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?

I agree with this. The vibe is confusing. Also the amount of land would put me off as I wouldn't know what to do with it. I don't really need a field around my house.

The graveyard wouldn't bother me at all though

It's lovely. And I like the graveyard. Sorry it hasn't worked out for you all.

The only drawbacks that strike me (from my tiddly ex council house) are that it doesn't have a shower room / ensuite and the garden is so big that some people would be put off by the maintenance and mowing.

I agree. I'd want something with more character as it's a bit of a mix of styles for me - the exposed stone which I associate with a period house, yet it's not truly 'contemporary'. Additionally, Weymouth isn't great imo. That said, overall it's a great property for the price (just needs another bathroom or two!), so it's a combination of the current financial climate, the time of year and larger properties often taking longer to shift, causing things to stall. Where we are currently (West Sussex coast) the more expensive houses - 1m+, often unrenovated - are sitting unsold for months, many with numerous reductions.

Fifteen years ago we bought a village house on the Wiltshire/Dorset border (just inside Wilts) which ended up exactly the same size as yours after we'd extended @Spotteddaisy. Our garden was smaller (0.3 acre) and ours was a three-storey Georgian thatched. Prices were considerably lower back then and our vendors were about to auction it so we got it for a steal. The downside was it was on a rural A-road.

We sold after three and a half years (late 2014), having added a large kitchen extension, rewired, new oil boiler, replaced seven of the front windows with accoya DG, put in three new bathrooms and a lootility, landscaped the garden etc etc. Having told our EA we wanted a quick sale as we'd found our onward purchase and taking into account the A-road, we priced to achieve this and accepted an asking price offer in five weeks, despite our neighbour predicting we'd take years to find a buyer!

We did make back the money we'd spent on renovating plus a small profit...but if we'd been prepared to wait upwards of a year we'd have got considerably more, as I realised when it was too late that most people scrolling Right Move etc for a five bed period house were probably not even seeing ours as (at 425k) it was priced so low - eg, our competition that wasn't on the main road was selling for closer to 650k.

In your shoes I'd leave it at 750k for now, see what happens with the second viewing and reassess ahead of easter - dropping to offers in the region of 725k at that point.

It's absolutely horrible having to lose money on a property (we've been there too with a different house where we also associated it with everything going wrong in our lives), but wishing you the best of luck!

Yes, because Dorset communities definitely need more homes sat empty for most of the year 🙄

You have beautiful taste and have presented the house very well. Three things catch my attention.
I personally don’t think the layout works well. Specifically requiring access through the living room to the snug and the office. Did you alter the layout?
Would a survey pick up anything in relation to the roof?
The grounds are very bare. Very functional, but probably also require quite a lot of work.
But I expect the state of the market is most at play here.

Could you wait 4 years until your children leave school, let them continue seeing their friends, your house may have gone up in value then and your mortgage reduced.
You have moved a lot in the last 15 years

While adding an extension and rejigging the layout was a good idea to make it more useable, you appear to have improved it beyond the market. Just because you've spent money to improve it, doesn't mean someone else will pay extra, unfortunately. Have the renovations been well done? Sometimes a poorly executed renovation can lower the value of a house.

Have you looked at what similar houses are going for near you?

Can you sell off part of the garden for development?

I though same re selling off part of garden.
If I bought it I’d be thinking of how much I’d have to pay for someone to cut it. I get wanting a shower room as we have one and much easier with two teens

Ahh ok its Chickerell Weymouth. Its a lovely house but the area is depressed in general. Other than tourism and a bit of fishing and boating related business its not an area with high wage employment. Most of the Hotels struggled last year and even the season before that - and are very down beat in the expectations for this year. Weymouth experienced a significant price boom as a result of the Olympics, then again during covid and the work from home buzz. Unfortunately I think the problem you have had is that you bought close to peak pricing and that area now is having difficulties.
It's a nice house and will sell once you hit the right price point. You can't make a profit every time you move, I would just chalk it up to experience and feel that at least the increases on previous house sales have negated the loss on this one.
With regards to your question about what will buyers think - I dont think you need to worry that they will worry is something is wrong with the house. Locally people know Weymouth had an extra Olympic boom and that few locals earn what would have been needed to maintain that and the covid and work from home boom pricing. You just bought that home at the wrong time. Its a shame they built so much new housing just where you are, because prior to that it would have made a good holiday home location. Wish you luck, its nice.

2 things jumped out at me:

The solar panels. There are so many! They may help your energy bills, assuming they are yours, but they look ugly and make the garden near them unusable.

The bland external appearance - it looks very uninviting. Get some planters outside the front door etc. I'd also plant a couple of big trees.

Surprised more people haven't said they'd be put off by lack of gas - that would definitely be something I'd need to think twice about (I have relatives in similar situation and obviously it's completely doable, but would be a bit of a shift).

We are currently house hunting on the Dorset coast and I’ve actually looked at your house on Rightmove and discounted it.

Several reasons, first being it’s council tax band G which you can do nothing about. Our current house is a G and our council tax has gone up 1k in 4 years with more annual rises on the horizon, it’s not sustainable, we are looking to lower our council tax band.

Secondly, from the outside, the house is completely surrounded by new builds with no privacy.

Thirdly, the interior, all the grey. It’s not our taste and we’d therefore have a big bill to replace all the flooring. Plus the main fireplace is interesting. I felt like we’d need to spend another 30-40k on it as some of the house is quite dated.

Then there’s the external picture with all the steps which is off putting, with street view not being available it’s difficult to see the rest of the entrance from the road.

For the size of the house and land I didn’t think it was overpriced, it just wasn’t for us for the reasons I’ve given.

The plot of land for the house is huge! Could you separately sell part of the land whilst keeping a decent sized garden for the house? That may help counteract dropping house price. Also does the house only have one bathroom? That may put me off for the number of bedrooms, unless I misunderstood the plans.

I agree with others who have suggested selling off part of the garden or applying for planning permission to build another house there.

If you look at the floor plan there are several loos and enough room for a shower to be installed upstairs or downstairs.

Re: planning permission, if you start the work then I think the planning permission doesn’t expire - so is there a tiny part of the work that you can do now? (Eg changes to the drainage etc). You will need to check the detail of this, but I think it is correct…

The garden expanse looks like a field , I'd expect the local kids would come and play football in it .It ;looks a bit bereft . If it is a part of the garden it needs something done with it .
There's a couple of grass areas at the back , one looks like a marsh or a pond ? Is that area likely to be sold for building ?

The roof - covered in moss .

I don;t mind the graveyard ,

Photo 20 - is that a rats' cage ? That might put people off (though I;m sure they aren;t a fixture&fitting ! )

Can you use the field as a pony paddock ?

Garden the bigger the better for me. Dig a section for a nice big veg garden, big greenhouse or two. Plant a load of fruit trees, apples, pears, cherries maybe peaches and nectarines it must be quite mild down there. The garden does look a bit field like at the minute.

A house in this bracket is only worth what someone is willing to pay. Its difficult to price a house that has had extensions etc...
Basically home improvements are exactly that - to improve your home. Not to improve its value. As no one is biting you need to decide to stay or cut your losses.

It's a lovely house and not much you can do to improve the listing. All I can think of is a few more plants/flowers round the edge of the garden as it's very bare. The garden is so big I would think some people would see a building plot opportunity or plan a swimming pool! As for the church and cemetery it wouldn't bother me, I think I might like it - quiet neighbours! The estate is close but not right up to the house - some more high plants might soften that effect.
As others have said, it's a slow market and you may have to wait to get the right buyer at a price you're willing to accept.
You have developed bad associations with this property that may be in the past now. Could you live there for a year more hoping things improve all round?

Lovely house op. Don’t reduce the price any more as I think people might think there is more house building or industry/flight paths etc in the offing! One thing that would be helpful is a red line enclosing your plot as I can’t work out the actual extent and also if the long access road belongs to you or is used by other properties. I think the land should be advertised as a future selling opportunity. It’s very open and because there is no street view you can’t get any feel of privacy. And agree with pp, at least one en-suite seems to be standard on properties of this size. Do you actually have a smallish lawned area or is it all the big field? Good luck though, we had to wait over two years before we finally made a sale on our big house so I know how desperate you feel at times.

We are selling in Poole. Reduced from first valuation £100,000.
Stay put, tough it out because of high stamp duty on next purchase.

We are selling in Poole. Reduced from first valuation £100,000.
Stay put, tough it out because of high stamp duty on next purchase.

sorry but house prices have fallen. That’s life