Help us sell our house!

[sarahd100]

Hello,

I've posted on a couple of threads about issues that me and my mum are having selling her house, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas that could make it look more appealing?

To give a bit of background, it's been on the market since mid-June and it's on with 2 agents. I've put the links for both of the adverts below. We have fresh flowers up whenever people come round, but all we've had is stupid offers or people who don't like the sloping garden - which we can't do anything about!

Any suggestions would be REALLY appreciated!

Thank you

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56145145.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55121275.html

i agree, the conservatory looks cold. If your mum needs a new dining suite for her new place, could she buy something new now and ditch the cane furniture?

We've got a viewing tomorrow morning so tonight I'm going to reorganise the living room and hide as much of the ugly stuff as possible, move the exercise bike and moose head to the loft and also dress the dining table with candles etc. I think this will really help :)

In the long term I will speak to my mum about updating the furniture - she's not planning on keeping most of it anyway so perhaps she'll have her arm twisted into updating it pre-move rather than post.

Again, I cannot stress enough how helpful this is! My mum is completely of the opinion that she's selling the house and not the furniture so I'll have my work cut out trying to make her see the importance of what you've all said.

She's got a decorator coming next week to repaint the outside which will definitely help though, I think.

The second agent has a lovely photo of the front of the house, and I think it's a shame that they have chosen a rear aspect photo as the main shot. They've obviously done this to stand out or be a bit different from the other competing agent, but it really should be the front of the house, people flicking through right move will generally decide whether to look at the details based on the first photo.

I don't like conservatories and it looks like that's the main dining area, which is a bit off putting. Having said that I think at that end of the market it just will take longer to sell as there aren't as many people looking. In my area large houses are priced similarly but the £400-600k family homes with postage stamp gardens are the ones that sell very quickly, the £1m+ houses hang around for longer.

perhaps you could soften the rather cold and exposed feel of the conservatory with some voiles and perhaps a rug could be moved in there or an occasional chair.

I think now that it is winter, looking out into a cool room will make it potentially off putting to some - it needs to be "cosied" up.

Op - I think the house is lovely but if I were you I would do two things:

1. Take off sale until January. The market will be very quiet over the next 6 weeks. When you re establish it in January when a lot of people move for schools etc it'll look fresh.

1. If you are prepared to take a bid on it, why not put that money into making the property refreshed Instead? You might get more. If you have a decorator coming try using trendy tones of grey and white. Maybe place the pine furniture into storage and purchase some inexpensive white furniture instead? I would also either replace the dining set with a white based set to tie in with the floor or maybe recover the seat pads with white or black/navy (sorry my eyes can't distinguish on the phone) to tie in? At the moment the burgundy is fighting with the rest of the room. You don't have to spend a £m - take a trip round Ikea for inspiration.

Agree with pp's re: move the bike and maybe give the bedrooms some more love. agree second photographs are different but a starting photo with the rear of the house is a giveaway that it is has been around a long time in my area or that it is dual agent.

Someone will love the slope!

Good luck. It is a really lovely house.

IMVHO at this price point families want two reception spaces so that there can be a playroom, teen den, TV "snug", office etc etc. as well as the large dining kitchen that you have created. Obviously tastes and expectations have changed since the work was done but this in my view is the reason why I would be taking the best part of £1.5m elsewhere. In addition the garden looks high maintenance which the likely market (well off families, commuting to work) will not have time for.

So with those fundamental drawbacks you need to make someone want to buy the house regardless. Yes you could tinker with furniture and decor. But ultimately you need to appeal to the pocket. And that means revisiting the price.

I'm sorry to be blunt.

This is close to you and a bit smaller but has the layout that is appealing. And is under offer at a guide price of just shy of £1.1m

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59727590.html

Pradaqueen we actually instructed both agents to remove the house from their websites, but they've said that Christmas and Boxing Day are the most popular days on RightMove for people looking at property so have convinced her to keep it on :(

I'm definitely keen to spend more time on the inside and making it nice. I will speak to my mum about this tonight and see what she says. At the moment she's so stressed with it all that she might not like the idea of having decorators in BUT it's all for the greater good!

homebythesea no need to be sorry, I really appreciate your advice and don't disagree. Unfortunately nothing we can do about the layout (also the kitchen previously was very narrow and dark so just as unnappealing really!) but I will discuss a price drop with my mum this evening!

I think it's a stunning house. I don't think the decor flows as well as it could do. It's quite modern in some areas and a bit dated in others. I don't know why but lots of people just can't picture places with different furniture and a lick of paint.

Could you neutralise the master bedroom? A plan throw with some nice pillows piled up? Thin out the furniture there a bit? Maybe move some to the sparce blue room?

Conservatory floor looks cold to - how much would a rug or some cheap laminate cost?

Have a look at some new build Show home photos. They sell shoe box size houses but it's the decor they use to sell the lifestyle. Which IMO is bonkers - seems to work.

It's a amazing house

It's a beautiful house! I agree with pretty much everything PPS have said.

I can't comment on the price being in the NW but I would say for that price you have to sell more than just a house, you're selling a lifestyle. Do you show viewers around? Or agents? Maybe talk about what a brilliant childhood you had there etc? Sell it as a family home.

I would also say the bathroom doesn't look worthy of a house that value. If possible, maybe consider a new suite? The current one looks crowded and makes the bathroom appear small.

Usually I blame agents but if you're getting a lot of viewings, they are getting people through the door.

Good luck OP!

What's wrong with the conservatory?

Honestly, it looks cold, cheap and dated. It looks like it has a polycarbonate roof. I wouldn't consider it a dining room in a £1 million plus house and it would have to go. I am pretty sure whoever buys the house will knock it down, extend the kitchen into the space, and possibly section off a second reception room at the front next to the garage.

The layout is very dated, and doesn't work for families today.

I personally think your furniture and decor is fine (not my style but not offensive) and wouldn't waste any money changing it.

I agree with homeby- revisit the price

Ours went on first week June for a more modest sum of £210,000.
We dropped it about 15 per cent in the end. It was the only way to sell despite needing every penny!

On a recent Homes Under The Hammer, the developers used a furniture hire company to dress it- it looked sleek, modern and appealing- sold quickly. It's definitely about creating the right ambiance, and there is a lot of clutter / Mis matched stuff which when you only have a short time to view somewhere, leaves you with an overall impression of 'a bit drab considering the price'.

I can confirm that on RIght move CD and BD are busiest for traffic.

Flumpnugget makes a great point. And, if your mum isn't taking furniture with her then clearing the house for staging pre move is a great idea!

For 1.5 mil it needs to be luxurious.

The outside is beautiful. The slopey garden I can see would annoy some, but if the inside is selling it then it won't be a deal breaker for someone.

The inside is just so meh. I know the price is a lot to do with the area, but I feel like that price & first glance of outside is promising... but the inside decor is such a let down for the money I think.

I'd look into the staging thing. I know how frustrating this house game is so fingers crossed it goes soon, best of luck!

We too have a sloped garden, or at least part of it, and my kids love it for the same reason. Especially sledging season!

I grew up with a sloping garden - loved it. Rode bikes down it, rolled down it etc

People keep pointing out you only have 1 reception room - but all the other links don;t have a garage. It would be easy to convert the garage to a second reception room. So I don't think that would be a barrier.

Hope you sell. I think over £1m is struggling a bit at the moment.

We had a house that was difficult to sell, also in Surrey, and in the end we put it on an auction site. In the meantime someone that had viewed earlier came back with an offer just before the auction was announced.

The auction attracted a buyer that was determined to get it. The first buyer had delays so we went with the second offer and sold it before it went to auction.

Our problem was also the garden, not sloping but an unusual shape. You could try Clarke Gammon Weller and see what you think. Sometimes people will make up their minds they want a house if they think it will sell to someone else and an auction can focus the mind.

Hi OP

We were looking for a property around that size and budget in and around your area up until a month or so ago.

On the positives I would say good area, lovely garden and great kitchen.

The things I don't like are probably not things you can change but it may help give context. As one poster said above there is no 'wow factor', either architecturally or decoratively. The period features are nice esp in hall but not amazing and whilst it looks well maintained the decor and furniture is dated, so it doesn't scream modern family home. I also think the layout isn't the most practical or lovely big rooms but no where really for a play room or study downstairs.

My guess is that buyers like it but don't love it enough to stay committed either because they find something else or because they realise they would want to spend ££££ taking out the conservatory and putting an extension in with bi fold doors, converting loft, garage etc. Looking at the under offer and sold in your area similar properties do seem to have more wow/character/easier floor plan.

On dropping price, or excepting lower offers, it's your call but dropping it by less that 5% would seem pretty pointless, if it's been in the market that long, we had estate agents telling us that buyers were accepting offers 20% under asking. I would probably take it off the market for a couple of months and put back on in March with the second set of photos.

If you're kicking yourself re Brexit, I feel your pain we bought our first house months before the last financial crisis and on a long term fixed rate mortgage! We kicked ourselves for a long time but ultimately it has been a home not an investment and we have still made good money on it - it's pointless comparing ourselves to others !

Good morning everyone! I've got some photos to show you what we managed to do last night. In the living room we moved the sofa and coffee table, took the tv and stereo unit out and moved the other side table over.

Also dressed the dining table, it looks better but still not amazing. In my room, I removed the bike and the moose (I also removed the frame against the wall and the pillows after I took the photo!)

My mum hates the furniture apparently but doesn't want to buy anything new until she knows where she's moving (e.g. She's not expecting to need a dining table so doesn't want to buy an new one).

The decorator came this morning so the front of the house will look fresh before the viewing. Take your point on the layout and lack of playroom - of course nothing we can do about this but I may suggest my mum speaks to the agents about this for their opinion. They both initially valued at £1.5m but I'm not sure what their opinion is now!

Oops, forgot the photos haha!

Oops, forgot the photos haha!

And the bedroom

That looks much better, well done.

It just looks dark now - sorry

Take it off the market and wait til next year.

I'd be interested to know how many of the rightmove viewings on Xmas day/Boxing Day are converted to feet on the ground viewings. Not a huge proportion I would think. I suspect most people are idly looking at the app on their phone whilst their MIL witters on.

I think price is your problem. Ultimately it's a 2000sqf house which is not that big in the scheme of detached houses that needs a lot of work (which is very disruptive) to obtain a decent family lay out.