Reduce price, sit tight or just give up?

[BlueBeam]

Feeling really deflated with our house sale and a little unsure of where to go from here.

Context; we listed our house with an agent in September at a realistic price point (identical house on the same road was also listed for sale at this price and has sold, also 2 roads down same house - it's the standard figure our style house in our area goes for) and hubby and I agreed we would consider offers up to £10k less than this.

We quickly received an offer for £5k below asking, which we provisionally accepted pending their sale (they had a flat on the market), and at the advice of our agent kept our house on the market in the interim and accommodated viewings to proceedable buyers. Since then, our would-be buyer has had 2 offers on their flat - 1 they accepted and it fell through, the other they tried to squeeze more money out of and scared the potential purchaser off. Whilst all of this was going on, we had the up and down of being proceedable and able to make offers ourselves, then suddenly no longer being proceedable and back around again (which can't be helped but was extremely disheartening!).

We also felt our agent wasn't prioritising booking in viewings for our property and were in general just awful with communication. Off the back of this, we decided to take our house off the market for a breather over Christmas and relist with a new agent just after. We did let the buyer know we were doing this and that if they managed to complete their chain before we sold to someone new we would still be happy to move ahead with them.

Anyways, house has been on the market for just over 2 weeks' now and we've had almost as many viewings with the new agent as we did in the whole 4 months with the previous, so we're really happy with that. But alas, no offers and I can see the previous buyers flat is still on the market, so no movement there either. I know it's early days with this new agent, but I'm just so fed up with being told no. We can make a small reduction to the asking price, but I'm not sure what difference this will make given we haven't even received any silly offers below asking, the only offer being the one mentioned above. We can't really afford to make a drastic reduction and also pay for a move, so we're sort of at the point here where we're thinking we can reduce by a tiny bit and see what happens, or just throw the towel in and accept that we will be staying put. Either that or more waiting I suppose!

Not really sure what advice I'm looking for here, just wanted to get it off my chest I suppose as I'm feeling really deflated about the whole thing.

If you only relisted 2 weeks ago and are getting viewings, I'd be tempted to stick with your current price until the end of Jan (unless you are getting specific feedback that it's overpriced). It can be a really demoralising process - I really sympathise as it's been a rollercoaster for us.

If you do drop the price at some point, make sure it's a meaningful drop that will put you into the tier below on the Rightmove filters. There's no point in just chipping away at the asking price as you need to open yourself up to a new market. Also, you can just end up drawing out the process and your house looks increasingly stale.

Have you checked the actually sale prices for the ones that have sold near you? They might be quite different to the original listings prices.

Thank you for your response.

We aren't getting feedback that it's overpriced but we are getting feedback that it's "a bit small", which is fair enough as it is a little - but lovely! - 2 bed house and I'm not sure what they could be comparing to in the local area that's bigger, unless we are right at the bottom end of peoples budgets (only bigger properties are 3 beds starting at c. £80k more, or there is one 2 bed property that is significantly bigger in terms of square footage but is on for £70k more!). Also, whilst I know it can't be helped, it's clear what our house is and the size of it from the listing, so I'm not sure what people are expecting when they view!

The other similar houses mentioned were listed at the same price as ours; one sold for £383k (which we would accept if offered to us) and one sold for £385k (which is the same as what we have provisionally accepted).

To add; our house is neutrally decorated and is in move-in condition; we had a new kitchen, flooring & bathroom fitted 3 years ago to a high spec, so it's not that it needs work doing to it and the others didn't!

Yeah, we had similar with feedback where it was things that could easily be noted from the listing. I think often it just means the property wasn't for them but they felt compelled to give a reason to the EA.

They say that 'it's always the price', so given what you've said about the condition and the fact you are getting viewings, I'd give it another couple of weeks and then drop to the next Rightmove band. I think in this market, you have to be prepared to price keenly if you are really motivated to move. Otherwise, best to sit it out and hope for a more buoyant market in a year or two.

I think them saying it's "a bit small" suggests the property is priced to sell to first time buyers or people who are moving on from a flat. These people aren't comparing your house to similar houses in their budget when they say it's a bit small, they're likely not buying those either. They're just inexperienced and unrealistic about what they can get.

That, or your photos imply the house is bigger than it is, and there are no measurements on your floor plan. If that's the issue, you can at least fix that by asking the EA to put measurements on.

The market is currently awful though, and nothing around here is really shifting except the nicer new builds. I wouldn't reduce price after 2 weeks, I'd give it a bit more time.

I feel your pain I'm super deflated! At least you are getting viewings though, we haven't heard a peep since relisting this year. We spent last year on the process from April and that is our 2nd stint at it, also tried 21/22. Just so much time wasted, is so frustrating!!

Thank you for this, it's really helpful. It is clear from our listing the size of the house (in fact, I think our living area is probably bigger in person than it looks on the photos) & there are floorplan measurements, but you are right, we are mainly getting viewings from first time buyers, people moving from a flat and we've had a couple of single downsizers.

It's just so frustrating as I really feel this is a lovely first home or downsize for somebody, especially when I see what else is on the market currently, but we are becoming tired of waiting for the right person to walk through the door!

I guess the only thing we can do for now is wait :(

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear you are struggling too! It's awful isn't it.

Hopefully we will both have some luck soon!

This is a notoriously bad time of year for selling houses. Don’t be disheartened, you will see that houses are not being listed (not great weather for photography/gardens etc) but also nothing is being listed due to the uncertainty of the BOE interest rates.

most moves will have been completed pre Xmas and there is now a lull before it starts to get more interested probably March/April. Two weeks is not a great deal of time as yet.

(DH is in this sector)

Is it obvious from your house that you're running out of room? That. Is really offputting to buyers as then they realise they'll run out of room. If so ruthlessly declutter and get stuff out the house if only temporarily.

I'd give it a few more weeks, then if you're not in a hurry pull it and relist in April/May with a new agent. But check out the minimum time it needs to be off the market to show as a fresh listing.

Your house is getting some interest so it doesn't sound like it is particularly overpriced. I would only offer a reduction if that will take the house into a lower Rightmove banding, otherwise probably not at this stage.

You put it on with the second agent at a bad time of year, January is not a busy time generally for house buying and selling. Honestly, I understand that you are fed up but I would try to give the new EA a bit more time to sell it at the current price. As @Wibblywobblybobbly says, make sure you stage the house so it doesn't look like you are running out of room (even if you are).

If people are viewing and then saying it's small, what can you do to make it feel spacious ?

Ask the agent or a friend for suggestions as it can be hard to see things - sometimes moving a picture or removing a coffee table can make a huge difference! Clear kitchen benches - no one will
Notice a microwave missing but they will
Notice the extra bench space for example

Whilst we absolutely are running out of room (😅), it's really not at all obvious from how our house looks. I had a huge declutter before the first listing and I'm a very house-proud / minimalist person anyway, so everything is kept neat and tidy and there isn't any evidence we're bursting at the seams.

The estate agent did say as people are commenting on the size, it may be worth putting a double bed in our spare room (currently used as an office) to show that it is in fact 2 double bedrooms rather than 1 double and 1 single, so perhaps that could be a shout!

Yes, absolutely you need to ditch the desk, dress it as a double and get the photo of that room redone.