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Original poster

No viewings yet... Advice please

204 replies

Home2Sell · 18/05/2017 12:38

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

OP posts:
MaryPoppinsPenguins · 19/05/2017 06:07

Your house is fine... I would say it was your agent.

The house we bought was on with an onlinevonly estate agent, it had been on the market for six months and we got it for more than 20k under asking (which had already been undervalued)

We have just sold less than a year later for a (much much) higher asking price, with 5 asking price offers and in under a week. First offer was actually the same day they valued it, before it was even online.

Now I have to pay 7k to my agent... and maybe they saved that money. But they lost around 50k on their purchase price, so ask yourself if it's worth it to be with purple bricks?

sunnysouthend · 19/05/2017 06:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LucieLucie · 19/05/2017 06:46

Nice house but the negatives for me would be;

1). Black kitchen and floor (most people want white/cream

2). Garden has no grass (family with kids where do they dig in the swings/football goals etc?

3). The blue paint on the fence and shed is just too much, it hurts my eyes

Blinkyblink · 19/05/2017 06:54

You have presented beautifully but I am not on the least bit surprised there's not been any interest.

Excellent catchment area for schools but no garden and what there is, is unappealing for adults as well.

A black kitchen that sticks out like a sore thumb

However it is a nice size, nicely presented and in a good location so there is just one solution (shot of turfing the patio and changing the kitchen!) and that is to significantly reduce your price. By £25k

Alwayshungryforcrisps · 19/05/2017 06:57

I love the black kitchen!!! And I love the blue garden!

wowfudge · 19/05/2017 07:01

@sunnysouthend there was a photo of the dining table and lime green dining chairs when I looked yesterday. In fact I think the OP may have tweaked the photos (if you can do that with PB) as some of the others are different.

Starlighter · 19/05/2017 07:05

Your house is lovely, but there are two areas that I think are causing you problems: the kitchen and the garden.

Kitchen:
It's just too dark which makes it look smaller than it is. The units are fine, you just need a lighter worktop and floor.

Garden:
The blue is too much! Paint the fences white or strip it back to wood.
Get some grass. I don't think there are many buyers who want just patio in their garden.

Good luck!

Longdistance · 19/05/2017 07:13

Yy to the black kitchen photo being retaken. Looks so dark and unappealing to even want to go look at.

The garden definitely needs some grass.

Kokusai · 19/05/2017 07:28

@sunnysouthend there was a photo of the dining table and lime green dining chairs when I looked yesterday

Same.

BigGreenOlives · 19/05/2017 07:29

Try editing the estate agent's blurb, there are some grammatical errors in the bit about the drive (sorry haven't copied them to help) which looks sloppy.

FatCatFaces · 19/05/2017 07:49

I can only echo what everyone else has said. When I house hunt I do so with a view to doing as little as possible after purchase unless it's priced for refurb.

I'd want to replace the kitchen, the blue paint both inside and out would annoy me, too much paving in the garden, your neighbours garage appears to be attached to your house(?), purple carpet would have to go and I agree about the black toilet seat - reminds me of a public toilet.

There also appears to be a bedroom missing from the photos.

Those would be my initial thoughts and I wouldn't rush to view if there are nicer houses nearby. If I did make an offer I'd be knocking off £25k.

At the very least I'd recommend painting over all of the blue. People might be more forgiving of the kitchen if they don't have all that blue paint to contend with.

Original poster
Home2Sell · 19/05/2017 08:06

Thanks all. I did speak to the EA yesterday so there have been some tweeks on the photos. May need to do a bit more though.

I think we are going to wait a few weeks and see what happens. A few weeks ago I had no intention of moving so if the house we have seen is meant for us, it will be there when we sell. If not, it was never meant to be!!

OP posts:
ShotsFired · 19/05/2017 08:48

@Home2Sell I've been following this thread with interest. After looking at the pictures 4 or 5 times now, I have only just realised that your house is double the width it appears to be.

The photo of the front suggest the lamp post demarcates two houses, but actually you have both dormers' width, don't you (as per floorplan). So why isn't the whole of your house showing in the first pic?!

So not it;'s gone from being a thin/narrow long hours in my mind; to a much wider, more spacious one.

I would suggest you put the floorplan in the photo set as well, because its mush less easy to access that on a mobile than a desktop.

Why don't you take some informal snaps and post them up and we can advise on best angles and lighting. You can then instruct the EA to take similarly, but better (or do them yourself - I did when my EA was similar underwhelming)

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 19/05/2017 08:49

Much better pics OP, well done you !

Bearbehind · 19/05/2017 08:53

I don't think that's correct shots. The lamppost is about where the next house joins.

The 2 dormers on the plan are at the back of the house.

There is only 1 bay window in the plans, the one on the right if the lamppost is next doors.

ShotsFired · 19/05/2017 09:22

Oh Sad How is there room for two dormers at the back but only one at the front though?

Bearbehind · 19/05/2017 09:27

Because the front window is bigger (dormer) and the back ones in the top bedroom are smaller (velux) shots look at photo 9- the back windows are much smaller.

dalmatianmad · 19/05/2017 09:32

Your house is beautiful but the kitchen is awful and the blue fences need to go Hmm

ExConstance · 19/05/2017 09:34

The easy fixes are to sort out the garden and redecorate the blue rooms. The garden needs some lawn and the shed removing or painted so it doesn't stand out. I think I could live with the kitchen provided the floor wasn't black too. The conservatory floor looks nice. The kitchen does look cluttered, for the purposes of the sale pictures I'd take out everything from the surfaces. If your estate agent took the kitchen photos he really should not have left the oven glove dangling in front of the cooker. Even if it is black it should be possible to get some better photos than this. The house looks lovely from the front. To be realistic most people will want new carpets, a new kitchen and to sort out the garden and won't want to do the work, so they won't view. If you do just enough of these things to get some more viewings it will probably sell in due course. The alternative is just to acknowledge this and reduce the price by £20k to compensate.

squeaver · 19/05/2017 09:45

If that's not your drive and garage, you really need to change the first pic.

Also, if you are serious, I'd give it two more weeks then ditch Purple Bricks.

DaisyBD · 19/05/2017 09:56

OP your neighbour's house here shows how important good photos are. Their house looks twice the size of yours. It's hard to pick up on this sort of thing when you live in the house as you can't see it with an outsider's eyes.

Agree that a cheap fix would be to paint the bright colours out (inside and out) and maybe change the floor and/or wall cupboard doors in the kitchen. Yours is also priced at quite a bit more than your neighbour's so maybe a teeny bit over priced? even allowing for the fact it's end of terrace. It's a lovely house though and should sell. Good luck!

Waltermittythesequel · 19/05/2017 10:03

Your neighbours house looks huge!!!

Is that the same size as yours?!

Bluntness100 · 19/05/2017 10:09

The neighbours house looks twice the size and gorgeous and it's cheaper. Is it the same size, because if so, it's the photos that are the problem.

I'm not sure what's been tweaked in the pics but it don't make it better.

Kokusai · 19/05/2017 10:15

Your neighbours house looks huge!!!

It is exactly the same size per the floor plan! Actually its smaller because it doesn't have a conservatory

Just shows what a different a decent EA / photographer plus a more neutral decor make.

squeaver · 19/05/2017 10:15

I think the neighbour's house is slightly smaller - no conservatory.

The tweaking that Lapdance did upthread is way better than the agent's pics, whatever they've done.