Why have we had very little viewers?

[Rita1003]

Hi all, our house has been on the market since early March. Up until now we have only had two viewings. We received an offer which we accepted but the sale fell through because they failed to sell their own property and their own buyers were not solid.

I'm surprised we have not had more people through the door however and wondered if anyone would like to click on the link and give feedback on the photos? Or anything else on the ad which may be putting some people off. All feedback, good and bad, gratefully received.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43387819.html

Hang on a minute - you are trying to sell it for 20K more than you bought it for less than a year ago!

I wouldn't look at it because I would assume you are totally delusional about the price you will accept for it.

I think mammy people are a little obsessed wrt leasehold. What are you so worried about without even reading the lease? I've not bought a house that had a bad lease and bought and sold houses where it wasn't a problem. I don't understand a default "Wouldn't touch it " although would prefer freehold in most situations

Many!

the photos make it look quite pokey and dark, as already said.

and wtaf with the photos of the stairs/landing and the front door....was the phtographer 8ft tall?? That might explain the angle in the bathroom and bedrooms

also one of the garden pics the sheds look very looming over the garden.

Also...not sure that the "ALSO SOLD IN THE AREA" bit is helping, those two properties are well cheaper than yours, were they very different or is yours overpriced?

I would also dress the empty room...desk/chair/sofa bed, people have zero imagination.

Yes MrsD. I know estate. Agents can sometimes have a bad rep, but if you get a good one, worth their weight in gold!

Wow, are they both really the same house?
The second one looks twice the size.

I'm sorry but did you think that simply updating some of the decor would magically add 20K to the value in 6 months?! Perfectly normal decorating changes do not change property value that much!

I agree it looks a bit dark and gloomy. Can't comment on price for the area, but as others have said, if there aren't many viewers, the price is putting them off.

Although for me, I couldn't/wouldn't buy a house with any so many steps up to the front door. It's daft, but since I broke my leg last year and couldn't even hop over the doorstep from the flat path, these things prey on my mind. Sod all you can do about it though.

Price - No idea how competitively priced it is but the 2 listed recently sold prices are significantly lower.
Leasehold - how long is left , may well deter some buyers especially if they fear it is very short so won't get a mortgage easily and other properties locally are freehold.
Angle of pics is odd , esp 13 and bathroom which suggest it is very small and/or awkward space.

the fact that you've only been there a few months is a big red flag. My first question would be 'why are they moving?'

Hang on,
you paid 170k just in August? Do you not think upping by 20k in just 1 year is a little cheeky? Even looking at the pics, 20k worth of work??
We redid a 3 bed house, new kitchen boiler, bathroom, electrics, boarded the loft and redecorated for 15k.
Maybes that's the reason it's not selling.
With one of our properties, we redid the bathroom, kitchen, boiler and redecorated, but as we had to sell 10 months down the line, we only got what we'd paid for it. And this was right before the market imploded.

I think you need to have professional photographs. I have just attempted taking pictures of our house myself and if I compare them with professional photographs mine look dark and the rooms look much smaller than they are. Your flash on your camera does not light up the room enough, these guys also bring professional light equipment.

I agree with the above advice, good photographs will make all the difference. I put the fire on too, lit candies, set the table, arranged a tray with cups etc in the kitchen etc.

The house looked much more inviting in the photographs last August when it was up for sale, brighter and more like a home.

The photographs now are cold and bland, uninviting in comparison.

I think the price is high and wouldn't view, especially when I can see it was 19k less under a year ago

Honestly I think your lacking kerb appeal. I would be painting the front door ( ideally replacing for a more charming period door) and adding two good pot plants by the door. Next door looks much more welcoming.

I think it's all a bit bland / beige. Which is lovely and tasteful but photographs badly. I would add a bit of colour, maybe a bed throw and some textured colour to the lounge,( nice cushions)

I would also add mirrors, your mantle and fireplace would benefit from a big mirror. ( will also bounce light)
I would loose the lounge rug as it's very beige in there.

I think you need something on your walls, groups of pictures to keep it uncluttered but add some personality. Above your bed need this. ( tesco or ikea Do good cheap frames. See link below.
www.stephmodo.com/2009/04/grouping-frames-on-wall.html

It looks like a dark house,I think the dark staircases are compounding this, I would get it painted. I would also have a shiny ( light reflecting) table cloth next time they photograph.

Fresh flowers and a few pot plants will all bring some life to your home.

Paint the shed a nice f&b shade of green! Can you loose the big shed? It's a bit shed overkill! Personally I would grass this area.

Loose the loo brush

Sorry for critical analysis. very honest

I love it

The price on the previous posting is the sold, not listed price. Presumably it was listed higher. It looks like the OP has done a lot of work plus prices are rising so I'm not convinced on the prior listing compared to current listing argument.

Looks a lovely house to me with outstanding views. It's beyond walking distance to a station though.

I don't know the area at all I'm afraid but in my experience you can sell any house very quickly providing it's correctly priced.

Why are you moving?

Conventional wisdom says that if you're not getting viewers in the first place, then you need to look carefully at the asking price. Are you sure it's priced right for the area?

You could do with better photos -- a lot of them look very dark. Just tweaking the exposure would make a big difference. And some of them are from odd angles.

It does look a bit clinical and unlived in. Looking at last year's photos, yes, you decluttered WAY too much.

The kitchen looks quite small. And the bathroom is TINY (based on the floorplan).

The back garden is offputting. If it's paved all over, could you put in some plants in pots to soften it up a bit?

Description is sketchy.

It's leasehold (that alone would put me off - for RCheshire, because I've spent the last twenty years living in leasehold flats and if I'm going to buy a house and so finally be able to buy freehold I'm not going for another leasehold property) but no details given on length of lease remaining.

I wouldn't view it because (a) the bathroom is so small, (b) the kitchen is pretty small, and (c) the garden looks like it will need a lot of work to turn it from a yard into an actual garden (again, I've spent the last twenty years living in flats with no garden, just a balcony or roof terrace if I'm lucky -- if I'm buying a house with garden, I want actual soil ). I could probably live with (b) and (c) if other stuff was right, but (a) would make me strike it off the list without viewing (and, unfortunately, there's not much you can do about that).

OK, so you've put a new bathroom in and some carpets. But that doesn't do much for the value tbh because the bathroom and carpets before look absolutely fine to me.

This happened to friends of mine - they bought a house, put in a really swish bathroom and then had to move 9 months later for work reasons. They got exactly what they paid for it and that was in a real property hotspot in the SE.

I would assume from seeing the listing that you are out to make a quick buck and probably wouldn't accept a sensible offer.

Need to sort both u finished bedrooms out. I can't tell what size beds even fit in there

Also new pics of the bathroom. Sorry but I saw the pics and first thought was oh old bathroom, need to rip out and replace.

And I agree with other posters if you bought it last August for £170K and are trying to sell it six or seven months later for £190K my "WTF?" detector would be going off. Granted, that would depend on area in some places prices are shooting up and it might not seem unreasonable (although I'd still wonder why you were moving) but the prices of other properties near you suggest that's not happening yet in your region.