Trying to sell a 'niche' property. Any advice?

[Willowcat77]

I'm trying to sell my house which is a pretty suburban Victorian terrace with an unusual amount of land - I bought the land (about one third of an acre) after I bought the house, about 18 years ago. I've planted loads of lovely fruit trees and it's useful for parking and having outbuilding etc.

I've only had 6 viewers in 6 weeks. People are shocked when they see the size of the garden. I had One good offer which was was withdrawn because she decided the garden was too big. Now viewings have totally dried up...

I'm worried the house might be over-priced for the area but the estate agent says no - she said it's a 'niche' property because of the land and also because it's an unusually well-preserved period house in an area of mostly bland 1940's ex-council properties. So there is nothing you can really compare it to in the area.

Here's the rightmove link:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54765498.htmll_

So I don't know what to do. Not sure if reducing the price will help if people are scared the amount of land. Somebody mentioned selling it in an auction to attract builders but I can't afford for it to go at a really low price. Any suggestions?

If you hadn’t said in your op that there was a third of an acre, I’d never have known from just the sales details.

Which means your estate agents are rubbish.

The photos look as though it’s the same bit of garden taken from a few different angles.

You need a plan of the land and a clearly stated description of the garden size on your sales details, and someone who knows what they are doing to help you maximise value.

You could share the sales details on all sorts of forums if the sales details were better.

If you haven’t got time to get planning on the garden for new houses (why not?), can you sell the garden at auction, so that developers or people whose garden adjoin it could buy it, separately from the house? You could sell it with an uplift clause so you got money if someone else built on it.

Part of Saltney is in Wales.

The house is in Wales, although the postal address is Cheshire.

why do they lack the ability, if they hate books, to imagine a space without them?

Its not just about books and why people don't envisage rooms empty is not the point. It is simply the case that rooms full of "stuff" don't get the responses that blander less occupied rooms do.

If we moved I'd need to hire a storage unit to put stuff in before pictures were taken!

It's a stunning property I know that for me, I see a lot of work needing to be done.

The garden needs a lot of tidying and the living room and dining room look a bit dated.

I don't think it's over priced at all though. As someone who lives in Kent, that's a bargain!

MrsSnootyPants2018 It only looks like a bargain to you because wages are much higher in Kent than in Cheshire/Wales. Kent people are generally much wealthier than Cheshire/Wales people.

The point is it's not a bargain in Wales.

But Wales is made up of so many parts. Around Cardiff, it'd be a bargain. In West Wales, land is cheap, and it wouldn't be. To me, looking at prices in that street, it seems an ok price.

QuiteUnfitBit North Wales is one of the most deprived areas of the country, where incomes are low. Local people do not earn enough in local wages to pay those prices. And I cannot see any of the southerners on this thread rushing to Saltney to buy a holiday home situated amongst suburban council houses.

Yes, I agree about North Wales being terribly deprived - I have lots of family there, although I now live down South.

But it's not a holiday home. It'd be great for someone who wants a big garden near shops etc, but can't afford the type of house that normally comes with a big garden. The OP has had viewers, even in the slow market, but they've been shocked by the size of the garden rather than the price. Therefore, she's getting the wrong viewers.

*QuiteUnfitBit8 Personally, I like the big garden. But maybe your average Saltey buyer is a little too unimaginative, looking through blinkers for a small garden, that makes them no different from their neighbours.

Could you ask on local FB page if somebody could use a drone photo of the garden incl access etc?

QuiteUnfitBit Plus, I think viewers may have a tendency to not tell the truth when giving reasons for rejecting a property. Sometimes they just give the easiest excuse at hand in order to quickly end what they see as a slightly awkward conversation.

Chester is a lovely touristy city and is close to the Wirral peninsula, which has some beautiful places, but it is close to areas of high unemployment like Liverpool and North Wales.
Saltney is not the best location in the area, and it isn't the worst, but the large garden and 1/3 acre land is the main selling point to put it over and above similar properties. The EA details should highlight it.

This house is in North-East Wales. It is nowhere near West Wales or Cardiff. It's about 150 miles, about a 3.5 hr drive, from Cardiff.

I think it's a pretty family house, just if you're in the market for a terraced house in that location, you probably have a ceiling price, otherwise you'd go for one of the larger semi detached on the market in the area.

I think the kitchen looks lovely, but having "hand painted"kitchen units myself I'd be aware they chip fast so a new kitchen may soon be in order and downstairs needs some redecoration, which I suspect will be more apparent on viewing.

Basically the op is looking for someone who loves the garden so much they would forego a larger house, with Likely a bigger plot as standard to buy it for well above ceiling price. It's a tough one.

This house is in North-East Wales. It is nowhere near West Wales or Cardiff. It's about 150 miles, about a 3.5 hr drive, from Cardiff.
I mentioned that in reply to Bluntness, who said it wasn't a bargain for Wales. I was pointing out that Wales is country with many different areas and house prices, rather than an amorphous blob with one house price market.

Basically the op is looking for someone who loves the garden so much they would forego a larger house, with Likely a bigger plot as standard to buy it for well above ceiling price.
Exactly, and the EA hasn't grasped that. Otherwise, they'd have put "1/3 acre" in the property details, so that those searching on eg Primelocation using acre as a keyword would pull it up. I'd certainly pay above the ceiling price of a terrace with a small garden for one with a massive garden, with the potential as well to build on the plot.

For the sale of land I'd recommend approaching a chartered surveyor with local experience. Surveyors are the professionals who value land and property - EAs tend to guestimate, although they can be accurate of course.

OP, do you know anyone who works at Airbus? A small ad on a notice board would probably pique someone's interest.

The land is a selling point, surely, particularly as there is access

Buyers have no idea about the land until they read the particulars carefully, and actually see it. I would get the title changed to something like:

3 Bed House with Additional Development Land (STPP)

Why do t you subdivide and sell the land separately to the house?

I would buy it. I would offer full asking and pray you accepted.

You just have to wait for someone who can't afford a big house with a big garden but can afford yours. You are looking for a niche buyer.

My house is similar, except my garden is rented. I had 2 buyers, both of whom desperately wanted the big garden.

Other buyers would look at the garden and see it as a negative thing!

I have just bought a house with disproportionately large garden too.

Wait and s/he will come along.

I agree you need to declutter to really show your house off and highlight the original features.

I love your kitchen!

Hand painted kitchens don't necessarily chip fast! Mine is 12 years old and still looks brand new.

Thanks for all your replies, some really helpful comments!

I have a viewer tomorrow so will do my best to declutter and do some serious pruning in the garden 🙂

Just to clear up any confusion, half of Saltney is in Wales but we are a suburb of Chester. Chester is lovely, Saltney isn't the poshest area of Chester but okay and definitely not deprived.

The pricing is a tricky one because of the building potential making the property somewhat unique in the area, but I'm willing to take offers or adjust the price if necessary. I did have an offer of £163,00 but she changed her mind because of the size of the garden...

Will definitely ask EA to update the house listing to state size of land etc in the title and include aerial view/plan. Also great idea of @Imchlibob to list land registry title.

@Devilishpyjamas Thanks for the link, that's an interesting website!

@BubblesBuddy Sorry I said the word 'field' in the sense it was an overgrown wilderness when I bought it, but the land was originally garden land, with road access, which I've restored, so no planning permission issues

@Want2bSupermum Thanks, interesting idea re horse! 🙂

@MikeUniformMike Good idea re Airbus - we are actually only 10 minutes away!

Thanks. I know the area, or at least I did many years ago. It's the sort of house that someone with a steady local well paid job with regular hours would like. If I worked there I would jump at it. So handy for work and Chester.
There are probably business parks and factories in the area too.
The EA details should mention outbuildings too - they could be an amateur's workshop. Maybe an engineer type of person would like it for a hobby. Vehicular access means you could park there or park a caravan or something. I would imagine that to be quite an asset in a suburb.

I think it’s lovely - and I’ve also found big differences between estate agents, how many did you try? I do see it’s perhaps a more difficult sale for the area but I’d think about seeing other estate agents.