Struggling to sell house

[jol890]

Hi all, I've seen similar posts here and am after any views/ opinions. Trying to sell the house via an estate agent and struggling to get any viewings etc.

The advert is here: https://edwardashdale.com/property/4-bed-semi-detached-house-for-sale-in-farnaby-road-bromley/594825

Is there anything that looks wrong with it or any suggestions as to where we could post it online to get additional views?

Thanks

You can happily pay £1m for a two-bed cottage in my area in London now.

Houses like this go for £1.7-2m.

Insane - a couple would need to be in the top 1% of earners to live here now.

A minor point but the photos are huge! Why hasn't the estate agent resized them? 5Mb per photo is ridiculous.

@MidnightPatrol that's not true but you need to have climbed the ladder and done work to build equity . We have just bought a million pound house with no mortgage by doing this .

OP it’s a lovely house. There are some things you can do to smarten it up which are budget friendly.

1. Paint the black on the front of the house. The black and dark red and stark white make it look like a granny house (sorry). Try a few colours, but I wonder if a softer neutral would add more kerb appeal.
2. Paint the window frames all one colour. You can get UPVC paint. I wouldn’t go for black either, it’s quite dated now. Apparently “slate” is in, but maybe ask an interior designer. Who would buy a house for over £1million with mismatched windows?
3. Buy some ready made hanging baskets and climbing flower trellises and make that concrete box-garden prettier. If you have the money, swap out the black furniture for wood, or at least buy some nice cushions and pontoon lighting.

Really you should have the most viewings as soon as it goes on the market as it will be promoted, so I’d maybe relaunch it with fresh photos. Perhaps a new EA?

Hope that helps!

The mismatched windows and the garden layout would be issues for me. I wouldn't choose that carpet but it's not a deal breaker , also a lot of downstairs seems to be tiled. I worry that would feel cold in winter even if the floor is heated. The biggest thing for me would be not being able to see into the lawned area of the garden, not only does it make the rear ground floor space feel hemmed in, I have a five year old, so it would make it impractical to use if I can't keep an eye on him

@boredybored Can you describe the journey to accumulating that capital via house price inflation / paying off your mortgage and the time period taken.

Avg first time buyer in London is 36 or something now.

How much equity might they realistically build in 10 years… let’s say they manage £300k (~avg property cost in UK).

That leaves £900k mortgage - £5k a month. It’s a huge amount of money.

Even if they have £600k in equity it’s £3.2k a month.

Most people aren’t buying a family sized home at a stage in their life they have a million pounds in cash. And even then - if they had a million pounds in cash would they be looking for a semi in Bromley.

@jol890 It says it was listed on Rightmove on the 15th July? So it's been on the market for 2 weeks?

A few coats of paint and hanging baskets aren’t going to fool anyone into overpaying for a house

It is priced too high, and the only way to sell it is reduce the price. Simple as that.

It's a beautiful house OP but the price made my eyes water, let alone the stamp duty at 60k, that's terrible isn't it? (Although nothing you can do about that!) I don't know this area at all, I assume it's London because of the price. I agree with others about seeing what other houses have gone for and compare. In my eyes it's a price issue the actual house needs no improvement at all.

Look at this recent sale, much much better garden, fewer cosmetic changes needed, lots of built in storage, much cleaner decor (eg tiles and windows match) and it sold for £125k less a couple of months ago. Your house is hugely overpriced.

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-145294535-20565034?s=e06dce671fac64aaf5f2cfdeaeb8ebfc8fff8efe4e140416922fdd94a76d5a2e#/

The garden being on different levels may also put some people off.

Over a million for a semi 😭

Is the garage actually usable? From the floor plan it looks like you wouldn't be able to get a car in it due to an extension.

Probably best you don't look at the price of a terraced house in Dulwich then.

I think one of the problems is that you have done all the work, so there isn’t anywhere for a new buyer to add value. There isn’t room for an extension unless you convert the garage which in a family home means you need to find somewhere to store all the bikes etc.

also , when push comes to shove it’s a semi, without any architectural features that make it special. I would rather put my money into a house where I can add value , not be next to neighbours ( unless it’s a Georgian terrace!) and have a bit of a story going on.

@MidnightPatrol
Buying / doing up / selling numerous times

Always choosing good plots and location adding value each move .

@boredybored over what time period?

It’s not just a simple thing to amass a million pounds in housing equity, particularly at the point you might want to be buying a big house to raise a family in ie probably pre-40.

There is a vast property wealth gap between those who bought 15 years ago and those who bought in the last 5 years in London. Property prices have more than doubled in some areas in that time.

@MidnightPatrol 25 years . We bought at 23 with an endowment which went really well . Overpaid our mortgage and invested along the way .
Also moved areas within a 15 mile radius and the market over the last 25 years has helped us as we made a lot on each house

I wouldn't buy that house because of the value to return ratio and it's a semi . You are so restricted in a semi . I'd rather live further out and have more space but each to their own. It's a nice house although I think it's the garden that is the issue tbh

@boredybored ok so you have achieved that by having started on your property buying journey in 1999.

Properties on my street are valued at 4-5x the price they were in 1999 - and wages haven’t increased that much!

The average age of a FTB is now 36 in London. 23 year olds aren’t buying property.

This means to accumulate a million pounds in capital that person is more likely to be in their 60s. So probably not at the point they want to buy a family house.

‘Just climb the ladder through building equity’ doesn’t work in the same way, particularly when most of the value growth will be from the properties above-inflation price increases.

So - no shade on your achievement, but it’s not so straightforward to achieve the same thing today.

I think it's a lovely house! Can't really comment on the price as we live at the other end of the country. We have the same stair carpet too but in a different colour-way. Looks like a new roof too which is a plus.

My own comment is that the study area looks a bit cluttered and cramped if there's any way that could be cleared out a bit, and the storage boxes on the Ikea unit too.

It's the price.

That price point will get you a similarly sized house and garden in some zone 3 areas of South East London - Forest Hill for example.

£1.2 for a semi on Farnaby Road is your problem. I know you're Valley catchment but it's a busy through road and as others have pointed out, more expensive than other sales on your road and for comparable properties nearby.

Also I see from Rightmove you've been on since mid July. Weird time to market a house. People away on holidays etc. Surprised the EA didn't suggest waiting for a September market.

Plus there are a lot of detached houses for similar price or less in good areas of Bromley you're competing with.

It's a very nice house if you like a modern style. It will appeal to younger people I think. You just have to be more patient and look at other houses in your price range and see if yours is overpriced.