Why is my in-laws' gorgeous house not selling?!

[irisetta]

What is wrong with this listing? Some back story - my in-laws have been desperate to sell up for a while to be nearer to us. They live near Portsmouth, we are in St Albans. They have a beautiful house! It's 5 minutes walk from the beach in Lee-on-Solent, it's right next to the High Street but super quiet. Huge back garden. Beautifully renovated home, when they bought it it hasn't been touched in at least 30 years. It looks immaculate. No it doesn't have the open plan kitchen diner, but what there is, is perfect.

For the first 7 months while they were listing the house, the estate agent was effing up the RightMove listing quite badly - they were only appearing for people looking for bungalows, when it is not a bungalow 🤦 I noticed this recently. 🙄 After pointing it out, it's since been amended to appear to anyone looking for a 3 bedroom detached property in Lee-on-Solent.

Anyway, now that it's appearing to everyone who might want it, AND they've reduced the price (too much, IMO), my mum-in-law is somehow still convinced that the lovely estate agent is now doing his level best for them - still no viewings after a couple of weeks. And they've only EVER had 3 viewings, ever since it was first listed those 7 months ago - none of which were even proceedable. Thoughts, lovely ladies of Mumsnet?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/173477669

"the estate agent was effing up the RightMove listing quite badly - they were only appearing for people looking for bungalows, when it is not a bungalow"

What do you think a bungalow is? That is very much a bungalow. A bungalow with a loft extension, but still a bungalow.

When your inlaws last purchased very few people would have been put off by people’s furniture, wall colours or even use of rooms. Fee people decluttered nor staged a house for a sale. What mattered was it was clean.

Perhaps have a chat but I suspect the eventual purchasers won’t be fussed about books soft toys or a treadmill.

Are you seriously accusing that poster of being the estate agent?

To me it reads like they have spent time and effort writing a sensible post with things for you to think about. I’m not sure they’ll bother next time if that’s how they’re repaid!

YES IT DOES!

No "apparently" about it!

Having spent a lot of time in St Albans, I know there's hardly any there.

Those of us living on the coast have dormers all around us. Everyone knows they're cheaper to buy than a detached house. I rented one for a while and there's no way it's the same as living in a proper house.

PIL may want to buy in St Albans, but they aren't going to get all the funds they need from this house to do so.

Sorry, but that's the cold hard fact.

Change it back to a bungalow on Rightmove. Price realistically for a dormer bungalow (drop at least £100k)
De clutter.
Retake the photos.
And hope a buyer comes along.

There's a traditional detached 4 bed the next road over for £575,000. It's decorated to modern tastes and appears to have solid wood floors and no eaves to contend with. Additionally, separate dining room, feature fireplace, two separate entrances, another bedroom, all bedrooms large, fantastic bathroom, no pebbledash.

There's also a minor point in the picture of the bungalow, i.e. a massive union jack, and that can put people off if it's being marketed as in an 'exclusive' area the flag seems to suggest something else.

To me this is still a 2-bed bungalow. We have a room downstairs we use as a bedroom but wouldn’t advertise it as such. The house hasn’t had an actual floor added, just a loft conversion, I look at it and it’s still a bungalow.

Bad photos, take that table and chairs out of the middle of the kitchen for a start! Also it’s not modern!
IDK re price as I live in London so everything out of London is cheap to me!

When we’ve looked at houses my biggest bugbear was one of the bedrooms being downstairs. To me this is a 2 bed house with an extra reception room downstairs that many people would use as an office. Anyone who is actually looking for a 2 bed with a bonus office will miss it if they’ve set their settings to max 2 bed. But even then I think as it’s priced as a 3 bed, it’s just on for too much. I like it a lot inside, I never get how people can’t see past somehow having dark furniture or whatever, though I know that’s a thing. Some more neutral paint throughout (not white, there are lots of lovely warm neutrals) would help I think.

@ReallyOtter she didn’t say Oxford she said Oxfordshire and they are two different things for sure !

And yeah it’s definitely a bungalow. A chalet bungalow, but it’s a bungalow.

as I said, it’s exactly what my parents did to their retirement bungalow- extended it in the early 2000s and put an upstairs on. Their house is closer to a beach and not in a town more of a village but otherwise it’s similar.

they originally had 3 beds and they now have 4 - 2 downstairs and 2 up. When my mum was alive one of the rooms upstairs was her craft room. It has velux windows and in the winter it is cold, as is the other bedroom. That alone puts me off a chalet bungalow. I want bedrooms I can use. The spare room is downstairs at the front of the house and it’s dead weird to be in your bedroom watching the neighbours walk past and gawping in.

they also have a sunroom through the utility room and it’s a pain in the chuff with young kids because you can’t actually hear what they’re up to.

they also have glass doors downstairs apart from on the bedrooms and downstairs bathroom to increase light and it’s a double edge sword. They are always dirty and when the sun shines on them you see every mark. I would change them.

you can get people who stage houses - no idea how much they cost but someone who is up to date with modern decor would help. And it would be an external person.

finally, the EPC is terrible.

I think people are being extremely harsh here and must have impeccable standards, the house is lovely! The garden is beautiful in particular and it all looks light and airy. The only room in need of desperate renovation imo is the bathroom.

I would sell the sea more. Some people don’t like the notion of living beside the sea, others would love it. I guess you have to factor in whether coastal erosion is going to be an issue in the future? But anyway, I would add a pic of the beach in.

I also don’t know the area generally so have no idea how desirable it is, some seaside areas obviously aren’t the greatest. The price is quite high for a bungalow (and it definitely is still a bungalow, it just has an attic conversion). I remember hearing bungalows were really sought after a couple of years back because they don’t build them anymore, not sure if that’s changed. Either way, calling it a detached house is a stretch.

IDK re price as I live in London so everything out of London is cheap to me!

You can buy houses in z4 outwards for this price or less…

It's a bungalow, a chalet bungalow but a bungalow nonetheless. The problem is for families it doesn't have the appeal of a house, one bedroom downstairs means it's difficult to decide who sleeps where. Parents downstairs, small children upstairs isn't going to be what people want. So immediately, you have narrowed down potential purchasers. I live on the coast and there are lots of properties like this, it's much cheaper where I am but chalet bungalows still take longer to sell than true bungalows. And with the current state of the world and effects on the UK there are more reasons for people not to buy.

I think it’s cosy, and I like the garden (without astroturf) and large garden room (without the oppressive green ceiling drapes). However i find it very expensive for what it is in that location - I am familiar with towns along the south coast, however close to the beach is. The problem is there is nothing unique about the property to command such a premium over the other houses nearby.

New windows and electrics are good as icing on the cake, but I don’t think you can expect to ask for a higher price just because these are in place. It doesn’t really make sense but that is the reality.

A new coat of neutral paint, removal of astroturf and removal of all the furniture and personal possessions to storage with a staging of the property are more likely to broaden the appeal. It is the kind of property that might mainly attract the older couple with lots of family that visit, or with lots of hobbies that could make good use of those rooms.

I wouldn’t really mind the flow as PPs have mentioned, so long as the price is appropriate.

Its expensive for what it is. 500 -550k would be more like it.

Any sort of reno work like new kitchens, bathrooms etc is VERY expensive these days so a house that has not had that work done already will be expected to be significantly discounted by buyers.

Don't make the mistake of approaching this as "st Albans is expensive, we need to sell for x to afford the move therefore must list it for x". Its not a buyers problem they are trying to move to somewhere expensive.

It is very difficult to sell in a downturn and prices in most areas have fallen considersbly since the peak in 21/22. We sold in December in a desirable commuter village near london. Our house went for basically no more than we'd paid 10 years ago despite new bathrooms & carpets, loads of updating decor etc.

The garden looks lovely

In what way is it not a detached house? I have seen several posts saying this. Detached means without an adjoining wall to a neighbouring house.

Need restyling completely.

It’s almost as if they collect vile furniture.

Im assuming they are looking to downsize. If that’s the case get rid of 50% (at least) of the furniture.

Something is going to have to give- the price or the agent. You might get that price, but you’d need an agent who is working super hard, and you’ve not got that.

Id go with lowering the price again and changing estate agents.

@irisetta As others have said, the photos are bad.
They need a new estate agent who will give sensible advice.

They probably have a small market of people who would be interested in this property. Probably 50s /early retirement. Grown up DC that have left or about to leave. Like gardening and are still able to do it.
Whoever buys it will have to spend money on it updating it from 20 years ago.

My parents have just moved to a bungalow (they are in their 80s).
Their 4 bed detached home took ages to shift for the same reasons. The house was priced at the top of their local market. Their decor was dated and to their taste. A couple of bathrooms needed updating.
They sold it for over £100k less than the initial listing fee.

If your IL wants to move to St A, I hope they have more money available to them. It's so expensive there - great schools, good transport links. Lovely place. I used to live there for nearly 10 years but moved as we couldn't afford the space we wanted for our expanding family.

It’s a chalet bungalow

Repaint the kitchen and some of the bedrooms and declutter.
And get a better first photo of the front of the house.

I’m also not sure who the target market is. Have your in-laws had any guidance on this?

You keep saying it’s not a bungalow, but it has a bedroom downstairs and i think that would put a lot of families with young children off.

That and the insane price for 3 bedrooms would be what would put me off.

I’m really not fussy about things other people have mentioned (turf/plants/clutter) etc but i have to agree that the little table and chairs in the kitchen looks odd.

Oh, that is much nicer!

I’d personally suggest removing some furniture and toning down the paint choices. The excess furniture just makes the rooms feel small in the photo (table in the kitchen, brown armchair near the sofas, seating near the dining table, table and rattan furniture in sun room (leave the corner sofa garden set)). Try to reduce the personalisation such as all the throws etc. Some people looking at homes, look at what potential a floor plan can give and others can’t see past the photos.

Its not really "beautiful", its cluttered and looks weird externally (empty street, no privacy, no trees or hedge) - the only nice bit is the garden. You can get a lovely house for this much money, with character and in a much prettier area.

Basically, too expensive.