Opinions on this property needed please!!!

[nailak]

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-21555462.html?premiumA=true?utm_source=msitesendtofriend&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=msitesendtofriend

a naice excuse to be nosy...

the floor plan is actually wrong, bathroom is upstairs between bedrooms 2 and 3...

Even putting the TV in a corner and then rearranging the chairs/sofas (a few removed) would probably look better. Coffee table borrowed or something, you need to get rid of the long thin garage look.

The student house look may be compounded as instead of taking pics of friends amd dhs room or mil and ful room, they have one of teenage sil room!

They may be needing the sofas as are looking at buying bungalow for pil and renting themselves. So will be two houses needing sofas.

Not sure about other houses on road, but on right move houses in area seem similarly priced?

The lounge in real life is not that narrow, the picture makes it look narrower, I think the back part where pic is taken from is wider then front, but all the toys and stuff are there so hidden in pic.

All very good suggestions,

Just one question, I have never bought a house.
When people are buying houses can they really not get over these small things and see past them?

And what happened to all the buy to let property developer types? Are they not buying anymore?

Yes, some buyers will look past all those small things, but only if they walk through the door will they see the potential. I'm currently looking for a 3-bed house (not in that area), and I wouldn't consider that one on the basis of its internet ad. I'd never walk through the door and discover that actually, the front room is a nice enough shape, and the whole place is roomy, and the work that needs doing is purely cosmetic.

So it's worth doing this stuff to convince people to come give it a chance.

Yes you need to get people in and the photos are not selling it!!!

They could - just for the photos rearrange the room and have the sofas at the wide end and toys stored at the narrow one. Even showing it as a multi purpose room would be better than at the moment.

Surely they could store some of the furniture for a while somewhere?

having to buy a new sofa versus losing out on 5k of a house sale...

the photos could be better - and theres been no attempt to "dress" the rooms.

SO the kitchen pic: The table is covered in kids? stuff. They cleared the work surfaces, but not the table.

Bathroom: It looks untidy and unkempt - a couple of nice towels, a fresh shower curtain, and a good scrub. Plus a couple of bathroomy ornaments if theres space on the window sill. Also, a nicer picture!

Bedroom: They have a green carpet, green curtains, green walls - and a black white and brown duvet cover. Id recommend buying a cheap white and green/blue duvet cover - a bed set - in a feminine style. Take all the bits of paper off the wall and put up some arty stuff...doesnt have to be expensive, just coordinated with the bedding and the walls, something light. Add a colour coordinated pillow or two, and a lamp. Also, the room is quite large, but looks pokey - can they reorganise it so the bed is in the centre of the room, not shoved up against a wall. The chest of drawers look like a desk, there are lots of bits of paper in there - could they be moved somewhere else - maybe to the kitchen? They could then set up the top end of the living room as a dining area, get rid of one of the sofas (agree with the waiting room comment above) and get the bedroom looking less like a storage room and more like a love nest.

Garden: What is in the hideous shed? Could they get rid of it and put their nice table out with some chairs and some more plants - they'll be able to take them with them when they leave the house. You can't swing a cat in that yard. Can they clean up the patio with a power washer?

I think my main tip would be to change agents.

The photos are terrible - esp the kitchen, why on earth would a professional photographer/agent not insist on clearing the table for example?

Also, when trying to find out where the house was - not straightforward as map arrow points to somewhere else, there are spelling mistakes about the names of the roads; Portway/Porchway Richford/Ridgeford - doesn't give me much faith in the agents.

Agree with all the other comments though, esp the waiting room effect.

A new shower curtain would swing it for me.

To be honest I think it needs to be sold as 'could benefit from internal updating' if he is unable to do it himself. I would clear out as much furniture as poss to show the space/potential. Maybe gut it down and paint?

It is pretty hideous.

They need to spend a little money (not much, couple of hundred) sorting out some issues and rearranging/cleaning. Main things I'd do are:

Paint front wall. That colour is vile.

Get rid of one of the sofas and rearrange to less of a psychiatrist waiting room style. Coffee table in the middle, pictures lowered to where normal people to pictures.

Clear kitchen table. Clear off the silver things on the left-hand worktop and the massive cooking oil bottle. Remove cereal boxes from top of fridge. Paint the kitchen cupboards a clean pale colour. Gloss in white around the kitchen window (is currently brown). Pick a strong feature colour for this room and add a few accessories of this colour, eg. bright yellow utensils holder, fruit bowl, sugar pot.
Close the next door along the corridor for this photo.

Get rid of that ghastly bedspread. Put a nice white on down, with no creases. Take the tat off the walls and tie the curtains back with the ties.

New shower curtain, new white towel

Jet wash the patio and put a lot of plants in pots. If at all possible do more to the garden - this would be the part that totally put me off.

"When people are buying houses can they really not get over these small things and see past them?"

No, many people are idiots! They really can't see past that stuff.

You and your friend should watch "Phil Spencer: Secret Agent" on Channel 4. It's is a property show all about helping people sell houses which have been on the market for ages. You should get some good tips.

I'm about to put my flat on the market and I'm addicted to it!

Here it is on 4 OD

I agree the agents are idiots. I could take better pictures than that and I'm not an estate agent, it's just common sense!

I would switch agents pronto, get them to take some more pics and perhaps ask their advice on what could be done to improve it.

The floor plan being wrong really won't help, a downstairs bathroom puts a lot of people off. The photos are terrible! All in all it reminds me of "before" shots on the House Doctor programme - give Anne Maurice a couple of grand and she'd make the place look amazing. Even just a tidy up and photos taken in a better light would help.

Totally agree that people should be able to see past it, but it is a buyer's market and you need to actually get them into the property to see potential. Those photos wouldn't draw me in at all.

Stuff not mentoned( that I noticed)

Take nets off kitchen window to bring in light/feel bigger
What's on kitchen ceiling? Looks plastered but not painted.
Needs more pictures.
No floor plan I can see on the mobile site

I think 'Offers in excess of' puts people off. I'd prefer to see an asking price and then know I could make an offer below that amount. Also £250,000 is right at the stamp duty threshold. They'd be better off making the asking price £250,000.

The floor plan's wrong too?

Seriously, these agents don't deserve to get any money from the sale of this house! If it sells it'll be despite their efforts, not because of them!

"When people are buying houses can they really not get over these small things and see past them? "

Unfortunately, many people can't. You really do have to spoon feed the potential buyers and remove the problems from in front of their eyes. Otherwise that's all they will see, and many won't put it into context of how simple or inexpensive it may be to fix. Even the buyers who do have imagination will be less likely to view a property that has an 'unloved' feel to the photos.

"And what happened to all the buy to let property developer types? Are they not buying anymore?"

That's right. They are not buying anymore. In fact, many of them are now selling their portfolios bit by bit.

One tip - make the asking price £250k rather than 'offers over' 250. The stamp duty % changes at 250 - if you pay a penny over 250k for a property, you have to pay 3% stamp duty instead of 1%. This is a serious barrier for many people, and many won't view for this reason.

I have bedside cabinets that have the see through panel in, when I came to sell my house I stuck white paper to the inside so you couldn't see the drawer contents. Hides a multitude of sins

Get rid of the shed, pressure wash patio, paint the end wall of garden White, up to six feet, pot up some spring flowers and put some seating out there.

Get a better photographer in.

Remove nets.

Nice fresh towels, tidy bathroom, shower curtain, bleach tiles.

At 250k, you are on stamp duty level, they wont get more now that government first time buyer incentive is gone, change it to asking price, not in excess of.

Had a friend who lived in that area sold their house for £250,000 in 2006 but it was in mint condition, bigger rooms and garden with period features. It was also a 10 minute walk to the tube station. I think your friends place is over priced for what it is. The ceiling price for 3 bed terraces in that area is £250,000 and no one will offer more because of the increase in stamp duty

Sorry if this seems rude, but it looks grubby and unloved. Notice I said 'looks'. The mark above the bed - eww. The bathroom too. The kitchen needed to have been tidied, and the living room does look like a waiting room, or a store room it needs bulbs replacing. It would make me wonder just how bad the other bedrooms were if these were the ones chosen to advertise. And the nets definitely need to go. My house is on the market, and you don't realise certain things until you ask or try to look through someone else's eyes. The photographer isn't very good either, I had them back to re take two pics in mine.

The street seems nice enough, I like the trees and many of the houses look to have period character or have been nicely restored. Sadly this house and the ones either side of it seem to let the street down a bit. The window frames look like they were installed in the 80's. The garden wall's also very dated.

The nets have to come down, they darken the rooms and give the impression that they are hiding an unpleasant view.

Eww. Sorry but it looks grim and depressing. serin said streetview was nice - and it is actually very nice - but that house looks like it belongs in one of those grubby streets of identical miserable houses that look as though they are full of miserable people living grim lives (I'm thinking driving through Acton on the A40).

Cheap/free improvements

Garden: clean the slabs, shed and wall. Put a chairs & the table along the side of the shed and make it look like it would be nice in summer.

Floor plan: needs one.

Photos: have a photo of the lovely road too.

Living room: It's all been said: dark & dreary. Rearrange the furniture, brighten it up, take photo on a better angle with as much sun coming in as you can.

Kitchen: get more light in. Consider painting units white (kitchen unit paint is cheap and makes a big difference).

Bedroom: is that the nicest bedroom? If not, get a lovely photo of master, which is really big according to the blurb. It's fine as a 2nd.

Bathroom: at shower curtain and the towel. Dress it nicely, and make it look really, really clean.

Lean-to & cellar: this could be extra living space or extra storage. Either way, a photo would help to visualise potential if not actual use.

I don't think there is much wrong with the lounge - a bit bare and over furnished but it is one of the best photos of the house.
The showercurtain needs throwing out and replacing - that just gives an 'icky' feeling to the whole house.
Ditto kitchen ceiling, it looks yellow / stained. A tin of white emulsion is not going to cost the earth surely?
Remove the peg hanger thing from side of garage/shed.
Some friendly flowering plants in front and back gardens (in tubs so can take with them to new house or borrow from friends and give back once sold)
Kitchen table needs tidying and perhaps 'staging' / laying for a meal.
Bedroom photo - ask for a new one to be done preferably of a 'grown up' room.
Overall, the photos give the house a 'grubby' downtrodden feel, there is nothing friendly / fresh there. It looks very unloved...
But it is a good basic house for a good price.

Also, ditch the net curtains in the kitchen window and replace with a friendly colourful blind? (argos and homebase do real cheapies which they can take with them to their new house)

Oh yes, agree with mark on wall above bed - yuck!!

I would personally take it off the market, get agent to destroy photos.
Then I would invest in some white paint, some cheap blinds for kitchen, a couple of pots of flowering plants, a new shower curtain and a few buckets of cleaner / bleach.

The clean clean clean, paint, hang blinds, replace shower curtain, re-arrange furniture. Look at property shows on tv and pictures online for 'staging' tips. Make the house look desirable.

Because it is a good house in a very nice looking street.

Good luck!