House been on market almost 2 weeks, only 1 viewing

[Snikamj]

We're first time sellers so not sure what to expect, does this sound right or should I expect more interest?

We had a viewing at the weekend, feedback from EA was very positive - house beautifully presented, very impressed with the space etc but ultimately the couple thought it was a little too large for them and the layout of the bedrooms wasn't quite what they felt would work for them.

EA have a very good reputation locally, they say they've sent out our property details to those on their database, we have a For Sale sign up, on Rightmove etc...

Any ideas of what I should expect at this point?

I think it is a lovely house, but I would suggest that the layout would put a number of potential buyers off. But it only needs one person to like it! I agree with pp who say the dimensions of the rooms need to be on the floor plan because from the photo of the front of the house, it looks tiny, but the room dimensions seem more than reasonable.

I think you don’t have enough living space downstairs especially for a 4 bedroomed house. Although the rooms seem quite big, they are all disjointed (all quite separate) i.e. the playroom is nowhere near the kitchen which I think is an issue for families with younger children, and none of it is open plan so you’d all feel quite separate. I would consider having Bedroom 2 as the playroom, the Playroom as your lounge, and the Lounge as a bedroom.

I’d just done a quick check on Sold prices for your postcode and the last property to sell, albeit 2 years ago, was a 3 bedroomed bungalow which sold for £100,000 less than you’re asking. Yours is much nicer and you have an extra bedroom of course, but that is quite a difference. You can also see on Rightmove Sold what you paid for the house when you bought it (presuming you bought in 2000) and there is a massive increase between what you paid and what it is selling for. If the market has improved that much in your area over that period then that may explain it, but otherwise, if I were looking to buy, these are all things I would be researching and it would make me question what you’ve done to the house to uplift the price. Perhaps therefore the sales particulars could be a bit more detailed saying “completely renovated” or “vastly improved” or “extended” etc to show why its worth so much more than you paid and / or more than previous sales in the same postcode.

I think it's lovely but it's the layout that is not working for most people, and they don't have the imagination to figure out alternative uses. You need to show them.

You have 3 reception rooms - the dining room, the playroom, and the living room. If I were you, I'd rearrange things a bit to still have 3 reception rooms but ones that fit in more with what other people expect. So turn the playroom into a small living room. Put a sofa/chairs/TV etc in there. Turn the upstairs into a lovely big 'family room' with seating, TV, play area.

This way people can see the flexibility. they've got a living room downstairs so they can relax while keeping an eye on kids in bedrooms/garden, it's near the kitchen so you aren't up and down stairs every time you want a cup of tea, you could give it a more formal 'adult' atmosphere. The family room upstairs should have snug seating area, games console? area for teens, room for kids to play as well, and gives room for when entertaining/all want to be together.

I'd make the playroom look more like a living room and put the playroom upstairs too

Some brilliant ideas here about how I can make the layout work better - will definitely give it lots of thought over the weekend and see if we can implement some without it costing a fortune!

Schools - we are in a small village, surrounded by small villages. Nearest towns are around 10 miles away in various directions. Obviously this will mean nothing to those outside the area but certainly anyone local looking at the house won't be surprised that there is only one high school in catchment. There are a number of primaries in surrounding villages, unfortunately our primary in the village is being shut at the end of term. The Ofsted rating was poor but the school has had a new head for the past 2yrs and unofficial inspections have shown that it is due to be given a higher rating at its next inspection. Although none of that info will be available to potential buyers so they can only go on what is already there which I agree isn't brilliant.

With regards to what we paid for the house back in 2000, this was obviously before the house price boom. Also, back then, it was a dark and frankly dingy 3 bed bungalow, not in great condition -think metal windows, falling down porch at the back, no toilet in the bathroom but one in what is now the kitchen - we knocked it through to extend and completely refit the kitchen - we've added all the en suites, put in complete new heating system, new windows and doors, added bedroom 3 and playroom and converted the loft. We've also spent a fortune doing the garden at the front first and then ripping it all out to put in the drive and we have spent in the region of £130,000+ to bring it to where it is now. So, all in all, we've not made a massive profit by any means considering what we've spent against what the value would've risen by regardless of us doing any work to it. I did wonder if the EA should've put something about it having been renovated but wondered if that would put people off?

Yes for me personally but then I am a bit of a "numbers" person. If you use the Nationwide houseprice calculator for instance (albeit I know it has a lot of drawbacks e.g. only gives trends for say "East Anglia" rather than your local village), and the figure you paid, it says at today's prices it is worth less than half of what you are marketing it for. Given what you've said about the local primary school closing (which may put families off) you have to ramp up what makes it special and worth the price. Only my opinion but I'd definitely be asking the EA to include words like "extended", "transformed from its original state" etc to convey how much you've enhanced it.

I think you need to try and dress the playroom as the living room (shouldn't be hard), and then bill the sitting room as a home cinema room or drawing room (although that sounds a bit odd for a house of that age) or entertainment room, something like that so it doesn't sound like the main sitting room.

Definitely need to get the pictures sorted out (and preferably with labels as to which room is which).

snikamj I wouldn't use the price in 2000 as a guide on how much I should be offering. I would look at much more recent transactions. And also what other houses on the market are listing at.

I do not know the area. I am also in the process of moving and has a sale agreed in May. We have the benefit of living in an area with a lot more transactions so it's easy to gauge a price.

Hope that helps.

Have you asked the EA what he thinks the response? Is it quieter than normal? Maybe it's how it is like in your area?

I do agree with the views that the playroom should be set up as a downstairs sitting room - it does say that it could be suitable as exactly that in the description, I'm guessing that's not enough to convince people without there actually being a picture? I'm just wondering how best to set it up without having to buy a new suite and also would have to remove the shelving unit which will require a bit of work as its firmly fixed to the wall! It's difficult as I'm trying to do up the house we've bought so we can actually move into it and I did think I was done with this place! Although doing whatever necessary to aid a sale I know will be well worth my time/small expense.

This is why I've already decided I'm never moving again ha!

I have asked the EA what she thinks about lack of interest and she just said its very early days.

It's really hard to gauge what the house is worth in comparison to others in the area as there are no two houses the same in the village, except for a small estate of new builds down the other end of the village. There are lots of bungalows but none offer the accommodation that ours does and are mostly 'old peoples'' houses whereas I do think ours is more to be aimed at a family.

I'm in the process of buying a house where the only upstairs room is a living room. The house had been on the market for several years and the EA said that the 'quirky' layout put a lot of people off. Not us, though. And thanks to this thread I now know what to do with the velux in the living room. Love those velux balconies!

Your house is great otherwise but I agree that some reorganisation of rooms for the benefit of those with no imagination would help.