House up for sale for 2 weeks only 1 viewing

[Alexsb1]

So we have taken the plunge and put out house on the market . We have been here 14 years and its our 1st home so we don't really know what to expect in relation to selling a house . We got 3 estate agents out for valuation and went with the highest one out of the 3. Happy with pictures and description etc. We had been told by all 3 wouldn't take long to sell as ideal 1st time buyers or buy to let property . So expectations were quite high..... 2 weeks in we have had 1 cancelled viewing and 1 viewing that is 'going' to let us know. I am now slightly worried about the lack of interest and worried we have overpriced or something . Any help/advice?? Ty

Op, there is no house similar to yours that's sold in recent years. The sellers may have taken it off the market.

Nice house OP. I've no idea of price though as not my area. The only thing that would put me off is the pylon.

Thank you for all your comments. We have just outgrown the house hence putting it up for sale. I think im going to see what another week brings give benefit of doubt as weather etc has been bad and then have a word

bluntness10 the other end of the terrace has sold in January that is a def as im friends with the former owner (who was renting it out). Thank you Vitalogy I did wonder about taking picture from different angle. It has never bothered us but can def see how it would others it doesnt obstruct our view as it looks in picture

Do you have a local friend or family memeber who could take some storage for you? If so pack up as much as possible so the place looks more spacious and clutter free abd take it to th

I think its overpriced. It basically needs compete redecoration which costs money. If you are over priced then people will be put off thinking of the money they need to spend. The price should take into account the condition of the house.

I don't think you should try and hide the pylon in the photos as viewers need to know beforehand, will waste your time too else. I always do street view anyway.

Napqueen have taken advantage of motherinlaws spare room already lol. Starting to think this was a bad idea. Biologymatters, surely when you go to view property you keep in mind that it needs decorating to your taste anyway?

It looks like a rental & needs an overhaul throughout to be homely IMO.

That said youve had a viewing and it hasnt been on long. My neighbours took 8 months to sell and it was only slightly over priced (their error IMO was using multiple agents)

Agree that there doesn't seem to be much of a jump price wise to a 3 bed. Anecdotally, I've been told the average FTB is looking more midterm with their house buying these days, so might think a 3 bed is a bit more future proof.
With this in mind, I think you really need to pull out the stops to market it.

The electricity pylon behind the house in the first photo. How visible is it really from the house/garden? If it's literally at the foot of your garden it's going to put a lot of people off. I appreciate that they are safe, but they are not the most attractive of things and would certainly put me off.

Bur if it needs redecorating I’m also mentally calculating how much that costs vs the asking price...

A list (hope it helps)
You will need to rent storage or borrow a garage.
Living room:
Remove blue box and the thing next to it.
Remove at least half of the things on the shelves
Before the photographs are taken, make sure your cushions are pristine and plumped,
Kitchen
Nothing on surfaces for the photos (there could be two items otherwise)
NOTHING on top of the units or the fridge
Bedroom
Remove the thing in the corner
Child's room
Remove all posters from the wall and the blue stool
Repaint the bathroom in pale aqua
Tidy the garden
Lose the picture of the garden shed
As said before, angle the photos so that the rated is less dominant.
Things sell on rightmove.
Your pictures do NOT show the house at its best.

Ours was on for 3.5 weeks then sold - for pretty much bang on asking price.

No viewings in week 1
2 viewings in Week 2
1 viewing at end of Week 3 and they made offer a few days later.

Estate Agent had reckoned 4 weeks, was bang on!

surely when you go to view property you keep in mind that it needs decorating to your taste anyway?

People prefer it to be optional, maybe do a room a year y'know?

The problem with it looking "rental-ey" is that it makes one wonder about bigger maintenance issues. Basically it doesnt look loved so I would wonder what lies beneath IYKWIM. I would still buy if the price area was right though pending survey.

I would hold the decor against the house much - it's a very cheap property and other in the area are of a similar standard.

And the looking small/no storage - it's a very, very tiny property with tiny rooms if you look at the dimensions on the floor plan.

I think the problem is it doesn’t look like a quick repaint to your own tastes. It has artex ceilings, which many people will want rid of, wallpaper so I’d be thinking maybe replastering, new kitchen, new bathroom, sort out the fireplace, new flooring. Once people see that they will be thinking at the lower end of a price for your house and you’re marketing at a higher end. And the pylon will definitely limit your market.

Looks fine to me. Neat, tidy, clean. Kitchen and bathroom is of the same standard i'd expect of a house that price.

Your house is a very small 2 bed at 689sq ft, not sure there is much getting around that so you would expect to see stuff under beds and on top of cupboards! The decor is not out of line with other simmilar properties.

Maybe you could get more people through the door if you painted everything white and stashed all under bed/top of cupboard items in shed.

Garden is nice for a house that size.

The pylons will put loads of people off... silly but they do.

You could do with a photo of the lounge facing the other way.

You are pretty much on at the equivalent price of the new builds though - which have a shiny new kitchen, bathroom and more light. Can;t see total sq ft for these but think they might be slightly smaller than your house.

www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-71826653.html

Also get a photo of the dining room.

It is a massive bonus in a house this size that you enter through the kitchen, not the sitting room actually.

surely when you go to view property you keep in mind that it needs decorating to your taste anyway? - lots of people don't though. And at the first time buyer end of the market there might be more people put off decorating through lack of cash or lack of knowledge, so you need to sell it as a blank, inoffensive canvas for people to just move into and do things at their own pace. I think what LLL said also, that people won't see it just as redecoration. They'll think new kitchen (£££), new bathroom (£££), fireplace (£££), redecorate throughout (more £££). Of course, those things can be done easily and cheaply enough if you have the know how, but it will be enough to put a large percentage of your potential buyers off.
I get that you're not going to replace the kitchen or bathroom, but decluttering and painting it neutral, plus adding things like tubs of flowers outside and a cheap electric fire inside as was suggested above won't cost you much but will widen it's appeal massively.

I thought "no problem" to paint my house... fuck me it was a right pain in the neck. Took me and dad three days (so six man days) to do three rooms. And that didn't involve super dark colours to cover or patterned wallpaper to cover.

At that point we called it a day and I paid professionals to do the upstairs!

You need to de clutter and I mean hide everything. We did this and it looked like no one lived there despite us having 2 kids. But embarrassing when they started opening cupboards and things were falling out but hey got people through the door
And it sold on the second viewing.

If it's not neutral colours it needs to be reflected in the asking price. It seems overpriced and I think you really need to put lots of things in storage to stop it looking so cramped.

It's a nice house

It looks like it needs tidying up in the photos - it's not messy it just looks like you say, like you've outgrown it.

The photos are of your stuff, rather than the spaces
No photo of the dining room? Makes it look smaller than it is.
Why the picture of the wallpaper on the landing?
Photo of the view from upstairs

Paint the bathroom (white probably), move the posters/toy boxes/cleaning stuff in bathroom.

There are some quick fixes to improve the presentation. It’s a small house, so declutter as much as possible (store books, dvds etc in the loft and clear off the kitchen work surfaces and tops of cupboards).

Your wallpaper choices are quite strong/individual colours. Whilst it may be too expensive to redecorate all of the rooms for sale, you can quickly/cheaply repaint the bathroom walls to a neutral colour and change your purple bedding/chair cover to white (it will open up the space visually and look less oppressive in the photos). I’d also remove the posters from the kid’s bedroom wall and buy new throw cushions for the sofa as it looks a bit tired.

Ahead of viewings, fix anything that’s broken (door handles, skirting boards etc), especially as diy could be off-putting for FTBs.

The front of the house could look prettier with some spring plants etc. Most buyers don’t have vision, so you’re creating a fresh, neutral space that is easy for them to move in to. Good luck OP!