Page 10 | Please look at my house and give me your opinion

Jellyshoeshurtmyfeet · 2016-10-24T20:21:04+00:00

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62009282.html Hi, Our house has been for sale for about 5 weeks or so now and we have had one viewing. Please have a look and let me know what might be the problem. TIA.

harrypoooter · 25/10/2016 22:28

I live near there and think it's a bit overpriced. Although the area is very nice and ideal for bringing a family up.

Maybe some more shots of the garden/ outside to give perspective. Your house is in the area we will target next but what would put me off is how 'done' it is IYSWIM? Not much room to improve it and make some money on it. Not that that's a bad thing for you living there.

I think not too far away in high west Jesmond there is a similar house (yellow door can't remember which street) up for about 300, which would probably interest me more as it has a bit more that needs to be done to it.

GloriaGaynor · 25/10/2016 22:30

50 sq m is not that big a deal when it needs that much work.

You can see that from the pics and the OP has confirmed it.

lljkk · 25/10/2016 23:47

wow. I like the old kitchen better. It looks brand new in the 'old' pic!

Sixisthemagicnumber · 26/10/2016 07:14

You shouldn't have painted the doors in the kitchen as those original doors didn't look like natural wood and melamine never looks great when painted. The first time I looked at your kitchen I wondered if the cupboards doors were a DIY paint job so I imagine it is much more obvious in person. It would have been better to buy decent replacement cupboard doors rather than painting the old doors. Could you change the cupboard doors? as a house at that price should have a decent kitchen.

Original poster

Jellyshoeshurtmyfeet · 26/10/2016 07:23

The cupboard doors are natural wood.

OP posts:

Kennington · 26/10/2016 07:26

Remove some furniture as it is too crowded.
I actually like the back patio as it is.

efeslight · 26/10/2016 07:34

Lovely house, and looks smart and well card for. I think the garden is too 'flat'. You need to add some height somehow and also depth, by which i mean plants/greenery in front of other plants greenery, eg a pot with a climber, and then a smaller pot in front, but i think you need to be bold, so big pots and plants.

PollyPerky · 26/10/2016 08:04

Gloria yes, I know the house has 4 bedrooms. (I've been posting and following this thread for all 10 pages FGS!)
The point is, the 4th bedroom is a weird size. The other house that went for 359 is by no means as 'pretty'- OPs has lovely windows and better brickwork imo. But the other house does have a downstairs shower room and another loo, as well as a decent sized 4th bedroom and a large extended kitchen. It might need cosmetic work ( and by that I'd include new bathrooms) but it had more potential due to a bigger footprint.

PollyPerky · 26/10/2016 08:11

I don't see what is hideous about the house that went for 359. The kitchen looks new- it's got what look like granite worktops. It also has what could be a granny / teen annexe with a bedroom accessible from the outside and a shower room / toilet. The kitchen has been extended and looks huge. Upstairs is bigger- 3 beds and a dressing room /area. The rooms need a lick of paint but it is a much bigger house. and it has a garden with lawn.

Giselaw · 26/10/2016 08:25

Totally disagree about the old kitchen looking better -i can't tell it's a dyi job from my little image on the phone and I thought you did a fantastic job neutralising and bringing it up to date, OP. Just add some terra-cotta paint a la southwest style in the dining room and I've time travelled to the 1990s.

shovetheholly · 26/10/2016 08:29

I think before you do lots of expensive work on the house, you should do some totally free work on the listing. Fire your estate agent and get someone who can use a digital camera, for a start!

Like a lot of people on Rightmove, I tend to click through the photos of anything I am casually interested in - I don't look at the floor plan and details unless these are convincing. There are not enough photos for a house that size and price, and many of them are from odd angles that don't do the rooms justice. I would have no idea from them that you have an en suite bathroom, for instance.

They are clearly just taking everything from an angle to the side, and it makes your rooms, which are lovely, look bad - there is no focus here on the details that you have, which are fantastic. For example, the photo of the second bedroom is half of a desk in the foreground, which makes the room feel smaller than it actually is. The photo of your kitchen doesn't show how nice it is, and the garden looks like acres of patio, instead of a low-maintenance and quite large space that has potential. Get the sofa out of the third bedroom and put on a more colourful duvet and it will look loads bigger!

DameXanaduBramble · 26/10/2016 08:31

Lovely house with original features. The price would immediately put me off, it seems quite overpriced.

mymilkshakes00 · 26/10/2016 08:36

Op I love your house. The only thing that you may change is that last room. Looks cramped and doesn't match the rest of the house.
Otherwise it's lovely.

GloriaGaynor · 26/10/2016 08:36

The other house is ghastly and it needs total renovation from top to bottom, whole new kitchen etc, everything has to be redone. The estate agent who sold it confirmed it needed a lot of work - which implies it may have needed more than just redecoration. They know both these houses.

4 bedrooms is 4 bedrooms even if it's small. It can be used as as study.

YelloDraw · 26/10/2016 08:40

Yes looks like other house needed a bit of a 'job' doing to it - and most people seem to hate downstairs bedrooms as illustrated by the thread a few days ago! The garden is a funny size, hardly worth having to mow it. Looks dank and like it would be in shade all the time.

mouldycheesefan · 26/10/2016 08:48

People saying it's expensive for the north, no it isn't. The op won't tell you this because she is modest, but Having lived in jesmond myself it is one of the most sought after areas in the city and the op is on one of the most popular roads. It has a village feel, is on the metro, lovely shops and restaurants, walkable to city centre, good primary schools and close to some of the main private schools. Also close to jesmond dene one of the best green areas in the city. It's has a tennis club etc. It is a lovely area, or was 20 years ago when I lived there. If I ever move back I would strongly consider it.
That said I would be looking for a garden so this house wouldn't suit me. However having lived in two houses in that area neither of those had a garden either.

Original poster

Jellyshoeshurtmyfeet · 26/10/2016 09:02

Giselaw 😊 at the dining room southwest style - I see your point! The family that moved into the other house are very slowly doing bits to it but you can see even just walking past it that it needs 'real' work doing, not just a bit of decoration. Mouldy - Jesmond really is a great place to live I agree. The pic of the old kitchen makes it look lovely but honestly in reality it was really grim and so dark.
We aren't going to rush into any big changes but we are going to take it off the market and look at what we can do.
I think what this thread has highlighted is that what one person loves another person hates. However, many of you are commenting on the same things, ie . Bathroom, lack of grass, etc.

OP posts:

Bertucci · 26/10/2016 09:10

I hated the old kitchen - it looks so much better painted grey and without those nasty tiles.

The dining area is a very old fashioned concept. It would be a much more attractive, modern style home if you were to block up the archway and open up the wall between the kitchen and dining area to make a big kitchen diner.

SpaceUnicorn · 26/10/2016 09:17

People saying it's expensive for the north, no it isn't. The op won't tell you this because she is modest, but Having lived in jesmond myself it is one of the most sought after areas in the city and the op is on one of the most popular roads.

I totally agree. It's priced at exactly what I'd expect a four-bed house in Jesmond to be priced at. It's a high-status area (we do have them up north, even in Newcastle!)

GloriaGaynor · 26/10/2016 09:18

She's selling the house peeps. Not taking on expensive lengthy building work.

In any case blocking up the arch is a bad idea. The arch needs work as the shape is a bit 70s, but the combined space is much better than two small rooms. The kitchen just needs extending.

Original poster

Jellyshoeshurtmyfeet · 26/10/2016 09:26

Unfortunately we can't really extend the kitchen. The previous owners extended it sideways already so we have no side return. No side return is some of the reason I suspect there is no longer grass out back, because you'd have to carry a lawn mower through the kitchen to cut the grass! If we were to extend the kitchen out the back there would be no garden left and we would be quite close to the brick wall at the end which is the side of a neighbour 's garage.

OP posts:

Sixisthemagicnumber · 26/10/2016 09:32

I agree with Gaynor that the OP should not take on any major building work to sell. I do think the garden is the one area that I would change though as family buyers mostly like a bit of grass as it is more child friendly than paving and this is a family sized house. Did the house have grass when OP bought it? It looks like there was some grass on the old photos and I think removing it was a huge mistake.
The price seems ok. Has anybody watched the episode of location location where the young couple look at flats in and around jesmond? Jesmond was an expensive and desirable area.
I wouldn't change the bathroom but I would move the furniture around in the extension bedroom and I would get the EA to take new photos.
I personally hate painted kitchens but then I have only seen melamine ones painted before and I imagine that natural wood would be much better painted. I agree that the old kitchen was too dark - outs was an identical colour when we moved in and we ripped it out.

FrameyMcFrame · 26/10/2016 09:34

A little shed or storage box to keep lawnmower and tools in?
You'd be surprised at how many people with just click past because there's no grass in the garden...

PollyPerky · 26/10/2016 09:43

You don't need a bed AND a sofa bed /futon whatever it is in the skinny bedroom. One is enough surely (for photos.)

It looks like a double bed but tbh it would look more spacious if it were a single bed lengthways down the room not across side to side under a window.

The garden is the real issue. Anyone with a family is going to think 'concussion' and 'grazes' if they have kids who are young and want to play outside. One trip and they will crack their heads on concrete.

Then buyers will offer you £5k under as the bathroom needs gutting. Bidets are really so old fashioned.

I'd not necessarily re build the arch but I would put a door from kitchen to the dining area - it's a very weird set up to have that wall blocked off.

Laquila · 26/10/2016 09:48

Lovely house and I like a lot of the decor. Really I'm just repeating what's already been said but I'd also agree it's worth tarting up the paved area and taking better photos of it/the outdoor seating. It looks SO MUCH better in your photos than in the ones from 2014!!