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Any suggestions on why house isn’t selling (with listing)

373 replies

Sheepcountryside78 · 06/09/2025 16:02

Posting for traffic. Reduced a couple of times previously - would welcome any opinions, brutal or otherwise!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161097428#/?channel=RES_BUY

OP posts:
IsoldeWagner · 07/09/2025 07:56

Show the entrance to your home. What's the hall like, can you store shoes and coats somewhere?

Ozmumofboys3 · 07/09/2025 07:55

Kerb appeal for sure, and make sure the front door photo is first. Bathrooms should be minimal, not showing bath mats. Hide bin in kitchen. Definitely remove that bed from under the sloping ceiling and style is as an office. Some greenery as styling in each room. Try and style the garden so you can clearly see although small there’s an area to sit and relax. Pots for sure at front of house.

StressedEric · 07/09/2025 07:47

Change agent ! Use Richard James or House , plus their staging / photography services

sort out front of house as others have said .

Needtosoundoffandbreathe · 07/09/2025 07:36

OP I've just checked the sold prices info on Rightmove and the previous listing from when you bought the house shows. Usually, the EA will make sure the current listing information links to that. The previous listing makes it easy for a buyer to see what you have done in the time you've lived there and it has better photos of the garden.

Needtosoundoffandbreathe · 07/09/2025 07:31

TheSquashyHatofMrGnosspelius · 07/09/2025 04:53

Thus making the plan inaccurate

The floorplan has the room dimensions, it's just that visually the ground floor should be a bigger rectangle that the first floor.

Whoever did the loft conversion put the stairs in the wrong place or should have used a more space-saving stair design (I don't mean those weird loft access stairs with alternating side treads) because they have absolutely butchered that small bedroom. You don't add value if you lose an existing room/make the use of an existing room so limited.

Delatron · 07/09/2025 07:28

Overthebow · 06/09/2025 21:16

No, but if you’re going to buy a 4 bed house and spend quite a lot of money in it you’re going to want one if you have a family. It’s u usual these days for a 4 bed not to have one.

That’s why it should be marketed as a 3 bed.

Fullofpudding · 07/09/2025 06:40

The photo makes it look like that’s all your house. I didn’t realise it was a semi.

LovelySunnyDayToday · 07/09/2025 06:30

The rooms looks small inside. Can you get rid of one of those sofas and that bed in the office?

RedRiverShore5 · 07/09/2025 06:07

I thought the inside looked ok though the position of the TV and sofas was a bit strange but I imagine you could set it out differently but the first thing I looked for was a picture of what the actual house looked like which should have been first to set the scene. When I found it my first thought was that big detached house is cheap but then the details said semi detached.

TheSquashyHatofMrGnosspelius · 07/09/2025 05:29

It's one of the weirdest houses to look at because your mind wants to see a front door at the actual front so you assume it is all one home when it's not. The door to next door is too big to be a front door but not big enough to be a garage door and going up into the loft was the wrong thing for this house. The inside is far nicer than the outside so the outside is selling it short. It's a three bed not a four. Making a room in the loft has taken away so much from that bedroom and the look of the house generally that I can't see it as financially ever worth it.

RedRiverShore5 · 07/09/2025 05:22

It might be one of those houses on estates where you can't put a boundary between the houses up in the front garden because of covenants and they have to be open plan

TheSquashyHatofMrGnosspelius · 07/09/2025 05:12

The EA is not great at this. There is an art and a science to getting it right and this is a masterclass in not.

TheSquashyHatofMrGnosspelius · 07/09/2025 04:53

marlboroughdweller · 06/09/2025 19:08

You can see from the photo that the upstairs is smaller than ground floor

Thus making the plan inaccurate

BlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBla · 06/09/2025 23:01

Maybe these

Any suggestions on why house isn’t selling (with listing)
Alexandrine · 06/09/2025 22:58

Haven’t read the whole thread btw but I love your kitchen and bathrooms -which is great as those can be a huge pain for buyers to change. Less keen on the dark blue/dark grey feature walls (as I’m more of a neutrals or pastels person for decor) or the stepped back garden, but they aren’t the end of the world and wouldn’t put me off viewing, assuming the price is fair.

To me the main issues with the listing (which are relatively easy to change) are:

Your first photo needs to be of the front of the house not the interior - it’s standard practice and otherwise people often assume the house is ugly. Photo preferably should be taken on a sunny/bright day and focused straight on your half of the house (at the moment it focuses too much on your neighbour as well and is confusing - people might think the garage is yours). I’d also put some colourful pots and plants out front too as at the moment it lacks a bit of curb appeal.

The bedrooms apart from the upstairs master look very small. If people take the time to look at the measurements they aren’t that bad, but in the photos they look very cramped and I suspect that’s the main reason why you haven’t got many buyers through the door. Some people might want to be on the same level as their kids - so you really need to dress one of the 12ft/small double bedrooms with a double bed to make it obvious that parents could choose to sleep on that level. Make the current study/single smallest room into your nursery instead (move the desk upstairs into the bigger master bedroom if you need to). I understand it’s a pain to buy a new bed and move stuff around, but it’s just while you are waiting to sell and I think it will make a big difference. Good luck!

BlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBlaBla · 06/09/2025 22:46

Exterior needs TLC. Mowing, plants, flowers, bistro set top and bottom of garden, put the kids stuff away, new photos

fruitbrewhaha · 06/09/2025 22:40

It’s just very small for a 4 bed. It starred
out as a small 3 bed and extended into the roof space but you’re still left with a tiny downstairs and now small bedroom on the first floor.

You also believe it has appreciated £80k, 30% in 7 years. I doubt it.

Flossflower · 06/09/2025 22:40

Delatron · 06/09/2025 16:18

Thinking about it I’d remove the shot of the front of the house since it’s unclear whose house is which and it doesn’t look good. And take a picture of the back of the house?

I disagree completely. People always want to see a picture of the front of the house and will smell a rat if there is not one. I expect the front of the house to be the first picture. I agree with the others who say it lacks kerb appeal.

BestZebbie · 06/09/2025 22:35

The living room put me off because of the two sofas facing each other yet neither actually faces the TV. If you did want to face the TV with a sofa, you wouldn't be able to cross the room as it would stretch wall-to-wall. I'm not sure how to fix this apart from removing the TV, putting a prettily-laid out bookcase covering most of the blue and pretending you are a no-screen family?

Get rid of the bed under the stairs and the giant black chair next to it and style that room as a relaxing, modern, minimalist study ideal for a wfh office (invest £100 at IKEA for desk accessories, a windowsill plant, a non-wheely chair to put at the desk and maybe a small rug, put everything else in the hall while you take the photos).

Get rid of the planters and two pots at the front and jet-wash the drive. Replace with more striking pots containing large, healthy, decorative plants.

Midnightlove · 06/09/2025 22:34

For me I would be out off by no downstairs loo, also you can't really tell where your property starts and the neighbours ends.. I don't like the look of the shared front area

babyproblems · 06/09/2025 22:27

Realized the garage etc isn’t yours!! Get rid of those photos in that case.. just confusing x

babyproblems · 06/09/2025 22:25
  • kerb appeal - get the stains off the driveway and repaint the garage door, sort out the ugly pots out the front.

I think the inside is actually ok but the desk / bed under the stairs.. ! It’s not really big enough for a bedroom so get rid of the bed and set it up as a home office.

my only other suggestions which I would do is: accessorize in the kitchen to make it more aspirational - some pot plants, something up high maybe to give illusion of space eg shelf or hanging plants in nice pots grouped in one corner; and I’d change the layout of the living room. The coffee table is too big; there’s not enough width. You also can’t watch tv as the orientation is wrong..

i think we’ve seen much much much worse here so fingers crossed for you! X

NewsdeskJC · 06/09/2025 22:19

Add a porch roof above the door.
Take that bed out from under the stairs.
How does price compare to a 3 bed cos that is what you have. 3 beds and a study/home office. You might be missing out on people who are looking for a good size 3 bed.

GarlicPint · 06/09/2025 22:18

Sheepcountryside78 · 06/09/2025 16:12

Front door is down the side - and garage is the neighbours as house is semi detached.

I was very, very confused by the bit with the blue garage door! Alongside previous ideas about cleaning up and prettifying the front, I'd so something to mark the boundary between yours and next door - ideally, you'd have a fence or wall with planting but that might be out of budget. A line of pre-planted supermarket tubs would do the job visually.

I also couldn't understand the living room photos with the blue sofas. It's not at all clear that these are of the same room.

I generally disagree with PPs about cluttering, but almost every house on the market could be made to look more spacious with careful organisation and MUCH better photos! If you do have some spare funds, see about making the garden look better maintained and masking your neighbours' dilapidated brickwork.

It's a nice house. I might have a few niggles (no downstairs loo) but can see a family living happily there.

MissSophiaGrace · 06/09/2025 22:09

You can see from streetview how much better the garage door looked in previous years when it was newer. Do you know the neighbours well enough to ask if they'd consider painting it?

It's an odd house in terms of it appearing to be detached - it isn't clear that there is even a path on the left hand side to the neighbours front door. The write-up / description could provide more clarity to be honest.

I do think that the current photos are all pretty awful - they really don't help you. The description could also do with being rewritten. Can you change estate agents?

Some of the posts on this thread might appear harsh but I do think that there are some great ideas. I wish you luck.

Any suggestions on why house isn’t selling (with listing)