No viewings yet... Advice please

[Home2Sell]

We've put our house on the market but have had NO interest or viewings yet. I know it's still early days but our neighbours (mid terrace) sold within a week or so and we haven't even had a sniff of interest. Any advice??

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66209135.html

Lots of other people have said it but for me it wouid be the kitchen and the garden

The thing is, a kitchen is different to other decor because it's costly to replace. So if you don't like a kitchen, and you want a house that's ready to move into bar cosmetics, then yours would be out.

It's very, very dark with the cabinets, worktop and floor...

I don't mind the blue garden though! I would just paint over it, but I do think more potted plants etc would make the gardens look brighter, and lack of them wouldn't put me off viewing.

On a completely neurotic level, the floral duvet cover in the purple bedroom is off-putting for me! It doesn't match but it wouldn't put me off buying your house.

Whack a load of leafy green plants in that kitchen to soften it up. BIG ones....get the photos taken of that room again.

Agree also about blue fence.

If the house is priced at 'well presented' I think that maybe your problem. From my perspective almost every room is either very specialised taste (kitchen, boys room) or very dated (front room, main bathroom) for that reason I would be viewing in respect of having to redo the whole house.

It wouldn't put me off we bought a house very similar to the one you are selling (both in size, price and needing updating) but for the area it was fairly priced in reflection of this.

It is a lovely house and is clean/tidy etc. But I fear it's the personal taste that is very much putting people off if the price is not reflecting that.

(Sorry hope I haven't offended!!)

Walter I felt the same way. Sorry OP! The picture and duvet are very clashy! I know people aren't buying those but these things do affect.

I think you could re dress the kitchen so that it looked less "shiney"...I would remove all the bits and bobs from the surfaces (and the oven gloves) and put softer looking items back.

So some plain white tea towels at the oven perhaps, maybe a soft ferny pot plant at the end of the work top and a large bowl of fruit in the back corner ...just non reflective items to offset the high gloss. Nothing with a stark colour which is throwing the black and white into relief.

Good luck with it all - I'm sure it will sell sooner than you think!!

i wouldn't view , because of the dark kitchen and all the blue outside.
so id neutralize the blue , with pale sage or something else calming .
id just leave the kitchen , too expensive to change.

Along with all the pp comments - although I could probably live with the kitchen if the rest of it was much brighter and I loved the house/area. That conservatory looks like wasted space what function does it do?

Have you tied pressure washing the slabs out the back, nice stone might come up a treat. Or are they just the dirt-cheap grey ones from B&Q (if so, consider spending a couple hundred quid to dig some up and at least have earth if not turf?). Have mentioned on another thread about how purple stones looks like its a cemetery. Move the table into the middle more instead of having it shoved in a corner?

But all in all, what struck me most about the house was how bland it was in terms of human life. That kids bedroom is eerily neat and there is nothign to suggest people live there. In other words, I think you have decluttered too far.

I don't think people want to see a "lived in" house though, do they?

They want to imagine themselves in it, surely!

The bathroom is very dated, too but it is very neat and tidy!

I wonder would you be better off making the conservatory look like it's used for a different purpose? Playroom/office maybe? So it doesn't look like wasted space.

Honestly? Purple Bricks are a pain in the arse agent IME.
My partner and I were looking at house. We really liked it but Purple Bricks kept messing us around. We were only offered ridiculous times (8am or 10.30pm) or working hours during the week.
We ended up trying 4 or 5 times to get a viewing then gave up.
A friend of mine fell in love with a house, tried to put an offer on it but the system was so confusing she ended up losing it.

Have you thought about another agent?

I think it's also the kitchen, no garden and blue fences that would initially put people off. I think the issue with the kitchen is not simply it's black, a black kitchen can sometimes be fine, but its the fact the floor is black also, makes it all a bit too much for many people. A white tiled floor could be cheap to put in and lift the whole thing.

The fence is fixable to a more natural colour, but for many the thought of painting it is just a bit of a ball ache. It's also a family home but with no grass for young kids to play in. Going to thr park isn't always suitable based on the age of the kids and many families wish to be able to allow their kids outside to play safely in the back garden.

Ultimately all are fixable, but they would impact on price.

I know of four people who went with Purple Bricks, really regretted it and eventually signed up with a local agent. And all in good, houses-flying-off-the-shelves areas e.g. Surrey, Herts.

I haven't heard of anyone having a good experience.

@Waltermittythesequel I don't think people want to see a "lived in" house though, do they?

there's a big difference between breakfast dishes in the sink and used knickers on the floor and the currently quite sterile environment it has been photographed with though.

As my earlier comment, I noticed it first on photo 6 - not a single thing out of place, made me think of those people who buy lifelike dolls and give them a room. Then I realised all the photos were the same. It looks odd not to see the odd family photo, bedside book, pair of shoes, umbrella, dog lead - anything

It's only been a fortnight Op so don't despair.
The modern 3-storey houses are quite lacking in living vs sleeping space and some peple ar put off by that. this detached house is less than a mile from you, has the same size upstairs as down, has a garden. Not so polished but very liveable for a young family to move straight into...also 15K cheaper. Once that sells I reckon yours is the next most attractive in the range for a family.

@Shots it's just down to preference though, isn't it? That's what makes property buying and selling such a ball ache!

I'd much rather see a sterile, clean slate than family photos!

For everyone saying the kitchen would put them off, do they not think that just buying new doors and drawer-fronts in their choice of
colour and cabinet design is a reasonable option? It's nowhere near the cost of a new kitchen so OP if someone suggests reducing the price for a full new kitchen, tell them a resounding NO.

I'd never consider a seller's choice of kitchen putting me off, as long as all the units were standard sizes and I could change them so very easily.

The whole house looks immaculate to me, I am in awe and need lessons that would be so much more of an attraction to view, personally, than easily changed things like decor and a bit of preserver/paint on the garden fence.

The kitchen wouldn't put me off but people are notoriously daft. Can you paint the door fronts/replace with something lighter?

There's also the odd clashing touch e.g. that yellow cushion and the flowery duvet with the purple picture. Plain white would be better.

And the garden - for me it's not the blue, which looks fresh, but the expanse of concrete. Flowers in planters, border plants etc. would help.

The conservatory looks a bit cramped and that fridge and the mat look a bit odd - so maybe remove them for another set of photos.

a sisal style rug would help tone down and soften the kitchen, as wood a plant/cookbooks/lighter tea towels etc, maybe get chair cushions on the chairs too?

No photos of the two smaller bedrooms either (unless I'm missing them!) which would really scare me in terms of how difficult they would be to redecorate if there are no photos and dark walls are shown in other rooms.

I agree about non reflective things in the kitchen, and plants in garden with table moved to look like it's central to the garden. White loo seat upstairs too.

The whole house looks immaculate to me, I am in awe and need lessons that would be so much more of an attraction to view, personally, than easily changed things like decor and a bit of preserver/paint on the garden fence.

I think you're trying to be nice and supportive, but I think the op is looking for some honesty so she can get her house sold. She's had no viewings.

I don't think thr house looks sterile, I'm surprised at the comment, and I think some good advice has been given in terms of what the issues could be. Making rhe fence a warmer less bright shade, adding some big out door plants, maybe trying to brighten the kitchen, using a different agent as well as understanding what could be putting people off to relook at price should be helpful

Advising the op not to drop the price due to the kitchen is maybe less so since the issue is she hasn't even had someone in to view, never mind make an offer.

I'm not sure how successful painting over a high-gloss kitchen would be... and if you replaced the doors the panelling and carcasses would still all be black. If you really didn't like black (not uncommon) it would be replace or nothing, and replacing is expensive!

It's beautifully presented OP and if I were looking in the area for 4 beds I would visit. However:

• I'd be costing in replacement kitchen and one of the bathrooms
• full redo of the garden (it's both stark and uncomfortable looking and overly blue)
• is it really good for schools, the nearest ones are undersubscribed and you are out of catchment for oversubscribed schools...

The rest of my redecoration would be over time so I wouldn't have any issues as it's fit to live in for a good while.

I'm not sure of the pricing locally (I'm SE so looks super value to me ) but if £300k is top whack I wouldn't want to pay the asking as I would have to do two big jobs (kitchen and bathroom) immediately.

Despite all that, I would definitely visit. I suspect your choice of estate agent is a great hindrance - they are dirt cheap for a reason

Dr spouse The kitchen wouldn't put me off but people are notoriously daft

As the most expensive decoration job in a house it's hardly 'daft' to take whether the kitchen is to your taste into account when deciding whether you think a house is worth the asking price!

It's sensible to consider the cost of redoing a kitchen, not "daft" ffs!

I don't think the garden is that bad, but it is very stark looking.

Isn't there one bedroom missing in the pictures? Not two?

Your kitchen is black and you have no grass. Plus it seems over priced. Your living room is tiny. This is what would put me off.