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Original poster

Disappointed by lack of viewings on our house

55 replies

mintymellons · 02/10/2012 15:01

We went up for sale about a week and a half ago. We're using an agent that we've had success with previously.

Anyway, we had two viewings last week and apparently one of those is looking to arrange a second viewing at some point (when??) but other than that, no more first viewings planned for this week.

Our house is in a very sought after location and property usually sells quickly round here. I think the price is ok too.

I'm just disappointed that we haven't had more first viewings in these early days. Feedback from last week was positive btw.

What can we do to get more people in?!

OP posts:

Original poster

mintymellons · 04/10/2012 14:14

That's so helpful, Narked, thank you.

I agree about the pics of the kitchen and will mention that to agent

Yes, could def do with more greenery at the front

The cot would be an issue unfortunately - DD2 is big 2.5yo. Ideally she should be in the toddler bed by now, but it doesn't fit in the room. There's no way she'd fit in a travel cot unfortunately. One option that I was thinking about is getting bunk beds (my older DD is nearly 7 and currently in the mid sleeper you can see). I think that could work.

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bradbourne · 04/10/2012 14:23

Or instead of bunk beds, could you get a trundle bed that rolls away under the other one when not in use?

I agree with Narked about the kitchen photo.

magichamster · 04/10/2012 14:24

It looks lovely!

But...... if I was being really picky I would say that the colour in the bathroom with the grey floor makes it look quite cold, and I would maybe get the photo in the garden taken again, but at a different time, as there's a lot of shade in it.

I've noticed where I live house sales have slowed down over the last 6 months, so it may just be that.

PostBellumBugsy · 04/10/2012 14:33

The tips are helpful, but I'm not sure any of the comments are going to make a difference to viewings. Your house is beautifully presented & is clearly well looked after & in good condition. If was looking for a house of your size & had the budget, I would not be put off viewing it because of anything that I've seen in your photos.

Narked · 04/10/2012 14:42

Ah! I assumed your younger one was younger! In which case I'd get the picture taken without and then put it back. Unless you really want to use bunk beds at your next place. Bradbourne's idea of a trundle bed might work well - at nearly 7 your DD might be wanting friends to stay (or in the next year or two) so you could find it handy to have one even if your DC end up in separate rooms in your next home.

littlepiggie · 04/10/2012 14:54

how many valuations did you have? The pics look nice so i would say you either need to give it more time or look again if the price is too high?? (sorry dont know the area well enough)

Original poster

mintymellons · 05/10/2012 13:20

littlepiggie we had three valuations and all came up with £160-165k.

I've just had an email from the agent with a weekly update. Apparently the people who wanted a second view have changed their mind as they think it's too small. Boo!

I've just sent an email back to the agent firing lots of questions at her including asking about the price and if two viewings in a fortnight is reasonable. Let's see what she thinks.

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littlepiggie · 05/10/2012 15:24

Guess it depends in much of a rush your in to sell? If you can sit tight and give it another month or 2, if not maybe dropping the price/open house/paying buyers stamp duty might get more people through the door.

Original poster

mintymellons · 05/10/2012 15:53

Well, littlepiggie, we're not in a massive rush to sell, although our DDs are only getting bigger and therefore the house is getting smaller as the months go by!

Had a reply from agent. She doesn't think we should read much into it at this stage and also doesn't think that dropping the price by a few thousand would make much difference right now.

She did suggest that we might use an 'offers over' strategy which they've had results with recently (apparently), so will think about that in another week or two.

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littlepiggie · 05/10/2012 16:13

Tbh even when houses were selling well a week was quick. According to rightmove time on the market is around 90 days. Not sure if you've seen it, but every month they do a report on the housing market.

TunipTheVegemal · 05/10/2012 16:43

I'm near York and things move very slowly round here (though York itself is faster than the villages). If something sells in 6 months that counts as reasonable.

manchurian · 06/10/2012 13:30

what brand/colour is that in the bathroom? I love it!

manchurian · 06/10/2012 13:31

the paint I mean...

Original poster

mintymellons · 06/10/2012 14:13

Thanks Manchurian The paint in the bathroom was a Dulux mid sheen one that we had mixed - I think the colour is called Inky Pool and comes in about 6 different shades thereof!

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PurpleCrazyHorse · 06/10/2012 20:46

I like the house but the outside isn't memorable, so some nice hardy pots would brighten it up. I agree with the cot in the bedroom, just makes the room look small. Could you get by with a mattress on the floor under the mid-height sleeper? Or borrow some bunk beds?

Otherwise it looks stunning.

hippoCritt · 06/10/2012 23:53

I like the colour in the bathroom, I thought the first picture of the kitchen made it look like the work tops had virtually no depth to them but I see other people have commented. Good luck with your sale, I also wonder what your feedback from agents will be after linking to it from here!

sagelynodding · 07/10/2012 00:04

Good for you for giving us a link!!
I think it is lovely, especially the bathroom. Everything looks immaculate!

I am no expert (but v interested in real estate), offers over could be a good plan. But 2 visits in a relatively short period is not bad at all at the moment.

Hope you get a sale soon.

sausagesandwich34 · 07/10/2012 00:24

I think your house looks lovely but.....

I agree with the bunk bed suggestion, anything to increase the floor space in the room

the photo of the bathroom isn't particularly well shot -were they sitting in the bath??
you are better havin a pic taken from the other end of the room so the bath and sink are in shot, but not the toilet

the kitchen the first shot has already been comented on, but the second kitchen shot makes it look smaller than it actually is because of the low angle

the write up isn't very inspiring either

you are minutes away from 'historical york city center' 'easy walking dsiatance from the train station' and you have off road parking which is at an absolute premium so close to the city so why aren't they shouting about it?

Acomb road can be a nightmare for traffic so the fact that people have the option of the train for commuting is a huge advantage

I know there is a huge rental market and large numbers of house shares in York which really does slow the first time buyer market -2 views that quickly is actually pretty good so unless you have found your dream house don't be too quick to drop the price, you need to leave it at least a month before moving on the price

pearlgirl · 07/10/2012 00:40

I agree with sausage about the write up - parking that close to town is hard and being so close to the station and the city centre are really worth drawing to people's attention.

lalalonglegs · 07/10/2012 09:17

I think the house is very nicely presented - I suppose the problem I would have is that it looks from the outside like a family house but inside it is only one and a half bedrooms. It's really quite small upstairs. I probably would have rearranged the layout upstairs but it might be a bit late for that . Is there enough roof height for a loft extension? Could you emphasise that you could build up and get a lot more bedroom space - highlight that neighbours have had it done? Or has anyone built over garage?

SuePurblybilt · 07/10/2012 09:26

I agree - beautifully presented. The girl's bedroom does look a little cramped (despite the fact you've hidden all their stuff so beautifully).

Would it be the most bonkers/impractical idea to move the cot into the master bedroom, just for viewings? You seem to have plenty of room in there and it's not so unusual to see a cot in an adult room. The viewers wouldn't know the age of the child or that it's usually in the other bedroom.
Tiny bits of carpet under the feet hide the indentations in the carpet, old ones can be removed with ice cubes

Original poster

mintymellons · 07/10/2012 18:02

I love all of the suggestions and advice, thank you!

We're just about to go ahead with the bunk bed option for the small bedroom (DD2 is well overdue the switchover!), so will get that rephotographed and hopefully that will look better.

The outside of the house is uninspiring unfortunately - it's a very bland looking property!

A loft conversion isn't an option sadly as the roof pitch is too shallow. We already looked into a two storey side extension, but the quote was about £50k and we decided it's not really an option for us, but certainly could be for someone else and I too think that the estate agent needs to make more of a feature of that.

Next time I speak to the agent, I'll mention all of the above and see what they say.

Thanks again!

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Original poster

mintymellons · 09/10/2012 14:24

Well, I take it all back. We've got FOUR viewings booked in for this week out of the blue! Fingers crossed that they bear fruit.

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SuePurblybilt · 09/10/2012 19:20

Oooo, I wonder if they're all MN lurkers who found the link?

Original poster

mintymellons · 10/10/2012 09:19

Sue, funny that did cross my mind...hope not!

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