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

It's so bizarre that the only 2 historic adverts for the house are for auction one in the September and the other in the November and both were advertised around the same time but one as a 2 bed and one as a 3! How odd, maybe the auctions were a flop and they reverted to selling 'normally'.

Anyway I think your plan sounds good OP. I would definitely drop the price onto a price point and fingers crossed someone will want it soon for you. Have you been generally impressed by your agents other than the lack of interest and photos?

Very frustrating when people don't read the thread to see this.

In all fairness, I have read the full thread and all your posts and I still would not pay the extra for a three bedroom house. To a stranger, that is two decent sized bedrooms with a dressing room.

Are you honestly happy with your estate agent? Because if they are the ones who are adamant about marketing it as a 3 bedroom AND they didn’t advise you that the current photos are really unappealing then I really don’t rate them. 😕

The stairs are absolutely not an issue and DDs head couldn't fit through them

And there’s the issue. The body can fit through but not the head. Hence a hanging hazard. I’m not making this up these stairs would not pass building regs now.

Also you asked what might be putting people off and I’ve said I turned down 2 houses due to staircases. It’s an issue if people think it is even if you wish it weren’t!

OP I think there are two issues.

a) cosmetic changes that won't cost much and may get people through the door - all mentioned here and you are doing them eg dining room, purpose for conservatory, flowers or planters at front, tidy garden etc.

b) more major issues which you clearly can't do anything about - but which people are pointing out as they could be serious reasons why people are not keen - for me the town lack of natural light in two of the three downstairs rooms, and a bedroom with neither window nor external door. One of those (usually a window as most bedrooms are upstairs) is essential as a fire route. There is no way I personally would sleep in a room with no window. if there were a fire up your stairs and landing, there is no way out for whoever is in the windowless room. That's what people are trying to tell you.

Lots of things about your home are lovely, you have taken on board some of the good advice here, you are acting on it, that's great. But I would still suggest marketing it as a two bed.

By the way OP please be aware that there is so much personal info on this thread between your advert having both the EPC chart and also the full EPC certificate with your full address on it (another rookie error by your agent), what you do for a living and your other business - it's super easy to find out your name, year of birth, company history, Facebook profile..etc so you may wish to name change for future mumsnet posts.

Please stop bashing OP. She is clearly trying to sell a home which she has not only spent time and money on, but is still living in. She can't wave a magic wand and make everything perfect, she's just asking for feedback. Moving house is stressful enough without people pointing out things that "stress them out" in her uploaded photos.

@TrixieFranklin thank you for pointing that out, I had no idea about the EPC.

To all those who ask, we're not happy at all with the agents BUT we're tied in so redoing listing and photos ourselves to get it out there using their portals. Fingers crossed it works and if not we'll find another agent

Good plan, OP. If and when you can change agents, I’d go with the ones who’ve sold next door!

I'm sorry op, I have stuck with this thread from the beginning but I think you are being delusional if you think your house has three usable bedrooms. Your box room is a windowless and rather mean little space that no one in their right mind would describe as a bedroom.
Surely your feedback must have picked this up? I find it hard to believe that potential purchasers would have rocked up and sung the praises of your windowless 'third bedroom'. Previous sales particulars describe your house as a two bed. Why don't you?
You say it has two means of escape in case of fire, but both of them are to other internal areas, not to the outside via a window, which is where the fire brigade would expect to remove a trapped casualty.
I would not be happy with anyone sleeping in this space. I really don't know why you can't see that it's not, and never will be, a bedroom.
I give up.

Opinions on the house -

living room is dead old fashioned.
That middle room thing is ok apart from the weird stairs and coffee table in front of fire (wtf?!)
Conservatory needs blowing up
3rd bedroom is actually a cupboard
Bathroom is bigger than one of the (2) bedrooms. And for what purpose?

That being said I would but it as it’s a blank canvas. I’ve already pictured how I’d have it!

@longearedbat and I accept some people wouldn't like it as a bedroom. But it is used as one and has been for months. It has 2 means of escape. We bought it clearly listed as a 3 bed. It is mortgaged as a 3 bed. It's insured as a 3 bed. It has space for a wardrobe and single bed. Just not having a window and a lot of people on an Internet forum stating that it's 'illegal' etc isn't going to change it to being a 2-bed. It's a 3 bed as per all the above info.

I've been trying fairly hard not to take any of this personally but it's getting a little grating with people implying I'm putting my DC at risk with the stairs. The bathroom isn't something we can/are willing to change and have already said this.

You said earlier you'd take the house with you if you could. Was your intention that your child grow up in that room past being a baby?

Collective brain of the vipers nest is my next place for feedback - be as brutal as you like

You’re being a little unfair and frustrating. You asked for all the reasons your house might not be selling. Two or three things have been repeatedly said

1. People only see it as 2 bedroom. The third bedroom appears unusable and unsafe for many
2. The stairs are concerning for those with children as there is a danger of serious injury
3. The presentation ie photos are appalling

Apart from the 3rd one you’re refusing to accept people’s opinions - what was the point of this post then?

No-one is implying that you’re purposefully risking your child’s safety with the stairs. Government regulations no longer allow stairs like this because of the hazard. It’s fact not conjecture and not a judgement on your parenting

Harry Potter did alright after living in a cupboard to be fair. Also, in fairness to the OP the cupboard is at least decorated nicely

Just because you can use it as a bedroom, you can mortgage & insure it as a bedroom, and you bought it as a bedroom doesn't mean you can make buyers browsing on RightMove consider it a bedroom. As far as everyone on this thread and viewers are concerned you have a 2-bed house.

Which is fine! A 2-bed with potential to convert/extra study space, that's been replastered and recarpeted throughout, is still a good buy.

I do think you've had some unreasonably harsh and personal comments and I don't blame you for the frustration, particularly when people aren't reading the full thread (I have, btw) or are critiquing your personal taste or making horrifying remarks about the child-killing potential of your stairs, but I think that that frustration is making you dig your heels in over the 2/3 bedroom issue or causing a blind spot to a very valid piece of near-unanimous feedback. Your estate agent is doing you a massive disservice telling you to market it this way – and why would you trust an EA who takes such piss-poor photographs?

@liamhemsworthsrealwife yes we absolutely would, until 6-7 years of age, they have so much space downstairs to play, bedrooms are literally only for sleeping.

The feedback has been great and we're implementing as much as we can. We can't change the stairs without a whole new staircase, stairs and landing carpet and that's just not worth it for us.

The 2 Vs 3 bed debate may rage on but our stand point is clear.

Garden is being done tomorrow, will share photos

The outside looks very grey and the brown wood isn't great. Can you punt the pebble dash? You don't have to worry about upkeep if you're leaving!

The laugh with the ugly brick fireplace needs another chair or something it's. bit of a corridor. Maybe an area rug? Not loving the wallpaper but I don't think it's a deal breaker.

The room with the sofas and log burner looks a bit squashed. I'd def make it in to a dining room.

Then use the sofa and chair from that room (or the blue one from the lounge and move grey sofas to lounge) to make conservatory look nicer. That's your main problem room. It looks like something off a real crime doco sorry :/ Clean the paint off the floor, move sofas and plants in and a rug. Open the blinds (why are they shut? Makes it dark and you assume the view is hideous hence why they're shut).

Open the blinds in the bedroom (why are they shut?)

Outside paint the wide wood wall. Move the rabbit hutch and run out of shot.

It has potential to be great but just needs a bit of paint and some staging :)

That's interesting that you rewired, because I don't recall reading that on the estate agent particulars.

I think your estate agent should be highlighting the work done on the property since it was bought, otherwise people will look at the previous selling price (and pictures of the bathroom & kitchen) and think you are being over-ambitious with the price.

Op I was with you about a small bedroom still being a bedroom, but a windowless room can't be considered a bedroom. The council won't count it as such.

If I viewed a 3 bed with a windowless 'bedroom' I would be quite frankly perplexed and put off.

I think you need to accept your property has limitations, especially compared to next door (stairs that are unsuitable for a baby or young child, ugly conservatory, poor layout) and price accordingly. It needs to be significantly less than next door.

I used to work for an Estate Agent, so... Some rooms look great:the second sitting room is lovely, but others very basic & bare. Buyers have no imagination, you need to 'stage' it more. Outside has no kerb appeal. You need a bit of greenery & a pot or hanging basket out front . First sitting room needs wall pics & a coffee table (the one from 2nd sitting room as that's beautiful but cluttered) & maybe paint bricks white & a mirror above mantel. Conservatory needs repainting whiter & a rug & a couple large potted plants & lose the door curtain, office furniture & dark wood seat. Kitchen is very bare on one side, put out some nice tea/coffee jars & flowers . Bathroom is good but needs some bright towels & a pic or two. Back garden looks unloved, plant some roses & lavender to give colour (both cheap but look nice).

Nobody is saying you are putting your baby at risk because of the stairs. Nobody is having a go at you.

What people are posting here is that potential buyers will be aware of the hanging hazard and will keep scrolling when they see your stairs because there are other houses on the market that do not have this hazard that would have to be taken care of immediately.

The stairs are absolutely not an issue and DDs head couldn't fit through them. Plus who on earth allows a baby/toddler to climb stairs unsupervised?

Lots of babies slip off for the three seconds it takes to get over a gate and onto a stairs unsupervised. Just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it has never happened. Lots of potential buyers can't see themselves watching a baby or small climbing toddler like a hawk to make sure nothing horrible happens with an open stairs. A climbing toddler could get over a gate with little effort. Many people have toddlers who are little divils, to use an Irish phrase.

Your view of the stairs as the owner of the house is not necessarily going to be the view of potential buyers who are also parents of babies or toddlers. Your main market is young families so you should be willing to take concerns about the safety of the stairs on board. If a baby or toddler slipped their legs and torso between the steps there could be a tragedy.

Likewise, people's concerns about the usable space/third bedroom should not be met with legalistic arguments on your part. What you see here is a representative sample of opinion about the safety of that space and I think you should take it seriously. If people have concerns about safety they are going to jog on or put in a lower offer than you are willing to accept.

We can't change the stairs without a whole new staircase, stairs and landing carpet and that's just not worth it for us.

And at the price you want, maybe it wouldn't be worth it for a buyer either...

You asked for opinions and people on here have pretty much universally told you that the small third bedroom with no window would put them off. You can shuffle the furniture around as much as you like, but there's no getting round that. Comparing it to next door, it looks as if a previous occupant has made some ill-judged "improvements" - pebble dashing, moving the bathroom to leave you with a tiny, windowless third bedroom and bolting an ill-thought out conservatory on the back (which you don't appear to making good use of yourself). Someone will buy your house - it is an end of terrace in what looks like a nice position on a nice road (according tot previous posters who know the area). You can't expect it to achieve the same as next door which has more space, a better flow, three proper bedrooms and no pebble dash. I would calculate how much it would cost to do that work (which I completely understand you don't want to do yourself) and knock that off the price. Otherwise you can pretty much guarantee that viewers will come in, look at that third bedroom and not make you an offer. The other option is to market it as a two-bed and then viewers will see the the windowless room as a bonus. Feel free to ignore, don't take personally, but you did ask.

Just checked the UK Building Regulations and the OP is technically correct. A habitable room on the first floor can count the window in an adjoining room as a means of escape as long as both rooms have their own separate access to the stairs.

Of course it may be legal but it doesn't necessarily mean it is desirable or that you can force people to accept it.

I’m well familiar with this area as have lived in Nuneaton, if I was looking for a house the things that would put me off the most personally would be

• there’s no drive (nothing you can do about)
• pebble dash exterior

Most rooms and the outside are a bit uninspiring, if you can’t decorate (the stag wall and brick fireplace would look a lot better if painted in a neutral colour) then accessorise, flowers/plants as PP have said, and definitely retake pictures in sunlight especially the front shot which is the first thing people see - some hanging flower baskets might help too. Good luck!