W and J Mulder want to sell their New England-influenced house in Pulborough, West Sussex. Jane is a writer and has embarked on a unique approach to selling their home. She says, "We know that the right buyers are out there - it's just a question of finding them," says Jane. "They are going to be younger, probably City-based, with enough imagination to appreciate the Marrakesh influences of our interiors."
Their home has been on the market 8 weeks, and is a property for someone not wanting the conventional '4-bedroomed house, all with en-suites'. It is tastefully done with grey-blue clapboard frontage opening into an impressive reception room, 30 ft-high with very large windows. The decor is superbly unique with a fitted day bed in oak, there are heavy furnishings and drapes, warm reds and russets coat the walls and the many books and plants make homely. On the first floor one of the bathrooms is hammam-style, with Moroccan-tile lined walls and a raised double bath.
Jane decided to contact property search agents and to e-mail all her contacts in her address book and offer 2,500 pounds to whoever introduces her to the person that views and hopefully buys her house. She says, "It's essential to get your estate agents on-side with these kinds of initiatives. We are treating this sale as fun, like a treasure hunt for the right buyer."
This lovely home is on the market for 825,000 pounds putting it into the 'sticky'price bracket. A spokesman from Savills says that homes over 5 million are selling remarkably easily but, "It is the homes below 1 million that are proving slower to sell."
A spokesperson, of Browns estate agents says they are trying to be more inventive. "You have to 'do a Madonna' - constantly reinvent the home that is sticking. A house may have a great view - something we may have underplayed in our initial marketing - so we'll get fresh pictures taken and really stress that aspect of the house for a few weeks."
A home design company have introduced a 'dress to sell service' which they hope will create the 'wow factor' to impress viewers. Their fees however, could provoke a sharp intake of breath, but person from the company, justifies their scale of charges from 8,000 to 150,000 pounds, by saying that they are in proportion to the selling price of the house.
A search agent for Cirencester-based Property Pathfinder and says "Buyers are incredibly sensitive of the slightest problem now. Being too close to a road or near a farm, or simply in the postcode where there has been flooding, are suddenly major issues to buyers."
On estate agents he says "Be careful who you instruct. Estate agents are short of clients in this market and one way they can secure your business is by valuing your home over optimistically, which does you no favours at all. Test your agent. How many sales have they made in the last three months? How many hits have they had on the website? Why isn't your house selling? There must be a reason!"
Your debts are pilling up and you want to sell the house, so that you can release some money. Problem is you can't get a sale and the debts keep growing - it's all so stressful! Go online and visit Promise Debt Solutions. Promise Debt Solutions provide Online Debt Advice
Tags: debt, advice, real estate, property, mortgage, finance, mortgages