Worried I won't be able to sell

Mike3549 wrote: »

You said this happened last year. A lot has changed in the last 12 months.

Point taken.

Op, just checked one house on daft that matches your description. If its your house then it needs new pictures and to redecorate the whole interior, needs a bit of womans touch. Place looks empty, no curtains, needs some more pictures on the shelves and walls, flowers, put beds in empty bedrooms, couch and other furniture looks dated, you can get decent furniture from adverts for free or a fraction of a price, you can resell them later. Is that a tv stand on the wall in the dining room? Take it off. Cut the grass. Living room needs to look livable, get a second hand tv stand with television, some bookcases, coffee table. Fix that broken panel in the kitchen next to dishwasher. Wide angle lenses do wonders with nicely decorated places, but in this case it made more damage than good. Id better spend 1k redecorating the place first. Look at other ads, showhouses or family homes, just to get the idea.
That bus and industrial estate doesnt look bad on google maps.

I sympathise OP, if you need to sell. You were of the understanding that your house would be snapped up last year and made your decision to sell based on that advice. A year has passed and it would appear that you have unfortunately missed the boat. It must be very stressful for you.

Many are arguing that your buyers are not seeing the bus etc because they are not turning up to view it because of the wrong price and/ or the impression from the photos. People can see an awful lot about your house without leaving their living room. They can get street view and satellite view. They can see all of these things without ever going through your door. If you have an industrial estate behind you, that might put some people off straight away and they can see that online.

Your EA doesn't seem to be helping much and very hands off. Have they made any suggestions at all about whether you need to improve the property or why it's not getting the interest? You mentioned that they advised against doing any work. My guess is that there are larger issues at play than the out of date furniture/decor if I'm honest like why the house next door is vacant and the impression that is giving. I don't agree that you should be spending much money on refurb. I would consider doing the fascia/ soffit though as coming into winter again, it's probably not doing your house any good and drawing attention to what issues that it might already be causing, leaving it as it is. If you do decide to let it out again, you will be needing to maintain this property for the long haul potentially.

I have to add to what others have said about the pictures, the are horrendous. Extremely bad, low quality and in no way sell the house. As a buyer myself that is the first thing that puts me off. Whatever camera was used must be very bad quality and looks like they have been edited to brighten them after they were taken. Id want to study the pictures to garner what I can from them, and that low quality is just offputting. Agent didn't care enough to take decent photos at all.

The skirting boards are filthy, the bathroom needs a good clean. It clearly looks like an ex rental. There seems to be paint marks on the floor.

I'd be having serious words with the estate agent over that, coupled with the fact that its not mapped properly at all on myhome.

Daft.ie seems to be doing upgrades at the moment and their search function is appallingly bad, which is pushing people to myhome.ie now too.

Please do not go into debt to sell this house!!

Sell it at market value, remove this millstone around your neck and go live the rest of your life.

PS That Estate Agent gave your terrible advice, Estate Agents in general are self-interested gobs1tes at best, odious at worst.

PPS OP stick up a link here, you might even sell it off boards.ie - If you're worried about what you've mentioned about your neighbours then don't be - You've been nothing but reasonable and tolerant of Bus Eireann Billy etc.

PPPS You also come across as too passive - Stop the hand-wringing and start doing things. Get up at 6am next Sat and you'll be there for 9am heave a load of effort into this house using the local B&Q or wherever as your supply point - Make stuff happen instead of crying about Estate Agents not waving magic wands for you.

* Someone please PM me a link to this house too!!

lunamoon wrote: »

Can you PM a link to it as well please?

Yea can someone PM me the link I haven’t been able to find it.

Originally Posted by homer911
I'm pretty sure the parking of commercial vehicles at a residential premises is prohibited

Edgware wrote: »

No its not.

Well parking of HGVs is, I dont think people would be concerned about in use working vehicles, but a bus or a truck or scrap is different.

Marcusm wrote: »

The parking of a commercial vehicle which is subordinate to occupation of the house is permitted under residential property use but use of an empty property for the parking of a commercial vehicle who's use is not tied to the property is not using the property for residential purposes and is unauthorised development and not permitted.

This is something Im interested in, you're saying that the parking of a commercial vehicle (do you mean a van?) suggesting a commercial vehicle suggests its functional?

Marcusm wrote: »

The property presumable has an existing residential planning permission. If it is being used solely for the parking of a commercial bus then that is a material change of use. It has become a car park, that is not a residential use. Different issue arises if the driver or owner occupied the house and the parking of the vehicle is ancillary to his use of the premises as a dwelling.

Section 3(2)(b)(iii) of the Planning a& Development Act 2000.

Thank you, just read that, thats what Im looking for, now who enforces it?
It appears to say in
(iii) the deposit of vehicles whether or not usable for the purpose for which they were constructed or last used

That scrap vehicles cannot be kept on a property?

Dav010 wrote: »

Doesn’t that relate to depositing vehicles, not parking those used on a daily basis?.

“the deposit of vehicles whether or not usable for the purpose for which they were constructed or last used, old metal, mining or industrial waste, builders' waste, rubbish, debris..”

Where’s the bit about having to reside there? I don’t see how this could be considered as a commercial premises just because the owner parks his bus there after he finishes, he is parking in his own driveway. Would the section you quoted not relate more to scrap vehicles?

If it does, Im happier than I was before I read it, who enforces these things? the local Authority?

faceman wrote: »

The bus next door is unlikely to be putting off people, if you’re not getting viewings then they’re likely not seeing it anyway. Either way unless they hear you have a problematic neighbour, which you don’t, then it’s not an issue.

With total respect OP and without having read the ad, it sounds like your property is well overdue a make over. If you’re competing against lots of new builds then your competition is ahead of you. Most FTB won’t want to buy a project

I also agree with the advice re a local EA. But other than that the only thing that’s remaining is the property is over priced.

I disagree significantly, if anyone saw a bus parked up in a neighbouring property, they would surely choose another property if all other things were equal, now I havent seen pictures so its possible other things may need to be done, IMO thats a significant issue, depending on the local Authority the bye laws may vary, I know in some Council areas its contrary to local bye laws to park HGVs, other categories may fall under that too, we had a guy parking a rigid truck and an artic cab in the estate, completely out of order IMO.
The OP sounds like they are stuck between a rock and a hard place, agent doesnt seem to be doing much, cant dispute with neighbour if not nearby to secure property, Id definitely clean it up as much as possible.

Cat_M wrote: »

So is it over priced because it needs a makeover? So I spend a couple of grand on it and update the kitchen somewhat and replace the soffit and fascia. Then what? Keep current asking price on the basis of a refurb or is it a case of taking a discount AND spending money on it? Are there no people out there who can't afford the new builds cos they are 50/60K dearer but would take a much cheaper house and allow for replacing a kitchen, let's say for less than 10K?. We would like to buy and will not be seeking a perfect 2nd hand house by any stretch and would expect to have to refurb at some point when we can afford it. I was a first-time buyer too and I did update over time when I had a bit of money. EA said at the start that people now want "new houses at second hand prices. " Isn't there anyone else out there wanting a second hand house that might need an upgrade? When I was getting it painted etc all the people who said, don't spend any money, people want a blank canvas. Don't replace the presses, the next people might rip the lot out, etc, etc. Where are they? I thought the apparent refurb issues would be factored into the price or that's what I was led to believe. The new builds are on top of each other, have post stamp gardens etc and nowhere as close to town and probably have barely room for one car.

IMO, if the soffits are bad its worth doing, Im debating whether to replace a kitchen myself, and after reading this thread I think I will (I was recommended not to), but I live in my house, wont get much use from it if I end up selling, but if I dont at least its new and refreshed, I dont think I'll recover the cash (and thats what I was told by an EA), I still think I am in more of a high interest area schools/transport links, but I think it will generate more interest havin a kitchen done, got prices from 3.5k to 10k Instead Im only refreshing the bathroom/ensuite though.

JoeyJJ wrote: »

I think Kitchens, bathrooms etc there is probably some reason not to spend money on it however Facias don't really provide too many design decisions. I would replace them as it may also lead to bird infestation or damage due to water running down if really badly damaged.
Got mine done and it really brought up the look of the house.

I disagree, it can really refresh the house up front, it costs a lot less than a kitchen replacement.

meathstevie wrote: »

Definitely, tell that to every builder, painter, plasterer, courier, electrician etc etc that they can’t park their van on their drive anymore or a farmer that he can’t park his Landcruiser at the house anymore....

I dont think anyone is complaining about vans in use, a HGV/bus is a bit of a different situation.

limnam wrote: »

Is it priced correctly?

Just about every reason a house is not selling can be fixed with price.