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

Outside looks grim compared to neighbours - could you poss give it a lick of light coloured paint? It looks like to poor house at the corner and a facelift would be worth the investment. The furniture all packed against walls adds space but lacks character. the conservatory looks like a spare/junk furniture storage room rather than an extra living space.
Open blinds, add plants, angles and make it look happier.
Bedrooms and bathroom and kitchen look great.

Were the photos all taken at night? It puts me off that all the curtains are closed and the lights are on. It makes the rooms look enclosed and smaller.
I like to see the rooms in natural light with the curtains open.

Could you paint the window frames and pebble dash outside white? Also paint the kitchen floor, fireplace and kitchen wall tiles

One word springs to mind from the first pic and throughout

Unloved

2 bedrooms? In my area you'd get £700-£800k for it.

Brave soul to take it on the chin! Was determined to be positive as everyone has their own taste - I love the kitchen/ bathroom etc. However I second the fact that the inside has been so cared for but garden really needs brightening up ( just some cheap tubs or seating) so people can imagine sitting out. I think the conservatory is / could be stylish - again just “ dress” it a little - big candle lantern or plant. The big no no ( and my uncle was told this on his house) is pebble dash - most people hate it as its hard to keep etc. If you really can’t stump up to change it ( which I think you would get back in the price) could you at least whitewash it? Fireplace etc all fine - I’d be inclined to swap in a table instead of sofa under stairs as couldn’t see a big table ( apologies if missed it); also bad feng shui to sit under stairs ( especially when you have other lovely sofa) but that’s a personal quirk and I would ask buyers. Most estate agents should be happy to give you genuine feedback from viewings. Good luck - I hope you get the sale you want at the price you want - remember also that you only need one buyer!!! Hopefully they’ll come along soon.

You need to do a lot to make it look better

That will cost. Add up what needs to be done and then deduct off asking price

Tinkering with the edges is really not going to do anything substantial with this property

Hi. House seems nice, but as someone has suggested, it does look like it’s a rental. My first task would be to put a large rug on the floor of the conservatory and possibly move the coffee table into this room (the agent should have told you to not have it blocking the fireplace!) and put some logs in the wood burner. Also nice to add some greenery on the mantelpiece and general areas. And a healthy-looking fruit bowl on a kitchen work surface. Flowers also, if you can stretch that far? (£2 for a couple of bunches of daffodils.) And a nice, fluffy bath mat to add a splash of colour in the bathroom. All subtleties, but reinforces coziness and pride in the home.

To the poster who said OP should dress the second bedroom with a double bed- she has a small child! Where is the child going to sleep while the house is on the market? Not to mention the stress of having your bedroom disrupted as a little kid, especially one who might already be a bit unsettled by the idea of moving house. OP and her family still need to live their lives.

Can you white wash the brick fireplace?

I like it!

Conservatory needs some kind of flooring even if only large IKEA rug and some plants in there, the kitchen is okay, could do with a bit of colour, plants/tea towels etc cheap ways to do that, the room with the woodburner is great. Sorry but I don't like the room with the vertical blinds it looks empty, needs a rug/cushions/candles/pictures. It doesn't seem to have a clear purpose, if it's a playroom then have a nice colourful rug, some big wicker baskets for toys, or some attractive storage units, if it's a dining room then a table and chairs in it. I think it looks naff when the table is fully set but you can put a runner/vase of flowers/candles on it. The front of the house looks a bit stark, it could do with some plants in pots to make it look less plan/empty. Bedrooms are fine, bathroom is hoooge! Overall I think it's not a bad house it just needs to look a bit more loved but not cluttered.

does the ?? 3rd bedroom have a skylight, high velux or window without a window I would class as 2 bed and dressing area or baby nursery which is what it is now

Hello, I haven't read every comment so might be posting the same as others, but I'll give you my point of view;

I don't think the house warrants 2 living rooms which is what it looks like. If one is being used as a playroom then I'd style it properly as a playroom so buyers can imagine what they would use this room for. A downstairs playroom is great for a family home.

I actually like the decor in the main living room in picture 3 and 4, I think it's lovely. I also dont see a problem with the kitchen at all.

Conservatory as others have said definately needs attention. Since it comes off the kitchen I would absolutely set this up as a proper dining room as it is a good size and then you have a kitchen / diner type style where one flows to the other. At the moment the photos don't show any structure as to the use of areas? Not sure what you can do about the floor but I find that very off putting which is a shame but maybe someone else has a good suggestion on what to do to it. The 2 bedrooms are fine too in my opinion but don't think photos do justice. The other bedroom in the virtual tour needs TLC. Could one of the living rooms be marketed as a bedroom? Or maybe marketed as nursery / study. Bathroom lovely.

Garden needs a bit of attention as others have said, do you have a dog by any chance as my old garden looked patchy like this where the dog peed? Chuck some grass seeds over it

I know some people like houses to be quite basic when selling so hide everything away but I like to see it lived in, its what allows me to imagine living there too. Make it a bit more homely I guess.

Good luck

I was an estate agent

It’s the curb appeal house next door has red brick nice windows etc... house buyers dream

The front of the house looks drab and grey especially With those blinds!

Buy some cheap Roman blinds to fit that bay window, window boxes with cheap bedding plants all the same colour

Try and move the sofa from under the stairs? If you can it may be a pain to live like that but you have to stage it so it looks good.

Put some plants in the conservatory, candles, books, take the blinds down or put them up to let the light in

Your child’s room:
Try and move the bed to under the window but with two bedside tables on either side

Candles posh ones ( you can take them with you) anywhere!

Get rid of or hide tte bins in the garden, cheap fence to screen them
Cut the grass

The bathroom is badly configured (a lot of wasted space) and there is excess living space for a house with 3 moderately sized bedrooms and a smallish kitchen. You would need a seller with some imagination and some extra cash to work out what to do with the space and then make that happen.

But the fireplaces are nice and it does have plenty going for it. I’m sure it will shift eventually but depending on where you are in the country, it can take time.

Rug in your conservatory
Paint your brick fireplace maybe?
If you can run to it I’d do something with the tiles in your kitchen - makes it look far busier than it needs to be with it being a galley.
The coffee table needs to go so you can see the lovely log burner.
Grass cut and some flowers in the garden.
Check out the pound shop / they have some lovely tin hangers / get some promulgated and violas and voila - outside brightened up a bit.
Would it be possible to put your rabbit run away when you have visitors to open up the space a little?

The photos are a bit depressing. I am sure it could be presented a bit nicer. The conservatory is horrendous though. Plus the cladding outside is pretty awful. It would put me off unless the price was substantially lower to factor in removing it.

*Buyer with imagination.

The conservatory looks freezing cold - no idea why.

Put a dining table in it? I feel like there is nowhere to eat in your house!
Agree about the stairs, they look scary for kids/mobility impaired people/tipsy women in heels.
Is there no hallway? Only two bedrooms photographed?

OP, you could paint just the pebbledash at the front of the house, it would make a difference, also paint the brown windows white - you could do that yourself if you are handy with a paintbrush (sorry haven't read all your posts ) - it wouldn't be 3500. I have attached a photo from online, hopefully it will work

If you google "painted pebbledash" there are lots of other examples.

I think it is ok listed as a 3 bed, and some people would move the bathroom to the small room (assuming feasible with pipework) and have the bathroom as a decent sized bedroom. It is big enough to be a 3 bed.

For the conservatory you could do something with the floor (if in doubt, paint it...) and like a pp has said, a table and chairs in there would be good.

A judicious lick of neutral paint (with some contrast, darks with light colours somewhere in the room) can make a surprising difference both to the price and how quickly it sells.

A lot of the house is really nice, it could be the perfect thing for another small family.

If it was my house I’d stay there and do some work on it over time, you could add a lot of value to the house by doing the following alone (obviously would need doing over time if money is tight but this is what I’d want to do):

Dismantle the conservatory and have french windows going out to the garden instead.

Remove the 60s style brick fireplace, it’s not as big a job as it sounds and could be a DIY job, knock the bricks out which would leave you with the old original space for the fireplace, look on eBay for a similar sized old cast iron fireplace (similar to your lovely bedroom ones), it may or may not need a surround but they are not too expensive.

Remove the pebble dash from at least the front of the house, the back would be more difficult to remove as you’d need scaffolding but a man with a ladder and chisel should be able to get it off the front. Some pebbledash can come off really easily depending on the material used (not so easy with concrete based render) a patch test will give you an idea of how stuck it is to the bricks. Such a shame that so many buildings were ruined by this in the 60s/70s but it can be fixed. You are lucky that they didn’t take out the bay window at the same time, as was fashion at the time.

Re-tile the kitchen with some more up to date tiles, again this could be a DIY job and not as hard or expensive as it sounds.

The layout upstairs is a bigger problem, I’d make the bathroom smaller and box room bigger but that was obviously cost a lot

The answer isn’t always moving, unless you hate the neighbours/area.

I’m not going to question your taste cos I’m not sure where to start but maybe take this into consideration:
-big plush rug in the conservatory to hide the flooring
-move the coffee table into the centre of the room you mentalist
-change those gingham blinds and curtains to a more luxurious curtains

• that blue sofa looked a bit odd, maybe got rid of those cushions and get some big ones, maybe with deers on to match the wallpaper. It’s all I see at George in Asda these days
• get rid of/hide/temporarily move all furniture that looks out of place

Other than that, nice house! Some people can’t see beyond people’s own furnishings though so I think you should take those tips into consideration
Good luck!

(Sorry if there’s any repeats, didn’t read all the comments)

There’s no point picking fault in things OP can’t change!

OP I’m a valuer for a very large estate agents so hopefully I can help. I think the kerb appeal is lacking. I highly recommend you get the house painted. It’ll cost around £400 and I’ve known it add thousands. Go for a pale pastel colour and white woodwork. Get the front door painted a nice farrow and ball shade.
The conservatory looks purposeless, get a rug and either dress it as a dining room or bring the furniture in around a coffee table. All the furniture around the edge looks cold.
Open the curtains and get photos taken without the open tread stairs in. If you get them to view and like the house people will compromise on that but atm it will likely put viewers off. Make sure your agent is large and has other branches nearby to bring viewers in. Also are they being proactive? Get the feedback from them and tell them you want price related feedback.

Good luck x

The bathroom and kitchen look good which is always a big selling point, as for the decor etc buyers need to look beyond it if it is not to their taste. The stairs would put me off a bit and the conservatory is strange! It's an ideal family house with plenty of room. Did the house next door sell quickly? Have you had viewings yet?