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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask for your opinions on my house?

989 replies

StylishMummy · 26/03/2019 21:00

We're in the stressful and expensive process of moving house, next door have just sold for £170,000. We're on for less and have slightly less space and less than all agents suggested (165-170). But we're not selling!

Collective brain of the vipers nest is my next place for feedback - be as brutal as you like!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-70481371.html

OP posts:
Thread gallery
18
yumyumpoppycat · 26/03/2019 23:20

Interesting about the price Trixie. OP what about if you changed it to offers in excess of £159,000? You could try that rather than spending money repainting the front etc and presumably you have asked for 162 but are looking an offer of 160 anyway so the difference in what you are offered could be practically nothing?

Serin · 26/03/2019 23:20

I haven't read the whole thread and apologise if I'm repeating what everyone else says but I would paint the front in a soft grey. A few rendered houses near me are this colour and look really fresh.
Definitely get a big rug for the conservatory and make it into the playroom.
Set up a table and chairs in the dining room, having nowhere to eat would really put some people off.

NCforthis2019 · 26/03/2019 23:21

Sorry I think the house (bar the bathroom) looks old and a bit outdated. The colours are not modern and just way too much contrasting browns, nonidea what the blue sofa is about and looks out of place - almost like someone cut and pasted it there. Put something like a rug in the conservatory - it looks very bland and the tiles drag the whole look down. Add some green plants. On the whole - the garden could do some work - it looks unloved. Hanging baskets etc maybe.

A bit bland and dreary too - the exterior grey does not help. Sorry OP.

TrixieFranklin · 26/03/2019 23:22

Sorry pressed post too soon.
The third bedroom isn't really a third bedroom, it's a dressing room onto the other one. No one wants a bedroom with door access like that and according to the floor plan with no window (especially not one large enough for escape in event of a fire).

user1467718508 · 26/03/2019 23:24

Spot on suggestions from @Highfivethatfart - I can't remember the exact statistic but the value decrease on pebble-dashed houses is massive and v.surprising. Brightening it up with masonry paint and some window boxes would infinitely help with that immediate impression.

I'd also change out the blinds for something less office like.

Once you're inside the space is appealing, and I personally could easily look past the areas of decor not to my taste and see the burner, the bedroom fireplaces, the decent sized rooms. Your house has a lot going for it.

Agree that 2 x sitting rooms is a bit confusing. Utilising one of them as a dining area is a great idea.

I'd also bring some life into the house with a few interesting leafy plants.

Best of luck, hope you find a buyer Smile

NigellaAwesome · 26/03/2019 23:25

Agree that you need better photos, taken on a sunny day.

Weed the pavement where it meets the wall.

Stage the conservatory to show a use.

Are there photos of the third bedroom and utility room?

I don't like the brown window frames or the grey pebble dash. Could you paint it white / cream or is it too big a job?

TrixieFranklin · 26/03/2019 23:25

@yumyumpoppycat they'll have the same issue at prices in excess of 159k you'll miss out on all the people looking from 160 by doing that. If you sit at 160 (or offers in excess of) you'll catch everyone looking upto 160 as a maximum and also from 160 as a minimum.

The Rightmove price points between 100k and 200k go up in 10ks (and 125k and 175k).

lizzie1970a · 26/03/2019 23:25

Going by the floor plan there are so few windows and when they are there they don't have an outside aspect.

The room you enter from the front door (presumably from the shared alleyway) has no window at the side so the only light it is getting is from the french doors into the front living room.

This room has a window in it that shows it is looking into the utility room (the window with blind behind the TV). So there is no direct natural light in this room at all.

The kitchen has no direct natural light. It has a window that again looks into the utility room, going by the plan, and then doors into the conservatory. No window that you can look outside to.

The small 3rd bedroom again has no window.

Is that correct? This is what I've worked out from the floor plan. If it's wrong you need to get the estate agent to correct as it would put me off.

It's lovely inside in terms of decor. You've got it nice but the lack of windows and the layout aren't great. You need a window knocked in in that room with the stairs and again in the kitchen on the right hand wall for both.

I think the layout has been messed about with and it hasn't improved it. I would say initially the staircase would have been right opposite the front door separating the room to the right as you come in and the room to the left. You can see where the wall has been taken down. I would also say the utility room has been built over the side garden and that is why you don't have a workable window there or in the kitchen - both the room with the stairs and the kitchen should have been looking out to the side. Building that utility room has not benefited you at all - it has taken away two windows to the outside! Both now look into another room. People won't want that.

This has all been compounded by the unnecessary conservatory being built on the back which is not adding any useful living space.

It is clear now to me that the alleyway used to lead down to a side gate so you could enter your back garden. It leads into the utility room now.

For a buyer they'd have to take down the utility room to have outside windows to the kitchen and middle room. Knock down the conservatory and extend the kitchen to make a kitchen diner.

You need light.

The pebble dash is terrible and the brown window frames too.

Shame as you've got it as nice inside as you could but forget the cosmetics of taking down the office blinds etc, you've got bigger problems than that. The utility room needs to go.

TrixieFranklin · 26/03/2019 23:26

Anyone wanting to see the 'third bedroom' can see it on the video tour link.

greenlynx · 26/03/2019 23:27

It’s interesting that so many people think that putting plants and rugs will make a huge difference. I wouldn’t bother about your decor at all. I would be more interested about 3d bedroom, it’s very small, more like dressing room and won’t be appealing for me without a window. The bathroom is big so likely cold. I don’t like this type of stairs - very dangerous. If it’s standard staircase for your area, it’s ok, if not, it lowers the price for me. I also would wonder what was done in the house since you’ve bought it.
Unfortunately the next door does have better layout, more traditional, and looks more recently redecorated. So I would think carefully about the price. Sorry.

Ellapaella · 26/03/2019 23:28

The kitchen and the bedrooms and one of the sitting rooms are in need of a complete decorative overhaul so that needs reflecting in the price. It's a nice house and a nice space. If it were me buying I'd definitely want to put a new kitchen in, new carpets and flooring and modernise and update every room bar the bathroom. As long as you've accounted for that in the asking price I would imagine you won't have a problem selling for long.

lizzie1970a · 26/03/2019 23:30

OP can you confirm what I've put above about the lack of outside windows in the kitchen and middle room or have I got it wrong? Both are not looking outside but into the utility room?

Jaspermcsween · 26/03/2019 23:32

It’s a nice house but the photos are terrible

Random thoughts - garden - you can’t have a photo with junk lying next to the bins ! Move the bins away for the photos !

Lose the coffee table in front of the fire, it looks odd

Lose the conservatory curtains

Get some good quality white bedding and make the bad up properly. It looks bad in the photos

Get some fluffy white towels in the bathroom

Good luck !

yumyumpoppycat · 26/03/2019 23:32

Ah ok that's interesting re price Trixiefranklin.

Justmuddlingalong · 26/03/2019 23:34

Sorry OP, but the 3rd bedroom is worse than I feared.

inthekitchensink · 26/03/2019 23:37

You’ve got to get the outside sorted out - paint it, it looks soviet Cold War ghastly. Conservatory is not appealing, get new pics on a nice sunny day. All the pics are terrible, get new ones. The inside is fine, make a focal point of wood burner. Less focus on any decor in brown or gloss, it’s very dated and looks unattractive

TrixieFranklin · 26/03/2019 23:37

Interesting also to see the advert from when you purchased the house at auction the advertising agent describe your 'third bedroom' as a dressing room.

MollyYouInDangerGirl · 26/03/2019 23:41

I think for me it's not the decor but the actual architecture of the place!

The huge brick fireplace and weirdly placed stairs (ie no hallway) and the conservatory would put me off I'm afraid.

The fireplace in the bedroom is a nice feature (love traditional features like this in homes!) But the room itself was tiny and then the bathroom was huge?!

Unless all houses in the area have the same layouts then I'm afraid they're all pretty huge things that would put me off!

PBobs · 26/03/2019 23:41

Nice house just needs some small changes. Sorry if these have been said:

  • Needs curb appeal. The house next door looks good so you need to match it. White window frames are in but since you can't change that you need to dress the window better. Get rid of the vertical blinds and fit some sheer roller blinds. Paint any of the masonry/woodwork that you can in a nice white. Don't go bright bright as that will look cold against the pebbledash. A regular white masonry will do as they're never too bright bright. Get some shrubs along the wall on the inside - leave them in pots so you can take them with you. Hydrangeas would look beautiful there or otherwise just something green and bushy - maybe some sort of evergreens.
  • You have three patterns in the blue living room. I think the checked curtains and stag print work but I would trade the floral covers on the sofa for a mix of stripes in blues and creams/greys and solids. The curtains are too short. They should just touch the ground - any seam to let out? Are you any good with a sewing machine or binding tape? If so, you could add a solid colour in the grey/blue to the bottom of the curtains to extend them.
  • Is the blue room your "formal" living room? If so, is there a way you could switch the sofas around? Put the cream one and armchair in this room and the blue one in the TV area? If not I think in the cream room you need to ditch the coffee table - maybe move that to the blue room? It looks weird where it is and doesn't serve anyone. You'd also be able to see that lovely wood burner more. Coffee tables should be 16"-18" from the edge of the seating they serve. Side tables are more than enough in here. A throw that ties the lilac, black and cream together would be good in here.
  • Child's bedroom is nice.
  • Kitchen is nice.
  • Master bed looks fine.
  • Bathroom could do with a rug on the floor or a large bath mat to soften that floor. It looks like it would be a cold bathroom and in the UK that's never good.
  • Conservatory. Can you get a large outdoor rug to lay down? Leave a couple of feet around the edge so we can see the nice flagstones but it will warm it up a bit. Put a layer of rug underlay under it to stop it from sinking into the crevices between the stonework. Rearrange the furniture on to the rug to get a seating area where people can chat - right now the chairs aren't even facing eachother. Put it in the centre of the room - doesn't matter if people have to walk around it. Get some indoor plants in there - a palm or two. Some nice bright cushions on the chairs. Ditch all the plastic stuff. Can you get rid of the furniture in there? Just while you try and sell? Also is that a dining table? If this is your dining room ditch the chairs and put the table in the centre of the rug. Get roller blinds instead of vertical.
  • Some more artwork through the house would be nice I think. Just a few bits to brighten up the walls.
  • You need some plants in the back garden. Again, get potted so you can take them with you. Put them in pretty pots.

Sounds like a lot but you can take it all with you when you go. So think of it as investing in the next place too. Good luck!

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 26/03/2019 23:42

Next door was on for 7.5k more than yours but has three full bedrooms with windows.
I'm afraid compared to that, yours is overpriced

onionchucker · 26/03/2019 23:43

I think upstairs is ok.
Downstairs everything looks like a corridor. Corridor kitchen. Corridor living room with stairs in. Lounge at the front - looks like a corridor on the photo.
Maybe the photos are taken at a bad angle.

Conservatory put me right off -it looks like it needs to be dismantled.

I've looked at the floor plan and couldn't really imagine how I would live in it. Maybe if you put the dining table in the room with the stairs and made the front lounge more cosy so people could imagine what they could use the spaces for.

I'd juggle the furniture around a bit and get the estate agent to take new photos.
Also the 3rd bedroom with no window is off-putting - it isn't really a 3 bedroom house. Would be better maybe to market this as having the potential to be an ensuite for the master bedroom and/or dressing room or space to create access to the loft for a loft conversion.

iknowimcoming · 26/03/2019 23:44

Get rid of the vertical blinds! Depending on how much you're prepared to do/spend I'd consider swapping the bathroom and windowless bedroom around - bathroom without window is ok bedroom is not

user1467718508 · 26/03/2019 23:47

Have to agree, that third bedroom would not be classed as a bedroom for me I'm afraid.

AfterSchoolWorry · 26/03/2019 23:52

The office blinds are ugly.

I don't like the kitchen tiles or the black tiles in the bathroom. I also don't like the brick fireplace. I don't like the wallpaper either.

Deadringer · 26/03/2019 23:55

Wow, next door is gorgeous! Sorry op, not what you want to hear.

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