Critique my house - Paint coloursfor exterior please!

[CookieDoughKid]

Wanting to paint a 1920s extended detached bungalow. It is a hideous red brick with mix matching of dirty old and new brick.

What Dulux colour do you think would go for my exterior? Should I go for a white? Magnolia? You can view it here!
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27881364.html

I'm desperate to get the house sold and I have only had 3 viewings in 8 weeks :( Any ideas what I can do to encourage viewings? Thanks for looking!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27881364.html

Your house is stunning inside - looks v good value for money. The children's bedrooms and living space especially look fab. I don't think external colour is an issue, but I wonder if there is a more flattering angle for the exterior photo. You can't see enough of the house, and what you can see looks small and like it might be dark. Once you get further into the pics you can see it isn't, but perhaps that first photo is putting people off looking further?

I think it being painted would lookalike you were trying to hide something, I'd paint the fence and try taking photos from different angles for outside. May be worth listing it with an internal photo on view. How much would it be to render and paint? I'm not sure you'd get it back, lovely house. I really like your bathroom blind,may I ask where it's from?

i cant see that it needs painting [shocked]

Am shocked by the price. Lovely bungalow. what colours the living room wall. gorgeous. you have great taste. maybe it has been priced too high??

i love the blind too. am sure ive seen it somewhere b4. John Lewis??

I agree with others it doesn't particularly need to be painted but that initial photo is awful I would discount it immediately on seeing that one as I would think looks like right on a busy road.

A priority in my mind is to get a new exterior photo maybe from the garden? It says in the blurb that it's a large plot but there are no photos of the garden.

The photos are generally poor IMO, odd angles, odd order, too many of bathrooms and not enough decent ones of living space/outside space.

The sitting room photo looks dark and what stands out is the blue light thing below the TV which tbh is quite off putting.

The bathrooms look nice but odd angles so hard to get a good idea of size/space.

The decking looks totally bare and uniniviting - what do you use it for? Do you have a table & chairs you could put out there? Couple of pots of plants?

Do you need 5 bedrooms or could you style the 5th as a family room (it's described as that/bedroom but I couldn't see any pics) 5 beds and just one open plan living space is a bit of an odd layout IMO, I would be looking for additional living space especially as the living space isn't very big and there's no utility room.

As the blurb mentions space for 2 extra houses there must be a decent amount of land def need pictures of that and also a plan of the plot would be helpful.

I really think the main thing putting people off viewing though is the first picture.

I really like the utility being behind the cupboards, is that bedroom a guest room? I hadn't looked at floor plan before, the front bedroom to side of front door could be a study or sofa and tv room to make it look like there was more living space. I think I may have concerns accessing the utility room through a bedroom, I've found the blind, I need one with green birds on or another room to decorate.

Yup, another who isn't seeing the need to paint the exterior (looking to remove the paint on ours - total pain!).

What would exterior look like photographed from the back garden? Might be a better angle?

I don't think you need to paint it. Have you asked the agent why he thinks there have been so few viewings?

Is your house dim in side or was it a grey day outside? I'd suggest getting the photos redone on a sunny day when light is streaming into the house, could make a world of difference IMO.

That and how sure are you on price? If you're not getting much interest could it be overpriced?

How many agents did you see?

Your agent could be the problem. Pictures not showing it off to its best, the main pic not particularly attractive (this is the fault of the photographer not your house IMO) and possibly overpriced.

Are you tied into a contract?

Actually the pictures aren't bad! It's mainly that first one that's not great.

The first photo is very uninspiring but the rest of the house looks lovely.

We had a brick house rendered and it completely transformed the house.
You could also use some cedar cladding.

You would have to speak to your estate agent about whether it was worth the cost.

Yes, I'd agree the first photo isn't very lovely. I'd think a photo from further down the street or your garden would be better. I don't think it needs painting at all. A couple of big plants on the deck might be nice though. Can't fault your presentation inside.

I'd also expect that the 2 up, 3 down bedroom layout might be off-putting for anyone who genuinely needs 5 bedrooms. Echoing what someone else said, I wonder if 4 bed plus study /man cave/whatever might be better? (We have 3 beds up and 2 down and it suits us because we use upstairs as family bedrooms, downstairs are office and guest room. But, house was on market forever before we bought it and we think this is at least partly why.) I'm not sure how I'd feel about having my guest room directly off the lounge. (Actually, I do know -- I wouldn't like it!) But given it has an en suite I'm not sure what I'd do about it.

Good luck!

Just realised you were only asking about paint colours. Please therefore don't be offended by all my totally unsolicited advice...

Obladee. You are in the clear, the OP asked...

Any ideas what I can do to encourage viewings?.

I am sure she will welcome your advice

Agree that the first picture is dismal. Is that really the best angle to view the outside? There's no law that says it has to include a bit of road! What way do you normally approach thehouse? from the drive? i bet you've made a bit more of that side, so photograph it there.

I also agree that you should have table and chairs on the deck to make it look used (and thus usable). Borrow some if necessary. The garden has a tonne of potential, but it looks a bit soulless at the moment. You don't want to spend a tonne of money on it, I'm sure, but a few pots around the deck would give the impression of more.

Don't paint the bricks. If you were going to render it, that would be different, but painted brick looks like a cheap way to cover something nasty. If you want to paint something, paint the fence.

All in all, I think it looks a great house. I'd switch off the blue tv light for viewings, though... I don't think TVs need more attention drawing to them, and I don't think this improves the look.

Lovely presentation - but suspect that the balance between bedrooms/living space is putting people off.

You only seem to have one very open plan kitchen/living/dining - for me it also seems quite small on the pics compared with the spacious bedrooms/bathrooms.

Can you make the big downstairs room a family room/formal sitting room?

Change the 1st pic as I assumed from looking at that that there was no parking and on a busy road.

Good luck

Your house is beautiful internally, my only opinion of the outside is to stain or paint the fence that separates you from the road.

Thanks everyone who posted their replies. Very useful and great to see so much interest! Don't we love houses?!!

OK - So for those asking:

1. Pink blind is from Bodie and Fou www.bodieandfou.com/categories/roller-blinds

2. The Paint colours are:
   Kitchen- Crown in Box Tree
   Livingroom- Dulux Timeless Classics inThimble Case
   Bedroom Master 1 - Fired Earth by Kevin McCloud in Bone White
   Boy's Bedroom - Natural Hessian
   Girl's Bedroom 3 - Crown in Fairy Dust
   Family bathroom - Crown bathroom paint in Duck egg blue

I think paint is worth the investment and if you want a quality finish and depth a colour then it's worth spending and not scrimping on. Fired Earth and Dulux Timeless Classics is a great range!!

ALSO - I'm going to go against the grain here!! Deep breath!! I have decided to paint the bungalow white. You can't see it but the bricks really are horrid. Nothing structurally bad at all but the brickwork is dirty, mix matching and badly done pointing. Painting it white - I will I think - will really brighten the property especially in the darker gloom months coming up, and give it a clean and polished finish. I'm got a handy man to make me some planters from left over decking wood and I'll put a pair of box or bay trees flanking the door to give it a grander entrance! I'm sprucing up the front garden too.

So I'll be back to provide you some before and after photos, to thank you for your loyalty and contributions to this thread .

IMO - Getting people through the front door is my biggest challenge and taking Sarah Beeney's advice (!!), people make up their minds within the first 60seconds of visiting the property so I need to make that walkway and entrance count!!

If you paint the brick, I for one would not look at it.
Painted brick and stone cladding are about the only things that really put me off.

Do not paint it White, there will be no contrast windows/brickwork.

You need to have the brickwork professionally cleaned not paint them.

It would be high on the list of reasons I would not even look at a house as would have to figure in the cost of getting the paint sandblasted off.

No don't paint it. It wont get the viewers in the door. get some pots and hanging baskets. Can you not get the brickwork cleaned and repoint end instead.

I really wouldn't paint it, it becomes a real burden as will need re-doing every few years.
I would perhaps paint/stain the wooden fence at the front in a dark grey/black colour and add two modern plants in large pots either side of the front door and take a new pic, that will improve the kerb appeal more IMO.
Also the decking is very bare, as someone else said, can you add some pots to make it look inviting?
Need better pics of the garden.

I agree with the others about not painting the brickwork.

I think you could do other things to give a bit more kerb appeal. For example, paint the fence (or at least the gate). Nice sign on house wall with the house name/street number. Some hanging baskets/window boxes/planters. Bay trees or box trees either side of the front door. Basically something to add a bit of colour and to make the entrance more obvious.

Agree also that you should get some furniture out on the decking and, again, some planters, especially as your garden is of a very simple design from what I can see.

Good luck to you! We are trying to sell, too, at the moment. I'd forgotten how stressful it all is.