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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Anything you did to speed up selling your house?

57 replies

UninspiringUserName · 31/10/2018 13:32

I know I'm far from alone in this situation so I thought I'd pick your collective brains. Was there anything you've done that you think really helped sell your house?

So far we've been on the market for a month and had 8 viewings but no second viewings and no offers. There's been no negative feedback other than a couple of viewers not liking the village churchyard which backs onto our garden (some love it, some hate it). For others, the play area outside the front won't be ideal, but so far, all the viewers have had young children except one, so it's been seen as a positive but appreciate it's not for everyone.

We've decluttered, we have vases of fresh flowers all over the place and I don't think there's anything that people could object to but are we missing anything? Any tips you can think of to entice buyers to view or snap it up?

Link is here:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56864241.html

Any advice gratefully received...

OP posts:

Whitney168 · 31/10/2018 13:36

If I were being horrendously picky, I could suggest making the pink bedroom a bit less pink and getting a less shady pic of the garden at a different time of day - but the house looks gorgeous, so that would be struggling to find something to say.

MrsPatmore · 31/10/2018 13:39

It's a lovely house and is snap it up! However I don't know whether that is a good price for the area. Usually it boils down to the price unfortunately and whether there are lots of other comparable properties on.

DorothyHarris · 31/10/2018 13:39

Might not be what you want to hear but we reduced and sold stc in 9 days.

ShatnersBalloonFromPennywise · 31/10/2018 13:41

Put it on for the lowest price we'd have been happy to accept, and sold it for slightly over that within a couple of weeks.

Notwhoyouthink35 · 31/10/2018 13:42

I think it looks lovely. The only thing I can suggest is lowering the asking price. I hope it sells soon.

SoupDragon · 31/10/2018 13:44

I don't think the pictures are the problem as I can't see anything glaringly obvious. That leaves the price and the things you pointed out. The price is the only thing you can change.

lawyeredout82 · 31/10/2018 13:47

Same as above - we had to slash the asking price (we have accepted an offer for £100k less than an offer we accepted in January this year, a drop of 12.5%). We are in Hertfordshire so might be different where you are. We had so many positive comments about decor etc even when it was on at the higher price that it was a really bitter pill to swallow. Once we slashed the price, we then had two offers from chain free buyers within a few weeks at over the lowest price we could accept to move (plus a couple of cheeky lower offers). We tried a small drop off our original asking price over the summer but that didn’t achieve anything.

Original poster

UninspiringUserName · 31/10/2018 13:49

Thank you all, and yes, it could be that we need to reduce the price to get some movement again. There's a few houses in the village at the same/similar price and you get more house for your money with ours so it seems good value but of course it's only worth what someone will pay. Will talk to the EA and get their views.

OP posts:

bluetrampolines · 31/10/2018 13:50

Yeah. Looks really nice. I'd work out how much you can take off the price versus the cost of how patient you are prepared to be.

Skylucy · 31/10/2018 13:51

Things are moving so sloooowly at the moment. We tried (and failed) to sell over the summer, and a lot of friends are taking months and months, often because at least one member of the chain is stuck somehow. It does seem that the market is struggling, and I guess this time of year isn't ideal?

The photos are great! The written description on rightmove is a bit naff though - why the over-jolly marketing speak? And the line "it's sure to sell fast" rings hollow considering it's been online for a month.

As always, I guess it comes down to price. I'm based in London so your lovely house seems like an absolute bargain to me, but I've no idea what the right price for your area is - have you been keeping an eye on what similar properties are selling for?

Original poster

UninspiringUserName · 31/10/2018 13:52

Lawyered ouch! That must have really hurt.

OP posts:

Original poster

UninspiringUserName · 31/10/2018 13:55

Sky, yes, I hear you on the online marketing guff, especially seeing as it's been up for sale for month now. I'll drop them a line and ask them to say something differently.

And yes, similar houses are similar prices, and if anything, I'd say ours seems pretty good value as we have a study/utility and four bathrooms - very few houses here have those, and they're on at the same price. And yes, move to sunny Leicestershire - houses are a LOT cheaper than London.

OP posts:

lawyeredout82 · 31/10/2018 13:56

OP - yes, I cried when we reduced the price! But the flip side is that the house we wanted to buy in the spring was still available so we managed to get the same amount knocked off our purchase so it will all work out eventually (plus obviously less stamp duty). I guess everyone is feeling the pain of this dreadful property market at the moment other than FTBs!!

Oliversmumsarmy · 31/10/2018 13:56

Normally I see these posts and can spot the odd thing that might be a bit iffy but your house is lovely.

crosstalk · 31/10/2018 14:04

OP Good luck with the selling part - lovely house. Zoopla and RightMove give you an idea of what the latest sales in your road/area have been but you've probably already done that. Time to talk frankly to your EA (but read their terms and conditions) and ask them how widely it's being marketed apart from Right Move and what they would suggest. They need to refresh their copy any way, since clearly it hasn't moved swiftly. Maybe some new photos of a pristine front?

However, in terms of preparation, make sure you know where the deeds are, any building reg certificates if you've had work that needed planning done, boiler service repair certificates and recent bills for water/electricity/fuel. Try appointing a solicitor now and ask for sample copies of property information forms so you know what will be asked. That way things will move swiftly.

Mummytowooter · 31/10/2018 14:29

It’s a beautiful house. Fingers crossed it sells soon!

PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 31/10/2018 15:17

Your house is beautiful and the best one I’ve seen on rightmove in ages

Sounds strange but I think some people are put off by there being nothing to do. There’s no chance to put your mark on it. Might just not be to their taste but if they pay for a ‘done’ House then they can’t justify changing anything to suit their tastes because there is nothing wrong with it. Some people want a house which needs doing up.

For example I don’t like wooden kitchens- I prefer white or gloss. I wouldn’t buy a house with a perfect brown kitchen because it’s not my taste and I couldn’t justify ripping it out. I’m about to buy our third home and we want to decide what to put in it.

That’s not at all helpful- but it might give you an alternative view of why it is not appealing to some family buyers. Saying that there are plenty more people who can’t be bothered with doing any work.

Original poster

UninspiringUserName · 31/10/2018 15:24

Oh thank you all - you've put my mind at ease. Purple, thank you for the lovely words, and yes, I know what you mean about houses 'being done' being off-putting for some. The house is 10 years old now and is definitely reaching that stage where things are going to need changing - the brown kitchen being one of them! It's a good perspective, thank you.

Crosstalk yes, you're right and excellent advice. I'm going to ask them to do another write up and update it, and I'll ask about the photo for the front too. We'll also get ourselves geared up sale-wise, I hadn't thought to use the time to do that so we're all ready, which makes complete sense, especially as we've found the house we want.

Oliversmumsarmy, thank you so much.

OP posts:

PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 31/10/2018 15:36

Ps don’t lose hope

It took 7 weeks to get a buyer, then another emerged and there was a bidding war. We actually stopped them going up more as we chose the buyer in the best position and didn’t want a buyer feeling they overpaid in this market for risk of pulling out later. I was despondent like you at the end of week 5.

It’s funny but the two bidders actually viewed in week 1. I think they must have viewed so many properties and then made the decision that ours was worth going for. It’s a buyers market and i think lot of people are biding their time.

Original poster

UninspiringUserName · 31/10/2018 15:38

Purple, thank you again. I needed to hear this! Here's hoping that's the case here...

OP posts:

MrsMoastyToasty · 31/10/2018 15:46

Is there a photo of the study?

Have a well advertised open morning. We had multiple offers when we did one (I think that serious buyers see them as some kind of competition).

theboxofdelights · 31/10/2018 15:49

Reduced the price by £15k (or nearly 3%) it sold the next day.

Original poster

UninspiringUserName · 31/10/2018 15:49

MrsMoasty, the photographer decided not to take a pic of the study as we currently use it as a laundry room. I find it invaluable, but he didn't seem to think so...

As for the open day, yes, that's an idea - I'll mention it to the EA at the same time as the dreadfully chipper write up...

OP posts:

PurpleFlowersInMyHair · 31/10/2018 15:50

No worries- just don’t let it get to you. Honestly you have no control of it, your house is perfectly presented.

I’m a believer in what will be- I’m sure you will get what you want- although you may need to adjust the price to get there, but it’s too soon to be considering that.

Original poster

UninspiringUserName · 31/10/2018 15:54

boxofdelights thanks for the info. Did you have any feedback that suggested the price was the sticking point, or did you know what you'd be prepared to accept and so revised the price to sell quickly? It's good to hear that it doesn't have to be a massive reduction - we'd only really be prepared to drop a little so it stays doable for us to buy the next house which is a big jump.

OP posts:

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