ok, hit me with it...

[Witchathulu]

The EA's have just posted it up here.

So, hit me with it - what do you think? Do you think we can achieve that price, or are we hideously unrealistic? (Please be kind, I have a stinking cold on top of my ME flaring up today! [hsmile]

[ginmakesitallok]

Why don't you have pictures of the bedrooms or bathroom?? would make me

[thestringcheesemassacre]

Agree with gin, you need more internal pictures.
Lovely outside though!

[Witchathulu]

I think because although we'd decluttered big style, both upstairs bedrooms are the kids bedrooms - they weren't particularly messy I don't think, so I'm not sure why - he did say we could take some more pictures to put up later, but I was a bit myself - he seemed to be quite laid back but then realised how late it was and seemed to be in a bit of a rush - maybe he had another appointment to get to? Dunno!

[flatbread]

Looks lovely!

Agree with Gin and String regarding bedroom and bathroom photos.

I think the living room looks a bit cluttered. Can you put the toys, guitar and keyboard away somewhere? It looks a bit as if you guys have outgrown the space and as prospective buyer, I would immediately wonder if I would outgrow it too.

Could you also add more potted plants in the living room and fresh potted herbs or something in the kitchen? I think they help in making rooms look more serene, somehow.

Best of luck!

[Hassled]

Move the musical instruments. People lack imagination - they need to see more of a blank canvas they can imagine themselves living in. Having such specific, personal items will mean some people won't be able to imagine themselves there.

I think more photos of inside would be useful - the outside is great, but that's not why people buy a flat. They need to see the bedrooms/bathrooms etc. If the EA photographer guy wasn't great, take some photos yourself and email them to the EAs.

[Pancakeflipper]

I would like to see the bathroom and bedroom. It would make me think the vendor is hiding something if they are not there to view on a website.

[Witchathulu]

Yeah, I think we may email the agent a photo of the front room which DH took when he decorated it and it was empty - might give people more of a blank canvas impression.

You wouldn't believe how much decluttering we've already done, but I know we could do with doing some more - there are 4dc's now, hence we've drastically outgrown the place!

But I'm glad you like what you've seen of it so far! Worth the money do you think?

[Witchathulu]

:o It's more of a walk in cupboard/attic, but he thought it would sound great as a secret cupboard - there is also a secret cupboard in the corner in the kitchen - it's where we keep the booze! :o

[minipie]

No idea on price because I don't know the area.

I would want to know:

• what are the dimensions? Floorplan doesn't give any. (This would really annoy me actually - dimensions are v v important esp for flats).
  

• Is the bathroom modern/new, or old and needs redoing? Lack of picture would suggest the latter.
  

There do seem to be lots of pictures of the outside. Does slightly suggest that is the main selling point i.e. implies the inside isn't that great.

I wouldn't worry too much about extra decluttering (think it looks fine) or about bedroom pictures (provided you have dimensions for bedrooms).

[minipie]

ps LOVE the secret cupboard, and will make people remember your details

[Witchathulu]

Yeah, I'm a bit ticked off that the minimum amount seems to be up at the moment - no dimensions, the description on rightmove couldn't be more basic. The bathroom was put in in 2007, so not that old, and Victorian style, although it does need a bit of sprucing up with paint and fixtures that have been pulled off by feral children fallen off, but I'm not sure why he didn't take pics of the bedrooms. After we'd spent all of Tuesday night shifting furniture and decluttering our bedroom, I was a bit when he just ignored it!
I think the description on rightmove either says to me - this is a shit flat, so we're not bothering to describe it properly OR we don't think this one will be up for long, so we're not bothering to describe it much!

[Witchathulu]

Another reason why he may not have taken loads of pics was that my dad's a professional photographer, so he may be expecting us to take our own pics and send them to him.
But seriously, what are we paying him (3 and half fecking grand) for?

[Witchathulu]

And we paid him extra to get an upgrade on r/move. [hangry] I shall have to email them tomorrow.

[ChippyMinton]

The car parked on the grass, and the clutter of bins made me

And agree about lack of photos, esp bathroom. I would be wondering if it needed re-doing. Lovely flat though.

[SolarPrestigeAGammon]

What a beautiful building. Aren't EAs a bunch of tossers though! Rubbish photos (lack of ) and no room measurements. What are you paying them for??

[MrsVidic]

i want a secret cupboard ! Also I would get a street photo when there are less cars about if possible?

[Witchathulu]

Solar, I'm not sure that they didn't just rush a job to get it up there before the viewing tomorrow - If it's not changed by Tuesday though, I shall want to know why!
Chippy, the car's parked there so that everyone gets a space - although that area's always been used as a car space, when the grass originally went years ago, one of the neighbours, being a hippy, made the ground floor flat (who parks there) replace it with grass and this plastic grid stuff, instead of gravel. But yes, I might get them to take that piccy down! Or give them a replacement one. But I don't want to fiddle too much with it and give people a false impression, iyswim.
There's not much chance of getting a photo with less cars Mrs Vidic - one of the great things about this place is that it's really close to town and station, but has a field at the back and off road parking!

I probably won't mention all the little bits about the online description tomorrow though, as I don't want the buyer to think I'm a fussy cow, because I don't think I am really! I'll just get my dad round on Sunday with his wide-angle lens, do some interiors, and email them with a 'oh, I noticed there was no description or room measurements - you ARE doing them, aren't you?'
Seriously, the commission these guys make, you'd think they'd make a bit more of an effort - but hey, if they sell it for 200, we'll be chuffed to bits!

[chickchickchicken]

i think its lovely. i wouldnt declutter any more from what i can see on the current pics. it looks as if you have two tables in the sitting room? i would move one table out of the sitting room, or to the side of the room but that would be all

it looks like a lovely family home. i like seeing the guitars etc

definitely agree about the lack of pics of other rooms giving a poor impression

[iceandsliceplease]

Lovely house, you've given me major house envy! I demand a secret cupboard NOW.

Agree with everyone else about the lack of bathroom & bedroom pictures. Immediately makes me think there must be something wrong. There are eight pictures, but only three of them are of inside the house!

Also, sorry if this sounds a bit harsh, but my immediate thought on seeing the floorplan was 'Where do they eat?'. Obviously you've taken over the dining room as the master bedroom, and that could be changed by the buyers, but I did find it a little offputting that the only reception room would be the living room.

[YougreatPumpkinmousse]

Please get you EA to spell Apartment correctly, they have it as appartment and The as small as it is would put me off because if the can't be arsed to check their spelling what else can't they be arsed to check?

[afussyphase]

I agree with everyone here; lack of inside photos and loads of outside ones always make me think there is something really serious being hidden! Also, if this EA doesn't shape up very fast you may want to think about another one - see the comments on this thread about, and by, EA's....

[Auntiestablishment]

I would be confused by the fact the floor plan says ground/first floors, the description says first/second floors and the photos show a lower-ground, upper-ground/raised-ground, 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor in the building.

How far up is it actually? Upstairs neighbours? Communal entrance or your own?

Do you have a sea view? If so, get a photo of it on a sunny day, looking sparkly, and get rid of the cloudy photo of the road.

Lovely building, but rubbish photos/blurb.

[Witchathulu]

chickchick - yup, I was desperately trying to clear off the little coffee table on the right and get it out of the way, but he'd already done the pic! As I said, I think we'll do some more on Sunday.

iceandslice :0 yes, it has been really lovely - i've been here for a decade now, but it's time to move on - I was here with the ex (it was a complete dump inside, then!) but this town and maisonette just doesn't suit our needs as a family any more.

mouse - yes, I was a bit about the typing it up - I'm hoping that they've just done a rush job to get it up there for the weekend, but I think I shall be emailing them Monday to point out that spelling, give them some decent photo's, tell them that Grange Gardens needs to be capitalised, that they need to put the full description and measurements on - it's not as if we're advertising with anyone else, ffs. I don't mind doing their bloody job for them, I only have 4DC's & a chronic illness!--

And technically, it's a fecking maisonette - hate the term, but it's a two floor flat - the top two floors, Auntie , so no-one above, communal entrance, but private from 1st floor - i.e., 1/2 flight outside, main (gothic archway front door that I wanted a picture of because it's stunning.) 1 flight of communal stairs, flat front door, another flight to main floor, then another to top floor. The plan's wrong with placing the front door where it has - that's a brick wall into thin air! The front door's at the bottom of the stair well, on the left side, iyswim. The problem in describing the floors is that the lowest flat could be seen as either ground or basement, making the two flats below us, ground and 1st (and us 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors) or if the lowest flat is the ground floor, then we'd be 3rd, 4th and 5th, which sounds a bit ridiculous!) It's basically the top two floors though, but the size of a small house. (You can ony get a glimpse of the sea from the top front bedroom window, which is quite small, but I'll try and get a shot!)

A lot of people say that being up that high will put people off, but when I've been healthy, I've been fine with it - it's been extremely secure - never had to worry about burglary, (but it's one of the nicest areas of town anyway,) and we don't get any noise from the street, and rarely from the downstairs neighbours, who don't complain about our thundering elephant children or musical instruments noise! But yeah, the stairs are a big thing, and the one thing I think that will hold back a buyer, possibly, But hey, a flat the size of a house (30% of the building!) with a field attached, 10 mins from station and town and seafront - I'm guessing that's why it's 200-225 and not 350 like some of the greedy-- buggers around here!

Yes, guide price - the EA suggested we have that rather than a fixed one, as it allows him to get 2 interested parties to bid against each other. ALL of their properties have that, but we'll just be happy to get 200, tbh. If the viewer comes round tomorrow and gives us an offer of 200, we'll say, 'thank you very much, let's go," so I don't think we're being overly greedy. I don't think. But that's the bit that's hard to judge from where I sit!

Sorry - stupidly long post, but wanted to answer all questions and it's 5 o'fecking clock in the morning and I'm awake. As per bloody usual! :o