No offers on our house

[housetales]

Our house has been on the market for 2 months - launching as the school holidays started which I think was a huge mistake - with what I'd describe as a handful of viewings (mostly right as it went live).

The price it's been listed at was the agent's price, not ours, and when compared with others locally, doesn't seem OTT. All the agents who came round gave similar valuations too. No viewers have said upon viewing it that it is overpriced either.

We had only one bit of negative feedback and it was only from a couple of viewers, not all - that we are overlooked from the side of our property - so we purchased some 10ft trees to allay that concern.

I'm putting myself out there with a link to see what you guys think so be gentle! Should we stay on the market or take it off for now? I should say we only went on the market as we fancied a project for our forever home and were told there was a massive opportunity in our price range as there is such limited supply.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110082437#/?channel=RES_BUY

OP I think you should get feedback from people who are looking in that budget - I don't know how you would do that except from your viewers perhaps.

I have read some of the feedback here. We bought out house for just over 2 million and the kitchen was solid wood but very old fashioned. We knew we would need to spend money on improvements but then this would also allow us to get the kitchen exactly the way we wanted.

Similarly there were other factors which made the house exactly what we wanted so we would compromise on the kitchen ........

If I were you I would hold on tight ..... as one agent said - every house has a buyer and two months is hardly any time

It is a beautiful and spacious home and you have furnished it lovely. It's only been two months, give it time, you will sell it.

Maybe you will have to drop your price a little bit as there are a few areas I noticed that I personally would want to upgrade on. The kitchen and bathrooms are a bit dated, including the tiles, particularly the kitchen tiles. If I was looking at a house in that price bracket I would want to renovate those.

Also, if I was considering your house, I would want more landscaping in the back garden and particularly want to camouflage the wooden fence,

I also would not really like the idea of an unfenced front garden, I guess you can't do anything about that though, it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, if I absolutely loved the rest of the house..
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Its lovely but its still on an estate with a small garden for the house size Others in the area offer more for the money

Fantastic home, can't comment on the pricing but would echo others saying it is too sterile. There's decluttering and then there's de-homing! How about some more plants and rugs etc... to add some depth and texture? Especially plants for bathrooms.

Best of luck.

Beautiful home but if I was in the market to spend that kind of money the back of the house might put me off. It reminds me of an accommodation block . Front of the house beautiful . I’m in a similar position , house on the market in Cornwall for 2 months ( 15 min walk to an amazing beach, price looks right ) and limited viewings and one low offer. I feel you pain.

Its a lovely home and house

but your market is limited as the percentage of people that can afford to purchase it is smaller than a house for lower price

so that will be why you've had few viewings and no offers- as for those few it wasn't the house

so now you have to wait to find a buyer that does like it and can afford it and wants to live in that location

If you pull up a search of properties between one and two million in a 15 mile radius of your area, it shows properties that have been for sale since March, April 21 and a couple from 2019

Its not your house and moving pictures onto the wall etc isn't going to change the speed of the sale.

Sutton is a gem with lovely people too! I’ll sure you’ll sell it in no time

It’s a lovely house in a lovely area and if it’s not selling as quick as you want it to it’s the price. No matter the feedback - people will sort out any issues themselves if they feel that it’s good value compared to what else they are seeing.
It’s the price.

OP I love your house (but I have zero taste - I don't get all the 'high end' stuff and am able to look past and appreciate all the decluttering you've done to imagine my own stuff in the rooms.

But the garden... for that money I would absolutely not want to be overlooked by my neighbours. I guess it's a blank canvas - but it's very very blank. I'd need to pull up the decking (is it wooden??). I'm afraid the hot tub would put me off too.

I think at that price point people are just going to be really discerning about what they want to buy. I think your house is lovely, but I don’t really like modern houses. If I did, it would be in contention, but I’d rather buy a period do-er upper and pour my heart and soul into it (as has been evidenced more than once - we end up living in a cold, impractical beauty, covered in dust for the first year, only to think when we move we will go for something like your house but we never do).

High value houses take a long time to sell, and maybe there is just too much choice?

Are you comparing period properties to your new build? A lot of people wouldn't consider a new build 'Executive Home' and that factor will affect the price. The price per square metre doesn't really matter (i.e. a four bed could be in more demand than a five bed if it has more charm).

It's always the price OP, especially if it hasn't sold in two months! The summer holidays here made not a jot of difference at that price point - five people bidding for every property...unless they are overpriced!

@converseandjeans

It's a lovely house - but I would imagine it's fairly busy round there (I used to work at the Hardwick Arms & it used to be just an ordinary row of shops & the pub was nothing special). In terms of location it's probably nearer to Walsall than Sutton Coldfield? So I think that might restrict your market - I don't know if it's as nice as Roman Road? I think if you were nearer Sutton/Mere Green you might have more luck.

This. I know geographically that Streetly is classed as Sutton Coldfield but really I don't know anyone (apart from maybe people live in Streetly!) who classes it as Sutton. It is that and the fact that it comes under Walsall Council that will be causing it to be overpriced.

OP, going against the grain here. The price might not be so much of an issue. It’s just that houses in this bracket take longer to sell. Sit tight, or for a quick sale drop a little.
I agree with the others that it’s a lively house, and I can totally believe the price. Millions pound houses outside London are no longer a rarity. I also think that the kitchen is missing the wow factors. Houses with great kitchens and bathrooms sell so much quicker.

I’m in a v similar place, converted at the same time from a more unusual existing old building. Kitchen and bathrooms are 16 told too. That’s the problem. Although it functions beautifully and has integrated Miele everything and four ovens etc, the kitchen is I know dated. My bathrooms were not luxurious to start with but are now dated and not luxurious. The problem is that replacing 5bathrooms now is going to cost more than you will make on the house price and will be disruptive and what you put in may not be to purchaser’s taste. At that price, there should be granite, engineered oak and corian, fully underfloor heating and a ground source heat pump / Fischer and paykel etc. how you get round it is either by pricing low enough for someone to spend £200k on a huge kitchen and 5 bathrooms or spend that yourself (materials and Labour is insane and there’s a 9 month wait on the range cooker and so on and so forth). I’d be inclined to do the master bathroom and one other to modern spec and tart up the kitchen with a spray and proper worktop and add another oven if you can. Go mad with a great bootroom / utility. Just enough to make something stand out. Can you get planning to put a proper garden view window in bedroom 3 instead of the mean little side view windows? That will make. A lot of difference to that room (why o why didn’t the developer do it?!)

Lovely house and I have no idea of the prices locally (so can't comment on that) but a major barrier for me would be the lack of space around the house at that price point and that it looks like so many others, so design wise not individual enough, again just something I value but many others probably don't.

Personally I don’t think you need to change anything. Houses that sell are de cluttered and you’ve done a fine job. Your house is gorgeous and someone will snap it up very soon.

You just need to be patient @housetales.

@housetales definitely not IKEA budget! It is probably too grand for our stairs. At least that's what I'm telling myself

Agree with the other comments

Too many exterior pics when the exterior is not that big a selling point. If people locally would know that the street is very exclusive then I can kinda see why the picture of the sign though

Overdecluttered so that it looks very soulless. I think you should add back a few little touches eg ornaments especially anything to add pops of colour

Kitchen really lets it down. It looks so cheap and wrong for the house and very empty. It looks like B&Q or something

Bathrooms are particularly soulless being so all white. They need some little colourful elements to bring them more up to date. I think these days more varied tile and furniture colours and accessories are in rather than all white.

Definitely take out or reshoot the garden pics as it really does grate having the lovely decking, garden furniture and hot tub and then seeing the neighbours houses in the background of those pics. You imagine yourself sunbathing and it spoils it to think the neighbours would be looking.

Ok so I'm in Scotland and therefore could buy a castle and massive private land for that price, so can't offer wisdom on that front

I’m in a scotland and where I live, you definitely couldn’t buy much more than this for that money. Perhaps you live in a cheap part of Scotland, but it is a big country.

Why is there no epc on the listing? I think that’s a legal requirement- the clocks for it in the brochure are blank. I assume therefore that it’s highly non energy efficient and was finished right before new building standards and low energy lighting/ high performance cabling became standard (ditto!). Get the agent to sort that.

I agree a house of that value will take a while to sell. I’d stop short of ripping out and replacing kitchen and bathrooms to upgrade them and let the new buyer do that but you may need to reduce the price accordingly. The kitchen could be vastly improved by changing the handles on the units to something more simple and chunky, shaker style. Maybe add a red kettle and toaster to give some colour. I agree the rest of the house needs some colour too, through ornaments and artwork even. There are far too many pictures of the same thing, I would remove at least a third.

It's the price range, not as many people are buying in that bracket. I thought it was London at that price and then shocked to see it's actually Birmingham!! I think it maybe a little over priced...

@mammajustkilledagnat

Fantastic home, can't comment on the pricing but would echo others saying it is too sterile. There's decluttering and then there's de-homing! How about some more plants and rugs etc... to add some depth and texture? Especially plants for bathrooms.

Best of luck.

This …I cannot bare too much clutter but your lovely house doesn’t look like a home. It’s likely to be a family who will be buyers so definitely get the children toys out in the garden and in their rooms. Photos are too sterile and orchestrated. Good luck. 💐

It's definitely the kitchen. When I'm looking at a house at the top or near the top of my budget and then kitchen is disappointing, I just discount it straight away. It's not £50k to replace it, it's much more as most people would want to extend and put top end kitchen and appliances in, new floor etc. The fridge being in the utility room puts me right off as well.
Someone will want to do it though, just a matter of waiting.

OP I think you are insane giving up that beautiful house for a "project", there's enough to do to keep you busy like kitchen and bathroom updates without the hell of living on a total building site (with 3 kids!) don't do it!!!