House still on market over 2 years later

The fact that you're getting lots of viewings shows that people are curious enough to have a look, and the demand is there, but there is something or several things about your house which is putting people off from making offers. Rather than haggle you down to 230k for example, they just think it's easier to wait for another house or have found a better one elsewhere.

Many, MANY sellers put their house on the market in 2022, hoping to catch that COVID buzz, but things have really calmed down since then. I've seen houses in my area decrease by 30k. One house went from around 250k or more to 140k!

Rather than accept, that many people have just hung on and on and on, instead of reducing the price adequately.

The floor plan suggests that rather than this being a comfortable 5 bedroom house, it's an house with 5 uncomfortable sized bedrooms.

Bedroom 1 should have been one longer, more comfortable room rather than the fad for putting in on-suites in these days. He may have bought the house like that and had no choice though.

I mean my God, you have a toilet downstairs if you really needed an extra one for emergencies!

Bedroom 2 (at the front)- another en-suite! Silly! Imagine how big that would be if that wasn't there? It could be a really decent wardrobe space then.

Bedroom 5 - this is not a bedroom. It's a cupboard space. I'm not even sure if by modern housing standards that would actually pass for a bedroom space for an adult (I think it has to be a minium of 6 square meters). Still, estate agents will list them as 'bedrooms' all the same. Bedroom 5 & 2 are obviously meant to be the same room. Just looks like someone put in a partition.

Bedroom 2 (at the back, which should be labelled as '3' - looks ok.

Bedroom 4 - would make a smallish ok bedroom or study.

Downstairs looks fine - great big conservatory. That needs to be totally decluttered and new photos taken as it's the selling point of the interior, in my view.

You said smell - I wouldn't count on your house not smelling. Many families with kids would say the same, but people get used to their own smell after a while.

I'd put on a bit of eucalyptus globulus on a burner in there for an hour or so on each level of the house. I used to uy Neal's Yard one which is more expensive, but good. It's very good at neutralising any body type smells, and will give the air a faint green, minty tint to it. Don't over-do it though. 6-7 drops will be fine, and you might want to have look if it'll affect any pets or kids first.

Someone will buy it if the price is right. If it is at the top end of the valuation it needs to be well decorated, de cluttered and immaculately clean for every single viewing.
Basically you would need to do quite a bit of work, the house is nice enough but nothing 'special'.
I personally would take the listing down and remove as many toys as you possibly can from the house and the garden. Also get rid of the bottles and other clutter in the utility room. Once that has been done get a proper photographer to take the pictures (ie not just Bob with a cheap camera from the local estate agency!). Study the photos carefully before you approve them for use, if you notice anything off putting (make sure all the loo seats are down!) change it and have the photo retaken.
When you get viewings make sure everything is the cleanest it has ever been, people are looking for a lifestyle. I recently bought a property and part of what sold it to me was how clean, tidy and well presented it was. The owner showed us round with her young child and it was spotless. They lived a similar way to me so it already felt like home.
The other option is obviously to reduce the price considerably. People will know your property has been on the market for a very long time, it's easy enough to find out even if you re list it with another agent, it needs to be cheap enough to be ahead of the competition.

You need to change agent , no one should have taken those photos without taking a few minutes to move those bottles etc out of the way , same with the racks of storage in the kids rooms just suggests not enough space

The house in it's nice but it's dated basic finish and very cluttered. The 5th bedroom is small. Drop it to 285000 and tidy it up a lot. Hire a skip. Paint the rooms off white. Hide all personal effects iron, bags labels and so on

The conservatory, utility main bedroom and garden at chaotic and untidy.

The bed needs making properly. The cotton wool and wash thing needs hiding!

I don't understand all the boxes in the conservatory - I've never seen anything like that!

I ignore feedback by the way from viewers. It a just that gut feeling that you don't like somewhere and how can you say that?

Come on OP do any of the houses you think look lovely look like this?

This. You’re selling a dream, a lifestyle and currently it doesn’t look aspirational it looks a bit like a student house or a rental (not due to the house itself but due to the lack of care shown - crumpled bedsheets, clutter, terrible photos etc).

you need to stage it, you can do this easily yourself.

Don’t sell before you are divorced. My friend did that husband rented house she lost everything with 3 small children. He hid any money he had, she received minimal settlement.

Do not do viewings yourself, it’s intimidating and irritating viewing a house with the current occupants there

Where I come from viewings conducted by owners are the norm. It’s so much better. The owner knows their home and can actually answer your questions. When I came here, no estate agent knew the answer to any question I asked. Estate agents limit your viewing time, whereas back home I got as much time as I needed with the owners which was much more relaxed. Furthermore, Estate agents actually stop interested owners from viewing. Over here, There were houses I could afford to buy and was very interested in, but never got a chance to view as the EA had no slots available. How the hell this is helping owners to sell their home and get the highest price for it I don’t know. No idea why peopld put up with this. EA are charging you an arm and a leg for a completely unnecessary function that creates a barrier to your buyers. Utter madness!

It needs a lot of work (fire ripped out, new kitchen, new bathrooms, possibly conservatory roof reglazed), and is very cluttered/messy. I'd think if that's it looking its best for photos, in reality - and especially after that amount of time - it's likely extremely messy and in need of a good clean.

If you can, your husband needs to completely declutter and get everything into cupboards/storage. Give the place a good clean and paint it all white, I'd maybe get the kitchen spray painted/new handles and replace the fire with something more modern.

You've got a lovely big conservatory,

I think to a lot of people though that isn't necessarily a plus!

My cousin lives in Wakefield so I know what houses cost there.
The photos are awful. I'd definitely change estate agents and get some really good photos done. Look at lots of estate agents and see who does the best photos.
The house looks fine to me. Get rid of as much clutter as possible.

You've got a lovely big conservatory, but I would have made an effort to tidy away the children's toys before the photographs were taken. Also I'd look at de cluttering in the utility and toilet area. Other than that, its a lovely house. The only other reason could be that house sales have gone down in the last two years.

Hiya OP I had a look at other listings from the EA in your area and searched four bedrooms. There's quite a few for less than yours and then the majority are 10k more but these are more done up inside.

Aside from that, there are three beds for closer to 200k than 300k and your house size is similar in size to some of those. So I'm guessing it's the price for the amount of space you're getting and what needs doing. The conservatory looks cold, so I would disregard it in my mind as living space, so I think you need to warm up and cosy up the living room and dining room to show them as living spaces for the winter. Maybe make the conservatory into a dining space and put some heaters in when people visit.

I'm inclined to agree. It's disappointing for a 5 bed detached.

No. I've never looked at bed linen. A buyer needs to think about location and price, size of the rooms, the parking space, the garden. If it's a bit messy? A family lives there. It doesn't matter.

I think it’s really nice but I’m not sure what the prices are in your area. I live in Solihull and your house is priced around my budget. You can’t get anything like that for that price here.

Work tops in utility scream this house has no storage. Worktops etc need to be clear. I know it's hard but at least for photos/viewings toys etc need to be out of sight.
Magnolia paint everywhere would be good.
I would also take pool down (and make good lawn)
Is it priced right as kitchen, bathroom and fireplace dated.

Well, two reasons. You're so distracted by the clutter and creased bed linen that you fail to notice all the good things about the property.

Also, it gives a general "don't care" vibe, if the homeowner couldn't care about tidying up the clutter or making sure the property is presentable for photographs, what else might they be neglecting or cutting corners on?

Gosh the bedrooms are all really small, essentially boxrooms. You need to lower the price so someone can do the work of removing both ensuites to give space back to bedrooms, and converting bedroom 5 into a master ensuite. This would create a better balanced 4 bedroom house.

Haha. I know that area so well. I grew up three villages over and although I live at the other side of the country now I still visit a few times a year.

As an outsider my observation is as follows.

1. You are in a bloody isolated village with no real transport other than car or bus.
2. Houses in those pit villages do sit on the market for ages, especially the bigger ones. My uncle has tried and given up twice. His house is lovely. It’s just nobody want to pay £400k to live in Kinsley.
3. They are building thousands of houses in Wakefield. You have stiff competition from newer sparkly houses.

Im not sure what the solution is but I’d start with getting rid of the clutter and tidying the back garden.

Exactly.
We bought a house from a couple who had two toddlers. There was stuff everywhere, every surface, even hanging off the bannister. I couldn't tell you what their tea towels were like, or if the bed linen was smooth.
You know what? They took everything with them.
We bought it because it was in the right location, and the right price.

TBH although there is a fair amount of clutter and the photos aren't the best, neither is that bad. OP is getting viewings, just no offers.

So either it's something not obvious from the photos, or the price.

What are the neighbours like? The road? Is the conservatory obviously too hot/cold? The big conservatory and small garden will put off some. Maybe the size of the rooms isn't clear until you're there. Any smell from pets?

Re price: you're asking £290 when you bought in 2016 for £190. That's quite an increase.

Paint all rooms white (the lavender and blue are dated). De-clutter. Raise all blinds in the conservatory for viewings. List as 4 bedrooms plus study. Make study actually look like a study.

House looks great already from the outside.

We bought recently. And our place took about 18 months to sell. Mostly thanks to the Liz Truss Effect. My advice: Take it off the market for two months, so it stops showing up in searches. Put it on with a new estate agent (check your contract with the first agent before doing this). Declutter: That utility room is screaming for a tidy up. Get the new estate agent's advice, and get them to do the viewings. You need a reset. New photos, new effort, and a new valuation. Your current estate agent doesn't think it's working, and can't be arsed- so they're doing nothing for you. With a reset our place sold in a week! Nothing much was done TBH, just better efforts. Good luck.

Clutter, curtains or scruffy beds are not why it hasn't sold.

Have you looked at the photo of the scruffy bed 😱
It’s just not an attractive house.