Selling extended house for less than purchase price: how will buyers react?

[Spotteddaisy]

Grateful for any advice please re house selling.
We are not strangers to house selling as have moved 5 times in the last 15 years, (but in the same area) We have always made a small profit on the house sales to put towards the new property.

In Autumn 2023 we moved to Dorset, 10 mins from the coast.
Detached 4 bedroom house with a plot of just under an acre. In a lovely village, good schools etc nearby. Previously lived in Hampshire.

We have extended the house by rejigging the layout and adding a big dining/family room downstairs. We've made other improvements too like insulation, adding solar panels etc.
Had a couple of estate agents out last year to value it who said to market at £850k. But we have been on the market since last June with no offers at all. We have now reduced the price by £100k and changed agents at the end of last year.

We have had a few more viewings with this agent but still no offers. Which obviously means it's the price. So we asked our agent what we can do as we're aware that properties still on the market after 9 months don't look good.

He said we should drop the price to £695k. We are not sure what to think about this (my DH is fuming)as we bought the house for more than that 2.5 years ago and have spent a substantial amount on the extension and improvements. Surely anyone who has done their homework and looked up house prices etc will see that we bought it for more then added an extension so to then list it for less just makes it look really dodgy? I don't think the market has decreased so much in less than 3 years that we would have to list our (bigger, improved) house for less than we bought it for?! I know that ultimately no one will care what we've spend on it but the fact that it's now bigger than it was must count for something?

We really aren't enjoying it here and now need to move to somewhere cheaper and to be back nearer to family. This has all been a massive costly mistake and I feel so guilty. The fact that we could end up in negative equity is just stressing me out even more. We've never made a loss on a house and ploughed all of our savings into this one. We were so full of hope when we moved here, but it's all just been awful.

As a potential buyer what would people think about a house being listed at less than it sold for not even 3 years ago, even after its been extended?

You either take the loss or stay put, the market especially for larger properties has a been slow for a while. Why don't you want to live there anymore maybe that's why others don't?

I would assume the owners were mostly splitting or desperately needed to sell for some other reason, it wouldn’t put me off buying it, but I would be more likely to put in a cheeky offer if I thought I could get a bargain!

It is only worth what a buyer wants to pay.
Buyers will assume you need to sell for whatever reason

Could you take it off the market for a year and try again?
Rent it out for a year and rent closer to family?

I would assume the same and unfortunately probably try a cheeky offer too.

Is it possible that the changes you have made somehow make the house less attractive to others? Is it now too open plan to appeal to people looking for flexible living space. Have you removed a lot of storage? Did you remove original features? Is it too idiosyncratic? We sold our old house to people who radically changed it and I’m pretty sure they spent a fortune to decrease its value.

Well it’s a tricky market so being of lesser value wouldn’t surprise me if bought in the last few years.

However I might put in a cheeky offer if I thought they were desperate

I wouldn't assume that there was something wrong with the house but I would assume that you were keen to sell. Unfortunately, the prices of large, detached houses have fallen in most of the South and many other parts of the country since 22/23. I'm surprised that the value has fallen despite an extension though. Is there a chance that your extension is a bit niche in terms of taste? Is the house very expensive to maintain?
I think the market is likely to fall further so I would probably reduce to a level where it will sell rather than waiting.

Have you had many viewings?

Could you put a link on here? Maybe someone would buy it as a fabulous family holiday home?

I'm tempted to take the loss just to get out of here but my husband is understandably upset as we had to use money from his pension savings and our other savings to extend this place and it will all be for nothing. Our children (aged 10 and 12 now) are a bit torn as they prefer where we used to live but now have friends here.

We want to move as we've realised we are now too far from family. We thought we could make it work but we can't. Also since we've lived here we have had so many things go wrong/bad luck. I could write a book with all the things that have happened. I don't like drama. And it's been nothing but since we moved here. We are tired, depressed and broke now.

will where you are moving too have gone down in value too?

Did the house and location create the dramas though? Or are you just associating being there with the dramas? Is moving actually going to deal with anything except proximity to family? Is that enough of a reason?
You sound like you're running away from things that are nothing to do with the house?

No unfortunately, we've been wanting to move for over a year now but due to various catastrophes weren't able to get the house on the market until last June.

We need to sell to move. We'd find it difficult to rent as we have pets too. Renting would probably work out more expensive than our already expensive mortgage.
Ideally we want to knock a bit off our mortgage to improve our quality of life too but it doesn't look like that will happen if we have to sell at a loss.

We only had about 4 with the first agents when it was priced higher.

We've had 10 or 11 with the latest agent. Someone wants a second viewing and wants to bring a builder around to cost up changes apparently.

It's a bit of a niche property I guess with the huge garden but the house could be made 3x bigger and the garden would still be big.

We also have planning permission already in place (although it runs out soon) to convert the double garage to an annex and build a triple garage in the garden. The guy we bought it from applied for that so it shows that planning would be approved for any further extensions etc.

Here you go.
I'm ready to get ripped to shreds lol...

Yes there are new houses at the top of the plot but all viewers are made aware of this.
There's no en-suite which peope have pointed out but you could put one in. We havent done that as we concentrated on the downstairs space that we needed more.

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/169987643

I'd think you needed to sell for financial reasons and I was getting a bargain. it wouldn't put me off.

** Edited to add that your home is beautiful! I'd buy it in a heartbeat if I didn't live at the other end of the country. I think your buyer just hasn't appeared yet.

We sold our family home four years ago and it was on the market for about 18 months, it just took time for the right buyer to come along, and as it was for retirement funds we didn't want to reduce.

We moved to a bungalow, did a nice conservatory and other improvements and then had to sell, due to neighbour installing a woodburner. So maybe 18 months?

You just have to suck it up, if you really want to move. The market, especially for larger houses, has been drifting down the last couple of years.

I think it looks fantastic! I was expecting it to be really rough.

I guess it being EPC level E isn't ideal. Are you sure that's right? Have you had it resurveyed since solar panels were installed?

Sometimes small cheapish changes, such as changing lightbulbs, can bump the EPC level up a bit. EPC surveys are cheap.

I can't honestly see why you are struggling to sell.

I can see why it looks like that but honestly we have had such a run of bad fortune since moving here. And being away from family and friends has definitely made it all harder. Its all been linked to the house and the move in one way or another.

I think if we were having a shit time nearer to our friends and family then at least we would be nearer to them for support. Obviously every now and then things go wrong for everyone but it's just been non stop.

It's our own fault for moving here but I'm desperately trying to find a way out so that we can start enjoying life again rather than dreading each day.

Well I sincerely hope you get a buyer, honestly it's a lovely looking house and I don't know Weymouth prices but surely a bargain already even before dropping the price again.
And I hope your fortunes pick up, move or not.

I guess I have learnt something here. If you are moving to a new area, take your time before you start spending larger sums of money just in case you dont like the house or area.

You have really lovely taste, I’m really surprised that it has not been snapped up!

The house is gorgeous and seems well priced. I'd be tempted to take it off the market for a bit and out it back on with a new agent.
I'd love it but maybe the huge garden might put people off with the potential upkeep.

It’s a lovely house in a lovely part of the world. I think your struggle is down to the current market conditions, rather than anything more specific to the house itself. My gut feeling would be your buyer will appear if you keep marketing it for long enough. Bigger/more expensive houses can just take a bit longer to find the right buyer for.