My DM selling her house - should anything be happening yet?

[SpidersAreShitheads]

My DM is selling her house and for various reasons is desperate to get things moving. Unfortunately for her, she also can't afford to take a massive drop in price - although there is a little bit of wiggle room.

Her property went on the market a couple of weeks ago - so obviously it's still incredibly early days.

However, I would have thought that there would have been more interest when the property first goes on the market, dropping off the longer it stays available?

She's not had a single viewing yet.

Two people expressed an interest - one person was a builder and I think the estate agent tipped him off before it went on the market, but he found somewhere else to buy the day before he'd asked to come round. The second viewing was cancelled as the woman drove around the area and didn't like the hilly roads on the way to the local shops.

Some of the photos were a bit crap, and there was virtually no description by the estate agent. He's been around today and taken better photos, and uploaded a description which explains that the upstairs floor could potentially be self-contained accommodation.

The problem is that her property is a bit weird in terms of layout - there's an absolutely huge second bedroom which takes up almost the whole of the converted loft space, and it's lovely. But the third "bedroom" is a tiny, tiny room which also houses the boiler. If I were looking for a three-bedroom house for me and my DC, the configuration wouldn't work - and I suspect that might be the same for a lot of buyers.

It's a nice property but I am a bit concerned there has been absolutely no interest. The photos weren't amazing before, but they were passable. Certainly not enough to make people skip past.

I'm a home owner but not sold on the open market before - do things normally take a while to get moving - or is this a concerning sign? I know it's only been two weeks....but no interest in even looking?

Does anyone have any killer tips to get people in to look at the property?

One of the reasons she's so desperate is that she needs something very specific in the next house she buys which is quite rare - and there's one on the market now which fits the bill. If she doesn't get her house under offer soon, this other property will inevitably be bought by someone else, and I don't know how easily we'll find what she needs again....

If you posted a link we could take a look...

I did this and with a bit of MN tweaking I got 4 offers in 4 days.

The thing is if the agent’s uploaded it with crap pictures and half a description they’ve wasted valuable “new to the market” time. Does it have a floorplan? What is the market like in her area and how does it compare to similar properties? If it’s a weird layout she may need to market it at a slightly lower price than similar sized houses so people are more likely to accept the quirks

OMG, I've just noticed there's a bloody can of fly spray visible on the floor of the living room in the photos.....!!!!

@BadgertheBodger - that is exactly what I was worried about!!! I said to DM today that it won't be up the top of the listings now, and people who skipped past it before won't bother to go into it again to know there are new photos.....I think the estate agent missed a trick and has been a bit shit.

The photos weren't terrible but didn't show the place at its best. And the angles of the garden made it look really messy, which it isn't. We went round and dismantled a table and cleared a load of stuff out. The trouble is that she's a crafter and my stepdad is a stamp collector - they're retired so between them, there's a lot of clutter.... It's not terrible, but there's nowhere to hide all their stuff.

The decision to sell has been very sudden so they've not had months to start clearing out and binning stuff - which would have been better.

I think price is maybe £5k too high - would that make much difference?

If there's someone who needs an area of self-contained accommodation for an older child etc, the upstairs will be an amazing space. But I can't see it working for other people who want three regular bedrooms, and that's my issue.

@TokyoSushi - I'll post a link, thank you.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/112388579#/media?channel=RES_BUY&id=media1&ref=photoCollage

OK, do you want honest feedback....?

Well you need to remove 75% of the clutter and 50% of the furniture. Currently it's impossible to see what the actual house offers as the clutter is blinding, and gives the impression that there is not enough room.
Also the garden looks like a compromise.

I'm sorry that they're going through a tough time.

@TokyoSushi woops!

Looking at the listing it's hard to see who the house would appeal to tbh.... There is no bath, the bedrooms are odd sizes and there are so many 'layers' to the back garden it looks like a lot of work.

Maybe photos need to show it better as it just looks quite confusing and lots of very strange proportions!

I’m sorry the photos are bad and it looks really untidy. I appreciate it’s a bit brutal but you need to move all the mobility aids, massive declutter (all family help for one weekend it will get done). Things like that can of fly spray, the mop behind the kitchen table, there’s just a lot of stuff around. The garden doesn’t look like it makes any sense as a family garden and ultimately it’s a family house. It’s really hard to get a sense of the layout, does the agent offer virtual tours? Also the description isn’t spaced properly so it’s hard to read and make sense of it. A 2% reduction will make Rightmove see it as a “new” property again so back in alerts, I’d get everything decluttered and tidied then new pics and try it again. I’m not at all sure the agent has done everything they could here so another agent may be a better bet.

I think the layout is a bit problematic OP, I’m sorry. One bedroom is downstairs and upstairs you have a giant one and a tiny one, there aren’t many families that this would work for. Though there isn’t a huge amount that can be done about that.

More immediately, the pictures are not great and this is something that can be fixed. We are selling ours now and we were told to aim for clear surfaces everywhere, including hiding stuff like shampoo and towels and taking down pictures that are family type pics or won’t be to everyone’s taste. All the rooms look really full and it’s hard to visualise how it feel as my property.

Also it's not at all clear which room is this large bedroom which you refer to as a main selling point. Is it the one with the craft drawers and the leather studded coffee storage thing?? It needs to be staged as a bedroom.

@tobedtoMNandfart - thank you for your honesty. Would it stop you from viewing the house?

@TokyoSushi Yes please. As long as people aren't being nasty for the sake of it, I would love to hear honest feedback. There's absolutely no point saying nice things if they aren't true. Plus it's not my house anyway so I'm not bothered about the criticism especially 😅

Part of the problem - which I possibly should have mentioned earlier - is that my mum has cerebral palsy. She can't move around rooms without lots of furniture. So while there's a load of shit that needs to be gotten rid of, just general clutter, there's not a lot we can do about minimising furniture as she still has to live there in the meantime. You wouldn't believe how much stuff I've already chucked out.......!

I think the thing is, I've seen loads of houses locally which are way more cluttered and messy that don't seem to have had a problem selling.

What do you think about the layout? Is it just the shit everywhere that would stop you viewing the property, or would the layout be a show-stopper?

I'm really grateful for anyone taking the time to comment. We really do need this to be sold!

Declutter declutter declutter.

It looks chaotic. Your eye gets drawn to the contents, not the room.

It’s not that cluttered and the photos aren’t as bad as I was expecting.

It’s got a third bedroom downstairs and a small second one upstairs. It won’t make ot easy to sell.

However everything is sellable at the right price. I suspect it’s been massively over valued, How many estate agents valued it?

Are those fake lizards in the garden?

What everyone else said. Your mum needs to hire a storage unit and move out all the clutter and some furniture so people can actually see the house. Agree the mobility aids need to go, or anything that says ‘this house is only suitable for X type of people’. The garden could use a lot of tidying and TLC, too. I would reduce by 5k and take new photos, and see if that overcomes the odd layout.

Ha no worries I can always be relied upon to be brutally honest!
At the moment I would not view it no. If the upstairs bedroom looked like a Master Suite I might!
Sounds like you've got quite the job on your hands! Good luck.

I think it's got bones but for I was looking for a 3 bed I'd be pissed off at that appearing in the search results. Can you even fit a bed in there ?

It's not been recently decorated, styled or de cluttered - all of which would help it sell.

The photos of the kitchen are appalling.

You can't change the layout so there's not much point worrying about that.

It's a mess as others have said. The clutter wouldn't be so bad if it were tidy clutter. In the bedroom pic the chintzy bedspread is off-putting.

Other things that are awful in the photos: those black and white chair covers, all the clutter at the bottom of the stairs, bits of furniture blocking bits of kitchen.

But it's in Gloucester, it's big, it will sell at the right price. If there's no bath then the price probably needs to allow for buyers putting in a new bathroom.

Well, looking down the street sold prices, the 3 bedrooms are at £200k but your mum's is £295, and needs bathrooms replacing etc. I wouldn't go see something like that because even with negotiation, it wouldn't be 40% off. Why is it so expensive compared to others?

OK, I'm going to go for it...

Are you in a position to help? It needs a mahoosive sort out.

Front: Good parking, needs some colour/kerb appeal, put some lovely bright pots out there or similar.

Living room: Looks like a corridor with too many chairs. Remove one of the armchairs, and maybe the hifi, put a cheap rug down.

Room with all the bookcases: What is this room? Remove most of the bookcases and the picture, set it up as what it's supposed to be.

Dining room: Fine. Is there a fridge in there? Remove if possible.

Kitchen: Remove bins and stuff on top of fridges. Tidy up table, remove mops/brushes etc and everything in front of the window. Remove little cabinet in front of the washing machine to open the kitchen up.

Bathroom: Remove items from shower for photo. Remove under sink rails.

Bedroom: Tidy and dress bed. Tidy/remove items from bedside table. Remove table over bed for photo.

Office room: Remove 90% of items in this room, set up as minimalist office.

Bottom of stairs: Remove everything!

Any tidying/colour in back garden would be great.

Would it be possible to hire a storage unit for all of the excess items? Other than that I think you need a couple of hundred pounds and a weekend to make the world of difference. Is it possible to take it off the market very briefly while you make the changes and then put the 'all-new house' back on again?

I really hope that they can get sorted, sounds a difficult position, but all completely solvable with a bit of TLC. Good luck!

Sorry op I meant it's got good bones
I like the garden!

@rachelvbwho and @ChewChewPanda - you have just said exactly what I've been thinking, I don't know who this layout would suit! Someone with an older child/relative who wants a self-contained annexe upstairs it would be perfect for - but I can't imagine there are many of them around..... I will actually be moving too very soon, and I'll be looking for a three bedroom - and my DM's house wouldn't work for us at all.

@BadgertheBodger - they're all fair comments, thank you. Good advice re the 2%, I'll mention that to her!

@tobedtoMNandfart - No need for whoops at all, I'm grateful for the help. I think the problem is that she rushed it onto the market as the estate agents told her people would be clamouring to buy it. And because lots of other properties round here have sold with even crappier photos, she doesn't really understand the importance.

But yes, the "big space" is the area with desk and craft shit. It's double aspect, has three windows and is a large L-shape which is really hard to capture in photos. But having all her crap up there really doesn't help. There's no bed in the room to be able to stage it.

There is LOADS of stuff you can move out of the way for photos even if you just move it back again after. It looks (sorry to be blunt) like a house that elderly people live in, it's messy and cluttered and not at all aspirational. I don't want to see a mop propped behind a table because that makes me think that's a messy kitchen with no place to store a mop. I want to be able to imagine a place with my things in and that means it needs to be tidy and not full of stuff - take the oven glove off the side of the fridge for example. Small things like that but get them out of the way!
Ultimately it's going to come down to price though. And if they need the higher price they won't be able to get a quick sale. Have you looked at comparative properties on zoopla?

It's a nice house but the photos don't show it off to its full advantage. Numbers refer to photos:

2 - can you turn the far armchair round to section off the room? It seems as though room doesn't know what it is.

3 - the shelves are distracting. You don't really see what the room could be.

7/8 - could you get rid of the item which sticks out into the kitchen? Would make the room look bigger.

11 - tidy the leads, get rid of the storage.

13 - remove most of the contents.

There are too many photos of outside, none of which do the house any favours. Could you borrow some planters to brighten the garden up?

Plus get rid of the aids and the toys.

It has huge potential but the photos do not do the place justice at all.

• tidy the office, get rid of the cables.
• the

It’s just so busy, and cluttered, I stopped looking after the first few photos.

The outside of the front is nicer and the openness of the back.

The layout is difficult, it’s hard to see who it would fit.

Things you can change: Declutter a lot, add a rug to the front section.

Ah just seen the update, your poor DM. Understand how she needs the stuff to get about, I suppose just remove as much as you can so that she's still comfortable in there.