Help end medical misogyny. Sign our petition.

Help end medical misogyny.
Sign our petition.

Sign the petition

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

House not selling (with listing)

1000 replies

Houseadvice26 · 15/02/2026 16:40

Posted here for traffic. Thoughts welcome please!

Purchased for £360k in 2023
Heavily renovated
Reduced gradually from £495k last year
Now on with a new EA for £400k

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/165327158#/?channel=RES_BUY

OP posts:
Thread gallery
41
OlympicWomen · 15/02/2026 22:36

Quercus3 · 15/02/2026 22:32

OMG agree. Absolutely criminal. Nothing puts me off quicker than a garden with fake grass or gravel.

Apparently it's a quick way to devalue any property.

Sugargliderwombat · 15/02/2026 22:36

WearyAuldWumman · 15/02/2026 18:20

It's a cliché, but with ours I just painted everything white.

I was advised that there was no point in changing the 1980s kitchen and pink bathroom, since so many people rip out even brand new kitchens and bathrooms.

I just made sure that I scrubbed absolutely everything as well as painting all the walls. Also got someone to put new vinyl down on the bathroom floor for me and I used a carpet cleaning machine on all the carpets.

I recall that I put up new, neutral curtains.

Absolutely, I think just painting everything white would help this house.

Piknik · 15/02/2026 22:38

Oh damn, there's a garden. I'd so prefer gravel or tarmac.

Said noone ever.

Sugargliderwombat · 15/02/2026 22:39

Oh my gosh just seen the street view. I think your husband who is leading things needs to be permanently banned from any aesthetic decisions in the future.

mondaytosunday · 15/02/2026 22:40

Stage it. I used to flip houses and fully furnished them, dressed the windows, put artwork up, made the kids room a kids room with toys etc. Set the table as if for a dinner party, put pots of flowers outside. Garden furniture - the lot. I don’t think I fooled anyone that someone was actually living there, but it vastly improved its appeal. You can rent furniture to do it, or there are staging firms.

WhereIsMyLight · 15/02/2026 22:41

I think to be blunt, you’ve fucked it mate.

I think your best bet (not knowing your finances) is to let it. Get a cheap kitchen in, white, high gloss. Get the garden in a state that tenants can use it - seed it or <shudders> pave over it. Get the gas certificates and everything up to code and let it.

If you need to sell it:
-you need to lighten the outside. The black is absolutely awful with the brick tone. Can’t do anything about the windows now but you can do the cladding and garage door. You could go bright with it and make it really eye catching
-you’re not going to be able to add it in that lovely flower bed now, so hanging baskets and planters are going to be your friend here. Ideally you’d have tried to block up the semi-circle of bedding plants in a fashion similar to the driveway and said something about making it usable for multiple vehicles.
-reseed the garden
-need to do the kitchen. The green is very jarring as the only colour in the house. It’s a bit ‘hospital green’, I’d have gone more muted or bold jewel tones to be trendy
-The house is very cluttered but very empty at the time. It feels like a flip because there’s still tools and stuff on cupboards but you’ve just shoved a bottle of redox in the bathroom. Clear out all DIY bits. Then decide if you’re going to sell the house empty or if you’re going to dress the house. Selling it empty, the rooms look small but dressing it you’re going to have invest and do it properly.
-if selling empty, everything goes. Everything. You keep a toilet roll on the holder and a small, clean hand towel. Make sure the estate agent keeps the lights on for the photos because it’s going to look dark and small
-if dressing it, you need furniture. IKEA furniture is fine but it needs to match, so pick a black or a wood effect don’t mix and match. I would probably go with a white or light wood effect to bring some light in. Probably a bright coloured sofa. Or some bright coloured cushions. Introduce elements of that colour throughout the house (towels in the bathroom, cushions on the bed, art work). Get some artwork on the walls. Get some lamps and get the estate agent to turn them on for photos. You could create a lovely cosy look. Put some plants out. Get some bedsheets that fit the mattress properly.
-if selling, you need a 360 view because it’s really hard to get the flow of the house

You also need to be aware that the market just hasn’t moved in 3 years (or more likely 2 years and a couple of months). We bought in 2023 at a similar price to you and we wouldn’t make a lot if we were to sell our house now. I think we could put it on for about £10k more and get what we paid for it. Despite doing work to it. Priced at that level, I think it would go quite quickly and it’s still a good deal comparative to what else is on the market in that price range. So thinking you can make £100K is really out of touch.

Generally, I think it’s not a 4 bed. They are 4 small bedrooms and there isn’t enough living space for a four bed or enough outside space. It obviously is 4 bedrooms but it’s not really appealing to families as they’ll be on top of each other in the living space. So that is also going to lower your potential audience.

Additionally, it’s still got a funky layout. A downstairs toilet and directly opposite, a downstairs full bathroom. It’s not the end of the world but the toilet is redundant when there is a full bathroom just 5 steps away. It’s more cleaning. It wouldn’t stop me buying the house if it ticked all my other boxes but it’s definitely something annoy me if it’s not ticking all the boxes. Again, limiting your audience a bit more.

These potentially lower pools of people the house will appeal to also need to be taken into account if you’re trying to flip it and make it a profit. It’s just a bit too niche for a flip.

BunnyLake · 15/02/2026 22:41

So are the prospective new owners meant to pay to do something with the garden you destroyed or are you going to pay to gravel/astro turf it?

Why is the front of the house now just bare when before it had a bush? Put a trellis up and put some climbing flowers or something green on there.

Do you hate nature 🤦‍♀️

Moanycowbag · 15/02/2026 22:44

The painted cladding looks awful but the fact that you have left the dormer unpainted just makes the whole thing look slapdash, and the green kitchen cupboards are unforgivable

VaccineSticker · 15/02/2026 22:45

Houseadvice26 · 15/02/2026 17:31

Lawn has been taken up and covered so buyer can have option of gravel/astro for ease which agents say is the main preference these days.

Your estate agent is hopping mad! You destroyed your lawn because you think he knows best?!! I don’t know anyone who would want Astro or gravel garden.
Looking at your house on streetview and it looked very welcoming. What on earth have you done?!

nOlives · 15/02/2026 22:46

I can't quite get my head around how the house was twice as wide when you bought it.

EvangelineTheNightStar · 15/02/2026 22:46

Is the EA trying to make it unsellable with the advice then will buy the rock bottom, make it nice again then sell for a fortune?

IAmKerplunk · 15/02/2026 22:47

Piknik · 15/02/2026 22:38

Oh damn, there's a garden. I'd so prefer gravel or tarmac.

Said noone ever.

Any new buyers aren’t even lucky enough to get gravel/tarmac or fake grass though 🤣 which to be fair kids could at least play out on until it was fixed. They are literally left with a membrane and weeds 😱

Justyouwaitandseeagain · 15/02/2026 22:47

Agree with all comments. It looks really soulless and dreary. You need to clean up the front at the very least. If it's an investment project you need to dress the house to sell. Enable people to picture themselves living there - furniture, art. Wanting to see how beds/wardrobes would fit, where and how they would cook/eat/do washing. The kitchen doesn't seem very modern for something newly fitted and doesn't look usable - lacking in worktop space and appliances? Did you stick a cheap secondhand / ex display kitchen in? Seems a mistake to have ripped up the garden without properly landscaping. Landscaping a garden can be at least 10k. Also the street view seems to take you to the wrong place. It makes me think it's been done up by inexperienced amateurs so makes me wonder what horrors lurk underneath - dodgy wiring etc, things bodged due to turning around quickly. having found the old listing from when you bought it I would far prefer to buy as it was as you work on the basis you will strip it all out. I wouldn't pay extra for renovations of dubious quality. In a renovated house I expect to be wowed with every detail done beautifully and exactly as I would want to be ready to move straight in.

Shittyhouse · 15/02/2026 22:47

Houseadvice26 · 15/02/2026 16:40

Posted here for traffic. Thoughts welcome please!

Purchased for £360k in 2023
Heavily renovated
Reduced gradually from £495k last year
Now on with a new EA for £400k

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/165327158#/?channel=RES_BUY

The house is very overpriced. Since 2023, the price hasn’t changed very much. My friend initially listed her house for 400k and is now selling it for 300k.

Snugglemonkey · 15/02/2026 22:48

Houseadvice26 · 15/02/2026 17:17

Yes. Looked to make it a bit more ‘insta-worthy’ and 2026 appropriate.

But you took away all the planting that made it look welcoming and replaced it with more concrete and weeds.

EdithBond · 15/02/2026 22:49

What’s the ceiling price for the road/development? It may be overpriced.

Who are typical buyers looking for a 4 bedroom in the area? Furnish and market accordingly.

Or market to people looking in a more expensive area nearby and address their concerns about your neighbourhood. May appeal to downsizers who can live on ground floor and keep the upstairs bedrooms for guests.

fashionqueen0123 · 15/02/2026 22:53

I’m confused as to why you aren’t using the old agent who took much better photos. Just ask them to reduce the price. Just because your taken money off doesn’t mean people won’t find the old listing anyway

Snugglemonkey · 15/02/2026 22:56

Barrenfieldoffucks · 15/02/2026 17:21

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/55-sutton-park/blunsdon/swindon/sn26-7ba/65838182/

The old listing is much better.

What have you done to the kitchen, garden etc?

Oh, that is so much better. I would consider viewing that.

OlympicWomen · 15/02/2026 22:58

EvangelineTheNightStar · 15/02/2026 22:46

Is the EA trying to make it unsellable with the advice then will buy the rock bottom, make it nice again then sell for a fortune?

That's the only explanation.

Soontobesingles · 15/02/2026 23:01

I agree with PPs that there is zero curb appeal. It’s also really difficult to get a sense from the pics of room size and flow of the house - how would you actually use it as a family? It doesn’t seem particularly like it would be a pleasant space to be in - I would borrow furniture to stage the rooms and make it easier to imagine inhabiting the house, also - you say you have done a lot of work, but there is nothing that feels high end or well designed about this space and lack of furniture is not helping.

Justyouwaitandseeagain · 15/02/2026 23:01

Just looked again and you have just painted the (dated but passable) kitchen units a (really unusual, not particularly nice) mint green and stuck in a gigantic American fridge which doesn't fit or belong and dominates the whole room.

the bedroom and en suite look nice (with clutter removed) but the kitchen really needed a lot more time, effort and consideration. Straightaway I am thinking a new kitchen which is probably another £20k - I can't imagine anyone living with / using what is now there.

the original kitchen looks like one I fitted in my very first cheap doer upper 25 years ago. I looked recently and it still seems to be there as we did a really nice finish and made it workable for a young first time buyer / couple. Your house is basically a family sized home - or downsizing older couple - so needs a kitchen to suit.

Soontobesingles · 15/02/2026 23:03

Justyouwaitandseeagain · 15/02/2026 22:47

Agree with all comments. It looks really soulless and dreary. You need to clean up the front at the very least. If it's an investment project you need to dress the house to sell. Enable people to picture themselves living there - furniture, art. Wanting to see how beds/wardrobes would fit, where and how they would cook/eat/do washing. The kitchen doesn't seem very modern for something newly fitted and doesn't look usable - lacking in worktop space and appliances? Did you stick a cheap secondhand / ex display kitchen in? Seems a mistake to have ripped up the garden without properly landscaping. Landscaping a garden can be at least 10k. Also the street view seems to take you to the wrong place. It makes me think it's been done up by inexperienced amateurs so makes me wonder what horrors lurk underneath - dodgy wiring etc, things bodged due to turning around quickly. having found the old listing from when you bought it I would far prefer to buy as it was as you work on the basis you will strip it all out. I wouldn't pay extra for renovations of dubious quality. In a renovated house I expect to be wowed with every detail done beautifully and exactly as I would want to be ready to move straight in.

This x1000

PurpleFlower1983 · 15/02/2026 23:05

Truthfully the outside looks awful and whoever has done the renovation has no sense of style. The space isn’t cohesive at all. It also looks incredibly drab and unloved. You would be better staging it.

Snugglemonkey · 15/02/2026 23:05

Houseadvice26 · 15/02/2026 17:31

Lawn has been taken up and covered so buyer can have option of gravel/astro for ease which agents say is the main preference these days.

Oh fuck, sorry, it just gets worse. I just wouldn't not consider a house with nothing growing. It just looks dead and soulless.

EdithBond · 15/02/2026 23:06

Have now properly looked at the photos.

Need plants in pots and the back fence fixing. People have to imagine themselves living in it. I can’t think who’d imagine themselves sitting at the French doors looking onto what appears to be a concrete yard, weeds and a tumbledown fence (if that’s the ‘after’ pic).

If you don’t have time to re-green it properly, you need to pull up the weeds and ‘stage’ it for photos/viewings with garden furniture, umbrella, pots etc.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is not accepting new messages.
Swipe left for the next trending thread