How on earth do you sell an unusual home?!!

[LondonTowers]

To cut a long story short we bought our home about 4 years ago and we thought we would be here for a long time....forever! Our circumstances have changed and we have outgrown our home in so many ways.

The problem is we live in a water tower. It was converted in the 60s and we have loved it and updated it a fair bit and we have invested in it because we thought we would be staying here for a very long time.

There is a number of reasons we want to move, the property is quirky and unusual which we love but it does not work with our family dynamics anymore.

We've had a valuation from a mainstream company and I get the impression it will be hard to shift....I think it's the type of house people love but not necessarily the type they would buy..... its topsy turvy living with lots of stairs ;)

Does anyone have any advice on how to sell a quirky home?!

[cretelover]

We'd all love to see it OP

[strawberrycreamplz]

We have this same issue. Not quite as quirky as yours but a bizarre layout and lots of character. We've had about 8 viewings since we put it on a month ago and everyone says the same thing. It's gorgeous but the layout doesn't work for them. The layout is not something that can be changed. It's so disheartening because every time we have a viewing I'm cleaning and prepping like a mad thing to show it in it's best light.

[My0My]

It’s rented out for air bnb. It’s in Elephant and Castle. They wanted over £3m for it - in Ele! It was a Kevin McCloud one though.

[FAQs]

I remember the one in Kennington which took a long time to sell.

[SapatSea]

If it doesn't get an offer at a price you want, would it be possible financially for you to put it on a Buy to let mortgage and release about 85% of the equity to buy onwards and then let it on an AST or even as a "holiday" style rental (although there are set up costs, cleaning, agency fees etc with that). My friend did this with her unusual home and sold it a few years later to someone who had stayed in it and fallen in love with it.

[Bemorechicken]

I would want to know

1. Can I get a mortgage?
   
2. What is insurance and heating costs?
   
3. What are the benefits?
   
4. What is the history?
   
   In that order.

[Pelleas]

Looking at the London one, I don't think it has central heating so that would be a major cost to factor in as I can't imagine it would be straightforward to install in such an unusual layout. I'd have thought it would be a dream for someone with lots of money to put into it, though.

[madcatladyforever]

I would definitely have bought one when I was younger but who knew I'd have debilitating arthritis at 58.
People love quirky properties, I'm sure lots of people will want it.

[Pelleas]

It does look really nice, ImAncient. If you look at the view from the window it seems to be all big houses and gardens.

[ImAncient]

Quakers walk is in a nice part of north London. I used to live near there.

[Pelleas]

The linked one in North London looks amazing! The bedrooms could easily be modernised. I've no idea really about London prices but offers over £1m doesn't sound hugely expensive for what it is - don't fairly bog-standard semis often go for round about £1m in some parts of London?

[Bluemoooon]

Isn't there a stamp duty holiday? Get it on the market now.

[Takingontheworld]

[quote Thecazelets]There's a water tower for sale at the moment with the Unique Property Company! They had a little piece in the Evening Standard on it. Might be just a London agent though.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83669693.html[/quote]
The bedroom looks absolutely gross! What terrible pictures!

[LolaSkoda]

I’m intrigued as there is a lived in water tower near me! I always drive past it and think it’s awesome.

[clareykb]

Not as out there but we live in a slightly unusual development off flat roofed eco builds and although I love our house I have been a bit worried about resale value as we brought it new. However the few that have been put in the market recently seem to have gone with the "premium" local agents and sold fairly quickly. I have also seen unusual houses in our local lifestyle magazine ...that might be an option depends where you are obviously but ours is Living North.

[LondonTowers]

Thank you for all your comments. Its been a big help. Definitely like the idea of a feature article and I've been speaking to someone from unique homes..... :)

[LondonTowers]

Yes I can see why we don't quite fit the bill with them, so that's fine.....

[Itscoldouthere]

Yes I agree (just about to complete our sale with TMH) they have a brand style and told us that they turn down at least a third of people who approach them to sell.
We had to send photos and information before they agreed to come and look at our house, so think they are very careful about what property they take on outside of London.
They attract very targeted buyers who are looking for designed homes, most are London based (well that was our experience).
Perhaps you should approach the unusual homes site mentioned by a previous poster.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Glendora]

Or it might be that the interiors/ design isn't what they can market. I too have sold/bought through TMH and they have quite a specific 'brand' these days - high end, design-led, etc, rather than specifically 'quirky' or unusual, or, indeed, even modern. If you look on their site, there are a lot of bog-standard period properties (in terms of exterior architecture) on there, but that have been interior-architect-designed.

[Rainbowshine]

They don’t think they’ll make any money on the commission compared to the amount of work involved in marketing it.

[LondonTowers]

So I spoke to the modern house and this is what they said.....
Unfortunately our team of appraisals specialists don’t feel that we would be able to be of assistance on this occasion. This is, of course, not to say that the property is not inherently desirable – it is much more to do with our specialist market position, the particular expectations of our audience, and a keen awareness of our own strengths and limitations. We tend only to get involved where we are confident we would be able to find the right buyers and ultimately be able to add value to the sale of your property.

I don't really understand it

[Thecazelets]

There's a water tower for sale at the moment with the Unique Property Company! They had a little piece in the Evening Standard on it. Might be just a London agent though.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83669693.html

[Rainbowshine]

@FlamedToACrisp makes some good practical points that you need to address people’s concerns up front and minimise the doubts about buying an unusual construction. Apart from whether it appeals to a buyer, is it mortgageable? If not then your pool of potential buyers shrinks and it’s cash buyers and I’d be thinking about the specialist agents and possibly auction.

[PhilipJennings]

I agree with the recommendations for The Modern House - and for what it's worth, I have used them to sell my unusual property.

Mainstream estate agents will drag around everyone whose budget matches your asking price regardless of whether they've actually expressed an interest. They won't photograph it in the best way to show off the angles. And then when it predictably doesn't sell, they'll tell you to drop the price and drop the price because that's all it can be.

We had 60 viewings from 4 agencies and dropped 200k off the price before we went to TMH (thanks to a mumsnet recommendation I have to say). We didn't drop the latest price but from TMH we had eight viewings by people who actually wanted to see it and from those, three offers. The first sale fell through (on the legal side) but they found us another buyer quickly and we were moved within six months.