Property not selling, feeling discouraged

[WishMeLuck2020]

Hi, we have been trying to sell our property for just coming up to one year now, with no offers and barely any viewings. The house is definitely not overpriced, has a garden and garage, is neat and tidy (as are all the houses on the street!) does not need any work doing to it and is neutrally decorated. But the area itself is not the best, to put it mildly. The first estate agent essentially told us our best hope was to get a buyer who doesn’t know the area who would use it to commute (we live close to a big city).

We took the house off the market but have decided to give another estate agent a try. It’s gone live today, so everything crossed. Has anyone else been in this position, and if so what advice if any do you have? I am pleased for those who have managed to sell quickly, I just wish I could say the same for my house!

Can you post a link?

Sorry to say but it probably is overpriced.

It’s the price. If even a cash buyer, BTL or investor doesn’t want it, it’s the price.

There are houses nearby, in a less than desirable area, and it always amazes me that they are snapped up within a few weeks.

I agree with pp It has to be the price.

It does sound like it’s the price.

And what’s wrong with the area if it’s a lovely road with well maintained houses?

Have other properties sold within that year that are similar to yours in this less desirable area? Find out what was paid and compare it to your expected price. I would then imagine you’ll have the answer. Price, price price is more important than location location location.

There are several properties on the street up for sale, all at similar prices. None are selling. That’s why I was asking if there is anything we could do to make it sellable. If I reduce it any further, it will be up for less than we paid for it 20 years ago, and that’s what is so disheartening.

I was really wondering if anyone else has been in a similar position, because it gets me down. For various reasons renting it out isn’t really an option, but it may be that or nothing.

It’s the price op. Everything sells for the same price. Do you want to post a link? People can’t really help past that if you don’t.

Sorry that should say everything sells for the right price.

Difficult time to sell a house, don't be discouraged. Many are staying out of fear of redundancies etc

Is there some other factor - planning permission for a major road / tip /on the HS2 link which is putting people off the area as a whole?

As everyone has said, there are very few properties that won't sell at all, its just a question of getting the price right. If someone thought your property (or others in your road) were worth anywhere near what you were asking, then you'd have had viewings and offers.

Sounds like you are overpriced. It must be disheartening when you don't get what you expect, but it doesn't matter to anyone other than you (and maybe your lender!) what you paid, the key question is what is market value.

There are several properties on the street up for sale, all at similar prices. None are selling.

It won’t matter how ever much you present your house beautifully in comparison to the other properties - the above shows that no one will buy at that price.

You’d then be in the realm of differentiation by doing significant work like extensions and then working out if that would be worth it.

Unfortunately I think some property TV programmes make you think that the value can only increase and that’s not the case in reality.

@WishMeLuck2020 so you bought your house 20 years ago which was nearly at the high of the property boom before it all went tits up. It's the price! Believe me.
I bought my house in 2004 and sold it just before lockdown, I took a £37,000 hit. Thank goodness I had a repayment mortgage on it. I made nothing.

Sorry OP but have to agree with everyone else that the most likely explanation is that the price is too high

The only hint that it could be something other than the price is if you have been having lots of viewings but no offers (in those circumstances it's possible there is something specific to your property that is putting people off) but if you haven't had many viewings then it is overpriced

Houses in France tend to be like this - but at the moment the house market there is very active with Brits. trying to get residency before end of year.

In your position I would be very analytical and look at all the choices that people have who would be looking at a property similar to yours. Look at under offer, on the market and sold properties for recent years. Yours will need to be better than similarly priced properties in the "better" locations so unless it is a doer upper (doesn't sound like it), it must be immaculately presented. Not so neutral that people will skim the photos, so something appealing in the presentation of the main rooms.

On price, which will be the factor for no viewings, I priced by imagining I could swap my house for another one. e.g. properties 40k more would I swap (yes, very often), 20k more maybe but not necessarily, down to my price where mine seems nicer than most although there are drawbacks to the location. At this price it's a really nice house even though the location lets it down. Probably not explained very well but a tempting price will draw in viewings in most areas of the country as houses are selling in lots of places that have been sticking previously.

Sorry OP, it sucks.
My house has been on the market since Feb, and it’s so disheartening not to have offers.
We’ve reduced ours already by 25k, and even that didn’t prompt more viewings.

No advice, but lots of sympathy.
What I would say also, is that the difficulty in getting a mortgage is perhaps preventing people from offering.
What I’ve noticed in my area is that the cheaper houses are actually staying on the market longer than those in more expensive price brackets, eg houses at £400-450k lingering on the market / £470-580k being snapped up / anything over £580k hanging around on market.

If yours is priced in either the cheapest or more expensive bracket, rather than ‘middling’ bracket, that’s maybe why it’s not selling.
My theory is that those who would have been interested in the cheapest houses are prob first time buyers and no longer able to get mortgages if only have 10% deposit, with the banks being so strict.
Those who may have been interested in the more expensive houses pre Covid might now be tightening their belts, and wary of pushing their budget.
Just my theory...

OP, I’m sure the same will happen to us when we want to sell (changes in immediate area that we couldn’t do anything about).

When we sold Dads house, it took 12 months. We were getting desperate then suddenly had 5 offers in one week, having had nothing for months. I still have no idea why!

Two things people have said to us:
A) Any property will sell if it’s cheap enough.
B) A property is worth what soneone thinks it’s worth. If it’s worth £100k to you, but only £50k to the next guy, then don’t sell it.

Saz, Likely the market caught up with it. As in the market increased after a year so it was eventually priced correctly.

@tigerbear - it’s at the cheaper end of the market. A lot of properties on the street are rental, presumably because of mortgage difficulties. That may well be the way forward for us.

Thanks everyone for answering. We are absolutely not in a position to reduce it any lower than it already is. As it goes, we have just had notifications of a viewing tomorrow, so I will keep everything crossed, but I am not holding my breath.

What was the feedback on the viewings before?
Houses in all areas will sell eventually if priced right. If there are lots of other houses for sale on your street then you've got to make yours the most attractive option.

@keepingbees that the house was too small. The new estate agents have written a clearer description and added a 360 degree virtual tour on their website which the others don’t have, so hopefully people will have a better idea of the size of the house.