Please judge this house!?

[cookielove]

Hello, my mum is trying to sell her house please give honest feedback on the house and the photos.

What can we do to sell this house???

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/133383485?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

It's greedy boomers trying to make max profit from bargain homes they bought 30/40 years ago!

@Madcats The areas of Hemel Hempstead and St Albans are not at all comparable.

St Albans has always attracted a much higher premium due to a naice city centre and a large choice of outstanding schools.

Hemel town centre is rather miserable - lots of pound shops and empty units. There’s one school that’s great, a few ok, and a couple you really wouldn’t want.

I think if it wasn’t for the railway the price is about right. It just puts people off.

You don't think it's anything to do with demand outstripping supply then...

The house is lovely but nearly £900k for a house on a railway line?

How much demand is there exactly for this house? Not much by the looks of things otherwise it would have sold. Mother could sell for less but to have it on for almost a year indicates they are asking way too much (its already been reduced by £125k) and too greedy to ask for a sensible price.

The house has been on the market on and off for nearly a year and hasn’t sold even with a large price reduction. Not a massive demand, in this case.

The house is lovely usually it’s down to price why a house doesn’t sell. Might be worth using the sold prices on rightmove to give you an indication. I’m not familiar with the area so can’t advise on this best seeing if any similar properties and what they have achieved.

That's a fair point. I thought it was amazing value (well for today's prices anyway) until I realised it was a semi.

True.

Decor is very outdated.

Oh please. Where is the owner going to move to where the prices are at 1990 level?

take your spite somewhere else, people are trying to be helpful here.

£900k for a semi on a railway line 😱

No one's suggesting they should sell at 1990 prices, but when a house is hard to sell, it's the price.

Its beautiful

It's nearly a million quid for an unbeautiful 3 bedroom semi under a railway line.

That will be the problem.

It's not clear to me how much of the house is hers- is it semidetached or 1 house?. And the line in the photo of the garden makes me think only half is hers.. but what half?

It's St Albans- the area is amazing

Lol what?

They could put it on for £750-800k and sell it fairly easily. They are holding out for every penny they can squeeze…which is fair, this is an island that loves capitalism, but then to moan about it not selling! Then you’ve crossed into peak boomerism.

I think the house looks lovely.

Something I would find off-putting as a buyer however is the fact that it looks like the photos were taken in the Autumn? I know you are getting new photos done so make sure they reflect the current season so it doesn't look like the house has taken a while to sell.

Agree. Make it SEEM like it hasn’t been on the market for NEARY A YEAR!

Where did I say sell it at 1990 prices?

It's clearly overpriced, otherwise it would have sold, it's that simply. It's just greedy and stupid to keep holding out for a price that's unattainable. Give good advice all you like but short of spending a tidy sum bringing it up to date or bringing the price down considerably, it won't sell.

As others have said new photographs would help enormously. I think the angles aren't helping at all, for example the kitchen looks very narrow.

It can be hard to be objective about your childhood family home but this can also be your super power. What areas are particularly lovely, can you play around with a camera and get some good shots that can help inform the estate agent or be used.

I agree that the garden probably needs a bit of love. The pictures of it look shabby and a bit unkempt. It might be worth a day or so in the garden (or paying someone if you can have a tidy) and take new photos.

Good luck selling

I think it looks quite dull and unloved, the sizes and flow are not clear from the photos, the outside is jumbled. That's before the layout and train track are addressed.

If it's a decent price and area fair enough but it does need to sell a lifestyle to an extent.

I’d replace the black shower. It massively dates the bathroom.

I like the house. At first glance I thought oh this is a quick fix! Just do a nice gravel or breedon type driveway and it would look completely different.

But as I went through I think the issue is the bedrooms. It’s not a 4 bed, it’s a 3 bed and that’s generous as really it’s one and two halves.

And the railway will put some people off. It’s a tricky one as not sure doing the driveway would be a lost cause.

If your serious about getting max price for it I would speak to an architect and planners and see what extensions you can get. Draw up plans and get permissions to turn it into a proper 3 or 4 bed and whilst doing that you can address the back of the house as well because I do think that view lets it down. Would look fine rendered but you could maybe do plans for some lovely glazing modern back to make the most of that fabulous garden.

I'd want to see photos of all the rooms - all bedrooms and bathrooms. The loo photo isn't great is of the black shower cubicle.

There are too many photos of the garden, which isn't great - no plants or pots or seating area, just grass!

Hall photo?

And yes to the Railway line and bridge - which line is this? How busy?