House not getting interest

[sausagetheorangecat]

Friend’s house for sale, she’s said she’s had 8 viewers in 2-3 weeks but no interest at all. ‘Nice but not for us’ generally being said.
any advice/opinions why?
price is correct as per area (affluent) and from different estate agents.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/89691198#/?channel=RES_BUY

Eh - hasn't been on for sale long. If the seller thinks it is worth 400k+, but buyers don't, why not just stay? It's a perfectly nice house, and the two kids can just share a bedroom so neither gets the boxroom. Or turn the box room back to a study, and one kid can sleep downstairs.

theres utility for tumble/washing & outhouse for storage

Surely buyers only ever say "it's a lovely house but not quite what we're looking for". Their just polite.

Are they? I said things like 'Because it stank'.

For reference as I can’t seem to edit a post 🤦‍♀️ the other house £400k that needs work was a comparison, as in that’s a doer upper for 400k but bigger v this smaller in comparison but not as much work.
Please don’t bite my head off!

Do they have a problem with next doors conservatory? It seems to be slightly encroaching on their land? Perhaps it is just the photo.

I don't know the area but know the style of house as I grew up in one and I have owned one.

I would say it's most probably a combination of the price and the changes made to the downstairs layout. Both working with the assumption its a 3 double bedroom house, it's not it's a 2 and a half bed. They simply don't have the space downstairs for all of the things they want it to be, the kitchen diner lounge is trying to work in too many different ways. If 2 rooms don't work when the wall is up, they rarely work when the wall is taken down and there hasn't been any significant rejig.

The price isn't off putting as they are getting viewers but it's enough over not to be right and giving offers. It needs to think about identity and looking at how the downstairs space can be utilised to its best effect would be key to me. The upstairs is the upstairs they are all alike in that aspect. It's the downstairs that is usually tinkered with in this style of house and unfortunately in many of the houses I've seen like this when buying our place. This is the layout that is the least likely to work.

@sausagetheorangecat I'm not sure if you saw my previous comment but the house you’ve posted to show the difference was on with Karl tattler, they really are quite sales aggressive and their pictures and floor plans are the best around. If I was desperate for a sale, they’d be the agent I’d use and I don’t particularly like them, I just appreciate they sell quicker. That said, a house is only worth what someone will pay for it. I learnt that the hard way with mine not long ago.

It’s a tough market on the Wirral currently, especially for more affluent parts but I’ve heard very good things about the local high schools near heswall. It’s early days, it’ll sell x

I'm sorry if you thought I and others were biting your head off? I certainly had no intention of doing so. Just no explanation on the link you posted, so we could only comment on what we assumed you were trying to say. Your friend's house is a nice house, clearly well looked after, but not everyone's cup of tea to buy and things like the kitchen and the bathroom haven't been done since they bought it, by the looks of it, so it is now on sale for a big increase in price which may not be justified. Or it may just be that your friends need to wait until the right people come along. It is a very stagnant market at the moment and as others have said, people will be holding off until we know what the next Prime Minister is going to do re stamp duty, property tax etc.

Growing up one of 3 girls.... We fought over who got the luxury of the box room! Box room meant a room entirely for you! The other bedroom was shared with by the other two and later was used as extra storage but the box room was just the perfect size for 1. I loved it!

Its a 3 bed semi for £400k.
Its very nicely decorated imo but it won't be to everyone's taste.
For £400k I'd expect a detached in that area.
The extention to the side is ugly, but that might have been done by previous owners.
So, for me, its the price.

I don’t know the area but the other house linked nearby at the same price is a doer upper.

I’d like a detached house for 400k too, wouldn’t we all, but in my area it would by a studio.

I hear you! One of my brothers got the box room and I was madly jealous! I have two sisters as well, and had to share with them!

Your expectations aren't realistic.
Are you from the area or are you assuming that because it's Merseyside it should be cheap?
It is Merseyside but it's in a desirable part of the Wirral.

If buyers look into the history of the house, what it last sold for, what has been done since and if they don’t think that reflects the big price increase then of course they won’t express interest. If I were looking that’d be my view point.

This house is lovely.

Living room is giving lots of colour ideas! It’s really lovely I agree.

Also have to look at area and not solely decor compare. House v location dilemma

@EarlofShrewsbury , It's Pensby not Heswall.

all your 3 bed competition is cheaper than you
a few 4 beds are not much more than you

QED: price....

It was 100k cheaper in 2019, it hasn"t increased 100k since 2019 because interest rate pressure is now upwards, it is probably worth less now TBH.

It was valued higher, but it was dated decor, no redecoration or any work improvements in the ten years it was owned previously. So got it at a reduced price initially. Spent £40k roughly building work garden improvements plus interest rates , probably good to get it as £385k.
To say it’s worth less now simply isn’t true

Interest rates are the biggie, the cost of mortgage debt, that can cause big price drops (or increases as in the bubble that is now bursting) ultimately it is worth what a buyer (and their lender) want to pay for it.

But it doesn't really work like that @sausagetheorangecat

If you spend £XX on your house, that doesn't mean it is worth £XX more. You don't always get the monty back. The work you have done may be the sort of thing that doesn't add value (such as decor, beyond a basic scheme); or it may be that prices are dropping or static and the ££ you have spent will just keep it at what you paid.

Years ago I sold a house for what I had paid for it six years before. I had spent ££ on a new kitchen and bathroom and central heating. But prices, having risen, had dropped right back down. It was fine though – I didn't buy it to make a profit, and I did the work to make it nicer to live in.

A house is worth what someone is willing to pay. As others note, if bigger 3-beds and 4-beds are on sale for the same or less, this one is probably priced too high.

People look at size, area and price, other posters say there are bigger/better houses in your area for the same price or less, trying to sell for more than that is a total non-starter in this market IMO.