If my house isn’t selling now how is it ever going to sell in the future?

[RockStarMartini]

Went on the market end of August, fair amount of viewings but no offers. I posted a link on here and got some really good advice based on which I redecorated, decluttered etc then went with a different agent and had new pics done. We’re still getting viewings but it’s still not shifting and I’m so sick of the whole thing - constantly trying to keep it tidy for viewings and then the continual letdowns when nobody wants it.

Im resigned to taking it off the market and staying but I’m really worried why it’s not selling and how I’ll ever shift it in the future. I’m divorced but still own it with my ex and we really need to sell in the next year or two to release the funds. There’s a possibility I could buy him out but am I then taking on an unsellable house all on my own?!

I’ll have to discuss with the agent the reason it’s not selling - probably price I guess. But I’m just worried about what the future holds, I can’t afford to drop it by loads or I’ll never get anything decent to move on to.

What the hell to do?

Frankly the price is likely to be the issue.

People can always re-decorate so it is unlikely that the cosmetic aspect was the problem. If you want to sell, reduce the price. if you don't want to do that, wait for a better market.

I think people will have a rude awakening though when it comes to the property market next year...

It is always price in the end. Every one of these threads boils down to the same thing, no matter how much advice people give about decluttering and furniture arranging and dressing the house for viewings: if the price is right it will sell, otherwise it won't.

It’s the price. Every house will sell at the right price.
House near us (that Ive always loved) went on for £1.5m last feb. Then lockdown happened. In August they reduced it by £200k. We looked at it a few weeks ago, just after their only offer had withdrawn. Our feedback to the agent was that it is still hugely overpriced, and we were interested, but not at more than £1.1. They’ve taken it off the market. The vendors want to downsize and be mortgage free. That’s not my problem. Every house in the £1-2m bracket that’s gone on the market post lockdown has sold within days or hours. It’s a period property with land, but it’s a semi and it’s a money pit......which people will still buy at the right price.

I agree with @unmarkedbythat. It’s always the price.

In your situation I would drop it to sell. You are only losing 50% of the price reduction ( compared to your expectations ) but have 100% of the hassle of viewings, keeping it tidy etc.

Also if you sell now you will be a position to buy if house prices drop.

There is a lot of hype about how buoyant the market is because of the stamp duty holiday, but for most first time buyers they already have no stamp duty, or a hugely reduced rate if buying a house over 400k. First time buyers are mostly unable to get a mortgage currently for less than a 30% deposit when until March most only needed and had saved for 5%. So first time buyer properties are struggling. Just because you can't sell now doesn't mean you never will.

This happens a lot though. Sellers often confuse what a house is worth v what they need to sell it for. And buyers conversely often confuse what a house is worth v what they can afford. The two are not always directly correlated.

If a house isn’t moving it is always the price. No matter what the market is like, if it’s priced right it will shift, if it’s not, it will not.

As said, you can wait till the market catches up with you, and your house does become worth what you’ve priced it at, but as you’ve now said you need that money to move, it means the house you’re buying will also escalate in value at the same pace.

If it’s a bigger more expensive house then this would price you out. For example a five percent increase on a 200k house is ten grand, a five percent increase on a four hundred one is twenty, so unless you can find the difference, whatever that may be, you’re stuck.

It may be right now you just can’t afford to move, and need to save up more, or be able to get a bigger mortgage to enable it. Because relying on your house selling for more than the market deems it to be worth is not going to work,

Are other similar size/price houses in your area selling? If not, I'd wait it out a bit if you can. Now is a really difficult time for first time buyers- as well as being asked for bigger deposits they face a lot of uncertainty over jobs, and also what the housing market might do next.

If other similar houses are selling I'd say it's all about the price. I recently sold a 'difficult to sell' house. All the estate agents we spoke to gave us similar valuations but none of these really took into account the quirks of the property that made it harder to sell (unusual room layout which would not have been easy to change, bigger than other properties in the street but no garden etc). Feedback from nearly every viewing was that they liked it but preferred another property with a more standard layout etc. Eventually we found a buyer who was looking for one particular feature that other houses in the price range didn't have and was happy to live with the quirks to get this within his limited budget.

Thanks this is all very good advice - I know I need to be realistic about what someone will pay as opposed to what I want to get!

I'm really torn whether to drop and (hopefully) sell now or wait but I'm worried about what will happen next year and getting it shifted would be my preference I think.

We're looking to buy at the moment. We were quite excited about the Stamp Duty holiday, until we saw house prices rising by a lot more than the SD saving of 15k. We have our budget and we're sticking to it, whether or not we make the cut off for the SD.
Basically just drop the price to whatever is realistic and you will definitely sell eventually.

I would imagine the market is very localised with all the disruption of this year and what that has done to the usual rhythms of the housing market. Maybe try to keep your finger on the pulse of your area, what is selling and what price for as well as agent advice.
FWIW some estate agents are franchises and the individual franchisee aren't always up to the brand fame IYSWIM, I have always had best success when I have chosen one who is a member of the professional body - they sign up to a professional code of conduct and I have always found the service much more professional:
www.naea.co.uk/find-agent/

might be worth seeing if one near you can give you a fresh assessment of the value on your house. The last one I sold through this recommended a selling strategy based on the type of property and local housing market to great success. (niche demand / mass appeal need different approaches type idea)

We've just taken our house off the market as in the last four weeks not one house came on that was in our budget and suitable and that's all whilst looking in three small towns within miles of each other

There's so much uncertainty in the world right now. It's close to Christmas. Furlough hadn't been extended when we noticed a lack of properties coming on and if you list a property in November it's unlikely you'll make the stamp duty cut off, solicitors, surveyors, EA's are all snowed under with ppl who listed a few months back and who sold trying to push their houses through

We took the decision to come back in hopefully a much stronger position when DD is three and I can work an extra day a week. We calculate we should have an extra £700+ a month

We didn't want to buy the "wrong" house through rushing and we don't "have" to move. We'd just like to so that we're closer to family and have better schools for DD and live in a nicer town other than this dull city

Lots of price cuts in my road in walthamstow London..two opposite dropping by 50 k in few months. A bit overpriced initially tho.

It’s not selling because there’s less people wanting to move due to the uncertainty of the pandemic.

yeah, right - I wish! Were I'm looking it's constant bidding wars, never-ending stream of buyers (not even talking London houses search).

Have yo ureduced the price at any stage, OP? If not, there is always that to try unless this would be lower than you paid for it / negative equity.

Didusfalco so were these offers at asking price, or even hogher so you did get your initial asking? Or the other way round and offers were under hte new asking price?
Mine has gone on 'offers over' (reduced) purely as you can't relist on rightmove with a current date without reducing or making it premium (which obvs my agent is too tight to do). But I fear that people will ignore the 'over' bit even though now the price is rock bottom for this type of house, and good size garden, and in line with smaller but newly renovated ones in the area.
That's always the danger with reducing - people will try to reduce further.

Everyone hates offers over. Just state your price.

Peoole will offer what they think it’s worth, you either accept that or don’t.

Was your house the one up with Purple Bricks? If so, there's your answer!

Agree that it's down to price.
You need to bite the bullet and reduce price, or take it off and wait til next year. Have a look at what properties in your area actually sold for, not what the asking price was. That should give you a better idea of where you need to be price wise.
Good luck!

Try not to feel too despondent OP, we put our house on in Aug, a trickle of viewers, we were ready to remove our property from the market when we had a viewing and found our buyer. You only need to find one person, look at the price & reduce a bit. You will get there, but it is a very stressful process I know. Wishing you good luck for the future.

No we weren’t with Purple Bricks. I’ve spoken to my ex and agreed to talk to the agent with a view to reducing - will probably give it a couple of weeks and then take it off the market if nothing has happened.