Struggling to Sell our house

[TigersoulBlue]

Hi Everyone.
I hope you don't mind me posting here to get some advice about selling our house, we use an Agent, and its been on the market for 868 days, we have had some interest but nothing enough for anyone to put in an offer. I would be grateful on your views, I have tough skin so please be honest. all the other houses that are very similar in this area have sold for similar prices.
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/148421291#/?channel=RES_BUY

i totally get the a very pool selection of people wanting this type of house. but the other houses selling say there is still an active market for them

But none of those houses have any meaningful comparison to the house you’re trying to sell.

thanks for your views maybe a bum move from me trying to save money :)

No drive way as such, just 3 carparking spaces 2 infront of the house and 1 at the rear. its be valved 371k and we selling at 355k - but the buyer still don't want to pay. but saying that potential buyers in the past were ok with the price and that wasnt a reason for not buying.

Sack them! They have failed you.

my neighbors houses all have the same isolation issues & garden issues, they are all identical in that respect and next door internal layout is 90% identical inside. but they have sold. so i don't know.

My advice go to a local estate agent, look at what's for sale at the same price point and carefully think about whether yours is competitive.

Also look at 4 bed terraced and what price they range from. It's worth doing all the leg work.

Withdraw from the market for a few months then relist. When houses sit on the market for long periods the buyers assumption is that there is something fundamentally wrong with it if it isn't selling.

As for appearance my suggestion would be to freshen up the bathroom and put down different flooring, carpet in bathrooms is very old fashioned, it does put people off.

It's a quirky house and they are always harder to sell than bog standard houses.

But 2 years plus on the market is ridiculous. Maybe you weren't serious about selling when you first listed it because I would have been way more proactive than this about identifying the problems and changing what I could change.

The EA is one of your problems.

Yer your right, I wasnt being proactive enough, I need a kick up the butt. and hopefully this post will give me some extra drive. as ive had tonnes of great advice.

Thing is, for someone looking for a two/three bed terrace, this is amazing. You have two extra rooms on top of two double bedrooms and the location is beautiful. For someone searching for four beds, it's not what you would expect, it's falling down the cracks there. I think you have to price it like a good 3 bed and not think of it as 4 bedrooms. Or, if you do, then there needs to be pictures of all four with beds in with different coloured spreads and cushions on them so the buyer can see the size and difference- I thought it was a two bed on first viewing because the upper rooms just looked meh.

This is a lovely location, OP, you just need to tempt more people out to see it in person, it's a difficult market and so I'd take it off for now, restyle the bedrooms, remove the pics of the loo (!) and have another go in the New Year. For someone, it's going to be lovely.

thanks theres some good advice there, we will look to updating the flooring. and will review the local market

Consider your butt gently kicked.

The last house in your area that resembles the most to yours sold for £395k in 2018.

I know this area well, as I don't live far from it, and it's lovely. May be a little out in the sticks for some though, with not much/no amenities nearby. Not many people looking for a large-ish 4 bed (typically people with children or planning on having them,) will be looking for somewhere so rural...

Although it's a relatively short drive to Eccleshall (Staffs) - 4 to 5 miles, and Newport (Shropshire,) - around 7 miles, it's not really walking distance to anywhere, and is off the beaten track a bit. The closest secondary schools are 20-25 minutes by car each way.... (Market Drayton or Newport.) And there is no public transport... Not sure if the school buses come out to Bishops Offley

It's a nice house though, but I think you may need to drop the price. (Sorry!)

.

I think it's charming. However it's going to appeal to a limited market with it being so rural. It's large enough for a sizeable family but that brings issues if teenagers need ferrying around
Also, the layout of the development does mean that there's not a great deal of privacy from the neighbours. Both would be issues for me...If you're desperate you'll have to sell at 10% reduced..but just make sure you get the same discount on tour future purchase to compensate...swings and roundabouts.
Change the agents..it's time. Ask for them to arrange an open house day too. They do work..
Put it back on the market in February ..you can then legitimately day it's just come onto the market..
Very best of luck.

theres alot of houses sold in this area that aren't on that system yet. i dont know how often it gets updated. thanks for checking though.

Not sure if the school buses come out to Bishops Offley

I meant High Offley - sorry!

Yer i see what your saying, so it definitely has small market, for people that drive mainly. we do have woodseaves which is a 17min walk to the post office/shop/local pub/bus stop/primary school :)
its an odd one only being 10 miles away from Stafford town, it feels so rural.

Checking previous sales details shows that your neighbour's house is enough bigger to make the kitchen into a kitchen/diner. All the rooms are slightly larger and the box room will make a decent study. Also, an end-terrace feels quite different to mid. All reasons why it sold for so much more.

I agree with this, and all the suggestions made.

Its nice but just needs some staging.

The main bedroom looks boring (sorry!) Make the bed properly, remove what is sticking out from under the bed. Add some cushions and a lamp to give some warm cosy lighting to the room and make in a desirable room. Put some pictures on the wall as the room looks quite sparse.

Add some lamps to the rooms, (cushions and lamps to bedrooms) some flowers, dried or otherwise, in vases to add some colour, and have the agent come back to retake the photos. When the photos are taken, switch the lamps on to give the photos that nice warm glow rather than looking stark.

Good Luck

Its a lovely house and with some extra staging it will look more inviting in the photos and hopefully entice people out to view.

I think you maybe onto something here. we will have a serious think about this.

being a 4 bedroom you advertises potentially to a family of 5 people if all bedroom got used up. and the house isn't big enough for 5 people. maybe a young family of 4 at a push so 1 bedroom could be changed into a reception room/play room. yer the loos must go. to many lol.

Oh yes there is a small market, I mean you bought it! So someone will want it....

As has been said, the Estate Agent is letting you down. A property still being for sale after for 2 years and 3 months is bonkers!

I would swap to another estate agent, and maybe drop the price a bit. It is a nice house, and yes, a nice area. It's a lovely area for kids to grow up. You're virtually walking distance to the canal, and Loynton Moss Nature Reserve, and there's lots of lovely places for children to explore. But you will need to have a car, and be prepared to run your children around - a lot.

Best of luck! 😘

It's a lovely looking house.

For a 4 bed I'd want an additional reception room, 3 DC plus 2 adults and just 1 living space is difficult. The garden doesn't lend itself to being extra living space because of the lack of privacy, can you get a pergoda or at least some trellis up near the house and add an L shape outdoor sofa?

It needs to be the cheapest 4 bed for people with lots of DC who are desperate for a 4 bed or at the upper range of the 3 bed price with the expectation that one of the bedrooms will be a den or office.

If I bought it as a 4 bed I'd stick a conservatory on for extra space.

I like my privacy, so to have a garden with such low fencing as you have would be very off putting. It's all so overlooked.
Taller fencing, stage the garden with table/chairs, more planting needed.
The bedrooms need to be dressed better to show their potential.
Look at it through fresh eyes, not how you live there day to day, but what prospective buyers are looking for.

Just want to add I'm not particularly impressed with Yopa, I'm currently buying from them (offer accepted but subject to me selling).

I know the seller has accepted as coincidentally we are FB friends and we're keeping each other up to date but a week later and the acceptance hasn't officiallly been fed back to my solicitor yet. I know things take time but would have expected Yopa to have emailed my solicitor by now.

After so much time has elapsed would it be worth dropping them and use a local estate agent?

The photos are terrible. It says 4 bed but I don't see 4 bedrooms just toilets, toilets and toilets! Take it off the market, reduce the price, dress the rooms properly. Start again.
ETA:- the living room has 1 three seater sofa, how can a family of 4,5,6? Manage to fit more seating in there for their family needs? It looks to small.

This type of property is incredibly niche. There are likely to be restrictions in terms of covenants and planning conditions to prevent standard fencing and potentially domestic paraphernalia (no washing lines seen in any of the gardens). This means there is unlikely very much you can do to increase privacy I. The rear garden.

the close proximity to neighbours and courtyard style parking can also cause conflict. Like anywhere else you just need one awful neighbour to disrupt the equilibrium- there is a sort of expectation in More urban settings but this is rural and the marketing is focused on countryside living.

you also have absolutely no storage which would put me off! It’s unlikely you would be able to put a shed or garden office in the garden without planning permission either.