Another why is my house not selling post

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I have a mid terraced house on the market in the most desirable street in St Albans. Priced at £600k which exactly fits (sold) comps and reflectsw we I spent renovating it + average valuation gain in the area since i bought it.

Must have had 30 viewings. Two offers on the first open house day at £5k below asking. Both fell through. Another FTB then offered and pulled out.

It’s all freshly decorated and staged. It’s a cottage like most in this area - disadvantages of these structures are downstairs bathroom and no hallway - but with the addition of a fully tanked basement with spare room/reception and home office. The moisture levels are the same on each floor so no damp in the basement. The doors and windows are beautifully re-done. The kitchen is De Vol.

It’s been on for three months. What do I do?

I think it’s my target market (FTBs, divorcees) not being able to get their mortgages as they all keep coming and people are offering and then pulling out.

But these are the things that maybe make it hard to sell?

Lack of parking spaces for residents (city centre issue).

Extra 300 ft of basement space not worth much?

People freak out about basements even when fully tanked?

Can’t do the loft as it’s Grade II listed.

Price??? Not sure about this one as the fallen-through offers were v close to asking.

Viewer feedback is mainly that they think basement will flood (not in flood zone) and the stairs need repainting (yes but srsly??)

Help?

I found it immediately...Dare I post a link? Probably not, otherwise OP would have done.

It's definitely out there.

Looks a nice house, but the rooms aren't as filled with original features as I'd have expected for a period house.

It looks 'big' from the pavement, but the floorpan shows it to be small.

The house I found looks 'double fronted' if it's the correct one.

Is it on Boundary Road or Bedford Road?

Having found what I think is it, it’s lovely (love the decor personally), but it’s small even for a terrace and there is no getting around that.

For reference I’m in a 2 bed terrace of similar age but with upstairs bathroom and it’s near 200sq ft bigger without a basement.

It’s in a conservation area and Grade 2 listed meaning even things like changing windows can be a drawn out process. Some mortgages won’t even consider listed buildings so it could be it is falling over there, others will cap the mortgage length to 20 years on listed buildings which doesn’t help FTBs who are looking at 30-35 year terms for affordability.

With a target market of FTBs you’re looking at single people with six figure deposits and wages in the 45% tax band or couples both earning double the average wage plus a near six figure deposit to pass affordability.

So if you’re set on that price, you have a small pool of buyers and will just have to wait it out. If you really need to sell then you need to take the hit on the price.

No plastic grass in the one I found?

Plastic grass and listed properties definitely don't go together.

Not the one I think it is, no.

Really? Here's just one article suggesting two: https://moneyweek.com/economy/uk-economy/605427/when-will-interest-rates-go-up

Don't be misled by the link asking when will interest rates will go up - it definitely references two cuts.

Actually, it's the opposite. A really good photographer will never have the lights on, making it look dark and throwing odd shadows. Good photographers have the lights off and then blend light in afterwards to make each room look bright. It's normally EAs who lazily throw the lights on and make a house look like a miserable cave.

Agree. I think the downstairs bathroom is definitely a turn-off for a lot of people. And people do generally want somewhere to park their car. It must be difficult to find the right target market too. Most couples or families will want somewhere a bit bigger, whereas single people, in the south east at any rate, will often be happier with a two-bed flat than a house.

It sounds like your target market is quite a small pool of buyers, some of whom may be in financial circumstances that mean the risk of them pulling out is higher.

I don't think anyone in their right mind would want a flat with all the attendant noise of people galumphing and stamping children and running flat-footedly above one's head- or management committees charging a fortune.

Houses , even terraces are much better than flats {Have friends who have flats and the noise/management issue is so often a problem}

That one has an upstairs bathroom.

Also, the road is so so narrow, I’d worry about my car getting scraped and parking issues. I agree it’s a lovely part of town but not as universally desirable than the more spacious/green areas of marshalswick or Chiswell green with the brilliant schools.

We have been looking at two bed mansion flats in London. We can achieve Mayfair for £750k so a two bed in St Albans seems toppy.
Unless I am central no parking wouldn't work for me. I would also need an upstairs loo.
Listing would not be a problem for me.
Fwiw the poster who explained that someone would need a massive deposit or minimum £100k income is right. Additionally lots of lenders don't go beyond £500k in mortgage loans.

Navy wall? There’s no navy wall that I can see. Lots of exposed brick though

Can't comment without a link, OP. The area, proximity to main roads and new developments and state of neighbourhood houses and gardens all make a difference. Personally I wouldn't mind a basement but would not buy anywhere with a downstairs bathroom unless there was the possibility of putting at least a second toilet upstairs.

It looks cold and dark and cluttered (sorry). The grade II would put me off.

All the lights are on because there is very little natural light coming in the back of the house is all bathroom so you don’t get to look at the garden at all and the front is just street so you don’t want to look out of that window either. There is no room for the furniture, none of the chairs fit, the tv is squashed in and the table has an awkward bench. The cupboards don’t even seem to fit in the kitchen properly and I’m anticipating issues with that wooden worktop and butler sink. I’m guessing the second bedroom isn’t fit to be seen. Basements ime of living in a vic terrace with a basement, are cold and yours has a chill running straight up the stairs with no door to keep it out. I’d not want kids around those basement stairs. I’d knock money off to account for the plastic grass which will be ££ to sort out. I’d want to completely gut and reorganise the ground floor including moving the soil pipe which is a much bigger issue than plastic grass tbf, especially given it’s listed. When you have a ton of issues that you can’t easily fix it all comes down to price, the 28 people who didn’t offer may have seen another house with a bigger second bedroom, or a hallway, or an upstairs bathroom or a kitchen with a view of the garden or with better parking - they need to think “is the bigger bedroom/parking etc work £X amount more -£y a month on our mortgage” and decide, no, it isnt

Is the bath missing a front panel or is it recessed?

The bed in the main bedroom looks an odd size (not a full double? Might just be an odd angle) in photo 13 and it doesn’t appear to be centred in the room.

Steep stairs with no bannisters would also put me off, especially with no upstairs bathroom.

I would imagine the pool of people whom the house was not too small for, plus who could get a mortgage for that high an asking price is pretty small.
my son and his partner have just moved into their first house- they had a £90k deposit. The largest mortgage they could get meant their top whack would have been £389k.

Regardless of location £600k for these two up two downs just blows my mind.

There's no point in people frothing over the price - St Alban's is highly desirable, was it this year or last that the Sunday Times awarded it best place to live in the UK? However, within that area it probably is a bit overpriced. If you stick houses in St Albans centre between £550k and £600k into RM including what has sold, you can see that the competition mostly has upstairs bathrooms which is a huge plus and also are more spacious - not massively but every extra metre helps in a small house. Several others also have a usable cellar and possibly even space for proper dining tables, so you are not unique. It's unfortunate that your house pics show two cars parked right in front which absolutely indicates a busy street with parking difficulties and also the staircase partly shown in one photo has no bannister and looks very steep. I think as someone mentioned your target market is very small - first-time buyer couples who don't mind downstairs bathrooms and steep stairs can't afford it and families with children can't make it work for their needs. This probably could appeal to older single/divorced people - it's very similar to what my recently-divorced friend has just bought but with parking, there's no way she wants to be walking around late at night having parked her car a street away from her house.

Sorry but personally the no parking, downstairs bathroom and property being grade II listed would put me off.

I doubt the price is the main issue, people saying it is probably don't understand how expensive St Albans is. You've had about 30 viewings and 3 offers so that suggests the price is about right. Having said that, if you were to reduce the price it would probably stimulate some new viewings, if you are in a hurry to sell.

I don’t think that’s a lot as it it is in a busy part of St Albans so viewers will see a few houses in one day. The area is also attractive to London commuters so that, in itself, is a huge market. It does look like a sweet little house in the particulars but as a PP said potential buyers won’t let their heart rule their head.

I don’t think listed building status should make much difference. It would for a doer upper but this one is already done up. The astroturf is neither here nor there!

Mind blown yes frothing no.

Are these little houses meant to go for £1million in a few years. Mind will be doubly blown!

But if I wanted to froth I can and will
😁 I bought one just like the yellow one back in 2001 for £124k (about 30 min commute to London) inflation calculator is £226k today, so mind will stay blown.

It's unfortunate that your house pics show two cars parked right in front which absolutely indicates a busy street with parking difficulties

Totally agree and I think one of the cars must be obscuring the light source to the cellar.