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Original poster

What do you do if you just CANT sell your house?

74 replies

lucysullivan · 17/03/2010 17:10

House has been on market since June 2009. Stupidly we turned down an offer we got on it shortly after and have had no offers since. The problem is that their is physically nothing more we can do to the house, it has been completely done up and everyone who views comments on how lovely it is. Main thing (and its a huge thing) wrong with it is their is no parking - we don't have a driveway and have to park on the street. All our neighbours have loads of cars which means the road is always rammed full of cars and parking is a nightmare.

We can't obviously do anything about this and I'm getting sick of feedback from the estate agent which is that people love the house but wont buy it because their isn't any parking (even though they view the house knowing this).

At the moment I just can't see us ever moving and have started thinking the only way left is to auction it off. Anyone done this or know anything about it? I assume we'd have to sell it a loss but to be honest this would be preferable to living in the house for the rest of my life.. We keep getting stuff through in the post from companies offering to buy our house but am sure I've read that most of these schemes are dodgy.... Only other thing I could think of was to do a part exchange on a new build but having looked into this we'd have to buy a more expensive house which we just can't afford to do.

OP posts:
pregnantpeppa · 17/03/2010 20:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

OrmRenewed · 17/03/2010 20:10

I looked into part exchange. They have to find a buyer for your house before you can complete on the new place. I though they literally just swapped but it seems not. Well not the ones round here. Certainly worth a look though - developers may have difference procedures.

sorry Beleive me I have looked into this myself as I think I will have the same problems.

mintyfresh · 17/03/2010 20:11

We had a house with a parking problem too. We had a take-away next door, a pub down the road and a lot of double yellow lines so parking was a real issue. However, we did manage to sell it in the end. We just dropped the price significantly and it sold. As long as you are not in NE it would be better just to sell up by the sound of it.

I do know how it feels - we also had 2 buyers pull out before it actually went through and I thought I would go insane with the stress!

expatinscotland · 17/03/2010 20:19

We rented a place with a pub down the road.

Never.Again.

Or any place where there are shops or that that might become a pub.

Earthstar · 17/03/2010 20:19

Lots of houses have no parking - lots of people buy them, but the price needs to match the value buyers place on these properties - if you lower the price enough then it will sell.

Your estate agent should have told you why your hous hasn't sold. I would recommend a new agent, a big price drop and an open weekend. That way you may get a bidding war going.

Good luck with it and sorry you are feelng so stuck

littlerach · 17/03/2010 20:19

My sister's flat has been on the market since Feb 2009.

She has viewings most weeks, but no offers.
She has swicthed EA 3 times now but nothing.

It is a nice flat, reasobale sized, off road parking, walkable to town centre and beach, no idea why it hasn't sold.
I think it is a bad time to be selling really.

lalalonglegs · 17/03/2010 20:38

If the council are saying that they won't bring in parking, get together with your neighbours and lobby your councillors - they will probably be seeking re-election in six weeks' time so get onto them NOW. Get them round on a week day and say that this has become a real issue for your street and they can put pressure on the planning department. Wanting a 100% vote is ridiculous - outside of North Korea, it doesn't exist.

vanitypear · 17/03/2010 20:48

it's not right that Londoners don't expect parking - it is a big reason why a lot of people move further out - to have somewhere to park the car.

It sounds to me like you have been on the market too long and people looking now think it is stale, can't sell etc. This happens. I'd take it off for 6-12 months and then relaunch. If you just can't wait I agree with the advice about big price drop/open house etc.

nevin35 · 21/02/2017 11:59

After trying to sell a house on a busy Rd, I'd give this piece of advice- tell your estate agents to advise people that there is no parking. This will discount a lot of prospective buyers, but the buyers that do view are able to get over the fact that there is no parking and will be viewing positively. THere is nothing worse than wasting your time and energy getting your house ready for someone that will have no intentions of buying. Offer those that do view an alternative parking area. For us it was the train station which you could buy an annual ticket for £350 a year- we offered to pay this. Lucy Sullivan did you sell eventually- interested in an update 🙏

GU24Mum · 21/02/2017 12:11

Do you live in an area (ie part of the country, not just a few streets) where the market is very slow or is it more of a specific issue with the roads around where you live? If the former, you may need to consider a serious Plan B; if the latter, then it's probably more a question of price. Why don't you ask one of the property buying companies how little much they'd offer you - DON'T go with them as they are likely to give you a dreadful price but it will give you some idea of the bottom line and you can then possibly have a better conversation with the estate agent. I'd take the house off the market for a bit then change agent too as your current ones have probably filed your house into the "we'll never get a fee from this so not worth bothering" pile. If all else fails, auction is probably a better option than some of the others - you can put a reserve price on.

MrsMoastyToasty · 21/02/2017 12:18

What about putting your house up for auction, with a reserve price?

imjessie · 21/02/2017 12:21

If it's cheap enough someone will buy it .. even if you get 20k under the price you want it will probably be more than the developers will offer. If it's been on right move for 8 years it will have exhausted all avenues . Try an online estate agent , take completely different pics and pitch it low .

HmmOkay · 21/02/2017 12:29

This thread is 7 years old. The OP is probably sorted now.

imjessie · 21/02/2017 12:29

Seems to be a lot of zombie threads at the mo !

SchubertsSwans · 21/02/2017 12:30

Maybe it's just gone stale. If I saw a house that had been on the market so long and not sold, I would wonder what was wrong with it. Can you take it off the market and put it back on in a few months?

Fink · 21/02/2017 12:32

We couldn't sell our house for years. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it and still don't know (other than lazy estate agents and not very popular area) why it didn't sell despite dropping the price several times.

Unfortunately we had to move for work so no choice. We rented it out for about 2 years but the rent didn't cover the mortgage payments so we were still paying out on it.

Eventually sold and we were left with £6k, so not enough for a deposit on another place, and less than we'd paid into it over the years (had started with a 20k deposit).

Unless you're desperate to move immediately, I would hang on to it as long as you can in the hopes that someone will want it eventually. I'm now stuck having to try to build up a deposit again from scratch and not eligible for any help to buy schemes.

Mol1628 · 21/02/2017 12:33

I hope after 7 years the house finally sold op.

RedBugMug · 21/02/2017 12:49

reg parking permits - do you have a neighbourhood association? ours did the application to the council, with good arguments and consultation. has improved the area massively.

Bluntness100 · 21/02/2017 12:54

It's not the parking it's the price, I'm sorry, priced right everything sells. We had a house with no parking wnd everyone said the same thing, it's the lack of parking, dropped the price and sold it within a week. To a buy to let landlord. Who was going to rent it out as we had. Plenty of people happy to rent it. We also had lower offers of people who wanted to buy it to live in it

Sorry but it's the price. You're asking too much.

Trainspotting1984 · 21/02/2017 13:00

At the moment I'd just take it off whilst you decide what to
Do. If must look awful to have had it on the market 7 years.

Is no parking uncommon where you live? I can think of loads of areas where you don't get parking (terraced houses for example)

But yes, part exchange. If you send to auction you'll basically be in the same situation but at rock bottom price- best reduce as low as you can yourself first surely?

PovertyJetset · 21/02/2017 13:00

We had no parking and although it took 15 months to sell. We dropped the price. It sold.

minipie · 21/02/2017 13:01

ZOMBIE THREAD

(we need a zombie icon)

EggsEleven · 21/02/2017 13:04

After posting 7 years ago I'm hoping it's sold now Grin

littlemissM92 · 21/02/2017 13:10

Drop the price if your desperate
Every house will sell at the right price x

OVienna · 21/02/2017 13:23

I need to know if she sold it too.

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