No viewings/offers since failed open day - What would you do?

[rosemarycait96]

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/144690626#/?channel=RES_BUY

Here's our listing ^^

A fairly normal house for our village which has a lot of cottages of a similar size or bigger. The ones that are on the market all are priced £385-£450k ish.

We started on £425k with an open day as per recommendation by our EA. 3 viewings. 2 of the parties were extremely interested and gave good feedback saying it was well presented and lovely etc. But no offers.

Thought the price may be the issue, so we reduced to £415k. No offers and not even a single viewing since then.

Other houses in our village seem to sit on the market for weeks too, and our house had been on the market for a month when we bought it in early 2022 when homes were flying off the shelves in days! So I wasn't expecting a miracle. I was, however, expecting at least some viewings.

Anything we can do to help speed things along? I'm getting a little impatient now - we're viewing a lovely house tomorrow that, if we had sold already, I'd be very confident putting an offer in on. I'm thinking we could reduce to 399k to open up a new band of buyers on rightmove, but it would feel so demoralising as we'd barely make any profit then!

I agree with this. Most of the photos are fine, but the corridor feel of the first sitting room pic would really put me off. I'd ask the EA to remove it.

the amount you’ll have spent on stamp duty and fees within 18 months Op!

added to which… properties were flying

but not this one, which had languished for a month.

Gosh, gorgous house!

So you brought it in 2022 at the peak of the housing market and you are expecting to make a profit in 2024 with interest rates hiked? Oh dear OP - that’s your problem right there!

Price/competition will definitely be the issue I’m afraid.

Your going to need to drop another 30k to start getting offers imo. Nice home - but times have changed with regards to its value.

There's nothing wrong with the house, per se, but it is only going to appeal to a certain type of buyer who specifically wants that level of character. I'd stay there on holiday but it looks awkward for day to day living. Also looks a bit gloomy and I dont like steep gardens.

The above coupled with a non-competitive sale price would rule it out for me, unfortunately. Also, if you hate the village, you won't be the only one.

It is lovely but it will be the price.

I most recently sold in 2020 before people were getting really big prices and I had to reduce the EAs recommendation significantly to get it sold.

I think the market for this house is quite small, unfortunately, OP. It doesn't mean you won't find a buyer, just that the pool is small, so you may have to wait.

The house is only really going to suit someone/a couple with no children or 1 child who is above the age for falling downstairs.

Obviously people manage with huge families and only one bathroom, if they have to, but not many people with 2 or more older kids would choose a 1 bathroom house. It might also suit people in early retirement, but not anyone future-planning for reduced mobility.

Get a quotation for replacing the fake grass with turf. You can either then do it yourself, or show potential buyers the quotation, so that they know what the expense would be.

Picture 8 would put me off viewing. I want to sit in my lounge and enjoy natural light from a proper window in a room (not secondary light from another). It's too dark, even with the lights on. My sis had this set up and it just felt gloomy.

Fake grass - not a deal breaker as I'd just turf , but inconvenient.

Would be working out how to fix the stairs and making mental note of how much to knock off price to bring up to building regs.

Like others have said - it's a price thing. I would rather view the bigger house on Bridgwater Road - extra bathroom and a more usable annex, plus less £ than yours. Yes, I'd need to change decor but on yours I'd need to do stairs etc.

I think the sitting room (as it is pictured here) would put me off viewing. It looks like a room you would go through to get somewhere else. The other rooms look lovely though.

Pretty cottage but 365 would be a more realistic valuation, if you: Clear the crap from under the double bed. Even the sunken area of lawn and dump the fake grass -massively offputting. Weed the gravel around the garage. Baby high chair out of dining pic. Clear bathroom sink of junk, ditto remove the bathroom cabinet & put a couple of green plants in there.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow I don't think it's that niche a market. Anyone with kids above 5 who likes older properties. The area that the house is in is full of soulless housing estates. This is unusual for the Weston area.

I suspect I’m your target market (single with a prospective budget of up to £450,000) and I’d be looking for a house in ‘move in’ condition.

I get what people say about it not costing much to get bannisters / rip up the Astro turf but I work full time. It’s not the money, it’s the time.

TBH, for that amount I’d expect at least a second loo downstairs (if not a shower room) but if the other things were fixed (possibly including a tiny hand rail on the stone steps which look lethal), it’s nice enough looking I might go and view.

The internal living room would put me off. Dark tiles everywhere too

The first dealbreaker I saw was the flooring. My immediate thought was that all the dark/black stone would have to go. It’s dated and not at all comfortable for living spaces. It also makes the main room look darker and smaller and emphasizes the low ceilings.

Since the house is so small it’s also odd to have so many different colours of the same type of flooring on one level. Obviously the stuff in the dining room is old but it’s strange that they didn’t do wood or something in the living area.

Sorry, I know those aren’t things you can easily change but it’s just what jumped out to me.

A few thoughts:

Whats with the crazy paving floor in the dining area?
Why is the kitchen up steps?

Combined with the stones and that internal window it makes the house look like extensions or some kind of conversion and the crazy paving looks like it could be an un-mortgagable build. Even if it isn't that would be my thoughts so I likely wouldn't view, it also makes it look cold.

I really like the house - it's got loads of character. But not many people these days will accept a 1 bathroom to 3 bedroom ratio, especially with no downstairs loo.

Yes price will be main factor but you do also need to make the photos and descriptions as appealing as possible. Things you can do to make first impressions better:
Works:

• install a glass & Oak topped 'banister' for the stairs. Keeps the open feel more than spindles and not hugely expensive (Google them)
• get some much bigger thick rugs (Dunhelm or Ikea are cheap) for under the dining table and in the sitting room, just leaving a narrow strip of tile at the edges. Put a rug in the kitchen too. All those floors look cold and there is no mention of underfloor heating.
• Can you rearrange furniture in the sitting room so it looks less like a corridor?
• move the stuff under the bed or get a nice underfloor storage box
• Depending on cost - rip up the astroturf and replace with real turf, at very least do that raised bit in Photo 15

Floorplan - Add the room dimensions, rename the bootroom the entrance hall (or label that side only as bootroom). Add a compass to the floorplan as it's needs to show which way the garden faces. (Even it's north, because otherwise viewers will assume it is anyway).

Photo's - EA needs to retake with better angles and no dark spots (e.g photo 8 is very bad). Try and get the garden in full sun - photo 17 is very cold looking.
-Get an overhead shot of the plot so people can work out where the garden and outbuildings are in relation to the house & road. It's very confusing and looks like you are trying to hide something.

Good luck OP.

I think your house is beautiful and you have presented it well but it must be the price that is stopping it from selling. Someone could come along that will absolutely love it if they are looking for a characterful house, it just may take some time.
You bought when houses were flying off the shelf and many people are probably sitting in houses that they wouldn’t buy today.
You are being unrealistic expecting to make a profit on such a short stay in a house. As other posters have said it doesn’t matter to anyone else what price you need to sell.

To move I would reduce the price after checking out the local competition.

It's a buyer's market in a lot of areas right now, including ours. Almost nothing is moving around us and there are multiple homes on our street and nearby streets that have been on the market all winter. And it's a fairly nice neighbourhood!

I'm sorry, but if that's the case in your area, even though your property is well presented and lovely, I wouldn't even look at it due to the dangerous stairs and the single toilet on the 1st floor.

The photos could be better - they are a bit blurred.

I think it’s beautiful OP, I’d put a railing on the stairs, won’t cost that much and will get you more interest 😊

I think your house is lovely. The pictures aren’t great though imo. I think it would be one of those where you’d get there and think it looked better than pictures. Some look dark and odd angles. I speak from experience. When we sold ours, the first pics didn’t do it justice. It looked totally different when we had them redone, and we got more viewers.

I think you’ve done a great job, & yes better photographs would help.