We have had our house on the market since August and have had only one viewing so far! I know the market is terrible at the moment but the Estate Agents have suggested we drop the price but im worried that if we do that too much we wont be able to afford a bigger house which is what we really need! Poor Megan is still in our room, in her cot and I dont know how much longer she can stay in there! Its not ideal and I would love to give her a lovely little bedroom of her own. The other girls have a bedroom each but as Moll is doing her A levels I dont really want to have to make them share again. The estate agents have said to drop by about £5000.

here is a link to the estate agents website with some pics of our house (hope it works). I guess its a difficult one to compare as we all live in such different areas. Hmm its a tough one!!

http://www.johnfrancis.co.uk/propertysale.htm

Any advice??

oops it didnt work!!!! I will try again in a min!!

hmm see if this works??

http://www.homesonview.co.uk/Scripts/FullDetails.aspx?CID=JNFSHAVE&AID=JNFSHAVE&PID=JGP02966

Its a lovely house, im afraid i have no idea of house prices in Wales though but you certainly coudnt get a house that big and nice here in Brighton!
Good luck, i hope you get more viewings soon!

It's a lovely house with a fab garden. Like you say it is difficult to compare as we live in a completely different area. When we sold our house last summer we had ours on for offers over £169 950, with the intention that we would get £172ish for i, but due to the budget around that time the market took a bit of a hit. So we ended up getting £169 950 for ours, which we were really happy with as we got our new house for a bit less too. That is one way to look at it, if the market is dropping a little then it should give you flexibility for the next house you buy. Could you afford to drop £5000? You need to get some more people through the door! x x x

thanks girls! Yes thats it I deffo need some more people through the door and Im not sure whether the agents are pushing it or whether we are just really unlucky because of the market and of course the VAT Rise etc wont have helped!!! Bummer eh!!!

Can you maybe arrange an open house? That would get people through your door. You've got a gorgeous house, people are mad not to want to snap it up xxxxxxx

Mummy2aMiracle wrote:

Can you maybe arrange an open house? That would get people through your door. You've got a gorgeous house, people are mad not to want to snap it up xxxxxxx

ooh I wouldn't know how to go about that?? Thanks very much! It doesnt look as nice right at this very minute with all the toys etc in the living room etc!!! Its hard to keep it looking like that and im no domestic goddess so when i get any more viewings it will be a mad whizz around!!!

Have you asked for feedback from your agents? Are there many similar houses on the market?

Our estate agents were really good with viewings, etc, we got a print out telling us who had been given the details and all the viewings arranged with comments, etc. The housing market in our area is quite buoyant, but there were lots of similar houses to ours on the market but we sold within the month.

It is a complete pain trying to keep everywhere tidy with children! So i was glad it didn't go on for too much longer.

yes we get monthly reports etc and im sure they are trying but not sure how much?? I guess one of the problems is that its not a first time buyers house its in the next price bracket and if the first time buyers arent buying either then we will have trouble selling. I have seen a house I like but im too scared to view it in case i fall in love with it and really want it I think we need to have a think about exactly how much we can afford to drop the price. Its not a good time to sell but is a good time to buy so maybe we can get the house we like for a lot less?! Grrrrr tho its so annoying cos we sold our other house within a week!

It must be really frustrating. Sounds like the estate agents need a kick start. Could you change agents?

House prices are shocking at the minute, not the greatest time to sell. I dont think i would want to drop the price helz.

How about your middle daughter sharing with Megan. Its not like Meggy will be up playing in her bedroom with being so young, it would only be at that they are really together. Not idea i know but Tom whos 11 doesnt mind sharing with Archie whos 4 a bit.

xxx

Hey Mara its not that easy as Emily's room has a built in bed which we had built when she was much smaller! Shes 13 and nearly 5ft 5 inches tall so its not ideal and she is really outgrowing the room! so I cant imagine Mollie who will be 17 in May going in there either!!! Mind you if we wait another year and a bit Mol will be going to Uni but we cant rely on that either!!! I dont know we will see how it goes I think and decide if there is much we can do!

do you have an idea in your head of what you want from the sale or what you NEED to be able to afford a new house?

You should look at houses that you like some people might be wanting a house like yours as an exchange plus part payment etc... not everyone wants to go UP in house sizes some might want to go down too

Can you afford to have 5,000 less? maybe try dropping it by 2,500 first see if that makes a difference or try an open viewing (although in my experience an open viewing normally means that the seller is quite keen to sell and will accept a fair bit lower than the asking price)

Are you under any obligation to stay with these agents or can you move or put the house with another agent too?

It's a lovely house but I can't comment on the price as well you couldn't even get a 1 bed flat where I come from for that price nowadays so that's a bargain to me,

I think it would be worth that around here

Is there no way you could stay there an extend the house?
Dan has done a fair few planning applications for extensions in the last few years as people cant afford to buy bigger. You could extend into that vacant area at the side and have a drive through and just an upstairs bedroom and bathroom...or go ground and upstairs but that would lose the use of the garage. Dan had a look and said so long as you kept a walk way (like to walk a bin size) the council would probably say its fine

Im not sure hun, but if i had that much money I would buy it from you, its a lovely area and i would love to live there as when we went to that wedding in May in Pembrokeshire we had a lovely time and its such a beautiful place xx

I wouldn't drop the price. Sounds like your agent is looking for a scape goat for not doing their job. Try to find the comparable's in the market for you area and see what houses like yours have sold within the past 3 months. If your house is nicer, then by all means keep the price as is. 5000 isn't going to make or break a sale if you haven't had any offers. Agent needs to get off their bum and start showing and promoting your property more. Good luck! Oh..and it is awesome to see you on here! xxxx

I agree with Jen on this one......When we used to look at property, we would look upto 10-15k over our budget to take into account offers etc, so I cant see how a 5k drop is suddenly gonna turn it around.

I would be going with a new agent with some fresh ideas.....even in this climate 1 viewing is appalling

Hope u get some luck soon xxx

i dont know if its the same where you are but at the minute if you are doing that you need the money for the extension upfront!
We rang the estate agent about it because we are in a similar situation with the same type of drive as you so thought about building a bedroom upstairs and having either an outhouse or a car port at bottom but the estate agent said we would have to pay and biuld the extension first, and then they come round and value it and if the value has gone up they will put by however much their valuation says on top of your mortgage.
which was no good for us because we dont have £30k to build the extension in the first place.
x

i suppose if you have been there a fair while tho you could probably remortgage. We havent been here long enough to have equity.
x

Niccsy wrote:

i dont know if its the same where you are but at the minute if you are doing that you need the money for the extension upfront!
We rang the estate agent about it because we are in a similar situation with the same type of drive as you so thought about building a bedroom upstairs and having either an outhouse or a car port at bottom but the estate agent said we would have to pay and biuld the extension first, and then they come round and value it and if the value has gone up they will put by however much their valuation says on top of your mortgage.
which was no good for us because we dont have £30k to build the extension in the first place.
x

Yeh I think its always like that - unless you have the amount in equity ( I think that's what the word is ), as in you owe £30k less than the current value of your house.

You can get loans for home improvement though - pay it each month and then pay it off when the house sells?

aye! I think on that kind of money you will be looking at having to pay £300 a month ish for a loan tho wouldnt you?
wish we had that spare! lol
x

Hmmmm tough call. At the price it's on for at the moment would you consider an offer below the asking price, I'm guessing yes as it's to be expected. If you lower the price by £5k then your could maybe just not be as flexible on the price you're willing to actually sell for. Could you put it on as offers over £179k? That way if people are looking on the internet you generally put in an upper and lower limit on a site like Rightmove. If it's at offers over £179K it''l be shown when people are looking up to £180K. Just as thought. It's such a lovely home so I'm sure you'll sell at a good price xxx

Put it on with a couple more agents. They will charge you a higher commission but it will make them work. The problem with sole agency is that all they need to do to get their money is sit tight and wait for a buyer to come along. When there is more than one of them they actually have to work.

You can see sold prices on right move to see what other houses in your area have actually gone for.

thanks for all your advice girls think I will sit tight and do some research.

Cheers Jen its awesome to be here too xx