Help us sell our house!

[sarahd100]

Hello,

I've posted on a couple of threads about issues that me and my mum are having selling her house, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas that could make it look more appealing?

To give a bit of background, it's been on the market since mid-June and it's on with 2 agents. I've put the links for both of the adverts below. We have fresh flowers up whenever people come round, but all we've had is stupid offers or people who don't like the sloping garden - which we can't do anything about!

Any suggestions would be REALLY appreciated!

Thank you

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56145145.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55121275.html

[IHaveAToiletBrush]

I think it is a lovely house! I was born and raised in Surrey so isn't over priced for the area. I know I haven't been very helpful.

[DesolateWaist]

The pictures from the second agents are much better.

[JT05]

It is a lovely house. The only thing I can think of, although it wouldn't put me off, is that the sitting room looks cluttered and old fashioned compared to the rest of the house.

I'd rethink the price, you know best here, but the right priced house will sell.

[eurochick]

Find a time machine and a way to reverse the Brexit vote. There's nothing wrong with the house or the marketing. The issue is that nothing much seems to be moving now. Uncertainty causes stagnation.

[wowfudge]

I agree the second agent's photos are better. Maybe have them labelled? The floorplan on the second listing doesn't display properly on my android phone - half the first floor is chopped off.

I suspect the market for a house that size and cost is just more limited than for others.

Can you get the photo of the yellow lawn titivated so it looks greener?

How are viewings going?

[sarahd100]

eurochick yes this is our biggest fear. It actually went on the market a week before the Brexit vote, we had a buyer at the time who had to pull out due to his sale falling through. Since then, we've had absolutely loads of viewings but no one commits!

We've been recommended to drop to £1,450,000 which I think is reasonable giving that we've not had any offers near our asking price. My mum is almost desperate to move, but not quite enough to accept a stupid offer.

JT05 I agree with you on that, I'm not a fan of all the wood at all! The photos also don't really show the full size of the living room - behind the sofa (where the photos are taken from) there is a bit more space and french doors that lead out into the garden and one of the patio areas!

[sarahd100]

wowfudge we've had a lot of viewings, around 30-40 probably. We had a couple of people really interested who put reasonable offers in, but in waiting for them to sell their houses, they've now either lost interest or decided they can't afford it ()

We're still getting viewings at the moment, we've had a lot of time wasters who come over and say things like 'yes it's nice but we don't like the garden' (which I think is clearly shown in photos) or 'I want more bedrooms' (?!?!?!?)

Very frustrating to have to try and keep the house in tip top condition all the time!

[TwitterQueen1]

Lovely house, but I think there's too much pine in the main bedroom. It lacks the wow factor. Can you take one of the bigger chest of drawers out? And add something more luxurious? A chair maybe, or a small table with flowers, photos.

The living room is not 'aspirational' either... too cluttered as a pp has said. Again, it might worth replacing an item of furniture with a beautiful big, modern lamp... it needs a touch of luxury.

[Blumkin]

You need more photos, a photo of every bedroom, a photo of every bathroom, etc. Have a massive clear out - there seems to be too much furniture in the living room, there is a horrible desk with computer wires on show in the kitchen bit, - could one of the bedrooms become a home office?! you have an exercise bike that could go into the garage and a weird moose head on the wall.. Too furniture in the brown/beige bedroom, the bedroom with red bedspread isn't presented well in photos, the blue bedroom looks rather unloved, have a good clear out in there too.

[sarahd100]

Thank you TwitterQueen and Blumkin! Really helpful to have outsiders POV and I completely agree with you. Mine is the room with the exercise bike and the moose head, I will promptly remove them!

The blue room was previously full of junk, this was very quickly turned into a bedroom for the photos as short notice so appreciate it doesn't look as good as it should.

I will sit down with my mum to go through your comments this evening - I can't tell you how useful this is!

[Riderontheswarm]

I'm astonished at the asking price. I think you'd be lucky.

[LillyLollyLandy]

Rider sadly that is a reasonable price for the area.

[Blumkin]

I'd move the computer up to the blue room then, show it can be used as an office (it's a really modern beautiful kitchen with a random computer circa 2006 plonked next to it.)

Then ask agents to send photographer in again and get advice on staging the rooms (bedspread ironed, vases of fresh flowers, bowl of fresh fruit including random pineapple , etc).

The bathroom and kitchen are really nice, but the rest doesn't really sell itself that we'll. You're selling to people who can afford a million plus on a house, therefore they'll expect slightly more modern designer look in bedroom.

Take your mum to look round a similar house in the area, and think what Phil and Kristy would say.

[homebythesea]

I know the area very well.

It has the air of an "old person's" house. The modern family market will want to come in and redecorate etc which will be reflected in offers.

However, more fundamentally There is only one reception room downstairs, and it's not that big for a family home. For a similar price you can get better family friendly accommodation for example-

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63043304.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56626996.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56638471.html

The garden will also be seen as a barrier for families who want somewhere for kids to ride bikes, trampoline etc.

The bottom line is that it's always about price.

[user1471549018]

Overall I like really the house. I could imagine living there. But the 2 reasons I wouldn't buy it would be the sloping garden and the conservatory. Or I'd offer at a price that would allow me to deal with both these issues without overspending, especially in view of Brexit (is this why you've been getting 'silly offers'?) Hopefully the right buyer will come along who would like a conservatory and not mind about the garden though, it's just how long do you wait...

[MakeItStopNeville]

It's a lovely house! However I would say the sitting room feels off judging by the photos. It feels laid out wrong. Try moving the sofa so it's opposite the fireplace and not at an angle. Then buyers eyes will be drawn to the French doors (why are there no photos of them?!) instead.

[velvetspoon]

Op, it's a lovely house (way out of my price range though!). I didn't notice any of the negatives pointed out above, I had to go back through the photos to see the computer and exercise bike, I'd just noticed what a spacious, light, nicely decorated house it looked!

Is anything moving where you are? Is it worth looking at all houses over £1m in say a 3-5 mile radius...have any sold in the last 6 months? What did they have that yours didn't? More bedrooms, more modern decor, flatter garden? Or were they sold for a much lower price?

You may find very little has sold post Brexit, I'm in a slightly cheaper part of the SE, and round here whilst houses under £600k are still selling, there seems to be little movement at the upper end of the market. Sorry!

[EssentialHummus]

Everything homeby said. Even in the sluggish property market near me, stock which is keenly priced sells within a reasonable timeframe.

[hufflepuffin]

Bit random but I think putting something like this at the bottom of the slope might help? Give the eye somethere to focus so you can see there is actually a flat area there? Bit expensive though!

[sarahd100]

Wow, thank you everyone! Really helpful comments.

I agree that the decor is tired - my parents bought the majority of it back in the 80's and 90's! I think my mum was trying to appeal to people who want a bit of a project - we've had interest from people who want to extend and modernise - but of course, this would need to be worked into the price.

I've been keeping a close eye on property selling recently in our area and there have been a few down our road that have gone for eye watering figures - although these tend to be fully refurbished throughout and have flat gardens. Houses outside of our road are more difficult to compare - our road is very desirable, which people pay more for. I've seen loads of houses that are bigger and much nicer than ours for a lot less money, but we have people view who specifically want to live on our estate!

homebythesea it used to have a narrow kitchen and two reception rooms, but we knocked this through about 10 years ago to make a more family friendly room and open the space up. After this was done, we stopped using the other living area completely! Probably why it looks so tired and unloved

user1471549018 can I just ask what puts you off about a conservatory?

MakeItStopNeville I will do this change tonight!!

[sarahd100]

hufflepuffin unfortunately I don't think the garden flattens out enough for that :( Such a lovely idea though!

It's a shame - my brother and I loved the sloping garden when we were growing up! We used to roll down it and slide down it and all sorts, it was never an issue for us :(

[sglodion]

I'm no expert but instantly the large bedroom furniture makes them feel cluttered and small to me.

[MadameCholetsDirtySecret]

The conservatory can be a bit of a marmite room and needs to be made to look stunning to win the 'no' camp around. At the moment it looks cold and unloved.
A quick Google threw up lots of ideas. Perhaps you can dress the room like this.

[sparechange]

The garden need sorting out. It looks out of control, and very high maintenance, especially in the first picture

The rest of the house looks cluttered but not terminally so. It just needs better photos, not taken from the same angle. And the exercise bike needs to be removed from the bedroom

[MakeItStopNeville]

OP We too have a sloped garden, or at least part of it, and my kids love it for the same reason. Especially sledging season!