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

You’d see that from the floor plan though SlipperOrchid so you’d never turn up at the viewing thinking bedroom 3 had a window.

I've read the full thread but don't think OP has answered whether they're getting viewings but not offers, or not getting viewings at all? If it's the latter, I'll bet it is the 2/3-bed issue – it's the kind of floor plan that annoys me on RM, like "3 beds" where you have to go through one to get to the only bathroom. It's easy to ignore crap photos and think it's worth looking at anyway; no point booking a viewing for a 2-bed + cupboard.

Instead of carpeting it, why not put down an over sized mat? Sometimes you can pick them up at auctions fairly cheap.

@bluntness100

Says 2 bed on this listing

www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/15-lutterworth-road/nuneaton/cv11-4le/29937408

although then in the particulars it says 3... sorry only just spotted that.

From what I've read on here, when the op bought the house, it was described as a two bed with a closet (now called a bedroom) off the master bedroom. I don't know if this room is even big enough to be legally described as a bedroom, but I would be very concerned about using it as one because of the lack of means of escape in a fire. Which is why no bedroom is now allowed to be constructed like this. If you own the house it's up to you how you use it, but if you were planning on renting out the house, or even renting out a room to help with bills, this room would not be allowed to be used as a habitable space. I think marketing it as a 2 bed would be more honest.

@HariboLecter if you read those details it says '2 good sized bedrooms and a dressing room', with the option to go upstairs into the loft to create another room.
Wonder why it was sold at auction rather than the open market?

It says it is a two bed with a dressing room. It is NOT a three bedroom house. Anyone with a brain in their head can see that. It is a waste of time to keep discussing this with some people!

OP, your agents are working for you, so just tell them you want it changed to 2 bedrooms and a dressing room. It doesn't matter how insistent they are, you call the shots.

If I was looking for a 3 bed house and this came up in a search, I would think the vendor was taking the piss. You can't describe a room with no window as a bedroom surely. I don't know why they didn't make it into a bathroom rather than the massive back bedroom, what a waste.
RM shows there are two 3 bed semis in the area on the market for £160k - so OP needs to lower her price to compete with the other 2 beds out there.

It's much better to keep the huge bathroom with a window than to create a windowless bathroom – with a soil pipe then running through the house – that prevents the prospect of a future loft conversion, since the dressing room is where the stairs would go.

It needs to be marketed as a 2-bed with study/dressing room, with potential to convert into the loft for a 3-bed.

Or concert the loft and just stay in the house that’s what I’d do tbh

Convert

The things that put me off are:

1. Limited outdoor space that looks unloved
2. Weird layout with the front/side door into the family room and the open stairs
3. Windows into the utility room which looks unloved and possibly a bit of a shonky build
4. Grubby looking render/ pebble dash
5. A shonky looking conservatory that doesn't seem to be used
6. The 3rd "bedroom" (only good for small babies really and needs decorating)

Positives

1. The bathroom is good
2. The two proper bedrooms are lovely.
3. The front sitting room with the bay window is lovely and I would keep this as a grown up sitting room and turn the long room with the front door into a family room

Improvements

1. Redecorate the third "bedroom" and put it on the pictures. I would not market as a three bed unless you can fit a full size single bed, bedside table and a wardrobe in that room. You can make it a lovely dressing room or home office and it becomes a selling point. At the moment it detracts

1. Use the conservatory as a dining area with a nice big rug and lots of fresh bright colours which you carry through into the kitchen and garden

1. Do something with the utility room so that it becomes a more attractive view...a well built utility room is a real asset. If it were my house I would make it a proper extension, knock through at half height and put the dining table there buit that's a lot of work. You can make it look nice though if that's your view

1. Create a hallway from the front door - doesn't need to involve building work but a screen coming half way across where the beam is would make a nice visual divider and you can paint that section differently. Where do you take off shoes, hang coats, park the buggy?

1. Get rid of the coffee table in front of the wood burner. There seem to be a lot of side tables dotted around. I'd get rid of a lot of them

1. Put pictures up on the stairs and upstairs landing - and mirrors. If it's dark then you want lots of reflective surfaces bouncing the light around

1. Switch the use of the two reception rooms so you can retreat to the nice grown up room. Use the space under the stairs for some stepped toy storage like Ikea Trofast

1. Better photos definitely.

It says it is a two bed with a dressing room. It is NOT a three bedroom house

Rightmove says it is a 3 bedroom

Rightmove says it is a 3 bedroom

That’s because the Estate Agent is “adamant” that it’s a 3 bed. That, combined with the crap photos, suggests to me that the EA is bad at his job.

It’s a 2 bedroom house with dressing room (which could be used as a study/storage room/nursery). Rightmove can say I live in a 4 bedroom house because I have 3 bedrooms plus a similar storage room but it won’t make it true. Calling it a bedroom doesn’t mean it’s a bedroom.

The external photo isn't helpful. It looks like the OP's house is the smaller of two semi detached houses rather than the end house in a terrace of three. Lots of people on this thread are making that mistake so maybe potential buyers are too.

I can see why she feels the price should be close to her neighbours. Theirs is mid terrace whilst hers is an end one, so attached on one side only. But internally the two properties aren't comparable, especially on the bedroom issue.

A decent EA would explain all this to her and market it to the right sort of buyer.

Beautga Thu 28-Mar-19 09:57:16
Seeming so many people are having difficulty i will explain again.A housr has to be priced realistically to the area

Yes, and the house next door went for £170k.

Explain that, O Oracle.

Because it's a LOT nicer and has all the updating already done to a high standard.

@mathanxiety

Have you looked at next door??

Based on external features alone that £10k is justifiable

Ok;

We ARE Willing to drop the price once we've done the works we're planning if it's unsold.

6 viewings and no offers, none have stated issue with 3rd bedroom, they've said it's the general finish and the conservatory showed signs of damp. We've now checked and taken conservatory back to brick and paid to have it replastered. Painting the front only would look ridiculous as the side wall is enormous.

We've checked with every possible online portal, this can and is legally marketed as a 3 bed because of the 2 separate doorways, ergo, 2 means of escape. We bought it as a 3-bed, via standard purchase, it never went near an auction.

We paid £125k and have spent £15k doing it up, to sell for £140k would be giving it away and we'd rather stay put than do that. £155k is what we need to help family out and complete onward purchase, hence asking for how we can improve.

I've rewritten the listing particulars and are redoing garden photos this weekend once sheds been painted, and patio has been jet washed etc.

Thanks to all helpful posters!

Honestly OP

Don’t bother doing the work. No point tinkering. It requires fairly significant expenditure.

Just lower the price.

@Romax are you not reading my posts?

We're doing the things that'll improve the photos and entice more people to view, as I think it's translating very poorly. We're doing works that won't cost much (under £1500) but are vastly improving the look of the place, we're also repurposing rooms to have conservatory as family/playroom, living room in the middle and front room as the dining room.

The 3rd bedroom can hold a full size single bed, a small wardrobe and a bedside table. Really wish people would at least read my comments.

Again, thank you to all the helpful posters

Just make sure to clear out the ladders etc when you photograph it!

OP would it be possible to paint the window frames white if you cant paint the pebble dash? Hope it sells at a decent price - it's a good sign you have had viewings - think you just need the right person to view it.