Home just isn’t selling

[Doodle12321]

We have had our house on since early October, and in total had 40 viewings since then. We have had one full price offer but they haven’t sold yet. We lowered the price last year and regularly get 3-4 viewings a week. The feedback is that the bedrooms are too small which is something we can’t change. Losing the will to live as it is priced below what similar houses are priced at in the area. Is it possibly time to move estate agent?

Are room sizes on the listing or floor plan? If not, could it be that people are viewing just to see what it’s like in real life?

Otherwise, is it possible to ditch some furniture and paint rooms a light colour to make the rooms look and feel bigger? Then get your pics redone.

Are houses nearby selling?

If you have had 40 viewings I'm not sure that a change of estate agent will help. I agree that you can't change the bedroom size but it could be that there are other reasons and viewers are being polite. Are yiu able to post pictures?

Houses sell in this area very quickly. The rooms are already white/ light colours and there are only beds and wardrobes in, no clutter.

All room sizes listed on there.

I really doubt it’s the agent as they are getting plenty of people through the door . Can you move the furniture about or change it to make the space look bigger .

2 of the bedrooms it wouldn’t be possible, they both have single beds and wardrobes I couldn’t put less in, one of those is a double room so looks bigger as only has a single bed in. The main bedroom is a double room but we have a king bed in there. I’m wondering if we need to put a double in, but would that make a different I don’t know. Wardrobes are built in so can’t move them.

Good time to switch estate agent and relist in the spring. Check your contract as to how much notice you need to give your current agent. Listing at half term, march or Easter are good.

I didn't offer on several houses due to small bedrooms but then again a lot of houses do have small bedrooms... Is there anything else that could compensate eg big play area or garden? Could you relist as a two bedroom with a bonus study?

Even if the agent is good, a new agent will make a new splash as it launches to revive interest

How frustrating!

I think when relisting on Rightmove a gap of 14 weeks is required before they can market the property as “newly listed” (happy to be corrected on this though!!), something to keep in mind when considering changing agents.

Without see it it's hard to comment.

I would possibly move to another agent if you won't be penalised.

How long is your contract?

I think if you are marketing a room as a double, it should have a double bed in it. Could you remove the wardrobe and get a double bed? It's a faff, but might be worth it.

Painful isn’t it, we recently changed agent after nearly a year with the previous one, one offer at asking price which they pulled out of a couple of weeks before completion , reasonable amount of viewings, not spectacular but the feedback is just none existent, last viewing with new agent,couple apparently looked at ours and one other house both with current agent, put offer in on other one, agent didn’t even ask them if there was anything particular about ours that put them off, when we queried that they asked if we wanted them to enquire, said no because what’s the point if you not doing it at the time, personally find the agents are beyond useless, nothing OP can do about bedroom sizes, we’ve had this numerous times where they say they like house but not the layout, yet they can clearly see it on the plans, wish I had an answer for OP, good luck

I'd say putting a double in the double might be more effective.

People are lousy at imagining bigger furniture in a room - they might not think it can fit because they can't see it.

you're a brave person to put up a link to your house on here

recently a thread kept suggesting it was the price (it was a house in an area nearby to me), and with 2 weeks another house went up for sale in the area at another £60k more, it isn't always the price but many on here will say its the price regardless

kerb appeal and kitchen and bathroom can be vital, if people think they need to spend as they want to update these rooms.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156328502#/?channel=RES_BUY

this to me is dressed to sell

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156246602#/media?id=media2&activePlan=1&ref=floorPlanPage&channel=RES_BUY

This on the other hand isn't dressed up at all

What sizes are the bedrooms

Can you give us the bedroom sizes?

7x11, 7x10 and 6x7- so they are small but it’s all on the listing and not unusual.

The kitchen and boiler is brand new as well and looks like a lived in show home when we have viewings. So immaculate but also obvious people live there.

Sorry to be more accurate it’s 6.3x7.3, 7.9x11 and 7.9x10

I think it’s your living areas. Doesn’t look like you have a proper dining area or lounge.

Where are you seeing a link to OP’s house?

It could be the photos aren’t clear about the size of the rooms.

there’s a house round the corner from us that’s been for sale for ages, photos make the rooms on the ground floor look massive, but looking at the plans, they are the same size as ours. I mentioned it to a friend who’d recently sold hers, she said it didn’t surprise her it’d not sold as people don’t always understand the size on plans. Her photos made her house look smaller than it is, and her dh was certain it wouldn’t matter, she didn’t get many views, but those she did get, all commented about how big the house was, so spacious. She got an offer pretty quickly.

So given that, could it be the photos of your bedrooms give the impression the rooms are much bigger than they are, so you are getting viewings, who are then disappointed at the reality?

40 viewings suggests it’s attractive enough to people looking at the photos/online listings, but something is stopping them offering (and if it was price, they’d either not view or you would expect at least one cheeky low offer).

Lots of experience selling houses, 14 under my belt so far (job moves, and hate renting).
As others have said, a lot of people struggle to imagine spaces. If a house isn't selling, dress it for sale before you consider dropping the price.

People need to be able to imagine living in the space and it needs to feel like a home. Think of it like set design. I don't go to the extent of table scaping but I will add a pretty tablecloth and a vase of flowers. Beds get plump cushions and throws, as does the sofa. A fresh coat of paint where needed, changing the colour if I've made any bold choices that might not appeal to the majority. Go look at new builds show homes for how the professionals do it. You'll notice that there are no really large prices of furniture unless the room is humongous. There will be little vignettes, like a desk set up for writing, a small table, cosy chair and throw with a small pile of books next to a window. These give people the opportunity to think about their lives and how the house/space would facilitate it. Take a good look at your own furniture, is it too big for the space, is the layout right? Does it feel homely and a bit aspirational?
Put a small double in the double room, change your king-size for a double if you can afford to. Declutter and remove any really personal items, if needed, but it can't look sparse otherwise people will say it looks cold. Make sure the house is spotless. Flowers and plants in rooms, use soft furnishings and wood to create warmth.
Good luck.

Is it possible you don't have enough furniture/finishing touches?
We bought our house 4 months ago, it was spotless but you could see it was lived in/felt like a happy home.
Maybe something to consider?

What’s around your house? As much as neighbours change when we were looking I discounted many houses because of stuff I had zero control over, not the actual house. Power lines, neighbours with messy gardens, neighbour with huge trampoline right up next to fence, neighbour who had built a large wooden structure , they were a photographer so no issue but looked like someone could turn in to a noisy workshop.

If you've had that many viewings and feedback about it being small, I'd hazard a guess that the photos are misleading.

A house on my street has been up for sale for months but the photos make the garden look much bigger than it is (it's 5 metres long x 4 metres) and the listing is heavily hinting that the front garden could be used for parking (which it can't)