Why isn’t my house selling?

[rootsandwings89]

Honest feedback please. We recently had a buyer pull out and after re-marketing it 6 weeks ago we still don’t have a buyer. I just don’t understand it, our house is very well priced for the area, we live walking distance to town, train station and a popular school.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/91713960proper

It’s very nice, so it must either be the price or the leasehold filter eliminating it from some people’s searches.

I do one day a week in an agency, houses that would have sold for around 800k about 4 years ago are now being marketed around 630k or slightly lower. The only thing we are selling now are cheap flats, not the new builds as no interest in those at present, but purpose built with gardens. interest rates are only going up and will for several years.

Have you looked into buying the freehold? Could well be worth it.

It’s only been 6 weeks. Took 4 months for us to get a single offer on our central London flat.

The dining table isn't a problem. Other people could easily turn the living room into a lounge-diner with a dining table if they wanted to, and have the conservatory with additional seating.

It's a nice house. Nothing wrong with it, so I'm guessing that it has to be either price or the leasehold.

Tiny rooms, and the leasehold is a massive no from me

What was the reason your buyer pulled out?

For me the red flag is the conservatory but that is because my daughter had to pull
out a sale last year. The vendor had built over a manhole with permission from the water board. If you had a drain problem how easy would it be to get the flooring up ?

The rooms are tiny. I would imagine you are loosing family buyers with 2 children because the boys room isn’t really a functional bedroom.

It’s a buyers market, the fact it’s leasehold would put me off but as a cheap family home it’s perfectly fine.

Best way to see quickly is to drop the price.

The leasehold element would mean it’s excluded from search results for me. You have no control over ground rent, irrespective of how long the lease may be.

For that reason it may be worth lowering the price. Remember if you’re selling then buying you too will be able to buy in the buyer’s market. And if you’re upsizing, you will probably benefit longer term.

Overpriced.

Our previous house had a conservatory. When we moved I was positive I’d never buy a house with a conservatory again, and struck any off our list.

The market is very slow and being flooded with new builds where we are, anyway. Population is declining and the war Trump/Israel started is having knock on effects on people spending on big purchases as petrol goes up and we all wonder how much more expensive food and fuel will be in the next month.

It's not you, it's the idiots in charge.

But it's not just about how many years are left on the lease, there's also issues around ground rent/service charges. My understanding is that the proposed legislation changes around leasehold properties haven't come into effect yet so I think a lot of people will just swerve anything leasehold.

Your house looks lovely in the photos. I'm afraid that as soon as I see 'leasehold' on a listing I move on. This is from the experience my Mum had in a leasehold property on a new estate. I wouldn't touch anything leasehold with a barge pole.
Is there anyway you can buy the freehold?

Honestly, it presents as tired, bland and dated.

It is so grey which is the most depressing colour on the planet. When I looked through the details all I could see is the whole house would need to be redecorated which has a cost and hassle implication, when people have moved they don’t want to commit to weeks of redecoration. The size is generally good but the presentation could be massively improved.

Look on the Farrow and Ball, Little Greene, Lick etc websites for inspiration and then get to work.

The fitted wardrobes are dated and look like they were fitted in the 1990’s but might be massively improved with the middle floating panel over the bed removed, new doors and a repaint.

Your entrance hall is the nicest area as it has a hint of colour.

Also take the hideous office blinds in the lean to/conservatory down. Let some actual light in.

Being leasehold will put most people off unfortunately

50 Shades of Grey and not in an exciting way ...

I really don’t think bunch of flowers will help tbh! OP your house is in good condition but like others have said it’s price and the fact it’s leasehold which is a no no for a lot of people.

Looks lovely. I wouldn't even see a house in search results if it were leasehold and/or had only one bathroom.

I assume the price is right for the area - a lot of people are now moving to cheaper areas - you get a lot more for your money elsewhere.

I might be asking the agent to be more proactive about selling i.e. not just putting your house on RightMove. You can do that through newer agencies now who don't charge silly commission fees. Ask what else the agency is doing to earn their money. How are they ensuring buyers see your house? RightMove makes it so easy to filter houses like yours.

I know the OP hasn't come back to confirm about the leasehold, but I used to live near the OP and its really really common for houses to be leasehold. But the leases will be for like 900 years and fixed. We had 2 houses, 1 fixed at £3 a year and the other fixed at £37 a year. Its not like the new builds where you are paying for service charges to cut grass etc.

So the house is a peppercorn leasehold, we pay £10 every 6 months and there is 900+ years left

Any service charge? Restrictions on alterations, subletting etc? Any unusual covenants?

Leasehold will always put people off to some extent (and I say that as someone who lives in London where leasehold is common for flats and for some very grand houses).

Buyer pulled out because they couldn’t get the roof they wanted for the price they wanted on the conservatory. We are aware it’s older but we feel that’s reflected in the asking price.

Nope, none. Like i said it’s £10 every 6 months and that’s it. It’s not stopped half the houses in my road getting planning permission as lots have extended and both my neighbours sold whilst being a leasehold.

But it’s really good to know how many people would be put off by it. The EA said legally they can’t “untick it” on rightmove so we are going to explore buying the freehold to see if that helps.