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Original poster

Frustration - house not selling

88 replies

Bayeight · 25/08/2021 06:17

We put our house on the market about a month ago.

We had 10 viewings in the first week. One very low offer.

Then another 2 viewings in the last few days.

All the feedback has said the house & garden are lovely.

Most people’s issue is it is on a busy main road. It is however we’ll set back with a long drive and lots of trees/hedges.

Starting to feel really crap about the whole thing. Everyone keeps saying how houses are selling in days, yet we’ve been on for a month and nothing

It’s SUCH hard work getting the house ready for the viewings, feel like I’ve spent most of the last month shouting at the kids for making a mess which is not fair on them at all.

Can’t decide if we should cut our losses and go back to trying to afford an extension. Or persevere for a bit longer and see what September brings.

Urgh. Horrible, horrible process selling houses - never again!

OP posts:

Bluntness100 · 25/08/2021 06:23

You can put a link on for peoole to help, I’m sure you know though that if it’s not selling it’s the price. You’ve got it on for too much. The fact you’re getting viewers would indicate the pics maybe overly flattering and in reality it’s not right for the price. The road is just an excuse.

sarahc336 · 25/08/2021 06:23

We're currently in the process of buying, we're under offer and now looking. My experience of houses is if one gets viewings but doesn't sell it's probably priced too high. Maybe look to see if you could reduce them inthink it'll sell x

mayblossominapril · 25/08/2021 06:29

I’m going to say the opposite of bluntness and it’s not always price but some houses do take longer to sell. You put it on the market in August which is a really slow month and whilst some houses are selling really fast others are not (can be due to location, layout, garden, garage and many other things). You’ve had viewers so just carry on see what happens at the end of September
In our area there isn’t much on the market so out of desperation everyone is looking at everything even if in normal times they wouldn’t look at it. So houses are getting more viewers than normal.

Bluntness100 · 25/08/2021 06:40

Everything priced right sells. I’m sorry, and the better the price the faster it sells. I’m sorry but it’s always price.

Petardos · 25/08/2021 06:41

One month is not a long time at all. But yes viewings and keeping the house immaculate are a nightmare.

LeavesOffTheCactus · 25/08/2021 06:49

August is a very slow month and houses on main roads take longer to sell even if the impact of the road isn’t as bad as it looks on a map. It’s hard to know if it’s price or not - ours took over a month to sell both times we put it on the market this year (first sale fell through). First achieved slightly under asking, second over asking. Post a link and people will give you really useful advice on why it might not have sold so far - it might just be that it’s august though and that a month isn’t very long in the grand scheme of things. Which region are you in?

PolypGrunterPulpit · 25/08/2021 07:20

The busy road might be coming as a surprise to viewers who don't already know the area. Like scruffy neighbours or a steep/narrow road, it's not something the photos or description go into. The house might look perfect to them but had they known about the road they might not have bothered to view and just written it off. The low offers are probably their way of telling you what they think the house is worth, and the upshot seems to be that the busy road is devaluing it.

Pringle89 · 25/08/2021 07:20

Hi! I feel your pain! Ours has been on since beginning of July, lots of viewings. We reduced our price once by 15k and I know think it’s a good price compared to other houses in the area. Even the estate agents are baffled as to why it’s not sold (his words are that it’s immaculate) we put new kitchen, flooring (I’m a decorator by trade so it’s professionally painted).

It’s really tricky juggling house viewings with the kids making a mess in the holidays!

I’m the same as you, I was told we would get multiple offers within days of being on the market as houses being snapped up - and here we are almost 2 mths later 🙄.

We had one offer at asking price which then they changed their mind, yesterday we had an offer 15k under asking which we’ve gone back and tried to negotiate so 🤞

I think things have definitely slowed down and august isn’t a good month to sell, hopefully September will be a better month!

Bedsheets4knickers · 25/08/2021 07:26

The market has dried up around here . Nothings selling .

SpiderinaWingMirror · 25/08/2021 07:32

Price.
If it is a busy road then people will expect to pay less. Is it priced properly?
August is always a slow month. I'd leave it on til end November.

Twiglets1 · 25/08/2021 07:46

I sympathise as we had the same thing selling in central London where flats are not selling that quickly. I got totally fed up after 2 months and was considering taking it off the market for a bit as it was mentally draining. But then we got 2 offers - both low but the estate agent managed to talk them up (and us down) so we settled on a figure with one buyer. Ultimately our flat was overpriced by 10% so we had to accept that after 16 viewings and no offers. But also the market is just a bit flat in certain areas, and yes the busy main road is the reason yours is taking longer to sell but you will get there. One month is nothing though I know it feels long. Get feedback about the viewings and if price has been mentioned by several people as too high, lower it.

EverydayCook · 25/08/2021 07:52

It’s the price. Being on a main road makes a big difference regardless of having a drive. A house on an A road in my town will be priced at £100k or so lower than a very similar house on a quiet road. If you’ve had that many viewings you need to lower the price or accept you could be in for a long wait. I’ve seen overpriced things take a year or even two to sell here.

Iminthelibrary · 25/08/2021 08:23

We live on a main road, we bought a few months ago and the house was already around £150k lower than the houses directly behind us which are not on the road. Have you priced accordingly?

ChiefInspectorParker · 25/08/2021 08:53

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

LynetteScavo · 25/08/2021 08:58

One month isn't long, and it's been August. People often start looking again once schools go back.

If people are mentioning the road, then they mean it's priced too high considering the road.

How low was the offer?

Original poster

Bayeight · 25/08/2021 09:24

Thanks everyone - lots of good points made.

The map/street view is not correct on right move. We have raised this on multiple occasions with the Estate Agents and they ‘promise’ they are sorting it but hasn’t changed as of yet.

As such, we have insisted they check with everyone that enquires, that they are aware it is on a main road before committing to coming to view.

The price is a tricky one.

It’s on for about £100k more than we paid for it, only a few years ago.

The estate agent felt this was justified due to the current market plus the fact we have secured planning permission and full architects drawings for a loft conversion and large ground floor extension.

I was beginning to wonder if it was on for too much.

But then one a bit further down the same main road that we’re on, went on the market a few weeks later, for £25k more and sold within a few days.

None of the feedback has mentioned the price. The one offer we have was 525, it’s on for 575. It was from the first people to view it so we turned it down as at that point, we had another 9 viewings booked in over the coming days.

I’m not against dropping the price. Just can’t see how that is necessarily going to improve things as 11 out of the 12 haven’t even made a cheeky offer.

OP posts:

m0therofdragons · 25/08/2021 09:39

I’d wait out for September when dc are back at school. August is always slow.

We sold my grandma’s home and it was on for £850k. Had an offer of £780k which we accepted (house needs modernisation so hard to price) but then they pulled out. Back on market for £825k. Within another 3 weeks we had 2 low offers under £800k so went to best and final. Ended up being offered £845k and £840k. Totally bizarre.

LittleRedYoshi · 25/08/2021 09:45

I’m not against dropping the price. Just can’t see how that is necessarily going to improve things as 11 out of the 12 haven’t even made a cheeky offer.

We fell into the trap of thinking this way. The thing is, if your house is priced at 575 then your viewers are going to be people with a budget of 575-600. If they decide various things about your house mean it's only worth 525, they don't not think, "I'll offer less on this one and don't have to spend as much." They think, "I've got 575-600 to spend - I'll find a house where I can pay that and get more for my money".

You need to be attracting the people whose budget is what your house is really worth. Who, at the moment, are probably being put off by the price tag.

BlueMongoose · 25/08/2021 09:54

If part of your price involves planning for an extension, that's going to cut down the number of buyers who will be interested as generally only those wanting to extend will pay the extra. And now is a horrible time to extend, with costs soaring. So even though the price may be fair, I'd expect it to take longer to find that sort of buyer than average, unless you were very lucky.

I did once consider going to look at a house with planning for an extension even though I'd have ripped it up as I wanted the house for the large garden. I wouldn't have been put off on that account, though I'd have probably offered less than asking. Some buyers might just not even look on that account. In the end, we couldn't move at that time, and by the time we could, it had gone.

If you need to sell quickly at some point, you may just have to write off what you spent on the architect etc. Bear in mind people will surely ask, if you had the planning done, why are you moving without doing it?

bananamushy · 25/08/2021 09:56

But then one a bit further down the same main road that we’re on, went on the market a few weeks later, for £25k more and sold within a few days.

But did it actually sell for that?

bananamushy · 25/08/2021 09:57

It’s on for about £100k more than we paid for it, only a few years ago.

I think 100k for pp is quite optimistic

Twiglets1 · 25/08/2021 10:24

If none of your viewers has mentioned the price then It’s too soon to lower it IMO. Our viewers did mention the price with some saying it seemed too high considering the flat needs work doing to it.
I think wait a few more weeks and reduce it in 4 weeks if you don’t get more offers by then

LizzieBet14 · 25/08/2021 10:25

I share your pain in trying to keep the house tidy & 'viewing ready' with having kids. ITS SO STRESSFUL!
We've moved a few times & never again. Hang on in there.

PersonaNonGarter · 25/08/2021 10:30

Sympathies OP but the ‘low offer’ is an offer. It’s what the market thought it was worth that day.

Bythemillpond · 25/08/2021 10:38

The main road is going to put a lot of people off and pp for an unbuilt extension is just going to get people confused as some will factor in the cost of the extension and they won’t be able to afford it so it comes down to price.

It looks like you are factoring in the uplift of the extension before it has been built.

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