A couple of years ago I was looking at buying a house in Wellington and chanced upon a listing for a lifestyle property. The property was semi-rural but still only 15 minutes out of the Wellington CBD, came with a sizeable piece of land and a large pool. The house was large and reasonably modern, appeared to have huge potential, and was close to transport links including the yet-to-be-completed Transmission Gully. Best of all, the price was well under my expectations.
Even though it had been on the market for a long time (a sure sign that something wasn’t ‘right’), I decided to arrange a viewing. I quickly discovered why the house hadn’t sold. The road running past it was a high speed highway and if the constant and overwhelming road noise didn’t do you in, the ever-present risk to life and limb from high speed traffic every time you tried to leave the property, would have. Suffice to say I didn’t buy it.
I’m not sure what happened to that property, but it suffered from something that I wouldn’t wish upon anyone trying to sell a house: it had a "stigma".
Defined as "a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person", a stigma is basically a feature of a property which makes it considerably more difficult to sell. And while there are many subjective things that can put someone off buying, there is general agreement about the main things which "stigmatise" a property. They include:
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1. Location
Perhaps unfairly, there are some suburbs in some of our towns and cities in which it is considerably more difficult to sell a property. If the median house value in your area is considerably lower than the average price for your town you may live in one of these.
2. Noise
While less of an issue in CBD locations, constant noise (particularly road noise) can be a major turn off to potential buyers.
3. Plaster exteriors
So strong is the stigma associated with the "leaky homes" fiasco of the 1990s and early 2000s that even weathertight homes with plaster exteriors built well before this time are affected. Often potential buyers will refuse to even view such properties based solely on a listing photograph. While understandable, this has affected the saleability of thousands of perfectly good homes with absolutely no issues.
4. Neighbouring houses
Remember how your Mum told you that we’re judged by the company that we keep? Well it’s true of houses, too. Even well-presented, well-maintained homes with manicured lawns can be stigmatised if they’re next door (or close) to derelict properties with decaying facades, un-mowed lawns, or a pile of car bodies piling up. Sad, but true.
5. Street names
Yes, even a street name can stigmatise a location, sometimes because the name is stupid, difficult or offensive, or sometimes because the name assumes a new (offensive) meaning years after the original street was named.
6. Access
A strangely shaped, steep or narrow driveway; a tight turning area; or an excessive number of steps: these can all put people off buying and can be difficult to solve.
7. Lack of parking / garaging
With the exception of cities like Wellington, where such things appear to be par for the course, a lack of off-street parking and garaging will generally be an obstacle to selling a home.
If you’re in the market to sell a property affected by one of these things, anything that you can do to reduce or remove the stigma will obviously improve your prospects of a sale. And remember, time and price are your friend. The longer you can wait – and/or the more you’re prepared to negotiate on price – the greater your chances of finding someone who is prepared to look past the problems and purchase your property.
- Ashley Church is a property commentator for Oneroof.co.nz. Email him at [email protected]
