House not selling (with listing)

[Housesale2]

Any thoughts welcome - awkward lay out? Decor? Anything else?

To pre-empt a couple of questions; it was originally listed at £400,000, and there is parking for two cars (one on the gravel, one on the right)

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/171873854#/?channel=RES_BUY

Honestly? 4 bed is aimed at a family, but the family space is cluttered and looks unusable. The table pushed up against the wall tells me that the kitchen is too small. The bedrooms are definitely too small and the overall look is a bit tired.
It isn't the greatest area and if I wanted to spend that and have similar sized bedrooms/low living space I'd go new build.
I wouldn't, personally, I'd go for more character and better proportioned rooms.
You need to drop the price, to around £335k max, more like £325k

Guide price makes it sound like an auction. That definitely needs changed. And not to "offers over" - that's annoying enough in a sellers market but in the current market it's just going to discount a bunch of users that will feel restricted on being able to make offers.

Also, wide angle lenses fool no one. I know why estate agents do it. It gets more room in a photo whilst making the room look bigger. But everyone knows TVs aren't as wide as they are in your photo so they'll wonder what else isn't accurately represented.

Economic issues aside, I would discount it purely because of the windows. Would look a lot nicer with different, plainer windows and shutters. I'd change the fireplace and present the garden with more pots and greenery in the garden. There's some nice colour schemes in some of your rooms. Good luck!

It’s just a rubbish market right now and things are taking a very long time to sell. Your house is perfectly fine

Not a fan of modern houses but I think it's quite nice actually.You've got decent accommodation imo. The decor's a bit grey and the photos are rubbish - flat, drab and very obviously stretched - maybe redo? Might restage the "snug" as a dining room. Your biggest problem is the global political/economic situation though. Do you need to move now? If you absolutely do, you may need to take a hit on the price. Agree that "guide price" makes it look like it's a method of modern auction sale and personally I don't even look at those because they mostly involve the dreadful iamsold.com.

Caveat: I don't know the market in that area at all.

I think it mostly looks well presented and a perfectly nice family home. The only things I would suggest are:

1. plant some greenery in the garden - the lack of privacy as it is very overlooked would bother me. Can you put trellis up on top of the fence, or add some taller planting at all?
2. put a single bed or day bed with trundle into the spare room- by the measurements it’s a single room, but there is a double bed wedged in there.
3. Take out the big rabbit / Guinea pig cage for the photos.
4. i’m a bit confused by the kitchen photos as the kitchen itself looks lovely but there is a big table pushed up against the wall. When I looked at the floor plan, there’s no obvious place for the table to be. Would you be better off setting up the snug as a little dining room just for viewings & photos?

everything else is just decor preferences which would be easy for a buyer to change if they wanted to. The bathrooms & kitchen look very nicely done. Hopefully things will pick up again now it’s spring.

It definitely worked better when it was a three bed back in 2017 when the OP purchased.

I can't believe (well, I can 🙄) that an estate agent on this thread would advise not to move the guinea pig/rabbit cage from the snug for new photos! What terrible advice...

The bedrooms are quite small, nicely decorated but there is a lot of clutter in the little kids bedroom, maybe clear that to give the room a less box size appearance.

The garden is very open and small.

Is there a downstairs cloakroom/cupboard for shoes and jackets? I couldn’t move somewhere without that or a dumping ground is forged in the hallway.

it’s a nice house. What’s the estate agent send of viewers feedback? Is it priced right for the area in Swindon?

The photos make the furniture look massive which makes the rooms look small. Maybe worth reshooting. Animal cage is off putting. Also the Man Utd sign - and I know that sounds ridiculous! But you need to depersonalise

I think it’s the price. 4 bed (with 3 very small and odd shaped rooms) at around 1200sq ft doesn’t map to the original 400k pricetag and probably not to 375k either. For 400-440 there are some properly 4 bed properties of 1600sqm and larger gardens; and for £350k there are some comparable 1200sqm properties, better appointed as 3 beds. It looks cluttered because it, well, it is - there is little room in those tiny upstairs rooms. I’d definitely declutter but I actually think it’s overpriced vis a vis what else is on the market. At the right price, though, it’s a lovely property - the kitchen/lounge area is gorgeous.

The best way to do photos is to put everything you don’t want pet run bean bag toys etc in the hall or landing for the pic . then you can move the essentials like pet stuff back in. You can move into the garden for viewings and open windows get a good quality room spray . Not fabreeze type. I like it . I’m not offended by colour or the dining photo.
i would look at it if i was in the area . Most of it well presented . Just a few issues . I think the garden is fine showing space for children to play .

might be the price .

the market is dead !
important to really be realistic as to comparisons in your area.
i am an ex estate agent . People really cannot see through other peoples ideas and stuff it’s bonkers .

It’s really nice on the inside. I’d be put off by the outside, which looks a bit unloved and doesn’t do the inside justice. No curb appeal.
I’d give the gravel area neat, sharp edges (not the big stones of varying shapes and sizes you have now) put something flowering in the borders, trim the plants and at least have the cable for the satellite dish going down the wall straight. Then get the photo of the front taken again.
Good luck. It’s a nice house 🍀

It’s a lovely house, if I was moving to that area I would definitely view it. The market is just a bit crap at the moment, houses are taking longer to sell. We have a few up for sale near us and they have been on the market for ages.

Some change of paint colour would work wonders. The blue in the kitchen does not say "I want to eat in here". I think colour studies have shown that warmer colours, say soft terracotta would work better and be more inviting in rooms connected with food.
The blue in the sitting room looks quite harsh and unrelaxing. In that room I would paint the walls a softer colour and paint the grey bricks cream. It also looks quite sterile, so a large patterned rug in nice warm colours would really work to introduce some sensual texture to the room. You could also have a large green plant in a pot somewhere to bring in a bit of life. Hope your sale goes well OP.

I am selling a similiar priced property on a popular street where i live...been on 3weeks and not a peep. But estate agents told me loads in the 300-400 range are sitting for months at the moment, as a heads up when I listed it, and I amnot in a rush to move, so happy to wait for the right person to come along. Load shave dropped their prices and yet still for sale.
People in "first time buyer" houses and upgrading to bigger ones at the mo, because of numerous factors. Lots are downsizing. So I guess it depends if you are happy to drop it even further below what it is "worth" (without all the insecurity) or wait it out til people are buying again.

PS i think its lovely and some of these comments are really pedantic/personal taste...but then you did ask on mumsnet.
It would easily be £400000 where i live...if you could sell it of course!

It really bemuses me that house buyers can't see past the belongings of a family. Their stuff will be gone when you move in! The bathrooms and kitchen all look new and in good condition, the rest is decorative preference and most people want to decorate when they move anyway. I am another one who would get rid of the brickwork/fireplace as is but you're not going to change that before selling

I think it looks nice, but it looks as though it needs new windows

I paid £258k for my house in 2016 and it has just gone on for £350k That's how much the market has increased.

If a house doesn’t sell it is not the right price.
personally I’d rather have a 3 bed with decent sized rooms - this house is too small for a family.

It looks great inside but from the outside the windows put me off. They look very old and due for replacement and a lot of people don't like the upheaval of having work done. When I see old window I wonder if the boiler/electrics also needs updating.

Thanks for all input - no offence taken to any! It is AIBU after all.

Honestly, I think it’s the area. I know Swindon and there aren’t many jobs enticing people to the area and many are moving out towards Bristol or Reading for work, since they closed the car manufacturing factories.

youre also a corner plot, again harder to sell. You need to make it something that people will love to get that kerb appeal. Agree with previous posters about clutter, and do something with the garden and get the photos retaken - cut the grass and uncover the spa? (Or what’s ever under the blue tarp) let people imagine living them, not thinking about having to cut the grass!

good luck

It's not an area I would live in, nor a style I would want. Having said that, there is nothing really wrong with it. Nothing else would put me off (paint is cheap and easy to change!). I don't really like those types of windows but if it was a house in an area I wanted it wouldn't be a deal breaker.

Have you tried another estate agent ?

I think I'd paint out the fireplace (probably white??), move the personal bits from the sitting room, find (borrow) a few throws/cushions to tie it together and take down the small pictures (they are all in a row) and use command strips to put up something bigger. And fresh flowers - white? Lose the footstool and have a rug and coffee table.

Can you store some kids' stuff in a friend's house for a while? It just makes it look as though there isn't enough storage.

The rabbit run will put many many people off I'm afraid. Don't know what you can do about that one.

Big bunch of white flowers or plant or something on the dining table - it doesn't look used.

In the office, hit the cardboard boxes, at least while photos are being taken!

I have no idea why agents take photos while it's wet outside! I'd ask for new photos without cardboard boxes and piles of children's books etc. And a different angle of the bedroom with the green furniture in it. Approve the photos before they go on the website.

Good luck - it's a nice house, just a very poor market so you need to do everything you can to make your house stand out!