House is getting no interest - what is going on?

[MrsB94]

Hi everyone!

Our house has been on the market since the start of February, with this estate agent we got 4 viewings and 1 offer in the first week and were SSTC.

Sadly, the sale fell through after 7 weeks and our house went back on the market with the same agent for another 3 weeks until our agreement ended. In those 3 weeks we had no interest at all despite a price reduction from £255k to £250k.

We decided to put it on with an independent agent who seemed to have houses sold within days of hitting the market. It’s been on for a week now and yet still, no interest. We have 1 viewing booked for Saturday but I believe the EA was showing them around another house, mentioned ours and he decided to view based on the EA recommendation.

What are we doing wrong? Other houses in our area are selling quickly and I feel like our house is reasonably priced and well presented. The house 2 doors up from us has been on the market since January with no interest, they reduced from £290k to £275k and still no interest (ours is better than theirs I think).

For info, we bought the house for £185k in 2018. We bought to get on the ladder and we have never liked the house or area, so we want a quick sale which is why we priced it low. 3 EA’s valued it between £260k-£275k.

https://www.christianlewisproperty.co.uk/property-details/33037568/-/evesham/west-street

Any advice is really appreciated!

looks inoffensive enough that if was priced correctly according to the market and neighbouring properties that have sold recently… then should sell

so if no interest

Price

Other houses in our area are selling quickly and I feel like our house is reasonably priced and well presented. The house 2 doors up from us has been on the market since January with no interest, they reduced from £290k to £275k and still no interest (ours is better than theirs I think).

isn’t this a contradiction

why don’t you like this area?

I guess if you don’t like the house or the area, others may have the same view? Generally if you’re not getting viewings it’s down to price.

we have never liked the house or area

This might be a clue. And if so, then it’s the price isn’t attractive enough.

I never thought of it that way!

We don’t like it because the garden is overlooked by the houses at the back, which are social housing. We didn’t know this when we bought but maybe people are put off by social housing behind them?

well when I click on your link I can only see the first 5 photos. I've tried in different ways, but only photos of the outside and kitchen.
I then found the link to download the brochure with a few more pictures.

But if I was buying, this is crap presentation.

It looks like a nice house.

Maybe some greenery at the front.

I personally don't like the description solid older property. Change agents as well as considering the price.

I imagine a combination of price + area. If you willingly say it's not nice, then I imagine others also think so.

Are there any local comparables? Or, if not, how much would a similar house cost in a nice area? If not much different, people might be preferring to stretch themselves for that

Price

It's always the price

Sorry, here is the Rightmove link

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146969273#/?channel=RES_BUY

The only comparables around our estate are two houses, both 3 bed, both semi, one has parking, one doesn’t. Both houses are similar size and both on for £275k. If we moved our house to the nicer areas of our town, we would probably be looking at the £280-£290k mark from what I can tell

Think a door to the dining room is missing off the floorplan? Get that fixed.

otherwise looks nice and un-cluttered.

how is the roof as it looks aged which i wonder if this is putting people off?

otherwise it might just be patience as the housing market is pretty dire in most places.

you could get other agents to look and give their views ?

I don't think the description sells it well. It makes it sound like a house that needs work done to it which it's not.
The thing that would put me off however is the back garden. It's awful.

the house looks good. Nicely presented, decent layout and garden.

So it must be price or area

Your house looks lovely, but a couple of thoughts on it:

Two of the bedrooms aren’t staged as bedrooms which initially confused me until I realised they were bedrooms and I immediately thought are they too small for kids rooms. I’ve now gone back and actually seen the measurements for the room and I now know they’re not too small for a bedroom, but I was lazy and didn’t clock it originally.

The photo of the bedroom with the bed in, is it a small room, or is it just a bad photo/angle because it looks to me like there’s only a bed in there hence the box room being used as a dressing room?

The house looks clean and tidy, the garden looks low maintenance but slightly lacking in a spot of colour and life to me, but I’m probably wrong on that! If it were in my area I’d definitely view.

Is there any way you can get the roof tiles cleaned up? I don't know if it's me but that really stands out in the front picture

The second thing is the bedroom that's set up as an office - makes me think the room is too small for a bed so that and the third bedroom that's a dressing room implies there's only one room that's big enough as an actual bedroom. I know it's a hassle but I would seriously consider changing one of the rooms for the pictures & putting a bed in there

The rest of it is lovely, I really like it. I hate fake grass but the back yard is well done. I can't suggest anything else other than price tbh.

Your 3rd bedroom is tiny and your second bedroom is used as an office, so only one visible bedroom. Otherwise looks like a nice house. I wouldn't buy a house that was overlooked. That's non negotiable.

It's probably price. You're looking 75k more than what you paid for it 6 years ago.

The roof is fine as far as we know, we’ve had no issues with leaks, damp etc since we’ve been here. Maybe we should get it cleaned!

We have had several agents view it and they all say the same thing “nicely presented, should sell quickly” 😕

Personally, the garden for me is terrible, would put me off. I feel like, from the pictures, the kitchen is going to look tired in real life, the two tone, refurb paint job always feels like you needed to replace but couldn't. Can see at least two broken door handles.
I'm very critical when reviewing listings and if this can all be seen online I'm going to assume if I looked around there would be more issues. The picture of the (second?) bedroom looks really small. Could you put a single bed in to make the room feel larger?

If people aren't as critical as me, lol, then it's always just going to be price.

I hate our garden too so I agree with you on that!

not sure what we can do to change it?

Well it's between 2 big rivers so I guess the area prone to flooding. The history of the area says they have had some very big floods.
No-one is taking the risk within flood plains anymore.

Oh I think this is actually the main bedroom I'm talking about, so no chance of putting a single in I assume. It's really small, would put people off I imagine. Unless a picture can be taken at a better angle

It's basically a 2 bed with an office.

Scrub that - when you pan the map out your house is actually surrounded by the River Avon, on a kind of island with river on all sides.
This will be the reason.
Rainfall is going to increase with climate change. It would be crazy to buy there. What's your home insurance like?

'solid older property' is a bit of a strange opening sales pitch and might as well say 'this will do for your budget'.

Otherwise it looks very nice but the box room looks absolutely tiny (and I say this as someone whose child is in a box room too small for a standard bed!).