Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think that it’s odd no one has come to look?

559 replies

Onwayto50 · 01/07/2025 13:13

I wasn’t sure how to title this - but we put our house on the market 3 weeks ago and have had utter tumbleweed. I’m including a link - am I missing something? I think it’s priced right for the market and I think the photos are lovely but maybe I’m too close to it?? AIBU to think we should have had a least a little interest? Or am I missing something glaring??

Check out this 4 bedroom terraced house for sale on Rightmove

4 bedroom terraced house for sale in Harrowby Road, Grantham, NG31 for £390,000. Marketed by Newton Fallowell, Grantham

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/163176548?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
canyon2000 · 01/07/2025 15:52

I've just had a look at the back of the house using street view on Google. The access to the garage is very tight. There is graffiti on one of the garages and an old sofa down there. Also is that an abandoned caravan in your neighbour's garden?

TheOpalMoose · 01/07/2025 15:50

A lovely home, but I would say the price. I don't know the area but £390,000 for a terrace house in the Midlands seems overpriced to me.

Praying4Peace · 01/07/2025 15:47

Arseynal · 01/07/2025 14:24

I think it’s a 3 bed - I think I’d come up against issues with the building regs for the loft bedroom and the pool table bedroom has the boiler in it. It’s a lot of reception space compared to sleeping space.

The through room is too long and thin. I’d want to put it back to 2 rooms. I was wondering what the office carpet was hiding (looks like it was chosen in the basis of cheapness for this sale) the previous photos reveal its hiding painted floorboards that either need stripping or a forth bridge level of maintenance.

The garden fence needs replacing - . That’s an expensive job and a pita to do with neighbours plants etc.

The bedrooms look cold

I just hate the kitchen. I would want to replace it.

Ditto the (nice sized) bathroom

You are selling a project house at a fully renovated price.

I do think it’s got excellent curb appeal.

Wow, very negative and unjustifiably so

Twilight7777 · 01/07/2025 15:47

I think a couple of improvements could be made, the kitchen feels a bit corridor like an lacking in atmosphere due to this, I’d suggest moving the table that is in the kitchen to one of the corners of the room, and if you have the funds, make it a round table, the room feels very boxy and a round table would improve this. Garden would benefit from being broken up into a couple of ‘rooms’ with maybe some screening maybe a planted trellis, again if funds allow. Also I feel there are too many personal effects in some of the rooms, especially the ‘game zone’ and the (teenage?) boys bedroom, could do with some pairing down of items just whilst you are trying to sell. Having a lot of items out on display gives the impression there is a lack of storage, and this is one thing that would put me off.
on the plus side the living room/dining room is lovely as it is. Hope that helps some! 💐

WiddlinDiddlin · 01/07/2025 15:46

Too expensive.

Lots of clutter, which makes it look like there is a huge lack of storage.

Scruffy garden and the patio/steps up to the patio doors look like an absolute death trap AND really unattractive.

Kitchen is bizarre, puts me in mind of a train station rather than a kitchen - having just a central island might suit you but it looks like you've cheaped out of putting in a proper kitchen and have gone with a freestanding Ikea island - so immediately people are adding 20K+ to the asking price to fit a proper kitchen. It again reaffirms the lack of storage as you've got stuff badly hidden under the table and a freestanding unit with a kettle on it that also looks scruffy.

As is - drop the price by about 80K..

Or if the area could actually stand that price, tidy the garden, put in a proper kitchen and do something about the awful steps/patio. I would also make a big deal about there being a double garage and vehicular access to the rear of the property as that is a big selling point.

Praying4Peace · 01/07/2025 15:46

SeaShellsSanctuary1 · 01/07/2025 13:25

The lack of interest is always down to the P word.

I think the house looks lovely. How does the price compare with anything recently sold.

I also think that you're at a time of year where people are pre-occupied with other things like summer holidays and the new school year

This
House looks stunning

Lifeofthepartay · 01/07/2025 15:45

Well, it was £340k 18 mo ths ago and it looked nicer back then? You clearly spent money on it but it has not added value, the spaces don't look well defined and the kitchen looks so weird now consisting of what it seems a very long island, whilst before you had a proper kitchen dinner. The fact that you are selling so soon too rings alarm bells.

LastnightIdreamtIwenttoManderleyagain · 01/07/2025 15:45

I don’t know the area, but from what others have said most likely it will be the price. Better photographs of the kitchen would help too - not to be unkind, but the island looks like a lab bench in those photos and I could picture an alien cadaver being dissected on it! It also seems to have created a hell of a lot of wasted space. Unlike many on Mumsnet, I love a kitchen island (have one myself), but it has to be size-appropriate and in the right space. If the kitchen had been configured better, there would have been plenty of space for a decent sized dining table too. I realise the kitchen was already there when you bought the house, but I think you also need to take into account that a lot of potential buyers are going to want to change it completely, and take that into account with the price.

Poppybob · 01/07/2025 15:44

Decor is lovely, but the mixed colours in the rooms make the rooms seem clunky, reminds me of lego-and awkward. The rooms seem narrow and clausophobic like. The garden is just ok...again narrow.

REDB99 · 01/07/2025 15:43

Kitchen has no space for a dining table due to the large island, that would put me off, I don’t like eating in or near the lounge. The kitchen if differently designed looks like it could have space for a table. The carpets look cheap and it looks like carpet on the bathroom floor?

FancyCatSlave · 01/07/2025 15:41

I’m just down the A1 @Onwayto50 in Rutland and that seems hugely expensive for Grantham.

Nothing is selling though, I am tracking properties keenly as in the midst of divorce (although not ready to list yet) and even lovely stuff is hanging around and reducing multiple
times.

I do think your kitchen layout is unusual and warrants better photos. It does look a bit dark and narrow although beautifully finished.

Shakeyshakeyshake · 01/07/2025 15:39

orangedream · 01/07/2025 14:22

I think the dark grey carpet is very off-putting. It screams student house and makes every room look depressing.

Or office.
If you can’t take out the table can you take up the carpet under it?
Who eats on a carpet??

Also - the pulley is the kitchen over the island is odd. Screams no space to store utinsels - keep them in a box you take away for viewings if need be.

When we sold I had a box of neutral furnishings I put out and loaded up the car with wash baskets, coloured cushions and boxes of toys that used to live on the floor…

SaturdayDream · 01/07/2025 15:38

The kitchen is a disappointment and you’ve barely got any good photos of it.

Zov · 01/07/2025 15:38

Hellohelga · 01/07/2025 15:01

When you bought it in 2018 it had wooden floors, a striped stair runner, a tiled kitchen, classic light neutral colours. These are what buyers of period properties look for. You’ve removed these and added care home carpets, laminate kitchen floor and gaudy colours. Plus you’ve hiked the price by 28%. If I bought that house in 2018 the only thing I would have changed is the kitchen, which looks like a school science lab. For me the price would need to accommodate a new kitchen, a full repaint and new flooring throughout all the downstairs of the house.

The property was all white, grey, and black before and that striped stair carpet was hideous! 😬 The bright white kitchen was minging too. (In the 2018 listing.)

Although, as you say, when it's more bland and boring, it's easier for people to change/put their own stamp on it. Bit more difficult to do it to this one how it is now.

HotColdFlame · 01/07/2025 15:37

Honestly, I agree with the other comments that the house looked better before. Natural ' eclectic 'design doesn't come easily to everyone and it just doesn't work here. Throwing lots of bright, zingy colours around in an attempt to mimic mcm retro fashion doesn't fit with the grey, heavy duty carpets, muted green chimney breasts or pedestrian looking sofa. I'd be tempted to strip it all back, throw Egyptian cotton on all the walls, get rid of the 'quirky' lamps/decoration and neutralise everything. Not much you can do with the kitchen, really that's been poorly designed but definitely remove the hanging wooden shelf and attached plastic spatulas!

EggnogNoggin · 01/07/2025 15:37

The kitchen and dining room put me off so strongly that I wouldn't consider a viewing.

Dining tables belong in the kitchen or their own room, not in an open plan lounge.

The problem with the kitchen is the long central unit. There's nowhere for an entertaining space.

And because its newly done, the price means I couldn't justify ripping it out - nor could I live with it.

Gremlins101 · 01/07/2025 15:35

I'm in ireland where you could sell a dirty toilet for half a million right now, but my parents and my best friend are currently trying to sell in the UK and neither had ANY viewings. My insights are not very specific or helpful but I guess I'm saying you are absolutely not alone.

AngelinaFibres · 01/07/2025 15:32

sweetpickle2 · 01/07/2025 13:26

This is nearby and very similar in layout to yours and is on for about £150k less- https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151601861#/?channel=RES_BUY

I don't know your area at all but that alone suggests you're overpriced.

This one is lovely. And a much better price. Yours looks like you did the downstairs then ran out of steam for upstairs and the garden.

EllieEllie25 · 01/07/2025 15:32

The video tour is very very slow to get going, I got bored and clicked away before it had left the front garden, so you could ask them to edit that.

And the lack of a table or any cosiness in the kitchen would really put me off, could you maybe move two small arm chairs & a coffee table to near the back door and re-do the kitchen photos? Make sure you can see the bar stools in the photos too, because in most of the kitchen photos it looks like there’s nowhere at all to sit down in the whole room.

Zov · 01/07/2025 15:29

It's nice inside, and looks well presented, and I love the big bathroom, but as is often said on this type of thread, it's nearly always the price when a house is not garnering interest/not selling.

Also, parking? Where do you park? Not sure if I've overlooked it in the description, but parking/having somewhere to put your car is a dealbreaker for most people, especially when they're paying nearly £400K for a house. Also, mid terraced? Some people are not keen. (Sorry.)

FishChipsAndVinegarPlease · 01/07/2025 15:20

sweetpickle2 · 01/07/2025 13:23

What have you done to the property to justify a 20%+ increase in value since 2018?

Normal CPI inflation has been 30% since 2018, which discounts house prices anyway. I'm not sure whether one can expect a house value yo keep up with that.

That figure is according to the bank of England calculator. If inflation had stayed at 2% throughout that time it would be 15%. I'm not sure what has gone wrong but I do know that I don't earn 30% more than I did then.

Twiglets1 · 01/07/2025 15:18

Haven't read all the comments but I wouldn't consider it a proper 4 bed house but more a 3 bed house due to the small size of bedroom 4.

It's only the size of a study or nursery, in my opinion. That may be affecting how many people would be interested in buying it at that price if potential buyers are also mentally redefining it as a 3 bed with extra study/nursery.

HurdyGurdy19 · 01/07/2025 15:17

I feel for you OP. Your home is taking quite a bashing on the thread, and it must feel quite personal. I hope you can take it as constructive, as I'm sure that is how the comments are meant, although they do come across as quite harsh.

Personally, I love your lounge. The base colour is quite neutral, but there's lovely splashes of colour with the chairs and cushions etc.

I do agree about the kitchen though. It is an odd layout, and with the vacuum etc stored around the fridge/freezer, it could appear that there is a lack of storage.

The garden looks very narrow in your photographs, but if you look again at the previous listing that someone else has linked, it looks much wider - perhaps you could address that and stop it looking so cramped.

I wonder if the steps from the kitchen down to the garden could put people with young children off? Not something I suppose you can do anything about - is there another access to the garden.

As others have said, if you haven't had a single viewing since you put it onto the market, it's going to be the price that's putting buyers off.

Finally, I do agree that the garage should be played up more. With street parking presumably an issue, having a double garage with access straight into the garden would be a plus.

Notimeforaname · 01/07/2025 15:17

The kitchen doesn't really look like a kitchen. It's cold and empty.
You don't show the garages or the entrance to them at the back.

WickWood · 01/07/2025 15:15

I agree, its always the price!