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 sitting room view seems fine. The dining room fire place could be an issue as big and a bit 70s. Bathroom is lovely. Kitchen could at least from the picture seem a bit dated. Other rooms you seem to have everything stuck along walls. Could try and soften areas moving thing around. Also a little bit of colour on surfaces. What does next door look like inside? Is there a lot of difference decor wise. Please, please do not take my comments personally they are intended to try and help you sell. Good luck.

Get them to retake the photos on a sunny day.

Put pot plants/flowers in both front and back garden.

Restage entire house, it looks sad and empty and like the owners are divorcing. You need cushions, frames of the kids, flowers in vases in a few room, stage the kids' bedrooms to look bright & fun.

Next time the photographers are in, hide the bins outside of the garden, your back garden looks like a bin store.

The house is too tidy and too decluttered.

The blinds on the conservatory are awful, the conservatory has not been set up/no focal point.

I'm a former estate agent.

I'll defer to you on the mortgage point OP, as you are more of an expert than me. I was basing my thoughts on a friends experience - she was buying a 3 bed house where one bedroom (with a window) was only accessible through another bedroom (no window) and was told it could only be valued as a 2 bed. Possibly she was just unlucky!

sorry if you've had shitty comments op.why cant people be nice.there are ways to say things nicely!

I think it looks lovely.i was thinking on looking at it how cute or something about it looks a really good home.
and what you've done and are doing sounds very helpfl to your sale.
fingers crossed for you selling it soon.
don't beat yourself up.i think its luck of the draw sometimes for houses.many people having trouble selling.

Lovely house. I hate to say what is only my personal opinion.
Tidy up garden and put hanging baskets , possibly a security light.
Would laminate floor be an option in conservatory or a rug perhaps .

It's a great size. I love your wood burner, looks cosy. People will love that room. Great sized bathroom. Kitchen fine and functional. Beautiful childs room and nice master bedroom.

You've had lots of good advice. I remember selling my last house. I hated the dated kitchen and spend days painting all the doors. Thought they looked so much better. First thing the lady said she'd do when she moved in - change the kitchen!

Seriously, it' a great sized house with nice décor and minor things that can be changed. Times are tough, you'll get it sold - hang in there.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your restaged house with new photos. Will you post a link once you have done?

Hi @stylishmummy my comments were probably blunt to the point of rudeness - sorry! I know it’s a stressful process.

To give you a perspective on where my posts were coming from - we bought our place 10 years ago and have carried out a full reno which addressed many of the issues my (admittedly v critical) eye saw in yours - swapping third bedroom & bathroom to maximise space/layout, opening up back to improve indoor/outdoor flow, updating tired (but perfectly functional) kitchen, adding en suite. We have just fully repainted the exterior and replaced a scrubby old front hedge with a new fence to improve street appeal. Our house has probably doubled In Value from what we paid in 2009 (we are in an area where house prices have gone crazy, not London but similar) but we have obv poured $$$ into it so it’s not pure capital gain alone ...this was where I was coming from re your asking price etc. I am constantly looking at houses in our suburb and the neighbouring one (slightly leafier & better school zones) to ensure our estimated value stacks up/we don’t. Over capitalise etc.

it’s obviously not really what you want to hear but maybe it will give you an idea of what some buyers are thinking.

Good luck

The decor is slightly bleak looking. Maybe make it cosier with chunky throws and some rugs.

Maybe get the loft boarded, velux window and a nice folding ladder. Wouldn't be too expensive and advertise the potential for a conversion. Loads of easily accessible storage space too.

Don't worry too much about all the criticisms. Read it, but don't think everything mentioned needs doing, it is a good value house and will sell with a little staging and tarting up the outside.

By the way, I grew up in an old farmhouse that had polished wooden beams for stairs, and no handrail. I can't remember falling down more than once - you soon learned to not go down in just socks!

I would remove the bins from the garden when you have viewings if possibly and take down the blinds from the front room, they date the room. Possibly redo the photos from the front without the blinds if possibly. The carpet in the upstairs room looks not great in one of the pics-like it moves.

The house is not to bad but could do with been modernize the main problem is the location.You will not get much in such a bad area
The most important thing in selling a house is always the location.A good location can put thousands on a house

agents have been adamant we keep it as a 3-bed

Do they say why, @Stylishmummy? Do they get more commission for a 3 bed and a 2 bed?

All the improvements you’ve made and are making sound great.

I question how good your EA is that they didn’t give you the advice pps have given here, even little things which they really should have picked up on. Hence I’m wondering why they’re so adamant that you market it as a 3 bed which would disappoint me, tbh. It’s a 2 good-sized bedroom plus study/dressing room.

Have you had other agents round for valuations?

@Beautga - did you mean to be so rude?

stylish clearly they meant to be so rude, it would be difficult to say something as harsh without intending to be rude!

Missing photo from 3rd bedroom makes me think it's likely tiny, especially as one of the photos has a toddler bed and the floor plan suggests that one room's significantly smaller. I presume your photos are the bigger rooms and would worry about fitting a single in the smallest.

Also a bit confused by layout downstairs. Until I checked the floor plan I presumed it must be a bit tight for a dining table as you have both rooms with sofas in.

And the conservatory floor. Can you maybe stick a rug or two down to cover it up? It makes me worry that you've somehow paved the floor or built on it without proper foundations...

It's looks lovely though, I really like the fireplaces!

I think it's your conservatory and back garden OP. The rest of the house, including the biggies (kitchen and bathroom) is really lovely. Gable end houses need that something extra to stop them looking like they're falling off the edge of the row. A few suggestions - literally tweaks -

• plants outside to add softness and interest. Tidy the garden. Mow and edge the grass.
• reset the conservatory - put down a central rig - and take the cabinet away from the front of the radiator.
• try not to push everything to the edges of your rooms - makes them look soulless and sad
• remove the coffee table that's in front of the wood burner
• do the tweaks, add extra vases of fresh flowers and retake your photos.

I think you'll be fine - it just needs lifting a bit. Good luck!

@Beautga why do you say it's a bad/rough area?

How do you know?

Looks OK to me!

Beautga! What's the point of criticising the area?

One minor thing that I don't think anyone else has mentioned - fix the light fittings on the landing. There are naked wires and bare bulbs visible on the VT.

I think your house has got some amazing features. The fireplaces in the bedrooms, the wood burner in the lounge, the huge bathroom and lovely kitchen.
Main room that needs attention is the conservatory, needs to made to look more inviting and cosy. Garden could do with a bit of a tidy up.
Other than that, it’s a great little house and should get near the asking price.

You need to put some life into the place so it comes alive. It looks too bare. Definitively define a dinning area too. Can you get a good size rug with some colour in it to put down on the conservatory floor, to bring it to life? Maybe some contrasting throws and cushions in the seating area.

The bathroom is lovely. Pop some accessories out though, so it isn't so bare. Maybe get some artwork for the walls in the living area. The big thing for me is you have taken it too far the other way and made it look bare of any life. It's hard to get the balance right I know.

Some nice fresh smelling bread from the bakery on the side in the kitchen would be good. Nice aroma's always warm up a place. Fresh coffee brewing with some cakes on a plate, are always inviting

I guess it's personalising it with generic accessories such as the artwork and so on. If you Google getting your home ready to sell with accessory ideas and play with that you will find lots of ideas to help and hopefully once you have the ideas go and look for the bargains on the main online shop sites. You don't need to spend a fortune and good luck. It looks a lovely spacious house that just needs some life bringing into it

Is there a potty next to the dining table?!

I feel like a good 1K-2K and you could have a house that's far more staged, cozy and updated. I know it's hard to update as you want to move but I suspect it will be very much worth it.

1. Paint the outside and put plant pots up - decent size with flowers and a taller plant

2. Make one of the sitting rooms a dining room to create better flow

3. Huge comfy rug in the conservatory - thick n

4. Take some furniture out of little one's room (chair, pink drawers and possibly wicker toy chest)

5. Take furniture out of conservatory (all those storage units)

Good luck!