Some honest advice and feedback please

[leatherchair]

Our house has been on the market since the start of August. Initially it was for £369.999 as advised my the EA (other valuations from EA's were the same).

We have had 30+ viewings. After three weeks we dropped the price to £355 as feedback was some concerns about our proximity to a music venue.

We have now had some more viewings, house is always left tidy and clean. However, we still have not had one offer. Now, with viewers with a slightly smaller budget, we are getting a whole host of new feedback that we didn't get with the more expensive bracket!

So far problems have been:
bedroom 2 too small
unhappy about need for parking permit (we live in a town central location)
street is a is of private and rented.

The price is competitive for the area, and as I say we are having lots of viewings. Here is a link of our home. Would love to hear your feedback and thoughts: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-31563106.html

TIA

I would take the small table out of the kitchen and open up the flow. I have just sold a very similar house in brighton!

Wow, really appreciate all the comments.

plu There is a walk-in shower in the bathroom too.

Re the parking, all town centre streets here require a permit. I try to turn it on its head by saying that if you didn't have permits, you'd never get a space as all the shoppers would just park here.

Our street is a bit mixed, some private and some rentals and yes the rentals are a bit shabby looking. Although if you pit our house in the mainly private area of the town you'd be adding another 15K.

Yes, I agree its an eye watering amount of money. But that is the price of houses in certain parts of the South East. It's painful.

I see what you mean by the other house mrscog. Although historically there is a divide in the town between the A3. Houses are cheaper the other side, because you can't walk to the station, or shops and cafes of the town and generally the schools are not as good.

Lots of food for thought though re kitchen and bedroom space.

I think people just see a nursery bedroom as a nursery and find it hard to visualise as a double/spare bedroom.

So in their eyes it's just a 1.5 bedroom house.

Can you put the cot in your room and turn bedroom 2 back into a double bedroom?

It's a lovely house.

We're house hunting in the general vicinity and my thought is that for that price I'd want 3 beds. We're a price bracket down and have resigned ourselves to 2 beds.

Beautiful house, though!

This doesn't really help, but you say that you've gotten lots of viewings but that actually it is a lot of people who want a 3 bed and are viewing it for the period charm. Practically speaking, I think the space issues win out over aesthetic preferences most of the time. I imagine they come to see it hoping there will be room and then feeling there isn't? So, while you can't add an extra bedroom I think doing what you can to make the nursery appear to be the full bedroom that is is a good place to start, and, just, anything else to make the place look bigger.

definitely put bed back in second bedroom
put wall mounted shelves to use as bed side tables on either side
and remove everything else you can

you can buy double beds which are actually just one and half times single bed, but you can make them up like a double bed....ie two pillows side by side

and get a low bed on legs, ie so you can see space underneath...makes a room look bigger

nice house by the way

I used to live in Guildford, I would have looked at your house when I was working (pre-DC's). Definitely agree with getting a double bed in the second bedroom and making the place look like a couple place rather than a family home.

The inside is great, obviously getting people round has not been a problem. From the pictures the only thing I'd do is something with the garden, it looks a bit family-ish at the moment.

How long have you got left with the agent?

also...the write up for your house is a bit lame unfortunately, the comment that ends with 'this might be something for you' isn't very convincing. They also haven't mentioned how close you are to London Road!

Lovely house btw!

Looks a little bottom heavy, downstairs with enough space for a family, but not enough bedrooms upstairs. People will see that you have a baby and that is most likely why you are moving, because there is no longer enough space.

Although perhaps traditionally a 1st time buyers house, at the current price point, and first time buyer looking at it now would be well into their thirties and a family might be a very imminent next step that they will be considering, and they are going to view a house that is being sold by somebody who perhaps they are only 2 years behind in life stage. And you are choosing to move on. Definitely try and dress the 2nd bedroom as a double, a couple may even want a lodger for a couple of years before the 1st baby comes after buying at that price.

Also, the price drop you made is not very big in percentage terms. Lovely looking house by the way.

Is there potential for a loft conversion? Could you get someone round to do a quote for you, then you can give this to the EA to point out the potential for a 3rd bedroom.

Oh good idea re loft conversion. I agree about taking the little table out of the kitchen and putting a double bed in the second bedroom.

Lovely house though, good luck.

Thanks for the further comments, sorry I have not replied sooner.

DH and I have thought long and hard and these comments have been really helpful. We have about 4 weeks left with this agent. I am getting pretty fed up with them, mainly as I just feel they are just trying to fob us off.

Good example of this was a viewing that happen last week, had to put DS in his buggy in his PJ's to go out as it was so late. Was told by EA that viewer loved the house, very interested, will view again next week with her boyfriend. I phoned them yesterday to ask for an update and was told, yes she likes it but like most first time buyers she is nervous of committing to an offer in this climate. Fair enough. She then lets it slip that the viewer had offered on another house nearby and it had been rejected!! They just talk rubbish!

So we plan to let it run with this agent, and then come off the market until after Xmas. We will do all the things suggested here in relation to the second bedroom and also get a quote re the the loft.

Funnily enough the EA now says our biggest problem is that the house is too 'done' and too 'highly finished'. What so should I rip out the roll top bath and put loo outside instead?

What a nightmare! Definitely have a hunt about for a new agent.

I always wonder myself with an estate agency that is known for taking on a lot of 1mil+ value houses if the agents will spend most of their time chasing those instead.

I'm not sure what they are like but the agents over the road underneath the restaurant and flats (I guess it's still there its a while since I was there) used to give their houses a lot of coverage in the window, it always looked very impressive. I called them about a house once and they seemed to have one agents working within specific price brackets iyswim. Good luck with it all.

Apologies only flicked through thread so may be repeating others,

Outside; front door is white how about a fresh coat of paint, black, navy blue with new door furniture? Hedge needs lowering it will be reducing light into the lounge, is also a security issue for some - it is easier to break into a house with a high hedge as the burgular would not be visable from the road.

Lounge - TV dominates so instead mount it on the wall or reorganise the shelves to the right of the fireplace. Open the shutters it looks a dark room and therefore turn off the light. Sofa dominates, anything smaller? How do you get into lounge looks like through the dining room as coffee table or nest of tables to the left of the sofa? Store that table and open and use the door?

Kitchen get rid of or store in shed in the garden the butchers block takes up space and implies there is limited counter space. Put the bread maker and the mixer in a cupboard, nice to have and suggests lifestyle etc but taking up preparation space and unattractive to look at, fresh bread lovely machine that makes it is ugly and bulky. Put pans away makes the kitchen look cluttered. Toaster and radio out only. Fruit in the fruit bowl on table would be an idea!

Dining room - move table away from wall as implies there is not enough space, so maybe rework the furniture? Love the beautiful painting in the dining room!

Garden lacks colour - paint the shed as it looks tired, splash of colour in the form of plants in pots that can be taken with you.

Bathroom - open the shutters, fit a toilet roll holder immediately, lots of fluffy brilliant white towels please.

Pictures of the bedrooms and lots different angels of the rooms are needed.

In terms of changing agents, it could be worth looking at the more upmarket agents, even though their fees were higher. We had the same problem a number of years ago when we were selling in London. Local agent had lots of visits, but problems with price and house being too finished.

We changed agents to Foxtons, who didn't really cover our area, but covered the more expensive neighbouring area. The fees were double, but they sold the house within 2 weeks.

My suggestion will probably be a bit controversial (and might not even be feasible) but how about doing some work upstairs, put in a RSJ and add about 3ft of the main bedroom to the walk-in cupboard thus making a small, but perfectly formed, single bedroom. Put the double bed back in the 2nd bedroom and all of a sudden you've got yourself a rather lovely three bedroom house.

Just a thought.

Well first time buyers now have the opportunity to get onto the housing ladder through 100% mortgages. Arun Estates are offering 100% mortgages to first time buyers which could be beneficial to those unable brake in otherwise. Ward and Partners are presenting the idea here wpar.co/rb8109

ksween, that's not really the point of this thread.

Also: should you be declaring an interest for your post? MN (rightly) charges for advertising.

For the record, I think its irresponsible to be pushing 100% mortgages in this economic environment.

Re the 2nd bedroom, we had this issue with a 3 bed house we sold. As the room was next to the master bedroom we could demonstrate that the room was long enough for a double bed.

In your case, you have a baby in a cot and first time buyers may need to see that 2nd bedroom as either a guest room or an office.

So as not to disrupt your life too much, you could (if you can) put in a double then take a photo of that to show to potential buyers. Or use masking tape to mark out a double bed on the floor. Some people are just unable to visualise.

Apart from that I think your home is very beautiful.

the house looks lovely.
when we sold years ago we had loads of viewings to but no offers.very annoying.
we had to drop price a little more and then we sold straight away.
people are interested thats why they are coming - its sounds to me that there are a few things just not right maybe parking,music venue etc.if you want to sell sharpish you probably have to drop price to compensate for these.
since august isn't very long at all in this market though.