Why won't my house sell

[StopSearching]

My house has been on the market for nearly two years. Recently we took it off and remarketed with new agents. No viewings. We've been so patient for two years but it's getting me down now.

I just want to move on. Nothing wrong with where we live, it's a lovely little town but we have plans and this is all that stopping us. I've stopped looking for houses to buy as they are sold before we even get viewings.

Anyone else having similar problems? It's so frustrating.

Here are my first impressions!

I'm immediately suspicious when the first photo is not of the front of the house. This flags up to me that there's something wrong with it.

The first photo says - prime building land! The second photo says - so you will be stuck inside this very built up area that looks like there's no escape! Honestly, who on earth does an above shot of the housing estate!

Third photo - houses are REALLY close together aren't they? So that rabbit warren shot of the estate was pretty accurate. Also, it's so very, very bland. I wouldn't go past this photo, I'd be clicking on the "see similar properties" link at this point.

Let's presume I'm keeping going, though.

Photo five - what's that thing in the middle of the garden? It makes the lawn redundant because you'd have to avoid it. The back fence is awful. Chain link says cheap to me.

Photo six - just to remind you, here's those acres and acres of prime building land again!

Photo seven/eight - it's an okay space, but the furniture is very heavy, have you thought about some modern throws to give it a bit of colour and interest

Photo nine/ten - bit of a nothing space

Photo eleven/twelve - tiny, bland kitchen

Photo thirteen - kitchen so small the microwave has to go in the utility

Photo fourteen/fifteen - why is that not a proper wall?

Photo sixteen - Oh god, fitted units that will need removing, and why are there no curtains in this house?

Photo seventeen - More fitted units, tiny room, hate having to shuffle round a bed

Photo eighteen - okay, but so bland and in need of personality (bit like the whole house)

Photo nineteen - oh yeah, the prime building land, this time it looks like flooding is an issue

Photo twenty - could anyone actually squeeze between your house and next door?

The tour:

Why is part of the door fitting missing in the kitchen?
What a hideous hall/stairs/landing carpet!
The bathroom doesn't look bad at all, but I'm noticing the doors are really cheap.
Attic shower room looks grim - I can smell the damp
The wall with screws in it is awful.
Back bedroom with blue wall has L-shaped stain on ceiling, also what looks like a long crack, and the undersides of the wall units above the bed look like they've been really badly painted.

It looks like noone lives in this house there's so little in it, and it's got zero personality, it's also quite rundown and feels like it needs a lot of TLC and remedial work to bring it up to scratch.

OP - that picture from your back door looking out over the garden with the chairs is much much better than anything the EA has done, include a sunset too!

Sell the idea of sitting there with a glass of something on a summer evening...

I think the price is a little too high (but not familiar with the area) but you could certainly increase appeal in the meantime with fairly simple things like flowers

Op not much to add but the first photos are uninspiring, the aerial shots aren't helping, it's like a game of which house is yours.

I thought the round thing in the garden was a sunken trampoline rather than a patio.

Having a look at the house thats just sold In your street , I think that maybe yours needs to be a similar price
You live in an area where not loads comes up for sale ( excluding new build estate currently going up) and the area does add to price, but if they had to drop to sell then likely you will too as tbh their photos were better and house felt warmer , plus looked larger ??

Honestly - in my opinion the following would put me off:

1. It's bland and looks tired and old - airtex ceilings, old built in cupboards, dated kitchen - all of which say to me - owner has done nothing to the house for years - I wonder what condition it's in? Also shit that's a lot of work and money for me to have to rip it out and replace it!

2. Dining room is a corridor - onto a basic conservatory - so I bet it's cold - and it looks like an awkward shape - so again I'd be wondering if that conservatory needed updating/replacing

3. TINY kitchen - also dates and I'd want to replace it - in fact I'd want to knock into the dining room - which costs money!

4. master bedroom looks unfinished and dated at the same time - no evidence of a shower room

5. No curb appeal

6. looks crowded in!

So I'd be looking at the cost of redecorating, knocking walls down, a new kitchen, finishing the master bedroom properly and worrying it was a bit neglected - sorry but given the lovely new bulids near by for less I wouldn't be viewing. My current home was a wreck by the way and I spent a lot doing it up - but the bones were in good nick and it was bloody cheap!

It looks really old fashioned/like ex council housing? The house you linked as similar isn’t anything like yours, it’s much more modern.

Too expensive for the middle of nowhere.

Sorry op. Good luck.

My thoughts are that it is very close to the neighbour at the left and their car parking on their drive will easily be seen in your lounge ? I think I would try to delineate where your property ends and their drive is with maybe a low wall or hedge or similar to avoid them spilling out onto your driveway .Their loft thing is also very high and would take away any privacy in your rear garden . The dining area is very corridor like . I think you may have minimised possessions for the photos but it actually makes it look a bit stark . Get that tea towel off the cooker however and get the tablecloth off and put some nice flowers on it . I don't understand what is on the walls in photos 14 and 15 ? Looks like panels of MDF anchored to the walls ? The countryside would not be an issue to me . Hope this helps.

I know others have said this but the video tour makes it look like there would be so much work to do. The green carpet is awful and I really would replace it with something more neutral. The whole house needs painting to freshen it and cover up the old water damage and also cracks etc filling.

But I think what would put me off the most is the master bedroom. The shower in a cupboard is just weird. Why would you want a shower in the room but no toilet?

Personally I think you need to seriously reduce the price and sell it as a renovation project. Or spend a chunk of money modernising. But either way I think £350k might be pushing it.

I won’t repeat what everyone else has said but basically: all of the above. The video tour reveals how much work there is to be done, much of it costly and disruptive; it’s not just a lick of paint job.

I think dressing it with cushions and throws would be a waste of money, particularly as you’ve said you have no interest in that stuff so you’re unlikely to do it well. No cushion in the world is going to make up for viewers or video tourers being able to see the truth. There are 100s of oddities to fix, like this in the attic room – no one wants a municipal office kitchenette light above their bed in a £350k house. Fine in a fixer-upper but it’s not a fixer-upper price. Between the screwed-in wall, the light, and the shower cupboard, the loft room feels like it’s not quite a legal bedroom but a DIY job.

Plus the downstairs layout is essentially a corridor, you have to go through each room to get to the next, and in post-covid “aaargh we’re all trapped inside WFH I’m going to murder my partner for breathing” times you want proper separate rooms.

Can I just say OP, I think you have taken a lot of pretty harsh comments on very gracefully and I applaud your thick skin.

However, the house itself really does make me sad. It looks like nobody even lives in it, there's just no LIFE. No stuff. It doesn't have any sort of common theme running through the house and doesn't even look as though a single piece of furniture was chosen with any sort of thought, it's almost as if the house has been filled with hand me down furniture - "we need a bed / drawers / sofas etc" and just shoved in whatever you found. If you want someone to fall in love with your house, you need to sell them the dream and market it in a way that people look around and can see exactly what they'd do with it. It's uninspiring and although I quite like the layout, for me, it's a house that IMO would need to be completely gutted, walls knocked down etc. The lot. And I think it needs to be priced as such.

Either that, or spend a good few £K making it saleable and keep it at the price it's at.

OP in the nicest way, it's not a very attractive house and it's never going to tug at people's heartstrings enough to be an emotionally led fantasy lifestyle purchase. Therefore price is the all important factor here - it's got be keenly priced enough to overlook the lack of kerb appeal and the less than ideal layout.

Yes, definitely address the ceiling/artex issues and dress it up so it looks like like a student rental but really, the main issue is that you need to drop the price significantly.

What attracted you to the house OP?

Sorry think you are the one with the upper level ? The house looks like its just be added to with no real thought . Sorry.

I’ve just done the walk through thing, agree it’s worse!
To me it all feels like it needs updating, but not old enough to spend money.
I would want to paint the banisters from the weird red colour, replace the carpets, the doors to the rooms feel old fashioned and cheap. The door to the garage feels like it would let in heat/damp. The bedroom cupboards are old fashioned. The fire place is out of date. The downstairs bathroom looks older than the house. The weird bit of wood to access the hot water tank is strange. You have an amazing view, make the most of it.

It depends on how much you want to do to sell.
Cheap things, new carpet, paint the banisters, change the tap on the sink to make it look not the cheapest thing in the shop.

Expensive things. Knock kitchen through, new doors, internal and external. The shower room looks cheaply made and like the food isn’t good? Re do downstairs toilet.

The shed is a lovely plus.

Blimey op. I’m not sure you and your husband are reading the comments. I’ve no idea why he’s laying on the floor trying to work out whether he can get a bed in. Firstly, yes he can. A single one. If he pushes it against the back window so the door can open.

Secondly it’s so small it will make it look much much worse. As said it’s below the legal limit size for a bedroom. Dress it as an office.

Secondly. Putting a bed in there is not going to change the major issues. It’s really not.

But you’re ignoring the key issues, for example Saying there is no damp In the third floor shower when it’s clearly visible. The marked paint work, the dirty carpets, the thread bare parts, the ceiling issues. And the fact it’s substantially over priced compared to houses that have sold or are actually selling near you.

Putting a bed in the office isn’t going to change it, I’m sorry. Peoole will still be able to see it’s dimensions. They aren’t suddenly going to think it’s a bedroom.

@Doris86

I’ll say it again - PRICE TOO HIGH

At this point OP must know this is the issue. It's been 2 years, and multiple posts on here have addressed the issue. I wish you luck OP with selling, but no amount of cushions and styling will lead to a sale, unless you also reduce the price.

[quote Oneapennytwoapenny]The kitchen is very small for a family home, although a buyer could easily knock through to make a kitchen-diner. The bedroom layout would also put me off; two bedrooms, a box room and a loft room.

I prefer this one which is under offer in the same street, and cheaper. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/71884494#/[/quote]
Now that is a lovely house!

Large, modern kitchen. Curtains! I see they've converted the garage which is a good idea. Lovely living room with a woodburner!

I don't like the pine-entombed extension, but I've liked the rest of what I've seen so far, so brushing past this one thing.

Lovely garden and even a pic of the field, but when it's full and gives the impression of a working field and not as if it's about to be developed (despite it earmarked for development). The garden's bigger, but has clear spaces of lawn and patio.

Can you see the massive difference OP? Someone would just move into this house and it would be lovely from the get go. Someone moving into yours has a lot of work to do.

Clearly part of the problem is no viewings unless the buyer has sold. That will cut out a lot of potential buyers. I also feel that the garden and kitchen and garden are too small for a 4 bed house which are usually purchased by families.

@AnotherKrampus

The photos are sad and it looks like a place that sucked out all joy of life. If this house were a pair of trousers, it would be worn, cack-brown corduroy…

My dh has a pair of those

He makes Compo look like John Travolta.

I just saw the video tour- there's mismatched flooring everywhere and that would be quite price to change for potential buyers as well.
The downstairs toilet would need to complete refurbishment as well.
The walls and ceiling looks like it needs to be fixed and repainted again.

It’s almost like you are blind to any post that says the issue is the price.

Looks a good size, slightly confused by floor plan for top floor,is there a shower in the corner of the room? I wouldnt like that. First few photos isnt clear which house is yours. So would change that. Maybe put some planters out front to add kerb appeal and add cushions, throws , flowers to the rooms to make it homely, maybe rearrange sofas in lounge, looks like gaming armchair in front of tv but where does everyone else sit?
Kitchen is a bit small but potential to knock through and open up into dining room.
Garden is small for family home, 4th bedroom is also small can you fit a bed in?
No idea about price for your area.
Good luck

You keep arguing/justifying the price but the reality is it's overpriced.

The other 4 bed on the same road - ok it doesn't have a garage, but it has a lovely garden (not overtaken by a trampoline) lovely kitchen-diner and looks loved and well maintained. Your house looks like a rental, is poorly maintained and uninspiring.

I get you're focussed in the practicalities but fundamentally you need to attract viewers and you aren't doing that.

You need to drop the price and do some maintenance. It isn't worth what you think it's worth

@Doris86

It’s almost like you are blind to any post that says the issue is the price.

Yep it's some serious denial, it's clearly overpriced. Perhaps the OP is hoping that there's another magical reason it hasn't sold in 2 years. I'm sure a nice throw will hide the vast amount of work that needs doing...

It’s overpriced. I know Sherborne is a desirable area but the house itself is soulless and on an equally soulless road. The flat field would shout flood risk to me. Is it a flood risk? The inside is very ‘meh’ it looks like someone is just renting it with a few mismatch bits of furniture. The inside is very dated with too much pine.