Anyone fancy advising me about my house?

[pooter]

Hi. We put our house on the market about 6wks ago - 6 viewings, two offers, but low ones.

Things have gone quiet now. I know it's a bad time of year to sell etc, but would you have a look at it on rightmove and tell me what i should to to make it more attractive?

I think its the outside that lets it down, but i am at a loss to think what i can do about that.

We were advised by two estate agents to put it on for £275k and one for £250k. We went with £250 as i thought 275 was pushing it a bit, and i didnt really want to wait forever to sell, but the offer we had was 220 then raised to 230. I really think 250 is a very good price for our house!

So - how can i make it look more tempting?
Thanks everyone!
here it is

Is there anywhere to eat apart from kitchen as the table looks quite small, especially when you think you could have two adults and 3 or 4 children living in that house. If your estate agent talked you out of having a floorplan s/he is a twat, it's the first thing most people look at.

(Didn't read the bit about 230k offer - I'm not sure that is a low offer - 92% of asking price.)

If the £230k offer is more than you paid in Dec 2006 then snap their hands off. Are houses in your area generally selling for more than they did in 2006?

btw It's lovely!

Boris - we have put in the conservatory, kitchen and two bathrooms. I CANT accept what we paid for it!

ps - couldnt sleep - mind is churning. I really hate this.

thanks nonomum

Agree with everyone else. However, you have to be realistic.

If you bought at the end of 2006 and did all that work, the chances are that you are going to lose money on it. Sorry, but that is the market at the moment. An offer of £230 is still less that 10% off the asking price and I think that is a good offer. You are unlikely to get better in this climate.

Sorry, but a bit of paint on the front door and some pot plants are not going to change that.

If I were you I'd bit of the hand of the buyer offering £230k. Buyers are few and far between just now (and prices are still dropping so they might just decide to wait if you are not careful!)

If you are moving somewhere else then the price drop might not really matter, as the place you are buying will also be 'discounted', so do think about that. I suspect that people may be making low offers because they feel that they can/should, regardless of whether your house is priced right. However if the photos don't do much for your place then I'd get them retaken - our estate agent used some sort of fishbowl lens that made everywhere look bigger when we rented our place. It's their job to make your place look as good as possible.

Re kerb appeal. Most people use streetview via rightmove if they do not know the area, have a look to see what it looked like when google took their shots.

Have you seen the modern composite cladding? I've seen some houses spruced up with a Farrow and Ball type colour and they look stunning.

Might be worth getting a quote for the black cladding on the front then repainting the garage door the same colour.

Sorry, more money :(

Is the exterior photograph the "feature photo" on Rightmove??

I think you need to swap it for a photograph of your kitchen. You'd be amazed what this does for your marketing report!

I also think £230k is a very reasonable offer on a £250k asking price. Anything less than 10% under should be seriously considered at the moment. We have just had offer of £215k accepted on a pp of £237k (although it took the vendor a month to accept it :) )

We're selling in this difficult price bracket so my sympathy. Our house worth just over £250k but put on at 249 to avoid the higher stamp duty. But we are getting very low offers like you so you can't win. If you can hold out to the spring it might be worth it as tink there will be more buyers around (we are taking ours off market so its not lying dormant over christmas). Also know the area you live in and it's really nice. Why do you want to move? If you are upsizing you might be able to get a chunk off what you move to.

going to also say depending when people have looked at it they might well seen the traffic mayhem around North station and mile end and only going to get worse with all the new houses on the old hospital site

It will NOT be better in the spring. Mortgage lending criteria are about to be tightened massively which will seriously affect people's ability to borrow.

Plus the budget cuts and public sector jobs will hit then.

Take the £230. Honestly.

I should add, just to declare my interests. We have just had an offer of £325k accepted on a house marketed at £365k.

Also, my brother is selling his house at the moment. Marketed at £299k, turned down £285k in August (which was then withdrawn) and has just accepted £275k.

this is all very depressing. we are moving to live near my parents as my husband will be spending two nights a week away for his work. Im considering knocking the whole thing on the head as i love living here and love our house.

The trouble is we have a 3yr old who will start school in Sept - so we need to move or stay put before the application deadline of 15th Jan.

Not even sure if the 230 is still on the table.

another thing to consider is what schools you in catchement for primary and secondry

In a falling market 'kerb appeal' 'feature walls' and any other tv jargon is just a waste of time.I have been buying and selling hoises for 12 years and agree with the person who said take 230k as next year it could be 199!

We're selling in this difficult price bracket so my sympathy. Our house worth just over £250k but put on at 249 to avoid the higher stamp duty.

Hahahahaha YOU REALLY WANT TO SELL DON'T YOU.

PS who is your house worth £250k to?

Bargain..roll up roll up....

ha ha haaaaaaaaaa

oops need to say that's for Nikos.

PS Anyone else get frustrated with Mumsnet forums?

That's a bit harsh. Because equivalent houses on the same estate are up for 270k plus.
I think things might be better in the spring because thevolume of buyers might increase. Here in the north there is just hardly anyone looking.

definitely get floor plans! We've just had an offer accepted on a house for 3K under the asking price - not too far from your actually - but it's a 3 bed, and the asking price was a wee bit lower than yours!

also, why do you have a guitar on the wall?! (sorry, was the first thing that struck me...)

Other houses on the same estate may be up for £270k, but it certainly doesn't mean they are worth £270k. They are only worth £270k if someone is paying that for them. If no-one is paying £249k for a house, then it definitely isn't worth over £250k.

What to do? Go with your instinct. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/313743-anyone-heard-that-minor-crash-in-house-prices-is-on remember this thread.

Lovely home!

Exterior looks a bit stark without any greenery. My suggestions are (1) switch on or install outisde light to illuminate porch area (2) paint wood on porch and garage door cream (Gardenia is a nice exterior shade made by Crown/Dulux I think) (3)try white geraniums in window boxes (might be out of season, I'm not a gardener!)(4) fix large chrome house number in top right corner of porch for modern stylish look (IMO) Would even look good if you kept the wood background black. (5) Jasmine would have a softening effect if it could be trained up the pillar (and give a lovely scent).

Is that brown plaque on the black wood a house name? I would find a more attractive one (sorry to be brutal). You've got a great canvas there to put something eye-catching on and hint at the lovely modern interior.