Help with advice selling please, it's been almost sold twice with people dropping out art the last moment.

[Justreally]

Property photo 1 of 30.


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Braehead, Avoch, IV9

Offers Over
£575,000
Monthly mortgage payments
Added on 14/10/2023
PROPERTY TYPE

Villa
BEDROOMS

5
BATHROOMS

3
SIZE

Ask agent
TENURE

Ask agent

1
+24
Key features
Detached Period Property
Sea Views
Seven Bedrooms
Basement
1 Acre Mature Landscaped Gardens
Garage and Carport
Oil Fired Central Heating
Close To Amenities
Well Maintained
Inverness Approx. 11 Miles
Description
This fantastic Grade B listed period property was built in the early 1800's and has been sympathetically modernised and extended whilst retaining many original features.
It sits in a quiet, elevated position offering extensive views over the Moray Firth and beyond.

This large family home is laid out over four floors and the bottom of the garden has been previously looked at as two potential house plots:
Ground floor, consisting of the kitchen, living room, dining room, and the sympathetically built 20 year old extension with hall, cloakroom and shower room.
1st Floor, split into the front and back areas with five bedrooms, and two bathrooms.
2nd Floor, two large attic bedrooms, and a box room.
Basement, which is mainly used for storage, split into seven rooms with an external door.
It has a gated entrance, lock and block driveway, the one acre mature landscaped grounds surround the house giving it a private feel, and are laid to lawn, and with the South facing fruit terraces leading down to two small paddocks.

The property has been well maintained and retains many original features. It benefits from oil fired central heating and a wood fired boiler, modern bathrooms and kitchen, and a double garage, workshop, and large carport.

The village of Avoch offers a good range of local services, primary schooling is available in the village with secondary at nearby Fortrose Academy, and Inverness is easily commutable.

Fabulous house!
Did they give a reason for dropping out?

It is lovely but a lot of the rooms are very dated, is that reflected in the price?

What were the reasons for dropping out?

What's the local market like? It's a beautiful part of the world but I'd suspect your buyer pool is probably quite small?

It's a lot of house and quite a big project for people. I'd probably halve the number of photos in the listing and definitely not more than one per room - and I'd leave out photos that are more "you're going to new carpets here" rather than "what a great space, I could really do something here."

The angle on photo 28 is really odd and I don't think makes the most of the space you have - and you should get the estate agent to mark out the boundaries of your space in the aerial photo as it's currently a lot of guess work.

The views are gorgeous and I'd have those pics up front after the house pic.

I did not think you could legally drop out if a house sale in Scotland without severe financial penalties

It was built in 1820 and we didn't want to get rid of the period features. It haas apple, pear, plum, apricot and walnut trees all of which bear fruit. Large raspberry, strawberry and asparagus patches too. OH had 4 workshops indoors and in the garage / steading.

The first family dropped out as they decided it was too far from Caithness ! Well it hadn't moved since their offer and us taking it off the market

The second family took it to the wire before saying they couldn't afford it despite being in the process of selling 3 separate properties

It has an acre of land in a village with fantastic views and isn't overlooked

I did not think you could legally drop out if a house sale in Scotland without severe financial penalties

There is always a get out clause somehow

Well, you get a lot more for your money wherever you are than in St Albans! The house is gorgeous and the views spectacular but I think most people would see it as a big project, There’s a lot of coloured carpet and a lot of lilac paint. Maybe that’s an issue? I don’t think the market is great at present. I bet the house is fabulous at Christmas

You can’t drop out after the missives are signed, but you can before. However, depends on the stage - had they made a formal offer or just noted interest?

I suspect the ‘couldn’t afford it’ was less about the sale price and more about the money that needs spent on it. I don’t mean removing the original features - that would be scandalous - but pretty much the entire house needs at least painting and carpets. I’d want to do bathrooms and kitchen too. Needs at least £100k spent on it. More if the buyer wanted to enhance and restore features - cast iron rads, reopening fireplaces etc.

Is it priced lower than a fully renovated property in the area would be? Are you holding out for lots over the O/O or HR valuation?

This could be my dream house, but I’d have to spend a fortune on it.

Is it FREEHOLD? If so it should state that clearly. In the ad under 'Tenure' it says 'Ask Agent'. That would raise alarm bells with me.

Gorgeous house. Amazing price. About the same as my two bed terrace in SE England!

It's amazing - I love it!

I agree about photos with the "you need new carpets" message. I also think that your pool of buyers must be quite small so it will take longer.

Are there fireplaces behind the boards or just holes in the wall? Also, what are the floors like under the carpets?

There’s no leasehold in Scotland and buyers will know this. The ask agent bit is just because Rightmove obviously can’t be bothered to adjust their template ad for Scotland.

Sometimes people decide to go ahead with purchases despite their reservations but when it comes to the nittygritty decide it's best to rethink. Very annoying for you though. Lovely property though.

Op, it’s a lovely house but I suspect the carpets and curtains are putting people off as well as the colours you’ve chosen for the walls. To me it screams these are large rooms and it’s going to take a lot to fill them and cosy them up. It just doesn’t look inviting and I’m sorry for saying that about your home. It’s such a pitfall when you have a large home, mine is bigger than yours, and it’s great to have big rooms and lots of them but it’s difficult to get them right when dressing them. I think if you’d had a more neutral colour on the walls and floor it would appeal to people more - and I’m someone who loves colour. It would also be more appealing if the colour you chose for the walls had been more of the era the house was built.

Again, I’m sorry for being so negative but when I look at the pictures I see and feel a house where the inside is at odds with the exterior and the original fittings.

Beautiful house. I'd keep it and run a BnB!

The listing is confusing, it initially says 5 bedrooms then it says 6 bedrooms. As soon as I spot something like that I'm put off - what else has been said that is inaccurate or sloppy or even cut and pasted from another listing?
That's just a small point. I agree with the points other people have made re carpets etc and that you have a small pool of potential buyers.
It's a beautiful house but that may be little consolation to you, after all you want to leave it so its beauty is not always the point.

Sorry it says 5 then 7, not 6. Fat finger.

It’s all changed in Scotland now and people are now able to “bid” before having the funds secured. Recently when I sold property I was advised to go for the “cash buyer” over the higher bid, as things can and do go wrong with banks/ employers and minds can be “changed”…so I went with cash buyer. If I was buying this I’d maybe convert into 2 flats. They’re quite niche properties like this, I prefer easy maintenance and snug rather than rattling about. I know a lot of people who have downsized.

Not enough land for the size of house for me. And agree it would need at least 100k spent on it, it's terribly dated. Beautiful bones though

I love it and where I live I could buy a very small detached 4 bed new build on an estate for that price. The council tax and EPC would put me off and the cost of updating decor and carpets.

Beautiful property but would need a large budget for the amount of work which needs doing.

I love it. None of it would put me off, unless buyers can't afford to redecorate. So they have money to buy the house but when they total what they'd need to spend, they can't afford it.
Propertyike this where I live would be 2-3mil.
Is there a risk of flooding this close to water?
Also Grade B will put some buyers off.

I’m packing up now OP. See you in a week or two to exchange?

God it’s amazing. Does it heck need 100k spending on it! For me it would be just re painting and change flooring whenever. Everything else is fine ( although the heating costs in Scotland would be ££££ I would imagine?
It’s bloody enormous, I am boggled that one person in the thread says their house is bigger and another says a 1 acre garden is too small! My house would probably fit in the dining room 😀

I mean I know its not the be all and end all but the carpets are bloody awful and make the house look really cheap and dated.

The matching floor and wall colour are overwhelmingly awful and the carpets all look like they are nasty paper thin cheap stuff and laid bare on the floorboards (which you can see thorough them). they don't even fit properly and are wrinkled in places like a tripping hazzard.

To be honest if I'm spending over half a million I wouldn't be expecting to have to have to rip out awful carpet and fully redo it.

A lick of paint on the white outside won't hurt either.