Critique my house please! Why aren't we getting more viewings?

[NinkyNonker]

We have been on the market for about 2 months and have had only one viewing. We lowered the price a fortnight ago (we were on below agent recommendation anyway) and are now very well placed on Rightmove we think but no bites.

The Rightmove stats (click throughs etc) are very good, and apparently there have been a fair few enquiries but nothing further.

Is there anything glaringly obvious we, and the agents have missed?

We have had the house repainted (this is an old shot bizarrely) and have a sign up, but the agent has yet to retake the exterior shot...


Here

[SpringHeeledJack]

nudge the agent to take a new pic

that's the only obv thing wrong with it

am at your garden

[seasidesister]

err.. declutter kitchen a bit, get the agent to take new pic and one of the exterior. Price at o/o £199,950.

[KnitterNotTwitter]

Have a think about who you're expecting to buy your house - it seems like a young couple sort of place... you want to give the impression that they're going to have a fun time there with friends, BBQ's in the garden etc etc. Create the lifestyle dream for them....

Lounge furniture looks a bit oversized to me - makes the room look a bit small - if you can get a replacement sofa

Bathroom downstairs puts some people off - not much you can do about that though

Presumiably parking is at end of garden? Might be a bit quirky for some

Garden seems a bit chaotic/run down... can you spend a bit of time/cash sorting it out. Taking out the big tree would help... Also take down your washingline for the photos... Washing lines aren't part of the dream - they're part of the drugery...

[Melindaaa]

I'm not overly familiar with the area even though I am just down the road in Bournemouth. There don't seem to be many similar properties on the Market in your area to coma pre them with. Our house has been on the Market a few weeks and no offers either. I love my house so don't understand why everyone else doesn't, too ;)
Hope someone more helpful comes along soon.

[deviladvocate]

It may simply be that there are lots of houses on the market that are in the same price range - pretend you're a buyer for your house and look at the alternatives, what's the presentation like? The first thing I noticed was that the exterior shot shows some flaking paint, so if the house has been repainted definitely get the new shot on there. The kitchen looks very nice. The living room looks oddly simultaneously cluttered (very busy shelves, lots of baskets) and a bit bare - very little on the walls, no curtains or cushions. The conservatory looks good although I'd put the table in the middle of the room instead of against the wall, also why is there some garden screening on the wall? It's not clear how big the garden is as it's cut up with lots of fencing - is it yours all the way to the greenhouse? Could you remove some of the fencing? Is there a reason you don't have any pics of the bedrooms or bathroom?

Hope that helps!

[AMumInScotland]

Front picture does look like it needs the new paint

Living room - looks cluttered, which makes it seem small. A couple of bright-coloured cushions might liven it up too.

Kitchen - whats that in the window? Again, lots on surfaces makes me think not enough cupboards

Dining room/conservatory - it looks an odd camera angle? and a bit bleak - tablecloth? bowl of fruit? lose the bunting?


Overall, it seems cluttered and a bit "dull". You need to sell an idea of life there a bit more. Bright coloured accessories, but just one or two per shot and remove everything else out of sight!

[ElderberrySyrup]

yes he needs to get onto it with the exterior shot, it is oddly offputting and unfriendly looking - maybe it is something to do with the angle the door is at.

the inside is very nice and the garden is lovely, though it could be trimmed back a bit. My overall impression was very good - a nicely decorated house in good condition.

Your asking price is cheap compared to similar houses on Rightmove, but have you found out how it compares with actual sold prices? You can be cheaper than your neighbours but still more than anyone wants to pay in that area. Zoopla is good.

Good luck. Someone must want to live there, it's a brilliant area, specially with kids! (MIL lives very near.)

[KnitterNotTwitter]

devil bedroom and bathroom pictures are 6-10 you need to click on the arrow to the right of picture 5!

[elah11]

I think the photos are not doing it justice at all. The interior ones are not showing the whole room, and that makes them look small. Also like the others say declutter your sitting room :), and repaint the front, it looks a bit uncared for. other than that its lovely, esp the garden. Good luck!

[NinkyNonker]

Thanks all, feel a bit now (hormonal), it is such a lovely house!

The agent recommended not having professional (he took these), wide angle photos as people may not believe them, do you think they may be worth doing after all?

[MyMelody]

i think it looks really lovely, very cosy and lots of character, i think houses are just not selling at the moment unfortunately, round my way there are very few houses up for sale and the ones that are have been up for a long time, the markets just not moving

[NinkyNonker]

Ps, the garden screening was apparently to add texture to the dull, plain white pvc conservatory wall!

[AMumInScotland]

You may not need professional photos, but the agent or photographer should have done a little more to rearrange things for the photos, or asked you to do it. I know a bit of clutter shouldn't make any difference, but people generally have a lot of difficulty in imagining their own "stuff" there unless you give them a fairly blank picture to work with.

My parents are selling at the moment and took some pleasant-enough photos thinking the agent could use them. The agent came round and halved the amount of "stuff" visible and just dressed the place a little. His photos look much better than my parents ones even though the rooms and furniture are exactly the same.

[throckenholt]

can you get the streetview link moved so it actually shows your house rather than the engineering place a bit down the road ? It does change the feel of the immediate area when you get to the right house !

[RedHotPokers]

Get the outside shot and living room shot redone - living room especially looks a bit dingy in the photo. Maybe get rid of the chair in the living room to make it more spacious. Also get rid of bamboo screening in conservatory.

Apart from that, it looks really nice. Bathroom, bedrooms and gardens are all lovely - so perhaps ask the agent to focus on them.

[ElderberrySyrup]

y AMumInScotland - eg he could have straightened the garden chairs! I can't believe he didn't even bother to do that!

When I sold my last house the agent did a bloody good job of making it look nice just with a few little tweaks and (literally) piling the clutter into one corner of the room and standing in that corner to take that photo!

[BupcakesandHaunting]

I like your house and I would definitely put it on my to view list if I lived in Dorset and if I were on the market...

However, the exterior photo is not good. Is there any way that you might be able to repair the crumbled plaster underneath the downstairs window? The outside looks a bit austere and doesn't give any clue as to what's inside, which is lovely (remember, a lot of people still look for houses by roaming the streets in their cars so don't rely on the websites only) Could you put up a hanging basket to the left of the door? I know it's a PITA but homestly, when we were selling, I didn't believe how much difference having a few pots on my steps/hanging basket/re-painted window frames would have in terms of getting viewings.

Good luck and don't be sad. Your house is nice. :)

[thinNigella]

It's really nice! I love the kitchen. It is, um a little compact for £200k in my opinion...

[LalalalalalaSummerHoliday]

Hello, don't feel down, we just want to help!
I think it looks a really lovely house (and don't think the kitchen needs decluttering at all, looks really homely in a UK sense, not US!).
I would take down those shutters on the outside, as they give a very dated look and make me fear the inside is going to be decorated in the Duckworth style.
If you can manage to put a drape of some kind around the living room window, would be nice. Lovely room though.
Didn't understand the bamboo in the conservatory either! Not good! Looks like you're hiding something bad.
And is the Audi included in the price?

Really, I think it's a lovely house, nicely presented, and only those shutters and the bamboo need dealing with.

HTH.

[BupcakesandHaunting]

ps Meant to say, can you do things like move the bottle of squash from the kicthen windowsill/hide away some of the stuff on your living room shelves just whilst you get the pictures re-done? My estate agent was brilliant and told me what needed moving before he took the pictures. Good job he did or else there would have been an economy box of Tampax on top of the loo in my bathroom shot.

[NinkyNonker]

I know, but such is the area we live in!

I think I'll look into some temp storage to get clutter out and get DH to have serious words with the agent, I'm not his greatest fan as he talks over me etc...I think he may need a little boot up the bum.

We're thinking about staying and putting single story extension where conservatory is, knock wall through to make big kitchen/diner, but may do one big push before deciding...

[NinkyNonker]

Sorry, the area point was to Nigella!

[KnitterNotTwitter]

Good idea about the plants out the front - I like hanging baskets :)

[eeyore2]

ok - my advice is as follows. Get new photos done and work really hard at them. Abandon all principles of making it look 'lived in' or like a 'real family home' as that hasn't worked for you so far. Go completely shamelessly for the show home feel.

You should lead with the kitchen as that is definitely the best room. Remove absolutely everything from the worktops and the casserole dishes from above the units. Remember, you don't need to put everything away, just move it onto the floor in the coridoor, take the photo, and move on. The only things you should have on the work top are a vase of flowers (all one type, suggest all white tulips in a glass vase). And a bowl of fruit (again, all one type, suggest apples or lemons). Take that thing twiddly thing away from the window.

Next photo: the conservatory. Remove the bamboo thing, it doesn't photograph well. If possibly pain the wall white. Unfortunately the tablecloth is clashing with your floor in the photo. Probably change to a white tablecloth or a more brightly coloured one (pink, green). Take everything off the table and again, put a single vase of plain flowers in the middle.

Next photo: exterior of house. If possible paint the front wall. Can you add a white door number to the front door? Might break it up and make it look more inviting. Otherwise it's fine.

Next: living room. Remove the armchair and side table with lamp from the corner and put the pink toybox in the corner instead, lid on firmly (remove toys until it shuts). Remove everything from the shelves except speakers on the top shelf, one photo frame and a group of 3 white candles on the next shelf, record player and no more than 10 CDs lined up on the next shelf. nothing on the shelf-like thing under that. Remove the wooden bookcase from under the shelves. Remove everything from the mantlepiece and put one photo frame and one white candle on it instead. Remove the wicker waste-paper basket from next to the sofa. Switch the wall lights on when you take the photo.

Next: garden. Looks nice, sweep up the excess leaves on the path. Possibly put something like a small pot-plant on the table.

Next: bedroom. Take everything off the shelves and if possible remove the hanging storage thing under them. Put the blue picture on the top shelf not on the wooden panel thing. Leave the single seashell on the wooden panel, in the middle. Add a brightly coloured throw (borrow one off a friend if you don't have one) to the bed and pull the bed covers very hard at either end to make the duvet cover really uncreased. Take everything off the window cill.

Next: nursery. Looks generally nice. Take mobile off cot and remove all hanging and lurking stuff from the whole room including the grobag on the side of the cot and the clothes on top of the stool. Remove the white box that is sticking out into the room and the toy on the floor. Take everything out of the storage bags on the side of the changing unit. Now put the throw on the cot as though it is a duvet and put one really nice soft toy on top of the wooden stool. If you like put one adorable babygrow on a tiny coathanger hanging from the wardrobe door.

Next: bathroom. Remove all toiletries from the window ledge and instead put in a candle and your poshest bottle of bubble bath. Remove bathplug from photo.

Finally: two more exterior photos. They should be fine, not the greatest but would cost too much to really deal with this.

Not sure why this post is so long - probably shows something strange about my psyche! Good luck selling your house.