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Original poster

A property that has been put on the mark every year for past 4 years.

30 replies

stripeeet · 12/03/2025 12:15

According to zoopla a house we want to make an offer an has been listed for sale every year since 2021. It hasn’t gone up in vale in that time either they’ve listed for the same asking price every year. The vendor told us they listed 3 years ago but the buyers pulled out so decided to stay. The agent told us the vendor listed 2 years ago but couldn’t find an onward purchase so pulled they out themselves.

Could there be something wrong with the property that’s making it un mortgageable? Structural, subsidence etc so there’re hoping it won’t come up in another survey? Would an agent have to tell us this? Could they just be flaky vendors? Just seems a bit odd to me and don’t want to waste time and money on a survey etc

OP posts:
BarneyRonson · 12/03/2025 12:21

My next door neighbours house sold in a week at a high asking price. A house a few doors down was repeatedly listed and eventually after several years of listings coming and going, was sold at £175k less than my neighbours house. Really weird. I’d been in both houses. It’s luck or a jinx or I don’t know what.

CountAdhemar · 12/03/2025 12:33

Nobody on here has the answer to your question.

There could be something wrong with the property, but it might be perfectly fine. The explanations are plausible, but they may also be fictional.

You won't (as you have identified) get the answer from the estate agent or vendor either, as you won't be able to tell if it's the truth or not. Even if the agent 'has to tell you' (your words) it doesn't mean they actually will. Agents are often wrong and have been known to lie.

There's a chance you might get a view from one of the neighbours if you're feeling bold enough to go door-knocking. Otherwise, you just have to go and make your own judgement about the property/vendors.

GasPanic · 12/03/2025 12:38

As pp says, no one knows the real answer.

But it may just be that they just don't want to move that much and have had a sale or two fall through. Since about 30% of sales fall through (I think that is the number) having two fall though is a 1 in 10 chance.

Some people just list their properties at high prices waiting. They are prepared to list for years because it is not worth them moving otherwise.

It wouldn't be for me, having to keep your house tidy all the time but some people are happy/don't care.

pizzaHeart · 12/03/2025 12:45

It means that the vendor want to move but don’t need to and they want to move only if they get a certain price for the house. It also means that the house is overpriced.
I knew a few houses in this exact situation.

TammyJones · 12/03/2025 12:51

This actually happened to us
We bought an house that had been on and off the market for 4 years.
Been there years now.
Best friends with the neighbours.
They told us , when they saw the sold on it they nearly fainted.
Absolutely nothing wrong with it at all.
We love it and it will be our forever home.

blackberryhill · 12/03/2025 12:55

I think you're right to take this as a sign that you should proceed with caution. As others have said, no-one here can say definitively - it could just have been a string of bad luck/change of hearts, or it could be something more sinister. I will say that a lot of transactions went sideways in 2021 when mortgage rates shot up - we had our home listed at that point, accepted an offer on our place and then by a week later the rates skyrocketed and we had to rethink selling because we realised that we were no longer comfortable with what it would cost us to borrow what we needed to buy an upgrade. We know a few people who lost sales at a similar time because their buyers reached similar conclusions.

All this to say, to my mind this isn't an automatic reason not to offer, but try exploring the issue with the agent, know that there's an increased risk of sunk costs vs other properties and pick your priorities in terms of what you do first (I'd say survey as a priority and hold off on any legals till that's done if you can).

pwaow · 12/03/2025 12:57

Ghosts.

housethatbuiltme · 12/03/2025 13:01

I would guess its either been over priced (if it hasn't changed in 4 years) or they're flake-y (sounds like they're not in any hurry or even sure about moving).

I wouldn't jump to structural from what you have said but I would think they are likely going to be nightmares to deal with.

WimbyAce · 12/03/2025 13:03

To be fair this could be us, we listed in 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025. For various reasons (nothing to do with the actual house) our sales have not gone through. 2021 we couldn't find an onward, 2022 onward fell through, 2024 onward couldn't find an onward, 2025 fingers crossed........
Our asking price hasn't changed since 2022.

snotathing · 12/03/2025 13:06

They might be nightmare sellers who like to 'play at' moving but aren't serious. Or they could have been unlucky with sales falling through.

Aoppley · 12/03/2025 13:06

If the house is not mortgageable they would only sell to cash buyers. This happened to someone I know where lenders used to give loans on a type of property and then they stopped so state agents would only sell to cash buyers and would allow no viewings from people who needed a mortgage.

They might just have been unlucky, or maybe their property is overpriced and they're in hurry to move at all.

DivorcedMumOfAdults · 12/03/2025 13:06

In England I think there’s a legal requirement to report any relevant information eg problems on a survey- might need to be via a formal enquiry- maybe speak to a solicitor before stumping up for an expensive survey

Icecreamandcoffee · 12/03/2025 13:07

I've got a friend whose house has been up and down for sale quite a few times. There is nothing wrong with the house. She would just like a bit more space and in a specific village (near kids school, a bit closer to workplaces by about 5 minutes). They don't need to move and ultimately need a certain price anyway to be able to move to the village she wants. When a house in the specific village she wants comes up, she pops hers on the market (you have to have yours on the market to be able to view in our area due to demand). They have missed out on the houses she has viewed in the village due to others offering more or sometimes the house has been overpriced or it's just not for them. Then she takes her house off the market.

There is also a house on my mum and dad's street that goes up for sale every few years. The couple are constantly on the verge of divorce, put the house up for sale, have viewers and then ultimately make up again and decide to stay married so take the house off the market.

TheAmusedQuail · 12/03/2025 13:10

Possibly flaky vendors.

OR there is something majorly wrong with it that shows up at survey.

2025willbemytime · 12/03/2025 13:13

My neighbour has put their house on the market an unknown amount of times but sold twice only to pull out. Do you want to give the first letter of the post code, if not the area? I'm curious if it is my neighbours.

Jamfirstest · 12/03/2025 13:21

Is it a self build or new build? My friend rented a house like the one in the op for about a year. The landlord ended the tenancy and tried to sell it but still hasn't despite the fact it's stunning and unique and the photos are very wow. It's an air bnb type property now and I can see the still original owner has spent a whack on it in the past couple years.

When my friend lived there it was damp and mouldly in a lot of the bathrooms and maybe other places. It was so cold too.

I didn't know much about the house but my partner at the time was a roofer and he did. He said (it's on a main road and very noticeable) that he had noticed how long the roof was off and other building issues over a period of a couple of years. It was a conversion from I think a bungalow into a really modern looking detached 2 storey house. Exp said the roof was off so long the house will have inbuilt damp issues now which would be really hard/expensive to solve. As far as I know the same owner did the conversion too then moved out and put it for rent then wanted to live there but didn't. It was unoccupied for about 3 years and listed for sale.

I think the surveys must show massive issues which affect the sale price and the buyers pull out and he can't sell it.

I suspect the property in the op is similar

MyBirthdayMonth · 12/03/2025 13:23

Agents are often wrong and have been known to lie.

Just as the sun has been known to rise in the morning.

whynotwhatknot · 12/03/2025 13:33

woulnt trust an agent but wont hurt to have a look an get your own survey done-house in my road went up in covid then off an back on just one of those thhings

sixtyandfabulousofcourse · 12/03/2025 14:24

could be personal circumstances such as job position being withdrawn so they did not need to move say to a new area; family such as a relative being ill so they needed to stay put; cold feet wanted to move then decided they did not want to

Advocodo · 12/03/2025 15:42

possibly flakey vendors!,! Don’t need to move but would if they get a good price for their house and a bargain price for the one they purchase.

Wildflowers99 · 12/03/2025 15:44

Ours is up for a third time in a few years. On the first occasion we got an offer within days but couldn’t find an onward at all, very weird market. Second time same thing. Within a few months both buyers had dropped out which is fair enough. Annoyingly as soon as this happened a suitable house came up.

magicstar1 · 12/03/2025 15:47

This happened with the house we bought. It had been up for sale a few times over the years. The price had gone up and down with the market.
The owner was trying to buy a particular type of bungalow in the same area so that was the reason. We were lucky enough to get it at the right time.

DefyingGravidy · 12/03/2025 16:00

I’ve known people do this.

Two instances of older couples getting cold feet about ‘downsizing’ each time (the new home never ends up smaller!). They have eventually moved.

One trying his luck, and would sell if price is right. Oddly he did sell for what I’d say was well below the market price, I think he found somewhere he wanted to go.

One with sales keep falling through, probably about to go on for 3rd time in 3 years. Nothing wrong with it but a tricky price point in the market, a totally crap estate agent who doesn’t seem to check they have the finances sorted and doesn’t seem to push things along, and a clueless vendor who doesn’t push things either.

In all those cases I’d proceed but with caution,

LadyQuackBeth · 12/03/2025 16:01

My ILs neighbours are like this. They want to live in a specific street in the village, but will stay put otherwise. That means their house is put up for sale anytime a house on the dream street is, then down if you don't get it or sell in time.

It means that they would bite the hand off a vendor if it could fall into place for them, not necessarily a bad thing.

ARichtGoodDram · 12/03/2025 16:11

There's a house in our old street that's been up for sale at least once a year for the last few years (even before Covid they would do it regularly).

It always falls through as they are utterly, utterly unrealistic about negotiating for an onward sale.

They want the moon on a stick basically and are always somehow surprised that they can't sell their 5 bed house with a huge garden in a rural village for 900k and then buy a 5/6 bedroom house with an equally huge garden in a place with more local facilities, transport options etc for less so they can be "left with some money in their pocket".

Their house is lovely, don't get me wrong, but they just won't grasp that non-rural often costs more.

I dread to think how many people have wasted money on surveys and the likes on their house over the years