To ask for your opinions on my house?

[StylishMummy]

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

The House Doctor!

Tracy Somethingorother!

Must find her programmes....

The outside photos and the conservatory are awful - they look slummy. And, as everyone else said, it just isn't attractive to look at. At first glance I thought it hadn't been finished yet. Even the roof on next door looks much nicer.

The inside isn't too bad, although I think that third "bedroom" is a bit of a misnomer. It would make a good mancave.

Next door is much more than £7,500 nicer though. Either theirs was underpriced or yours is way overpriced.

It’s a lovely house but you definitely need completely new photos of each room. Current photos make some of the rooms look tunnel like. I had this problem once selling a house, but the estate agent took ages working out which angle made the room look as wide as possible. Also think you need to rethink your furniture layout to help avoid it looking so long and thin (and therefore tunnel like). Hope you sell soon!

Good luck selling op. Looks a great house. I agree if someone is interested they don’t look at how it’s ‘dressed’ (sorry - hate that usage) but I think it could do with a few things to start interest. For me they would be -
Get rid of vertical blinds at front - cold and hard and run-down office vibe.
Have some warm colours somewhere - overall feeling of coldness.
Clean front wall/front space
Good luck !

The main thing is you aren't making good use of the space. Instead of having that massive blue settee take up the entire wall you could have had a smaller one plus a dining room table.

The conservatory has what looks like cheap bedroom furniture and it looks damp.

You have forced a coffee table infront of the fireplace and it just doesn't fit. That's not where coffee tables belong.

Garden is overgrown and looks uncared for.

Overall the place just look mish mash and like a rental to be honest. I'm saying this as someone who lives in a rental house.

Having looked at next door I do think the price could be an issue. I also don’t think your EA are doing a great job, which is odd as I live fairly locally and they are usually a good firm.

As someone who has moved from the SE I think Nuneaton is very cheap for houses, however there is a shortage of houses of this style and period with the majority of stock being small Victorian terraces or much newer builds. This could work to your advantage, although people who live in the town do seem to have an unhealthy obsession with new builds.

For me it’s the outdated kitchen that would be the deal breaker.

I think you’re just too expensive. Similar properties to yours (albeit slightly smaller but with huge and lovely gardens and much more kerb appeal) are on around £140.
I’d lower the price to be honest.

Ann Maurice was the House Doctor.

I know I will get shot down again, but you really need to ask your estate agent and listen to feed back from viewers. It’s not for you, or even the estate agent,to say the price is right. The market will tell you what a house is worth and if it’s been in the market for a while with no interest that price so too high. Few bunches of daffodils or a rug won’t make the house suddenly saleable.

Yes there are a few thing you could do to make it more attractive, and if you had a budget to redevelop the house you would redo the kitchen, RIP down that conservatory and re render the outside. That should increase the value and make it an easier sell. But I don’t know the market so I don’t know if any of that would make a profit for you.

Paint your conservatory a warmer colour and add a rug. Move some of the furniture out of view when you take the photo if it's in the way. plants in tubs in the garden. Primulas are cheap at this time of year. It just needs brightening up really. Good luck.x

It's lovely, OP. I hope it sells quickly.

I hate hate hate the sofa under the stairs. Don’t push the coffee table up against the fireplace either.

The conservatory is terribly styled. Garden could do with some more life.

Wallpaper in a couple of rooms would need to be replaced ASAP for me.

It’s a very odd layout with nowhere to eat and too many sitting rooms. I think it needs a dining table somewhere adjacent to the kitchen - conservatory maybe as it might hide he floor? The family room and lounge look too similar in terms of use right now.

I think a dining set will definitely help define the purpose of one room. (Where do you eat now?!)

I know you can’t redo the outside but some planters/hanging baskets are a must IMO.

What’s the weird rectangle in the ceiling of the nursery??

It looks like a lovely house but the conservatory would put me off

I'd echo what a lot have said but in summary, what I like:

• living room (except the dark stairs, so new photo there if they're now white)
• bedrooms (both are lovely. Love the double windows)
• kitchen (perfectly acceptable, clean and usable. I'd kill for that amount of worktop space)
• bathroom (same. Possibly a little too big, if that's possible but you can't change that!)

Things I'm not sure of:

• no dedicated dining space
• conservatory floor (done to death here)
• vertical blinds (ditto)
• it says 3 bedrooms but one hasn't got a window? Can it really be a bedroom?
• dull pictures. It's clear the estate agent came round at the end of the day when the sun was setting. I suspect the blinds and curtains are closed because they needed to use the flash. Definite re-take in the morning on a bright day)
• kerb appeal (compared to next door the pebble dash is disappointing but would look much more appealing if painted white or cream)

My biggest suggestion would be to turn the conservatory in to the play room and put a dining table in what's currently the play room. It's a bit of a trek from the kitchen but it gives a suggestion of dining space and multi-use rooms.

In the conservatory you could then get those jigsaw shaped kid's sponge flooring tiles and cover up as much of the flagstone as possible (seriously, what were the previous owners thinking??).

Try and remember back to what it was like when you bought it. What made you want to buy it?

Good luck OP.

It’s a decent house but areas can be improved.

Sort the conservatory. It looks abandoned. Furnish it and put down a rug. Get rid of the rattan stuff and what ever you are hiding behind the chairs. I see the corner of a table McDouble you make it a dining room? It definitely needs warming up.

Bathroom,you need to put some lovely towels in and remove the bath toys and what ever you’ve hidden between the bath and the ikea unit. Remove the step too.

Move the coffee table from in front of the fireplace.

Make the double bed properly.

Hang the curtains properly.

The lawn are looks quite bad. Wheelbarrow just in shot. Move the whellie bins for photos.

If you were one of my houses I’d have rejected those shots for marketing.

Leave the living room with stairs, bedrooms and bathroom they are fine.

Conservatory - get rid of the dark mismatching furniture, put a rug down, paint the walls a brighter colour or white (magnolia looks dated and cold) I like the floor actually. Get rid of that dirty looking curtain thing by the door, get a standard lamp, re take photos on a bright day.

Room with blue sofa...Get rid of the blue sofa! Make this into a dining room, something up on that massive bare wall.
Agree with paint the fireplace and tiles if you can.

Patio area, de clutter and give it a clean up. Maybe a power washer.

Garden, mow the lawn and re seed. Paint the fences, no one likes brown garden fences! For goodness sake have new photos taken without the bins and pile of cardboard in! 🙈🙈

I woud be put off by the E rating on the EPC certificate. Do you know where you "lost points" abd can you rectify? I auapect it is the conservatory.
I also think the open plan stairs would put me off, especially if I had kids
agree with PP , the garden needs a sort out and better pictures.

you have done well but you need one or two colourful highlights, (all same colour)

perhaps get a few pot plants and put them in the conservatory.

get a cheap pot or two and put in the garden as well as it looks bare and sad.

get rid of whatever was in the photo next to the wall.

If a house isn't selling it's always price. However I think there is some things you can do to cheer it up and entice people in and make it seem worth the money.

Positives your living rooms, master bedroom and bathroom are good.

Negatives you can fix easily.

Cheer up the outside with some plants, a tidy up, move the bins etc,
Put a rug and some furnititure in the conservatory and move the odd furniture out.
Open the blinds, it's odd to photograph the rooms during rhe day with them shut. It makes it seem you're hiding something.
Photograph the third bedroom, it also makes it seem you're hiding something, as in it's so bad it can't be shown.
Put some things on your mantel above the fire place, it just looks empty, the same with thr kitchen, toaster etc, to make the work surfaces look a tad better.

Really just make it look a bit more homely, warmer, welcoming and loved.

agree with @neverender the rooms lack purpose, especially the at conservatory. I'd set that up as the dining room so it flows from the kitchen. yes to a rug too.

keep the room by the stairs as is a snug - cosy vibe , flowers deffo. its the best room so make sure that's what they see first. move that table either out of the room or away from the log burner.

turn lounge at the front into a playroom, but keep the plastic toys to a minimum. get rid of the vertical blinds as they look harsh and unwelcoming from the outside. get rid of the sofa entirely (you have plenty of comfy seating in the other room). paint the whole thing -
including fireplace - a soft white /very pale grey. that will set off kids toys better and make it look more modern and clean and fresh.

don't put all the furniture around the edges of the rooms as it makes them feel small and corridor like. can you get rid of any of the furniture eg the cupboards in conservatory - they make it look like a storage area, not a room. maybe move the chairs from conservatory into the playroom and cover with colourful throws?

garden - move the bins to behind the gate. have some colour (pots maybe)

definitely get external pic re done to cut out next door as it is not doing yours any favours. and yes to a pot with flowers outside.

hope this helps.

Make more of a feature of the conservatory because it looks like dead space. Decorate the lounge and update i.e no office blinds and put a smaller chair or a desk under the stairs. The sofa there looks too big. Also cleanup the garden. Maybe paint the shed and put some flower pots to add some colour.

It needs kerb appeal. Some flowers or a hanging basket by the front door would help.

The conservatory needs to have greenery and comfy chairs so that it looks like a pleasant extra sitting room.