No viewings on our house - would these things put you off?

[Wallawallawallaby1]

We've had no interest at all...is it the market or is our house just priced too high? We're in the South West (Salisbury), and I'm told by the EA the house is a tricky one to value. It's a 5 bed detached Edwardian house over 3 floors. We bought it for £675k just over three years ago, and it's on for £720k. Interestingly next door is on for £750k, and they've had little interest as well. Identical houses in build, but they have an added bathroom and a much larger garden (although their house does require a fair bit of modernisation).

I'll list a couple of the negatives - could you tell me if the following would put you off viewing?

1. 5 beds but only one bathroom (and a downstairs cloakroom). The rooms are large so there's plenty of space for an ensuite (or two), but my DH doesn't want to do it. I was hoping though that potential buyers would realise this opportunity. Would the 1 main bathroom put you off?

1. Very small garden. Large-ish patio that extends round the house, but grass space quite small. We have a sofa set and a small climbing frame on the grass, with a massive trampoline on the patio, so it's perfectly functional...just small.

1. No garage, and on-street parking (but very quiet road, so no issues with parking)

The positives though: very grand house, massive amounts of curb-appeal, large rooms with high ceilings, close to good schools, 10 minute walk into town.

I desperately want to move as I need more downstairs living space. I could also really do with another bathroom (DH just hates the idea of any work being done in the house).

Please help!

Thank you

Agree

Plus the road has large swathes of double yellows and is all permit parking.
That would put me off

Id drop the price OP if you want to get some interest.

It's minimalist which is what a LOT of people like.

Yeah, it has quite the funny reputation locally, I knew a couple who lived further down on the other side, at 2.00AM an escaped resident knocked their door - they gave the chap £5 to go away, next night they had a whole group of them.

There is one poor chap who lies on the pavement and makes animal noises, a lady who has kicked cars of mums picking up kids from school and a group who hang about on the corner drinking cans all day.

None of them are dangerous, just odd! 😀

The garden wouldn’t bother me.
The bathroom thing would put me off a lot, although space to create an en suite is positive.
No off road parking for a £720k house would be a total deal breaker…wouldn’t even consider it.

sorry!

Not everyone though.
No harm in changing things up a bit. Especially as OP hasn’t had any viewings so clearly the developer look isn’t working.

Id also say it’s not minimalist. Not in an architectural sense anyway.

Your house sounds almost identical to my brother’s house only there’s was a bit more expensive at £1m. They had all those issues and, after 4 months, took the house off the market as no-one made an offer. In fact, the few people who did view mostly brought these things up as issues. I wouldn’t ever view a house with these features (sorry)

The only thing you’ve mentioned that would put me off would be having a small garden. We’ve got a five bedroom house with one bathroom and a separate toilet halfway up the stairs and it’s never been a problem. It certainly wouldn’t put me off viewing a house. We’ve also got off street parking but no garage and again this has never been an issue. It sounds like a very appealing house to me, all the more so because it sounds as though you have respected the house and not messed around with the layout, and not turned the downstairs into one massive open plan space.

Well this would probably mean OP can only sell to someone new to the area that doesn't know about all the issues with the road. That could be quite terrifying for kids in particular, and it's a family sized home.

I've lived in central Salisbury, and absolutely hated the on-street parking, so that would be the biggest issue for me. I know you're slightly outside the centre, but it's still a pain.

The market is currently very sluggish. There are several houses for sale in our very 'desirable' village near Salisbury, but none are shifting. Definitely time to lower the price I'm afraid. Good luck.

Just looked at pics from when you bought it OP
The front picture is better than yours. It shows the property has depth ( no idea if this is big enough for off street parking) which your image doesn’t.
Theres one at the rear too which shows the double doors and garden space better.
I’d look to get a few more or different photos

3 years ago (when you purchased) wasn't far off of being the absolute peak of the house prices.
There is house prices stagnation at the moment in the market thanks to the astronomical extortion of the working/middle class by both the Conservative and Labour government who are working at the behest of the WEF to drag us all into poverty.
I'd be surprised and see it as a result if your house bought for £675k fetched anymore than you originally purchased it for. £700k would be clap your hands time and a proper result.

The price seems crazy tbh. I bought a 5 bed house in a quiet close, with a drive, garage, 2 bathrooms, similar garden in a location on a similar price range to Salisbury for a lot less than that (think 200k plus less).

I would de clutter the garden, you’ve got a trampoline shoved down the side which shows there is no room.

It’s a beautiful house though.

So you bought a totally different house type in a totally different kind of area (quiet close v city centre street) in a totally different market? That’s like saying “I could buy a terrace of houses in a Welsh valley for that!” Irrelevant.

The market price for that sort of house in that sort of location in Salisbury is obviously around what the OP paid 3 years ago. People looking to live here obviously don’t value “quiet close” as a benefit.

Not really as I know Salisbury v well (work there) so I know the markets are comparable, if anything we are more expensive. Also bought this year so v similar market. But ok if someone wants to pay several hundred thousand on top to live in a mediocre city location.

One bathroom would definitely put me off. We’re looking for a 4 bed and I want a main bathroom, an en suite and a downstairs loo.

Obviously, they do.

1 bathroom would be a massive negative. The place where you might want to add a bathroom to the master bedroom is far away from all other drainage. It might not be possible to do it.

At that price, I wouldn't look at a house without a driveway or allocated parking spot.
It is a family house and looking to the future, where are the adult DC going to park?

I discount houses without off road parking and if it doesn’t have an ensuite. They are none negotiables for us

They’ll move out long before acquiring their own cars?

Anyone who could afford that price doesn't deserve the indignity of sharing a bathroom with 4-6 other people.

OP I actually love the layout of your house. Good sized rooms and high ceilings

1loo plus bathroom ideal
Small garden, my preference
Parking, no issue would navigate that.
Like Salisbury

It might be more suited to a family with 2 children who want to use the top floor for storage?

The decor isn't my personal preference but can be remedied.

What would put me off is someone mentioned a psychiatric unit? Would definitely need to know more about that.

Your house looks lovely, but the lack of bathrooms would put me off. I think you should drop the price to £699,000 and see if you get any interest then.

From houseprices.io

It looks like the OP's purchase "could" have been a little hot at 16% more than RPI. The previous owner obviously did well - especially given that they were only there 3.5 years (allowing 6 months for the purchase to go through).

By my estimation (if I was looking to offer), the real value will be somewhere between £615K and £700K. The Salisbury detached market peaked in 2023 and is only just getting back to that level. Although other locals have suggested that it's softening again.