RightMove tactics

[Negroany]

This is my late mum's house, I am one of the executors:

https://durrants.com/property/reydon-southwold/

It went on the market in March and has had no viewings. It's a very specific area and I'm aware the market is pretty slow at the moment. I don't really care how much it sells for but I do have to make sure I am working in the best interests of the 7 residual beneficiaries (one of whom is a minor so relies on the executors decisions).

What are the best tactics here? I can see a lot of local property (there isn't really anything similar enough to truly compare) has been hanging around on the market for ages and that they have mostly had price reductions. I know putting on then reducing is now "the RightMove way", to boost views and get into a different price band.
I'm thinking about reducing after this bank holiday and about a week before the next one.

Brother wants to reduce by £15k and "not just give it away" (he's unrealistic and prone to hyperbole) and sister wants "one big reduction then that's it". In reality, it will sell for what it sells for and I'm not sure how much tactics will help, and as we're not worried about timings (I don't even have probate yet) maybe I can leave it longer still?

I could also change agents but I'm not sure the agents have that much sway these days.

I can't restyle the house at all because a lot of the furniture has now been taken and it's three hours from me. I actually thin the photos are pretty good. The only thing that could improve things is some photos of the garden which I assume (not been since Feb) is now starting to bloom.

No feedback. I didn't give them any guide on the price, it was all them.

As we're into inheritance tax territory we only get 60% of anything above about £600k anyway.

So sorry for your loss. But previous posters are right, you can't list for sale without probate, it's not fair on anyone else you get stuck in a chain with.

I hope you're all ok. A very difficult time

Thanks, I do know all that stuff.

This isn't the kind of house someone who needs a mortgage would buy. Which limits the potential buyers but also helps re interest rates etc.

It's always just about price. If no one is interested in viewing, you'll end up dropping the price. You could take it off the market until probate comes through and then remarked at a more appropriate price. When houses sit on market for ages, they develop a bit of a smell and buyers become reluctant because we are all so used to property being snappped up if desirable.

You can. Obviously.

I had a long discussion with the EA about this, it's very common. Especially so in this area and this type of property.

I wouldn't bother with my Midlands three bed terrace though.

I'm sorry about your mum.

I would say that is a 750k house in a 500k location.

It's a really lovely house in an unlovely location.

Perhaps wait until half term/holiday traffic when people have had a blissful time in Southwold and want to stay there?!

I think if you have had no viewings, it's because people are discounting it because of the road, so that is the biggest barrier. If you like a location, you are more likely to want to view a house. If the location is an absolute no-go then you won't bother looking.

Also, that area is overrun with posters opposing this lionlink National Grid scheme. There are red posters everywhere, which look quite alarming.

Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't live there, nor would I have decorated it that way. But apart from the bathrooms needing updating (it's totally liveable though) the rest is just taste.

It was only decorated under two years ago. Yes, my mother chose that awful pink and green look! I don't like it at all, but there you are.

The upstairs carpets is redo. I don't like the terracotta tile kitchen floor, but it's perfectly functional and in as good nick as when it was done.

If you look at RM for the area there are loads of houses have been on the market over a year. So while I'd agree usually, I think the ripples of the Truss affect are still impacting the housing market and I'm comfortable with that.

Agree re Lionlink, they put one on our house, I took it down. It's been announced it's not going here now anyway!

Also agree re the road, I'd never have bought the house, the Adnams lorries going past at 4am do my head in and every emergency vehicle comes right past the front door as well as every holiday maker and all the motorbikes.....

But, it has its own enclosed garden, off road parking, and it's literally a two minute walk to the brook you can walk along and be at the beach in ten minutes. It's also a fifteen minute walk to the top of town and is about the closest you can park to town on a busy day anyway!

I think this is the best tactic currently.

Obviously you can list before probate, but not having it may well be putting viewers off. You may know it’s not going to be complicated but they don’t and they’re not going to risk offering on a house that could take a year or so to be ready for them to buy. If they’re in a chain they will worry about losing their own buyers if they have to wait too long.

I’m with the others. Take it off the market until you have probate.

If you need then to reduce the price I’d agree with whichever one of your siblings wanted one big reduction. Nothing looks worse than a price reluctantly dribbling downwards.

The pictures are OK, but could be better, and definitely review the blurb. I suspect that most people make the decision to view based on the pictures, but if anyone decides to read on the agent is really damning with faint praise there! I normally laugh at agents for over-writing, but ‘nice’?

It's not about needing a mortgage - although 700K isn't in that category anyway not sure why you think that . Even the very expensive houses on Selling Sunset involve mortgages. It's about the value of the investment. If you have a quick Google , this class of property, including million pound homes in London have been hardest hit by price drops.

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/property-news/types-of-properties-losing-the-most-value/

People don't want to buy something that could lose value over the time it takes for you to obtain probate.
Especially not moneyed, financially savvy people.

Your listing etc is fine. If it still doesn't sell , up to you on how much of a hit to take and how long you're willing to wait. Your local agent should also be hot on any RM tactics presumably.

Did you check th land registry to see what's sold recently.

Oh that all sounds lovely. A walk to the brook and then along to the beach sounds just perfect!

Perhaps you should have gone with the Fine and Country approach; they always pad out their blurbs with a bit from the homeowner saying what they like about the house... The brook and the beach is a really nice detail.

If it still doesn't sell up to you on how much of a hit to take. Your erm 'local' agent should also be hot on any RM tactics presumably.

I don't know why you're saying "erm local", they literally have an office in the town.

They are not very helpful, but I've never met an EA who was. Their motivation is not the same as mine and while they think they are experts, they're not, and it's not as if it's an exact science anyway. They, like all EAs, suffer from obnoxious optimism.

They do know the local area though. The lead agent lives in Reydon (not the guy on the listing, I don't know where he lives, looks like an Aldeburgh type to me!).

I'm not sure why knowing what has sold recently, beyond what the EA can tell me anyway, is of any use to me?

Yes it’s taste - but unless you find someone with the same unique taste as your DM then it becomes a need.

The dining room has a pink carpet in for example (is it pink?). That could have been laid brand new today and be in pristine condition but that doesn’t change the fact that it 90% of potential buyers would feel the need to change it.

It has lots of lovely features though. I hope the sale goes through well when it eventually does.

It's what your buyers will compare your property's price to. Along with what's currently on sale to a certain extent.

I'm not sure why you're digging your heels in on the probate issue. It will definitely put off a lot of buyers.

Don't know the area, so can't comment on the price.

I would paint the red, green and yellow walls a more neutral colour, and I'd dress the dining room more, with a tablecloth and something on the table - those things are cheap and easy.

I would get the EA to change the first photo - at least crop it to cut out the road.

It's a good house, but the road is an issue plus it's not quite Southwold. The fact that there have been no viewings does tell you something. TBH you can sell anything if the price is right. Personally I'd go to £695 and see what happens. A cash buyer would be able to wait for the legalities to get sorted. It's perfect for someone.

I think it’s a really great property. Really good sized rooms for someone who’s prepared to spend the money to do it up.

I would say price it too high though. I would be surprised if it went for more then 5-600,000

There is an app that you can upload onto right move that shows price moves and previous listings
it doesn’t take long to work out which were overpriced to start with and then dropped a bit then a bit more

I’ll bet it’s a very very cold house in the winter.

You can say that about any house sale though. I don't like all the grey houses but I know if I buy a house the decor likely won't be my taste. That's standard.

I would get the EA to change the first photo - at least crop it to cut out the road.

I disagree on that point. Better to be upfront about the road. It's very common to have lovely, older houses right on the road like that in East Anglia, anyway.

I can't paint it - it's huge, I don't live locally, I have neither the time nor the money. It would not be cheap to paint. I also can't "dress" the table because it's no longer there, like quite a lot of the furniture. Because my siblings have taken what they wanted.

I might see if they can zoom in a bit to show less road, but it is where it is.