Any suggestions on why house isn’t selling (with listing)

[Sheepcountryside78]

Posting for traffic. Reduced a couple of times previously - would welcome any opinions, brutal or otherwise!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161097428#/?channel=RES_BUY

Yeah, the front door (looks like a garage door?) needs to be painted. The single bed under the stairs with the desk squeezed in - too much is going on. Having the open hanging rail with your clothes on display - it's saying you have no storage space. Ground floor & master bedroom look great! When we put our house up, we rented a storage unit & put half our shit in it so it looked less personalised and more airy.

Also what is going on with toilet seat in bathroom? Looks broken. Makes me think what else is broken.

I'd suggest taking it off with this agent, and listing new with new photos, taken soon whilst we still have strong daylight.

It shows as last reduced in May - that is screaming that it's been on the market for a whileThere's plenty of other houses in SN2 newly listed in August - if I was looking in that price bracket, I'd be put off by knowing it's been on a while and wondering what's wrong with it.

The 4th bedroom really isn't. I'm going to guess at a teen who doesn't live with you full time, based on the caps hanging from the curtain rail, the gaming chair and the clothes rail in the nursery. Change the door for a bi-fold, to instantly give a little more floor space and allow for furniture to be moved around so that bed isn't squished in.

You need new photos AFTER you've done a few things. It looks unlived in, possibly because you've tidied too much, and it needs kerb appeal. Paint the front door a fresh glossy bright colour, put a couple of tubs with plants either side. Have the driveway jetwashed or scrubbed. Make the living room look less stark with some bright cushions, rugs, flowers. Dress the kitchen with a few items like bowls of fresh fruit, some nice matching china items. Get rid of the scruffy bed under the stairs. The photos need to be re-done, not by some spotty youth from the agents with his phone, but by a friend with photographic expertise, who can take photos from angles that make the rooms look bigger. Good luck.

The split of the houses as well of the drive is confusing to me so you need to make it more clear and make the outside more pretty. Same with the back garden. It needs to be inviting. At the moment it all looks dingy.

Make the tiny bedroom into a study or use it for the smallest bed. Put a double (or a small double into the larger bedroom.

I love colour but the dark blue is too much so I'd paint it a different colour - a pink or apricot would be lovely with the sofas. The main bedroom is lovely but again all the blue is too much. Tone it down a bit, remove the clothing rail and make it a reading nook with a nice chair. Have a plain duvet cover that is not blue.

For me definitely the front photo. I thought it looked lovely for the most part until I saw that. If it's a semi then why are they including your neighbours dodgy garage in the photo! Definitely needs more kerb appeal creating.

You shouldn't need to decipher photographic clues to figure out that it's a semi d. The entire point of photos is to show the property clearly and to best effect.

Pressure wash the front drive and put out nice pots, or even better just dig up part of it to re-plant/turf - looks like a car park. The decor is very dominant - I’d lighten the navy wall in the lounge, and take out the clothes rack in the bedroom. Overall what kills it for me is no downstairs WC

Are you desperate to sell?
If not I would take it off and rest it whilst you;

Sort the front;

Paint the front entrance

Get the drive professionally power washed, and smartened up, they'll get rid of any lumps of moss/lichen/weeds etc. Same with the concrete flags that you can see in the right of the first picture.

Likewise all your paving/patio and decking at the back needs cleaning, get the patio down by whoever does your drive. Do the decking yourself gently with some Ecover Oxygen bleach and one of those gentle pan scrubbers - fucker of a job but it'll come up nice.

Get some weed and feed on the grass at the back, looks bad there bet it's in an even worse state now. From now until Oct give any brown/yellow patches a regular water.

Remove any broken garden items and dead plants - from borders and pots

Sort out the bed office situ, it's either one or the other.

I would leave your blue wall its nice and gives a new build a bit of warmth.

Once you've done all this you will want your pictures redoing. If you wait three months you can go on as a completely new listing. If you can hold your nerve I would just wait now until spring (early March).

Before they come to take your pics make sure you;

tidy up inside and out - there is the odd bit of clutter (my eyes went straight to what looks like a marble run in the nursery 🤣) in most of the rooms and in the front and back gardens

I'd especially remove any toiletries, toothbrushes and cleaning sprays from the bathroom, all that should be out is fresh towels, nice soap or soap dispensers and plants

The beds aren't properly made, I would also iron your duvet covers

The clothing rack in the nursery move that out of the room for the pictures (and when you have subsequent viewings)

Weed front and back and make sure there are no dead plants cut back any perennials if you keep it on over winter.

Fill your planters front and back with seasonal plants - garden centre will advise try keep them alive for viewings

Try get them to what's called 'blue sky' the outside pics if when you have them redone it's a cloudy day.

I think it's a very nice house and the price is reasonable. Viewings will pick up now the holiday season is over, I bet you get an offer soon.

The biggest problem is that there is no division between your house and the adjoining neighbour. The garage belongs to next door so you need a fence defining each properties space
the terraced garden will be off putting for some people.
The bedroom with the bed squished under the stairs looks small and cramped with the current furniture layout.
The lack of a hallway would be off putting for some. People don’t like stepping straight into the lounge from outside

What a number of posts show is that the listing is confusing:

• The property is a semi not detached
• The garage door is next door's
• The front door is actually at the side
• The door from the living room leads to the garden, it is not the front door
• The bedroom with the stairs in has a mirror, not a door to the final flight of stairs
• The bedroom with the cot in is an actual room, not a furnished landing
• The sofas are the same size (I strongly suspect anyway)
• The living room is more square than long and thin (tho I agree I can’t see how you can watch the TV)
• There is a loo in the ensuite

Potential buyers need to be led through a property and see how it flows, not be baffled, confused and probably give up within two minutes.

That’s a three bed with a study.

As someone who is currently looking (not in the same area), I'd still look through all the photos confusing as some are (others have posted detail already) and would conclude this is a spacious and lovely house, perhaps not my esthetic (lovely toddler room though!), but definitely loads of potential.
And then I would get to the photo of the exterior and, honestly, it is so grim that I would skip the viewing altogether.
Highlight the entrance door, perhaps some nice outside lamp over the entrance, definitely some (large!!!) planters - but strategically placed to lead to the front door, ensure it's an evergreen...just do something about the mood the area emmits, you must realise it feels depressing, wet, gloomy, cold...nothing like the interior - which honestly is lovely!

Agree with lots of comments.

pros
lovely inside, think most of the pics (especially kitchen and living space) are lovely

cons
front of house doesn’t look as nice - needs sprucing up
cramped room - does someone sleep in here currently? Could you take out the bed for the picture so it’s more of a home office?

I think the house is really nice inside. Could you somehow separate the drive from your neighbour’s? A line of pleached trees - maybe Portuguese laurels in pots?

The awful blue garage door would be a bit of a red flag I have to say - looks very rough.

I’m really sorry but I think the estate agents may have overestimated the valuation to you in order to get you to sign up with them. I got suspicious when you said they are a new start up agency that’s broken away from an existing established agency and you’ve dropped the price multiple times. Zoopla lists sold house prices, so buyers can see what you paid for it. I checked this myself and can see the last sale was in 2018 for £236,000 (I’m assuming that was when you bought it). Swindon house prices are only up 10-15% since 2018, and so the 33% increase you’re asking for some buyers may consider overvalued. The market is just terrible for sellers at the moment, so regarding the other points people have raised it does mean a house that has some compromises can be even harder to sell - I’m not sure how much you’ve spent on it yourself already and if that’s a factor in your asking price/recovering costs, so obviously be careful on spending too much more. Some of the changes suggested you could do more easily and cheaply than others. Also I would encourage you to 1) speak to the existing agency to see why they think it isn’t selling and what change of strategy they would suggest and 2) an initial conversation another agency to see what there thoughts are too and if you think you might do better with them. I definitely think the photos can be improved and you would be AMAZED how agencies can differ here. I’ve just been through the process of selling my place for 5% lower than I bought as unbelievably prices have dropped in my area by up to 10% since 2016 (central London). I had spent quite a bit on it too - if I hadn’t it would have been a bigger discount. I think if you can sell and get your stamp duty, legal costs and any other major renovation work back then consider yourself winning in this market. Good luck to you and your family!

The bed placement in bedroom 4 is awful. Either leave it just as an office, or remove the desk, move the bed and have it as a bedroom.

The rounded toilet seat on the square toilet also looks awful. It also gives the impression that it's hard to find a replacement toilet seat for that shape of toilet.

Did you research the SOLD prices before you listed it at that price? That should give some idea of the value of houses in your area.

It is small and a semi. Only a survey and a comparison with other Band C homes in the area can help you see why it hasn't sold.

Have you had a surveyor report on the house? Buyers would need a survey for mortgage purposes, but it is sometimes advisable to have your own..

In the room with the bed under the stairs, is it possible to put the desk and chair under the stairs and the bed where the desk is? I'd suggest if you weren't moving, as someone else has, a bifold door then you could put the bed under the window and the desk right by the door.

For all those saying it's a study, it's very nearly twice the size of my bedroom up to the age of 19 - and after that there were two of us in it in bunk beds during uni vacation!

Lots of helpful
Comments on here. Sort out the front of the house- jet wash the drive and add a couple of simple, matching, expensive looking planters with matching large evergreen shrubs in. Re take photo of the front from a different angle cutting off some of next door- it looks very odd and their garage door is a distraction- is it badly painted or is it a bad photo? If it’s badly painted will
they let you pay to have it repainted?! Tricky, I know .
declutter inside ready for a few new photos- downstairs is lovely and it all needs to look
as streamlined as that. Lose the clothing rail and desk and over large chair, for example/ just for the photos/ I appreciate you probably need them- just try to hide them again when people view.
does the side gate need revamping? If it’s immaculate/ which it may well be - then it’s a terrible photo so sort that.
it’s a lovely spacious house- you just need to help viewers who can’t imagine it without your possessions in it! Good luck

I think it’s your estate agent. I have never heard of them. Your house is a pretty standard house and I think you’d probably be better off with a more traditional estate agent like Richard James (even though I don’t personally like them) in these types of sales they do seem good at generating a lot of traffic and that in reality is what sells houses.

It’s tiny and scruffy looking

Too much clutter in too smaller space. Front of house is depressing

It's also very cheap! It has potential, a new owner could change quite a lot of things. That is reflected in the price.

Clearly, the potential buyers in the area don't think it is 'very cheap' relative to the house. If they did, it would have been snapped up in the Spring when it was first marketed. At this stage, months later, they need to re-market it with a better listing and a price reduction.