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Original poster

Here's my house. How can I make it more viewer-friendly!

97 replies

HouseyMouse · 28/07/2011 10:48

Apologies, I'm very new to Mumsnet so I'm not sure if this is the done thing, but here is my house which I've just put on the market.

The kitchen's dated, but we can't afford to update it as we've just replaced the windows (no money left!).

What could we do to make it more viewer-friendly?

Thanks.
P.S. I'm not at all proud of it, so any "Yuck" and "That's awful!" replies are most welcome! :)

OP posts:
Original poster
HouseyMouse · 28/07/2011 20:17

Yes, the dining room is small and characterless. Our table, piano and daughter's toy kitchen is all that will fit in there really. Nothing to get excited about from a buyer's point of view.

Thanks for all of your advice and kind words. Fingers crossed for some viewers now!

OP posts:
MumblingRagDoll · 28/07/2011 20:25

The only things I didn't like were the dark window frames in the dining room and the green tiles in the kitchen....too dark. Everything else is very appealing.

Original poster
HouseyMouse · 28/07/2011 20:27

Yes, it's a shame but we had to have them dark to match the other three houses on our road. We could have had dark on the outside and white on the inside, but we couldn't afford it unfortunately.

OP posts:
DeeLite · 28/07/2011 20:34

Wow - great garden, you lucky thing! Definitely take the table cloth off the table and the photo frame off the window in the dining room. Agree with aftereight's comments and think those additions would really lift the place.

TankFlyBossWalk · 28/07/2011 20:48

Well...

The garden is over-grown. Can't see what's what because of the trees.
The front looks unappealing. All concrete and tatty fence.
The kitchen looks dull and small.
The dining room's claustrophic-looking.
The living room is bland to the point of boring (as is the bedroom).
Can't see the point in the bathroom pic.

Sorry, it's not my cup of tea. I'm sure if you do what the others have said it might help, but it's not something that I'd go for at all.

Oh, and the huge television is very chavvy.

visavis · 28/07/2011 20:56

My thoughts:

Definitely tidy up daughters bed
Make your bed more interesting - pillows on top - cushions??
Trim greenery outside house - looks as if it is taking over?
Make kitchen more interesting - it is a bit too antiseptic at the moment - eg some flowers etc
Something on the table in the dining room? looks a bit bare?
I would de-clutter some of the books as well in the sitting room
Garden is definitely a great sell - looks lovely - very nice house - good luck!!!

NickNacks · 28/07/2011 20:57

*--Tell the estate agents there's a typo in the details under the main photo. 'Bderooms'

TankFlyBossWalk · 28/07/2011 20:59

Daughter's room looks messy. Only just noticed that picture.

Not a good price for a fairly unkempt house I wouldn't have thought.

GnomeDePlume · 28/07/2011 21:02

I think most things have been said but just one small thing to add - get the front shot re-done with a shot of the front in sunshine. Take it yourself if necessary and tell (dont ask) the estate agent to use it.

bamboostalks · 28/07/2011 21:04

I think that run down is a bit nasty in tone TankFlBossWalk. Not sure what your purpose is?

Original poster
HouseyMouse · 28/07/2011 21:05

Thanks again everyone. Some great tips here! :)

We'll be using the living room, dining room, kitchen and bedroom pics here instead. Apologies for the repetition.

We need to keep de-cluttering and I WISH I'd straightened my daughter's duvet. That's unfortunately as tidy as her room gets, as there are usually toys everywhere!

I'd spotted that typo and told the agent. At one point they said we had "boarders" in the garden!

Good point about taking a photo of the front in the sun. We'll do that.

So, what do you think of the table cloth? (joke!)

Oh, there's not a lot we can do about the chavvy tv. It's too big to hide anywhere and I watch tv most evenings.

OP posts:
KingofHighVis · 28/07/2011 21:06

Given that the en-suite appears to be almost twice the size of the family bathroom, I'm surprised there is no picture of it. House on the whole looks pretty bland so do whatever you can to brighten it up. Not too much though - bland houses are very popular.

Selling points, in my opinion, are the large garden (with trees - fantastic!) and the master bedroom/wardrobe/en-suite combo, which takes up over a third of the first floor.

What would put me off is the small family bathroom and (I assume) lack of bath in there. This seems slightly at odds with the family appeal of the garden.

KingofHighVis · 28/07/2011 21:08

Noone is going to be put of buying a house by the size of the tv. Some people need to grow up.

diggingintheribs · 28/07/2011 21:08

only read OP

Keep the place tidy

It looks like a rental - no warmth - cushions on beds, flowers, bowl of fruit in kitchen etc

Keep all the doors open - makes the place brighter and no obstruction

the hallway is very important - first impressions and all - so make sure it feels welcoming and uncluttered

any cupboards you have - make sure they are neat. there is nothing worse than opening the hall cupboard only to struggle to close it!

front of house - looks like the overhanging shrubbery could be trimmed back

Original poster
HouseyMouse · 28/07/2011 21:11

The bathroom is larger than than it appears on the floor plan. It's bigger than the ensuite and has a bath. The floor plan is flat at the front, but the bathroom sticks out for about 1.5/2m away from the bedrooms at the front. I've told the estate agents.

Thanks for the tips on making it more personal and homely.

OP posts:
Original poster
HouseyMouse · 28/07/2011 21:12

Oh and yes, I'll trim the tree back at the front. Thanks for that advice.

OP posts:
Original poster
HouseyMouse · 28/07/2011 21:13

Oh, by the way, on the day of the photos I had flowers on the window sills in the kitchen and living room, but you can't seem them; and fruit in a bowl on the dresser in the kitchen, but you can't see that either. Typical!

OP posts:
KingofHighVis · 28/07/2011 21:14

Given all the mistakes that have been identified in the listing, it might not be a bad idea to change agents.

vividgingerchilli · 28/07/2011 21:18

It looks lovely.
I thought this:
In the lounge - having the small table in front of the television made me wonder why it was blocking the view of the television, isn't there room for it elsewhere?
Is there a nice view out of the window (presumably by the small table?) - can the pictures show it?
Being fussy - I'd tidy up the bed in the single bedroom, just makes a better impression if it's all smoothed down and immaculate.
oh, and it says it has "4 bderooms" - they need to put that right
I'd go and view it on the strength of the garden photos.

nikos · 28/07/2011 21:23

How can anyone say the daughters bedroom is messy?!!!

emmanumber3 · 28/07/2011 21:24

All I can think of is "OMG - it's spotless" Blush. Remind me never to put photos of my house on Mumsnet for fear of revealing slovernly housekeeping Sad.

Lovely house BTW - I'd buy it if I was looking in your area.

MooMooFarm · 28/07/2011 21:27

Hi OP - have had a look at all the pics (revised and original) without reading other posts so I wouldn't be swayed....

The house and garden generally look good, and the revised pics are much better. But I would be a bit put off by the dining room looking small and the table looking squished in. Could you maybe move things around a little bit -move the piano to a larger room, move the table to the centre of the room? Because at the mo it looks like there's not room to pull the chairs out and that would be annoying as we always eat at the table. Could you also maybe stick another chair each end so it looks as if it's a bit enough dining room for a bigger family?

Also thought the front of the house looked a bit stark so some planters/pots out front would be good, but the lack of them wouldn't put me off TBH.

Laquitar · 28/07/2011 21:44

Shock @ Tank. Do you care about the owner's tv when buying a house? Hmm And this house is not 'boring', its fab imo.
Come on, post pictures of yours Grin

OP you mentioned the windows. I actually love them black. New windows def more important than vase of flowers.

diggingintheribs · 28/07/2011 22:12

the whole point of doing the place is to make people walk in and they're already positioning their furniture

who is your target market? if it's families then emphasise the child friendliness of the house, if its couples pre kids emphasise how little the kids impact the space (they'll learn)

TBH your estate agent should be answering your OP!

GnomeDePlume · 28/07/2011 23:01

OP do you think the photos show the rooms from the best angle?

Estate Agents have a terrible habit of photographing all rooms from the doorways. If you have a reasonable camera then take some photographs of your own. Look at other angles including trying standing on a chair to see if the view is better!

Actually, I think the views are pretty good. The purpose of the picture on Rightmove is not to win a 'house beautiful' competition but to get people to come and view your house. If I was looking in your area at that price then I would want to look at your house (the garden is a real winner for me).