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

Get the agents round asap to take new photos. In the room where you have the decanter, etc on the sideboard take the vase in the middle of the window sill off - it clutters the view out of the window. The living room is much better - the layout of the furniture was odd before. Hope today's viewing goes well.

Def looks better. I would see what the cost of some voile(sp) material to drape around the conservatory - have a look at pininterest for some cheap ideas to glam it up a little bit. A big rug -ikea would help centre the dining area in the conservatory and make it more cosy.

I think if you can some naice bedding and curtains would help give the bedrooms a bit of oommpph. Dunelm or similar can do some reasonably priced bits.

When I have sold my old houses (moved loads) I always spend approx £500 but this is on houses worth less than £300 000. Maybe if you could persuade your mum to spend a good few hundred (if she has it) and it will help sell the house. Sadly people do (some atleast) buy it based on the look - even though it will look totally different with their stuff in there.

Good luck with the sale. There is nothing worse than being ready to move on but it not selling.

A few main problems:

1. the dining room in conservatory looks like there's no space elsewhere. I would move it back into main kitchen dining room. The have just the one main reception room. Move the current sitting room furtniture in kitchen diner into conservatory.

That way you have a clear reception room, a clean kitchen diner, and the conservatory as an additional seating/ playroom.

2. you don't seem to have pictures of all the rooms? Shouldn't there be 4 bedrooms and a couple of bathrooms plus utility? Get pictures of everything up. A house at £1.4 million should have at least 25 pictures to view imo.

De clutter the sitting room and get better pictures of it, lose the cushions from the bed, put the Moose head in the skip!

nothing wrong with the house, you are in a buyers market post brexit. I would forget about selling now, too close to Christmas , and wait for spring.

This is the price bracket we are buying in. Not in Surrey, but in Kent, commuter belt, so not massively different.

I think many rooms look like they haven't had much money or effort spent on them. So then, to me, it seems like someone is chancing their arm at that price. The house ticks some boxes, but by no means many, and it doesn't sell itself to me in any way. So I wouldn't think of it as a contender. And even if it did, I am looking for a flat garden, which I would be happy to level off, but I'd factor that into the price.

It could be a really lovely house. And of course it's your home, so yo you it's lovely already. Please don't feel that I am being horrible. But it could look so much better for more continuity in paint colours, less dated furniture and furnishings and a feeling of more space.

I am your buyer. Short of. Looking in the Weybridge/Chobham area, in your price range, we are in our very early 40's.

Unless you get some very lucky sod, most couple within that price range have 2 careers and responsibilities. There is simply no time to renovate unless, the price reflects not just the cost but also your personal cost and time is expensive. We get one weekend so that's usually for family time and not dealing with building work.
Pricewise Esher is more expensive (from where I am looking for).

The outside while it looks good, it doesn't look 1.5M-good ie the roof tiles and has an 80's feel about it with the leaded double glazing.
Inside, the kitchen is more of a family room but I can't see it. You have one lonesome sofa there and a PC. I can see my family room furniture in there but I don't know if everyone would be able to. People with kids, would like to see kitchen and a side area of family room, with a TV and some comfortable sitting and a toybox.
Living room fireplace is old fashioned, so that would be money to replace. Double glazing is old fashioned too. I can't see much build-in storage and when there is it looks old. more money to replace.
The house might be in good order but to be brought to 2016, it would need money, maybe not a gutting job but still expensive to do.
Garden is large (in the pictures) and while some people like it. Commuter belt rats like me, can't deal with the size of it which means a gardener to cut the grass at least.
Also, while the garden is large, is slopping and it doesn't look like you'd be able to put a table a chair there in the summer to enjoy the odd sunny day. When I saw it, I thought how much it would need to create a couple of land steps to make it more usable.
I am not denying it is a good home.

My parents live in Oxshott - similar sized house and similar style.

Ultimately their and your house will be either knocked down or completely rebuilt and restyled.

Asking price is pretty expensive for either.

As WellTidy says above the style (aside from the kitchen) is not consistent with what buyers in that bracket are looking for and the furniture looks dated/cheap relative to the price of the house. I don't think you can do much to sort this so would significantly reduce rather than tinker with the price to get some interest going.

I have said similar to my parents and theirs is not on the market!

Whatever they sell it for they will have made a stupendous profit.

Bohemond has hit the nail on the head. There really is no point tinkering, it will all be completely redeveloped by whoever buys it. I also don't see why you need to retake photos? You are getting viewings from what you've said. And if post Brexit the offers are lower, then post Brexit it's value has fallen.

What about taking it off the market for now, then when there are more buyers in Spring organising an open day, and going to sealed bids? It will force people to make best and final offers so you will know what it's really worth and hopefully be able to sell it then too. If it's on a desirable street and you price low to generate interest you will have plenty of people coming

I agree. It's a total gutter/doer-upper.

I dint mind that as I'm a SAHM who likes projects. But we still have 3 DCs age 3 and under and living somewhere being gutted and extended is hellish. You always have to move out for a bit at least. Everything in storage etc. If we both worked and didn't have good contacts in the building trade, no chance unless the price was very attractive. No amount of IKEA furniture or voile in the cubservatury would persuade me otherwise and I don't think I'm unusual. You will only get top whack if the house is move in ready with very high quality fittings - e.g. Bathrooms etc.

I think sealed bids in the new year is the way to go

find out how much it would cost to level [some of the ] garden and have that information to hand or consider spending the money.

are the "stupid offers" still enough profit for your mother to buy the house she wants to move into?

I sat down with my mum last night and went through a lot of these comments with her - as you can imagine it's hard for her to decide what the best option is when she's got me saying one thing and the estate agents (the "professionals") telling her something else. I personally don't see the point in us being on the market over Christmas/ New Year - although there may be a lot of activity on RM in this time, I doubt it will mean footfall in viewings.

There are some bits of furniture that we can sell and I will encourage her to start doing this, but she's not keen on buying anything new as she's not sure what will go with whatever house she moves into in future. I think the main issue is that she values the house at a lot more than it is, simply because it was perfect for us as a 4 person family and we never felt we were lacking any rooms or space - and as I mentioned before, we LOVED the garden!

I think she's also had her opinion skewed by the house next door selling in 2014 for £1.4m - their plot is about 2/3rds the size of ours and was bought by developers. The house that's been built on that now is 6 bed/ 4 baths (and hideous!) but they didn't manage to sell it and have had to rent it out. I think what I've realised is that the market has changed and I think we've lost money on the house, so we'll either need to accept this or stay put and hope for the best in the future!

Will you actually "lose" money (based on purchase price plus refurb cost) or do you mean you will receive less than you had hoped (which is obviously something different!?)

A bit of quiet reflection and enjoying the house over the festive season is a good idea- then face the new year with some added oomph and realism

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

Whilst your mother is correct she needs to accept that she's now marketing one, if not the one, of her most important and valuable assets, so it makes sense to present it in the best light possible for current taste. The modernised kitchen and bathroom only serve to highlight how out of date the rest of the house is.

Unfortunately I'm not impressed by either of your agents, the photos and the blurb about a cherished family home, scope for further modernisation etc. just reinforces the message of some of the photographs that this home is in large parts a good 25 years behind the times. That's fine if it's how you want to live, but you're now reaching out to fresh eyes who are looking at how lovely the house is, or potentially is, but also, what they'd be required to spend on it over and above the purchase price and the work involved.

You've attracted lots of viewers, but in all honesty, you don't need loads of viewers, you just need one purchaser who can go ahead at an acceptable price. Unfortunately it looks like you missed the boat when next door was sold.

Personally I'd work on updating the living room, it's a very good opportunity to have a clear out and streamline things. Meanwhile I'd withdraw the house from the market. Two Agents puts me off, it smacks of 'this house won't shift'. In the New Year, towards Spring, I'd get some others around for honest appraisals and make it plain that when you go back up for sale the emphasis should be on the prestigious location.

I'd also get your Mother to work out what she actually wants, it's all a bit of an unnecessary strain if she isn't committed to selling anyway.

2014 was 2014.
It's not relevant to 2016/2017 .....

She's very committed to selling but she's concerned about undercutting herself - she had the house valued at the beginning of the year at £1.5m so this number has stuck in her head, despite everything that has happened since then.

My advice to her will be to remove it this year, spruce it up as much as we can and then go with different agents in the new year - I will tell her what everyone has said re. number of photos, description etc. and hopefully we can get a much better advert the next time around!

Again - thank you to everyone for all your comments and objective opinions. I would have said much the same things to someone else - it's just so much more difficult to see these things when it's your own home!

Wow beautiful I would snap it up I can't see anything wrong. The garden slope isn't drastic and loots a beautiful space.

Seem expensive but guessing for the area it's bang on

The thing is, the valuation is just a guide. The house is only worth what a proceedable buyer is willing to pay

I have no idea of the costs involved but would it be worth looking at renting furniture to sell the house?

Just thought... the company maybe wouldn't do it if you were actually living there and using the furniture usually done when a property is empty

Would the dining room furniture fit in the one end of the kitchen where the desk is to make it a kitchen diner and then set up the conservatory as the playroom/den using the furniture that used to be the other end of the kitchen?

That way it may show that there is separate teen living.

My parents have the same mindset OP - it would not be easy to convince them that spending 20k on new furniture and staging could lead to getting 50k more for the house.

I think you have to remind her what she paid for it (probably £100k) and she should calculate her profit from there.

Where is she moving to? Can you show her that she will save on a purchase in a post Brexit market?

If it's any consolation I will be gutted when my parents sell - I had many happy years in a beautiful house in what was a beautiful village - and it will be bulldozed to make way for some bloody ugly McMansion. Having said that the area has changed beyond recognition and is not somewhere I would want to live now.

You mum hasn't lost any money, since this was your family home so I assume it's been in the house for 25/30 years plus... she's about to walk away with a million+ in her pocket.

Has your mum checked out on RM the style and quality of interiors similar priced properties have? Might help her see hers isn't exactly comparable?

I was reading the other day that houses over £950,000 are now the hardest to sell due to increased stamp duty thresholds. In order to buy your DMs house you would have to fork out £93,250 in stamp duty coupled with the Brexit vote makes it a hard house to sell. Ironically I think it's a lovely house and fine as it is. If your DM really wants to move she may have to be realistic about reducing the price substantially or resign herself to living there until the market improves of which there are no guarantees

Agree that "tinkering" won't do it. If she actually wants to sell it the price might be too high.

I live in home counties commuterville and have visited lots of houses in that price bracket (wealthy friends and acquaintances!): it's too expensive IMO. Buyers with that kind of money will dislike the dated decor throught and want to completely refurb it, change the garden etc, and that would all be very expensive in Surrey, not to mention a time consuming hassle (at best).

What does she mean "silly price"? She's not "losing money" unless she paid more for the house than she'd get today.

you will also find a lot of people will currently prefer to improve rather than move. Spending that stamp duty stealth tax improving their current house will benefit give them an improved living space and hopefully they'll also get it back in the resale value