I can’t sell my house.

[Zooforhouse]

Been trying to sell my house since January. Have sold it three times. First buyer pulled out as change in financial circumstances, lost us our dream house. Sold again in 4 weeks, but didn’t find an onward, buyer pulled out as found something cheaper. Third time neighbour offered then withdrew quickly as decided the garden was too small (it must have got smaller).

i don’t know what to do really. The garden is too small. That’s why I want to move. Desirable location. The house is done to a high standard. It’s just on a small plot (is in town).

Do we reduce it? Forget about it for a bit? It sold at asking all 3 times. Reducing it won’t make the garden bigger. Change of agent?

Was kind of ignoring the issue but something we want has come up and it’s getting really frustrating now.

You only have to remove excessive clutter not make a house look soulless.
Buyers aren’t idiots.

Its the price

Appreciate the advice, although not sure marketing a house with 4 double bedrooms as a 3 bed is the way to go.

issue is, we are having fairly regular viewings still and have to live in it. I’m not sure the kids will thank me for getting rid of all their stuff.

@mathanxiety Change the description to three bedrooms plus office/den. Consider redoing the decor in one of the top bedrooms to reflect office/den use.

It has four good size double bedrooms. Office/den would suggest to me a room either too small to call a bedroom, or possibly on the ground floor, neither of which is true. And would also mean the house wouldn't show up for anyone searching for a 4-bedroom house.

Anyone specifically looking for an office would be well aware they could repurpose one of the bedrooms, and again may well be looking for a 4-bedroom house for that reason.

No, it definitely is not the way to go.

Please get you agent to contact Rightmove and get the 'listed from' date re-set, at the moment it looks like you've been on the market all year.

I would also be gobsmacked to discover that is a Victorian house, but that's fairly unimportant.

Not helpful at all but I know that in London / Hove / Bristol etc that size garden just wouldn't be a problem at all.

Totally agree @kirinm
My garden is about half that size, and house would still go on the market at upwards of £700k in London

I agree re the Rightmove date.

I'd also change the first photo. Not that there is anything wrong with it at all, just that it's the image that has been associated with "the house that's been on since January".

Changing the first image is a great idea. Will ask the agent to contact RM

@Twiglets1 - correct, they're not idiots.

But there's a lot of wide open space between 'soulless' and having two dozen framed photos of you and your family on pretty much every available surface, including a counter that should be highlighted as evidence of spaciousness and used to suggest peace and calm in a bathroom.

Clutter distracts, and it hides features a seller should call attention to. A better use of bathroom counter space is to place a candle there.

A better use of a huge bookshelf unit in a sitting room is artfully arranged books and a few quirky ceramic birds. Removing the framed family photos makes the shelves more of a blank canvas onto which the new owners can project their own ideas. Buyers can see themselves and their lives better in a house that isn't so clearly someone else's.

Placing a coat stand and shoe rack in a hall that has a huge closet suggests the closet is full to bursting. Do you want people to notice the big closets or the nice dark green jacket with the furry trimmed hood on the stand? Do you want people to wonder why the coats and shoes have no room in the closet?

Same questions about the kitchen - why is all that stuff out on the counter? What is in that pair of bottles on the right? Ooh I like that red pot...

Buyers have plenty of houses to choose from. If a seller wants hers to stand out as buyable and convey seriousness about selling, then an effort should be made to highlight the best points of the house.

Decor shouldn't hide good features. You're not selling your knick knacks. You're selling space and a lifestyle.

@sevenbyseven - yes, all four bedrooms are a nice size.

Maybe change the description to 'four spacious bedrooms, or three with large office/ flexible use space'.

Regardless, the office stuff in the bedroom should go, or alternatively the bed should be taken out and replaced with a daybed to suggest multiple uses for that room - office, guest room, etc.

At present the room is too many things all at once and the effect is to suggest there really isn't room to wfh.

By the way OP, do ignore the potential house stylists on here- I think many mumsnetters on here would kill for this house- i think it's gorgeous!
I was once told anything in beautiful condition in a good area that's in demand will always sell- 'if ' it's the right price - so sadly I have to say it's probably overpriced at the moment ,bearing in mind the small garden .

OP has accepted 3 offers since March, the clutter is not the issue.

Apologies, I haven't read the whole thread.

These are my views:

The garage is in a "courtyard next door".
Is it in a block?
In London that is perfectly acceptable.
In Colchester at nearly £700k, not acceptable.

It has a tiny garden.
In London, perfectly acceptable.
In Colchester it may appeal to the older generation who find gardening too much, but hold on, it's got two staircases/3 floor, so maybe the older generation wouldn't be suited to it.
For families with young children, I think they would be looking for a bigger garden. Also some parents may not want to have their children on a different floor to them.

The property has been heavily extended and updated, so potential DIYers may not feel challenged to put their own stamp and upgrade on a property at the top of the price range already.

I understand it is actually a Victorian property. Unfortunately, it looks like a new build and, of course, there are many potential purchasers who prefer character properties. Perhaps they don't realise that this isn't a new build as it's not obvious.

Colchester is commutable to London, but season tickets will be expensive and the commute will be approximately 1 hour on the train.

The property was advertised for £700k in December 2021.
In 9 months, you have reduced the price by only £20k.
Lexden may be a desirable part of Colchester, but there are other areas in Essex which would offer more space and in a prettier location.

For context, I live not too far from you and I think it is overpriced.

I agree it needs reducing. Agent doesn’t, and neither does husband now-agents opinion is that it’s sold 3 times, one recently and are still getting viewings. 2 this weekend so better clean up.

On the plus side, you lot may think it’s cluttered but my house has never been so consistently tidy. 😂

I understand it is actually a Victorian property. Unfortunately, it looks like a new build

It is a new build.

If they really thought they couldn’t sell it at that price they’d be pressurising you to reduce. They just want their sale. Another 10k off won’t make much difference to their commission.

I am not under the impression that it’s a period property. It’s being marketed as a modern home-which it is. I mentioned it more to point out that it’s not in a new build estate. I don’t think which walls are new and which walls are not are relevant to a sale….

Sorry I was taking to @Frecklespy above.

I’ve no doubt you know the age of your own home. 😂

Fair enough 😂

agents opinion is that it’s sold 3 times, one recently and are still getting viewings

Your agent sounds crap. It hasn't sold 3 times. It hasn't sold at all. You agreed a sale 3 times and at least 2 of those times it fell through because the buyer subsequently felt the house wasn't value for money. Regardless of whether people are initially drawn in to view, or even to make offers, they are not seeing the sale through.

It's definitely too expensive. In your shoes, I'd agree a deadline with my husband for continuing at the current price because living in this limbo is intolerable if it's a long term thing. I'd also tell him that he was solely responsible for preparing the house for viewings. I wouldn't have all my free time chewed up endlessly maintaining a show home when you know it's a waste of time. Let him do it.

at least 2 of those times it fell through because the buyer subsequently felt the house wasn't value for money.

Sorry but that’s crap. One had a change in circumstances, one found a cheaper place - they may have been buying at the top of their budget and the other changed their mind over the garden.

@Heresthelinkthen

It is clearly tidy.

But the stuff that is visible in the photos is distracting and gives the impression of not enough space to put stuff away.