point in adding an agent but it may be worth switching agents. How good is you agent during the viewings? Does the listing have a floor plan? This is extremely important. Bonus points if the floor plans shows total square footage. How good are the photographs? Does the listing included details of local schooling options and amenities (less important but can make a difference if you right next to a nice poo ark or a gym for example).

Racecardriver · 07/06/2018 12:10

Plats also really help houses look attractive

trinitybleu · 07/06/2018 12:18

Too many photos.

I'd remove the tall bookcase in the dining room and can you add doors to the sideboard in there? It just jars a bit, the riot of colours against the white and reds.

The orange in the kitchen isn't my taste but wouldn't put me off.

Otherwise, it's lovely.

StatisticallyChallenged · 07/06/2018 12:18

I don't think anyone's been especially rude - op says viewings have been sparse and asked for opinions. Everyone telling her the house and listing are awesome isn't helpful. Fresh eyes saying I find x, y and z offputting can be really useful as you tend to like your own house!

I have a bright pink splashback and a purple hall; i fully expect to have to tweak when we come to sell

cestlavielife · 07/06/2018 12:25

Garden is very plain and bare. Needs some shrubs planting along edges. Or garden design.

SamHeughansLeftEyebrow · 07/06/2018 12:25

I am in the SE and still Shock at the price. Either our house is massively undervalued or yours massively overvalued as they are both in the same price bracket.

Ours is twice the size, with double garage, much bigger garden, more bedrooms and bathrooms, separate study and utility rooms. On the 'naicest' street in the village. Walking access to outstanding state and independent schools at primary and secondary level. Heathland on the doorstep. Under an hour from London etc. Recently renovated and redecorated throughout.

Sleephead1 · 07/06/2018 12:27

it's a lovely house I'm in North East so totally different price ranges but if you say they are lots of houses on the market I would guess it's just down to personal taste so if the buyer has 5 houses to choose from all similar size , area and price then I guess it would just come down to personal taste so they could prefer the bathroom in one of the other houses or just love the style of the decorating so be able to move in and do nothing to it ECT

Bluntness100 · 07/06/2018 12:56

I don't think her house is over valued looking at what similar houses in that street have sold for. I'd be the first to say if it was, but it appears right.

She's only had it on for two months and she's basically already sold it once, it fell through due to no fault of hers. This isn't a house languishing on the market that we often see. Six months down the line and not a bite. She's already had an offer and accepted it.

Mildura · 07/06/2018 13:13

Garden is very plain and bare. Needs some shrubs planting along edges. Or garden design.

That may be so, but it's unlikely to be the reason for the house not selling.

tobee · 07/06/2018 13:20

I wouldn't add indoor pot plants myself as I think they can look messy.

Not sure if someone said this but I'd get rid of the plants in the front walled thing and put something brighter and more looked after looking. If the photos get redone on a sunny day be sure the green at the bottom of that walled thing is gone. It immediately suggests damp even if it isn't.

Bluntness100 · 07/06/2018 13:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bluntness100 · 07/06/2018 13:22

Oops wrong thread!

JenBarber · 07/06/2018 13:26

Weird, distorted photos.

Gives a crooked house vibe and makes the walls look like they're not parallel.

Needs proper, but fewer photos.

KnitFastDieWarm · 07/06/2018 14:10

Bloody hell that price reminds me why I left the area...I grew up down the road in Harpenden which is possibly the only place in the UK apart from Chelsea that makes St Albans look reasonably priced Grin

It’s a lovely house, so as others have said, it will be down to price. It always is. Consider taking it down to the 800s?

Original poster
Justbloodysellwhydontyou · 07/06/2018 14:32

Thanks everyone. It's been a useful exercise to go through, even if it wasn't quite what I was intending.

I think we'll stick with the one agent and not get another. He's going to re-shoot the pics and reduce them in number as that's clearly a theme here.

I get the 'stage' the look a bit more comments, but apart from our slightly weird I know dining room I think most is fairly bland rather than offensive. Maybe not giving that styled vibe because it wasn'twhich I will ponder on.

On a more positive note, we had someone ask for a second viewing this morning so you never know we could be getting closer.

OP posts: