My parents are selling in Scotland, no viewers. What to do?

[Fimbo]

Parents are hoping to move down beside us in England. Their property has been on for 2 weeks with no viewings, the home buyers report is not exactly happy reading (old doors etc that have no safety glass, some of the electrics need updating, rendering on house may need repairs in the future). They can't really afford to drop the price, if they are to move here where houses are much more expensive.

They are late 70's and there the house is generally old in taste, swirly carpets etc. It is not that appealing to younger couples but the garden is fantastic and beautifully kept, there is also a good loft space which could easily be converted, they are on a large corner plot where the house could be extended.

My father doesn't take kindly to critcism and doesn't see anything wrong with the house/decoration and will blow up at me if I suggest anything needs altered. They also don't have the money to tart it up any further.

It is also not the best looking house from the outside.

Wwyd to help it sell?

I managed to identify it too (if it is the one with the blue carpet). The PDF did take a while.

Do you want some comments on the schedule or would that be unhelpful?

Also - its on as offers over - which means people will automatically expect that your parents will want about 10-15k more than that? In which case they are competing with some other very attractive properties?

Not being on rightmove is a major disadvantage as you just aren't visible to many purchasers.

the big thing that I think will put buyers off is not having a bathroom upstairs, and only having a shower room.

i don't think rightmove is such a big deal up here. link to it and delete tomorrow.

Rightmove isn't a big thing up here, but people looking to buy may be further south, and rightmove would definately be the first place they would look. In our experience the solicitor/agents are really lazy and old fashioned ( no sunday opening!) compared with the 'normal' agents who are all on rightmove. The solicitors rarely followed up on viewing, whereas the agents would be straight on the phone to see what we thought.

Well, I don't know, but I've been talking to EAs for the last few weeks about the sale of our flat, and they all seem to think that Rightmove is the first place to be, even up here. It's the first place I'd look. So, while perhaps not as big as it is in England, I certainly wouldn't be ignoring it if you're trying to maximise exposure in the current market.

I am in Scotland and would say right move is well used.
When you google say,houses for sale Dundee a lot of people assume every estate agent, house for sale will be on right move.

rightmove isn't the problem, it's a red herring. no one has come to see it yet because it's too expensive for the way it looks. what are all the other properties like in the area? prices, decor etc.

Yes it is the one with the blue carpet! There is no real way of moving the bathroom upstairs which I know is another problem with it. The shower room was only done just before last Christmas, prior to that it was a hideous avocado green bathroom suite. They had it done to their requirements (i.e taking out the bath) as they had decided to stay and not move down here (this has been an ongoing saga above moving for about 3 years!).

I guess about 10 years ago, it would have been a property developers dream as they are on a large corner plot with plenty of extension potential to add more bedrooms, upstairs bathroom etc, but not these days. There is also a large floored attic which the former owners 45 years ago used as a bedroom.

If someone was looking to move into the area from down south for the hospital say then yes rightmove would be the answer. I think only YourMove use it up here and maybe a couple of independant estate agents.

There is another house in the same street up for sale which is similar decor (carpet in the kitchen anyone?) with most of the garden removed in favour of block paving. It is on for £45k more but is detached and has from memory one more room.

How long has the one up the road been on the market for? Its probably overpriced too! Moving to a fixed price would probably help - but it is early days - 2 weeks is nothing! It took us over a year to sell our flat in Dundee and a good 7/8 months to sell our house.

Did you get people over the doorstep though LAL?

The schedule doesnt do a great job - maybe with different pictures the house might be easier to sell.

I wonder if the fireplace in the living room might be putting people off? (sorry) Could it be removed or diguised

I think that it is a little overpriced. I think that the other one on the same street (the one that is o/o £210000) is even more overpriced.

There is a thing on the TSPC where you can search by postcode, if you do that you can see what properties near to this house are being marketed at.

I dont know if it being fixed price or offers over makes a difference in this market, as in either case people will probably offer below in the first instance.

Yes we did - With our house it was about having it reasonably priced - we were lucky that we could afford to sell it for a relatively low price and still make enough for our new place.

Dont be sorry bigstripeytiger, its nothing that I don't think myself. The whole house needs gutting, but they love it and that is where the problem comes in. I am an only child and despite being 42 they still treat me as though as was 12. The price really can't go much below £175 as they simply wont be able to buy anything here (well what they want, which is another headache).

Problem is that people will only pay what the house is worth - they won't pay to fund your parent's move...

I know LAL but until there are some buyers through the door and feedback, my parents are never going to realise it.....

One thing that they should avoid doing is adding any sort of "carpets and curtains included" words in the schedule, if they are not fittings that people are likely to choose. It suggests the buyer is getting a good deal on them, when in fact they wouldn't want to pay anything for them at all.

I also think people are either looking for a project or a ready decorated home. So if they describe it as nicely decorated, those wanting to do work might dismiss it then. People wanting a home ready to move into will look more carefully and then realise how it is decorated and dismiss it. I know this is not a nice thing to say to someone who thinks their home is "beautifully decorated throughout," but the estate agent should be able to help word it tactfully: "potential for renovation..."

None if this might apply however, it'll probably come down to a price drop - sorry.

How does the price align with the home pack value. We are selling (sold STCM) my mum's house after she passed away in January, estate agent said at the moment you normally won't get over the home pack price, we accepted an offer at the home pack value.

jumping in

have to say that I think being on rightmove is pretty essential

we just sold our house within 4 days of it going on the market - we bought it off an old couple and it was quite dated so we took the time and spent the money to get it freshened up inside and painted outside. the gardens were also looking nice and neat (not my doing!)

Granted, we live in a very desirable area in Scotland wrt schools, standard of living, but our house is a 2 bedroom detached bungalow, old fashioned, nothing 'special'

our EA played up the schools aspect big time

I think you need to persuade your parents tha spending a few hundred pounds on a coat of paint and maybe even new, cheap, neutral carpets would pay dividends

also our house went on as 'offers in the region of' - the region of part reflected the home report valuation - we were realistic and knew how much we were prepared to accept - we didn't want a huge profit but we didn't want a huge loss on what we paid either - we have managed to break even (with enough profit to pay EA fees, solicitors fees etc)

I realise how bloody lucky we were to get it sold and a huge part of that is to do with the location, but I spent a LOT of time getting it looking really nice, and in the end the first viewers through the door were the ones who bought it.