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

Such a beautiful house

Posted too soon.

I know we want to help the OP and not seem overly negative, but let's not go too farr OTT the other way.

It's a nice property BUT many people can't 'see' what's beyond the current decor. I can always see the potential but my husband can't! I would always assume a new house would need completely redecorating - to put my stamp on it.

looking at next door I would have to agree its in a different leaugue. Also agree maybe you need to drop the price to 160 bracket. Weve been valued at 220 , but weve also been digging on right move at what houses same as ours (on a 1980s development so lots are identical!) have sold at in the last 6 months and what state theyre in. We`re not going to pitch at 220, going for the 200. But with wriggle room on that. People looking on right move will have a definate top price and 160 will attract more (same as us at 200). if your house isnt selling then its a sign of overpricing.

The estate agent must be doing the happy dance looking at how many hits your property's had online, OP. It'll be their most-viewed property online ever at this rate!

It's the price. Next door is larger, has a better layout and is in much better decorative order.

It's always the price.

I'd seriously lower your asking price and retake the photos on a sunny day. Follow other pp's advice about the staging etc.

Hi

Just my opinion. The upstairs is really lovely! It looks modern, fresh and wouldn't need any work to make it somewhere comfy to live while you wait to put your own personality on the place as a new buyer.

But downstairs doesn't meet the same standard. The outside has no kerb appeal, the dated interior downstairs is a let down and some of the work needed would put me off like the stairs.

Upstairs looks lovely but downstairs doesn't match up and the back garden looks small too.

As a buyer, i'd be adding up costs to do the following:

• Spruce up outside.

-Replace dated orange tiles on fireplace in front lounge (and wallpaper) -Make stairs more secure -Change kitchen tiles and counters -Make conservatory floor warmer -Does wood cladding need to be replaced from garden pics? -Small garden and not attractive

In your shoes, i'd start with kerb appeal. Even some potted plants and flowers to make it more welcoming because the pebble dash is unattractive compared to both neighbouring properties.

Add some warmth to the front lounge like a vase of flowers in the fireplace. That room also looks like it has no purpose. Should it be a dining room? Can you stage it better?

Declutter the main lounge a bit more as you can't really do anything else. Its nice enough as is and you probably don't want to go to the expense of adding a back board to the stairs.

Your kitchen on one hand has nice units but the tiles and counters make it look dated IMO. Could you add white or cream accessories to help neutralise all that brown and orange? Hide the fruit and don't use yellow flowers as these clash.

I'd put a white or cream rug down in the conservatory and stage it better. It looks cold and unused.

Could you declutter the paved section of the garden for another photo and add some bright flowers and potted plants to the grassed section? Maybe repaint the cladding as well?

Good luck with your sale.

I don't think the photos are doing you any favours and the conservatory looks grim. Maybe add some plants and a large colourful rug. It looks like there is paint on the floor and the plastic clutter shoved under the chairs is really obvious. You can always work with the photographer to move stuff temporarily out of shot if need be.

I'd get the photos retaken. Have some vases of flowers and cut the lawn to make the garden look more cared for.

The bathroom is lovely but I'd be budgeting to replace the fireplace and the kitchen so I'd mentally be adding that on to the price of the house.

Looking at the view of the front of your house I wonder if the bricks are crumbling at the bottom of the front wall against the pavement. This does look worse than in the 2013 photos and I would worry about the safety of that wall.

You are clearly being realistic as your house has been valued at £165 - £170k and put it on sale for several £k less.

I would just swap around the lounge and family rooms. Your lovely cream suite will look good in there with your decor. Put flowers or a nice potted plant in the hearth.

Move the dining table into your current lounge from the conservatory. Move coffee table out. That will also leave the radiator unblocked (pet hate of mine).

Do you have a handrail on wall for stairs? If not, fit one. I'm not keen on open stairs but wouldn't do anything about it for selling.

Kitchen would look better with either plain wall tiles or work surface. If I lived there I'd change to a light work surface as the wall tiles would pop then and are nice. Too much hassle and cost for moving. You could paint the wall tiles but not absolutely essential.

Conservatory - put blue sofa in there and kids toy boxes and a bright rug to refocus it as family room. Really brighten it up. The floor is off-putting to me but too expensive to bother with as selling.

Master and child's bedroom are nice. DCs too. Looks like a double bed will fit.

Bathroom is nice.

3rd bedroom - Move ladders out. Definitely re-paint the loft opening (and why does it look rough around edges - can you sort that out?).

Garden definitely needs sprucing up. Powerhouse the patio and paint the fencing panels and white thing (shed?) in the same colour to tie it all together. Maybe in one of the nice Garden Shades colours - light blue, green or lilac?

The pebbledash does lack keen appeal for me. It is off-putting. If your OH is fine on a ladder I would paint it but probably wouldn't pay for it to be done.

Overall it is a nice house and you have some nice things. I know you asked for people to be brutal but I think there has been unnecessary criticism of things that are just differences in taste. Hope you are ok and sell your home soon.

The outside definitely looks less attractive than next door and significantly smaller. You could make your front garden much more attractive with some flowers or plants.

Photo 2 looks a bit meh (not actually bad just not very homely). I think partly the curtains and blinds and partly the small chest of drawers by the window doesn't look quite right). Photo 3,4,5 look nice.
Photo 6 would also put me off. It needs a huge rug or something as it looks a bit like an outbuilding rather than a cosy room. The arrangement of the furniture also looks awkward. Photo 11 could very easily be improved. Move the bins for the sake of the photo. Buy some cheap flowers or something for the garden.

The truth is that this is not a 3 bedroom house in its current configuration and it's priced too high when you look at the better presented house next door.

The various additions really need sorting out to improve the layout and the previous owners made a mistake turning the back bedroom into a bathroom.

Looking at the older photos it is clear that next door has had a new roof at some point, whereas the OP's house had the original roof (which might be sagging slightly, or it might just be weird estate agent lens use).

I’d have the photos redone on a sunny day. The garden needs tidying up, grass area looks bad and I’d move the wheely bins out of the way for the photos. Agreed it’s a bit devoid of personality, add some house plants and flowers. Also agreed that the conservatory floor is awful, if you don’t want to change it at least get a big rug to make it look more homely.

Sorry OP, but this is a two bed house. A bedroom with no window would be a no no for most people. The house next door has three proper bedrooms and a downstairs WC. Do you know if they got their full asking price?
Good luck

To those commenting on the thread who haven’t seen it, the virtual tour is very helpful. The main rooms look much better on it (kitchen, living rooms). BUT the conservatory and “third bedroom” genuinely look terrible on the tour. Like they weren’t even dressed for viewing. The conservatory is clearly unloved and unused, and the so-called nursery is the worst thing I’ve ever seen marketed as a bedroom! You’d have needed to pull out all the stops to make that room look amazing ad it’s a junk room!
IMHO, your main issue is that anyone searching will have seen your neighbours house and then compared it with yours.

I actually think it’s a lovely house OP.

I agree with many of the others, it’s a nice house but you don’t get that from the photos. It feels cold and unwelcoming. Can you find another agent to swap to? As these people have let you down.
The house could do with mondernising it looks very 90s decor in places. Even if you paint every room white and add colour with rugs, cushions and paintings the current decor does make it look old fashioned.
Kitchen cupboard paint or stickers would give it some more colour, if you aren’t a fan of that style then buyer would have to consider new kitchen units and worktops.
You can buy a big roll of vinyl flooring for £30ish on eBay that would cover the conservatory floor nicely. Then lots of plants and lighting.
I agree the third bedroom can’t be advertised as one, it looks very claustrophobic and I can’t imagine a bed and furniture would fit in there. I think showing it as a walk in wardrobe or cupboard would be more enticing.
No sign of storage? That would be a deal breaker in a family home for me. The rooms might be spacious but where do you hide your vacuum etc? An under stairs cupboard has always been a priority to me for that reason.

Stairs are worrying especially with young children and the sofa underneath makes the room appear small and squashed in. Can you rearrange room so sofa blocks fireplace and coffee table under stairs?
Outside is offputting it needs a paint and the roof looks like it needs replacing in the near future.
I’d definitely have the photos retaken on a sunny day. I really hope you sell, but I think you will have to cut the asking price quite a bit if you don’t put the money and effort into it sorry.

That house where I live would be £345,000 minimum. Anyway, I think it is nice, not too much work to do and very liveable straight after moving in.

Badlad
Okay maybe beautiful is extreme/ wrong choice of word..but

beauty is in the eye of the beholder 😉

So yes it is a lovely house. We can’t all afford a quaint county cottage, massive new build or fantastic exterior, but the op must have brought it for a reason and obviously liked it. I do think some rooms are really lovely. It just needs some tlc.

On the virtual tour there’s a door blocked in the master bedroom that looks like it leads to the “third bedroom”.

So it’s literally a closet?!

I think in the main picture you might do better to only show half of the next door house so that yours compares more favourably as a more comparable terrace - next door house is too much of a distraction in the pic.
In your conservatory you could be more sympathetic to the flagstone floor with different conservatory furniture such as wicker chairs and more plants directly on the floor
Good luck!

The other problem I have noticed is that the family room and kitchen appear to have no proper outside view. They are boxed in by the conservatory and the utility room thing so when looking out the family room window you are actually looking at the utility room. When looking out the kitchen window it is the same then in addition you have the awful conservatory at the kitchen door blocking out even more natural light. The conservatory and utility room need bulldozing and the "3rd" bedroom should be marketed as a study or dressing room. All in all as a buyer I could get much more for my money without the hassle of doing the work to make it an attractive family home. I would not pay any more than £140,000 for this given the amount of negatives it has. I say that because I would be looking at it as a 2 bed house as that is what it truly is with the current layout. To turn it in to a proper 3 bed house is going to cost £££££

I can see a dining table on the lhs of the conservatory picture.
There doesn't seem to be any natural light at all in the room with the stairs? The whole house is a bit cave like.

Your estate agents are really really rubbish. You could take better photos yourself with your phone. Should not be marketed as a 3 bed. Blurb is cringeworthy. Change them.