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

Love the kitchen that @Shadedog posted. I have a fairly small kitchen, it’s about the only thing that niggles me about my cottage - I salivate over kitchens like this! I also feel disproportionately invested.

Another musings of mine is the hot tub. I know they really are like marmite for most people. I’m assuming it’s above ground with the raised decking around it? If so, one idea would be to swap it out for a pool. The one in this image is by Gardipool. They do three different shapes (the one in this image, a rectangle and an octagon and all three come in different sizes. They can be installed above ground, semi-in ground and fully in ground. They are reinforced with steel and I think they’re the only wooden pool that is marketed as being strong enough to sit on the edge of it.

I’ve been lusting after them, along with one of these pergolas by Maze to sit next to it. The roof can be opened and closed and the four sides can be open/closed in any combination.

The other option if you need more space is to do a basement.

Basically you could add a floor either at the top or underneath.

The kitchen @Shadedog posted is a small, narrow high street kitchen.

Given the space available if OP stays she should consider extending the kitchen to create the large kitchen dining family room that people look for.

Turn the dining room into a TV room/snug with built in bookshelves and TV.

@TatianaBis

The other option if you need more space is to do a basement.

Basically you could add a floor either at the top or underneath.

Gosh, I'd do both if I could!

Are you definitely planning to sell?
Just thinking that things like architects, extensions, remodelling, new kitchens, bathrooms etc are going to add up to ££££.

If you're set on leaving wouldn't you be better just adding a bit more personality back into the house, and dropping the price a bit? You might end up spending more than the drop in price to sell.

@Furries

Love the kitchen that *@Shadedog* posted. I have a fairly small kitchen, it’s about the only thing that niggles me about my cottage - I salivate over kitchens like this! I also feel disproportionately invested.

Another musings of mine is the hot tub. I know they really are like marmite for most people. I’m assuming it’s above ground with the raised decking around it? If so, one idea would be to swap it out for a pool. The one in this image is by Gardipool. They do three different shapes (the one in this image, a rectangle and an octagon and all three come in different sizes. They can be installed above ground, semi-in ground and fully in ground. They are reinforced with steel and I think they’re the only wooden pool that is marketed as being strong enough to sit on the edge of it.

I’ve been lusting after them, along with one of these pergolas by Maze to sit next to it. The roof can be opened and closed and the four sides can be open/closed in any combination.

The hot tub is only a year old and it suits our family so we'll be keeping that and for the size of garden we have, I personally believe a swimming pool would take up a bit too much space. Certainly in the next house...

@Shadedog

We went into our loft in our old house. Much smaller footprint than yours (midsized modern 4-bed detached integral garage type) but the space we ended up with was enormous. We had master bed with dressing room and en-suite with a huge bath and a “gym” (some gym equipment in the slope of the eves with velux windows)

Ooh hopefully that means an architect can help us make this if not forever home, a next 10 years home!

@naturealwayswins

I was struck by the way you've described the area with such enthusiasm, OP.

It's clearly a lovely place to live with great neighbours and, very importantly, safe for your children to play and to cycle. You can't put a price on that.

My neighbourhood is also a delight and I sometimes have nightmares that I've sold up then hate the next house!

I think you've done the right thing, taking it off the market. You can make it as you want and enjoy living in it, at least for a while. For what it's worth, the French doors are really pretty and suit your house!

It is a gorgeous area. Great people, very very green, safe, good local amenities. Hence I was only ever looking to move within quite a small area anyway.

@Motherof3Dragons

I don’t know your area OP so I can’t comment on the price, but I think your house is beautiful!

Personally I could only find fault in the next-door-neighbour’s house being so close and overlooking your garden.
You can’t change the ndn house location obviously, but you could plant much more shrubs and trees to give the garden not only more privacy, but also a “wow” factor.
If the garden has that, a lot of ppl wouldn’t be paying attention to the ndn house being that close. Glwts!

Since the photos were taken, and based on feedback from the viewers (2 out of the 7) saying the decking was overlooked by the left neighbour, we've had 2 10ft Acer trees planted which now minimises this. It's not eliminated but they don't catch the eye so much.

To be fair, I've never once felt overlooked by them in all our years here.

Gosh, I'd do both if I could!

Perhaps get a whole lot of estimates for ground floor extension + new kitchen, loft, basement, and see what you fancy.

@TatianaBis

Gosh, I'd do both if I could!

Perhaps get a whole lot of estimates for ground floor extension + new kitchen, loft, basement, and see what you fancy.

No harm in window shopping for it all!

It's a lovely house and the price is quite reasonable. We are in the same ball park figure for a house in a year of so, but in a different area, so I've looked at lots of properties in that price range. So no idea why it hasn't had much interest, except that price range is quite a small pool.

It is a gorgeous area. Great people, very very green, safe, good local amenities. Hence I was only ever looking to move within quite a small area anyway.

If you’re staying in area then moving is an expensive way of getting more space when you have so much space at your disposal where you are.

I would do more than window shop, I’d get 3 quotes for each job and directly compare to the cost of moving/upsizing.

I can't believe I read the whole thread, and enjoyed ir. I must commend you OP for being so good-humoured. If someone criticize my house like some of the commenter did, without giving constructive criticism, I will take them teeth out.
Back to the topic, I am a rightmove and zoopla addict. I know you said zoopla estimate aren't very accurate, but a lot of people will take that as a reference. Zoopla uses the previous sale price as an base, adding on market movement, as well as sale of houses at the same area to come to that estimate. There isn't much sale history in your street and this is not good for the estimate.
So you may want to somehow make it take into account the 200k part exchange cost (if I understand it correctly, the actual price when you bought is 600++K, not 400++K, right?)
Or, change the estimate claiming you have done this and that improvement to make the estimate closer to 1.3mil.
Or take it off zoopla. I know these can be done.

Go on Love it or list it with Phil and Kirstie!

I would say a swimming pool is a lot more controversial than a hot tub - I would never want the maintenance of a pool and not everyone likes swimming but hot tubs appeal to lots of people young and old

@Enessie

I can't believe I read the whole thread, and enjoyed ir. I must commend you OP for being so good-humoured. If someone criticize my house like some of the commenter did, without giving constructive criticism, I will take them teeth out. Back to the topic, I am a rightmove and zoopla addict. I know you said zoopla estimate aren't very accurate, but a lot of people will take that as a reference. Zoopla uses the previous sale price as an base, adding on market movement, as well as sale of houses at the same area to come to that estimate. There isn't much sale history in your street and this is not good for the estimate. So you may want to somehow make it take into account the 200k part exchange cost (if I understand it correctly, the actual price when you bought is 600++K, not 400++K, right?) Or, change the estimate claiming you have done this and that improvement to make the estimate closer to 1.3mil. Or take it off zoopla. I know these can be done.

Trust me, I could happily have extracted a few teeth with my elbows at times!

There's not much sale history in the local area as people tend to make the homes round here (mostly 5 bedrooms) forever homes so stay for a long, long time.

I have no idea how I'd make it take into account the part-ex and I think my time could be better spent on improvements.

Glad you've enjoyed the thread

@didyouseeit

It's a lovely house and the price is quite reasonable. We are in the same ball park figure for a house in a year of so, but in a different area, so I've looked at lots of properties in that price range. So no idea why it hasn't had much interest, except that price range is quite a small pool.

It is true that there are always going to be less buyers as you go up the price brackets hence me thinking we perhaps try again next year dependant on market conditions or we just stay and improve it.

I’m still thinking how much I loved the house and need a winning lottery ticket 😬

Good luck with it all. We went on the market about the same time as you, knowing our house is a bit between a doer upper and the finished version but we wanted to have a go at moving closer to elderly parents.

Got a good offer 3 days in and found something to offer on and then it went all downhill from there! Noticed it has picked up a bit now but refused viewing on Monday and I think next week we will take it off and revisit the idea in 18 months when have more freedom on areas and use the time to get things sorted. Just paid for fencing today and very excited as huge trees between us and neighbours coming down soon and will have lovely views so will be nice to get to appreciate them for a bit.

Did it sell?

Nope. Still on the market
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122930021?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

The house is perfect, kitchen would not make or break the deal. I am guessing for that price, the garden is on the small side

PropertyLog is showing a 45k price drop so far, but that is a very nice house, only problem is that there are neighbours close by, cosy if you like the "neighbourhood" feel but to me that kind of space needs to be in the countryside with the nearest neighbour over the nearest hill.

Very very very overlooked. For that price I would want complete privacy. Lovely house though.