Why am I getting no viewings?!

[MyNewKitchen]

I live in a sought after area, with minimal parking. My house is one of a handful on an entire estate (spanning 7 building zones of estates) with parking. And i have space for 4 cars! The house is well presented, im the average price range, and i have already dropped the price. The estate agents said they are plugging the property ( which i have seen myself) but just nothing. Have had 6 viewings since jan. Only thing i can think is there is a new estate being built - so i am in competition with them? Any advice appreciated! My ass of an ex isnt paying his half of the mortgage and im left paying 2. It will end up being repossessed id it doesnt sell soon. www.buttersjohnbee.com/property-for-sale/house-semi-detached-for-sale-in-newdale-halt-lawley-village-telford-shropshire/6497

Could it be that it is a bit of a no man's land as far a age goes.
It's new enough to not appeal to people who want an old house but not brand new to appeal to people who want a new house.

It has parking behind MyNew.

I honestly think that for a 'second hand' new house it's overpriced.

Might be worth putting a few pots in the garden. This is a fairly cheap way of injecting some colour without spending a fortune. The house looks lovely I agree with the others about neutralising the kids' bedroom, but it's a lovely house x

Sorry OP, but it looks like a boxy, soulless new build with no features, cramped in on all sides by other houses (dont know if it is or not that's just the impression from the photos) and what is going on with the garden? I've just looked at the photos and I've forgotten them already.

Might as well buy one of the new builds and choose your own fittings.

Could someone clever photoshop some furniture in?

The two air fresheners are a red flag, looks like you're trying to hide/disguise something (I'm sure you're not)

Why no picture of the main bathroom?

4 car parking is a massive bonus but I can't see where it is from the pictures.

Dress it to sell. Take it off the market while you do.

Buy second hand bits for furniture and sell them on after or get a company in to dress it. My in-laws recently created a bed by stacking boxes in the right formation using a sheet with a valance and nice bedding they'll use again. It just had to be enough for photos/viewings to show how a bed would look in the space.

I'd say you need a bed or bed proxy in each bedroom, a table in the kitchen/diner and seating in the living room. For photos I'd probably bring a couple of mirrors/vase of flowers/bowl of fruit from home to make it look less stark.

Borrow some friends/families furniture to dress it.

Get your EA to sale it as chain free with fantastic parking.

Plants in the garden.

Get it down to £187k.

The first photo is awful. What's the house attached too? It looks like a big looming wall - like a prison wall. Is it another house? Also the photos look like they've been taken by a munchkin - everything is looming over.

The interior photos are awful. It looks like a repossession. The unmade bed is so sad - like the bailiffs chucked you out in the middle of the night.

The estate agent should be ashamed of these

The house is being by sold by the photos alone - which aren't great - because the agent's description is pathetic! There is no info on the parking, they repeat 'the property' in every sentence. It doesn't tell you what the appliances are in the kitchen, etc, etc. You really can't assume people understand what is there unless you tell them. Is the loft boarded for additional storage? No idea. The decking needs cleaning and the garden is unattractive.

It's a nice house but it needs dressing for sale. It looks like an ex rental that hasn't been spruced up for sale.

If you are already under-pricing it, the agent needs to make that clear : "priced for a quick sale, chain free. Early viewing advised" type blurb, prominently in the listing.

Photo of the double garage? And include it on the floor plan. It's a great bonus, but it's easy to completely overlook it

I agree it looks very unloved. It would look lovely presented though. The cars stickers need to go and can you paint the grey on the front of the house to match the bricks? Gives it more kerb appeal then. I also think the back garden needs changing, it looks very baffling and I can't see how that garden would be usable at all.

It's a nice house. Problems for me would be no grass in garden (easy to fix) and kitchen at the front (not keen, may put me off). I think if your competition is new builds they will have help to buy or whatever it is now, which makes them more affordable even though they cost more. Not much you can do about that though 😔 Do you have the option of taking it off over the slow summer, then paying for a stager to put in (rented) furniture and dress it to sell a lifestyle? If the parking is the usp it may well sell to an older family with teenagers, so I'd dress it to appeal to them (maybe make the box room a tv snug).

Good luck, it's a really nice house, it will sell, but the market is not great for you 😔

Snickers no I think what you are mistaking as parking behind is the actual garden - the barked area.

Surely no-one would buy a property where there are issues with the gardens that only allow for astro or bark or hard surface!

People can't "see" where furniture would be placed unfortunately.
In fact I once used garden furniture in my own living room so I could dress a property I was still selling.

You can buy fake orchids that look very real from places like TK Maxx which I also used my own.

I took some of my nice candles etc and then they all came home with me after exchange.

I think that the downstairs is very small considering it is a 4 bed house and the garden is off putting.

People are waiting to see what will happen with Brexit (still)

Hi OP. I'm sure it's a lovely house but unfortunately, your estate agents photos do not make it look very good. I would take in everyone's advice especially re the air fresheners, doll & pram and the unmade bed and have the EA make more of a fuss of the fact that it is chain free.

Could you make the beds up nicely (you could add new linen, cushions etc. to the double bed and just take them back out again afterwards), put a cheap bit of art over the double bed and move the dark wardrobe out of the shot completely?

If you cannot borrow or get free/ cheap furniture for the unfurnished rooms I would not bother putting photos of these up at all and I would also remove the photo of the garden unless it looks better from the back fence towards the back of the house. Try to get a photo showing the parking and crop the main photo to get rid of the huge blank wall. Get people out to view it as I am sure it probably looks better IRL. Good luck.

On a different track it may be worth reminding your ex that if the mortgage doesn't get paid then he may have trouble getting credit in the future.

People are rude on here.

It looks lovely OP - I expect the new builds are driving the price down.

It is a nice house but the photos aren't good at all - agree with comments above about getting in some furniture. Try to get something under each heading on the description- some of the rooms have dimensions but not all of them.

There are no where near enough photographs and the ones that they have taken are not very good. Some agents are far better at taking pictures than others.

You need photographs of the driveway, of the rooms from more angles, garden from more angles, all the rooms included. There are 3 bathrooms in floorplan but only one has been photographed. Are the others awful? That's what people may be wondering!

Price looks really messy too, £190,000 or £180,000 looks better. (Could put £180 offers over).

I don't know the area but if it is underpriced could it be that people are missing it in the searches so those wanting a similar house are searching for houses over £200,000 so yours isn't coming up?

Could you put it on at 200 and put all offeres considered and then get agents to say you will take £180, someone might feel like they are getting a bargain and snap it up.

Is it on zoopla as well as right move?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66969191.html

I'd prefer this one. I think looking for people who need four bedrooms but who are happy to have no garden is cutting down your market.

i'm losing a bedroom on the above one and I know Madeley isn't as nice* but look, i get a garden, some parking and a nice comfy looking traditional house that shows what it looks like with furniture in it.

*note, haven't lived in Telford for 20 years but madeley wasn't a bad place at all. i accept that might have changed.

Snickers no I think what you are mistaking as parking behind is the actual garden - the barked area.

It says in the listings that there are two allocated parking spaces behind the house.

People are not being rude they are being honest. Estate agents sell you a load of flannel, much better to hear unvarnished truth on here.

If you follow your link to the estates agents page, They have very helpfully posted a picture of an alternative property right at the bottom. That one is detached and £40k cheaper. Very tempting to leave your page and follow that link instead

I personally think it's perfectly ok re presentation. If i was ready to buy i would certainly look at it, the roominess/space inside is really appealing. I don't like the overlooked cramped feel outside - if it's not actually like that, i agree with new photos.

The brutal truth is that house prices are starting to drop. If you can't wait, you are going to have to drop the price and negotiate hard when you buy. Would your ex understand that if you have to sell now the money may not stack up?

Thankyou for your replies. I will instruct the agent to take far more photographs and to really push the chain free aspect and the multiple parking. I will take the wall stickers off and get rid of the childs bed. Will get some fake orchids to dot around too. Im so so down with it all now. Been since jan. Agents were positive about the sale. There is nothing i can do about the competition new builds less than half a mile away. My ex seems to think he will get half any profit.. despite him not contributing to the mortgage for almost 3 years. 😂 yeah.. jog on mate!