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House up for sale for 2 weeks only 1 viewing

139 replies

Alexsb1 · 20/03/2018 15:47

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 posts:
longtompot · 21/03/2018 09:23

My initial concern is with the first picture. How close is the pylon to your house?
My next concern would be why isn't there any photos of the dining room?
The last one would be there is only one door to the outside in the whole house! The 'front door' is so hidden away, with nothing to show its even there.

I would do whats been suggested by previous posters. A bit more of a declutter, so people can see there is space to put their things in.

The tall fridge seems to be very dominant in the kitchen. Is there any way you could put it in another room or put it away altogether and get a small undercounter one, just to help you move? It doesn't need to go under a counter, it could just help make the room feel less squashed.

Is the attic big enough to extend into? I am not suggesting you do this, but maybe get some plans drawn up so buyers can see the potential.

Does the dining room window look over your garden or your neighbours? If its yours, would you be able to get a door put in its place?

Paint the bathroom a much fresher colour. It looks a bit dull (as in lack of light) with the current wall colour.

Lastly, is there any way you could get a porch put in over the front door? Just something bolted to the wall thats in keeping with the brickwork. Add some pots with trees or hanging baskets with some hanging plants and spring bulbs either side, just to make it stand out a bit more.

The house does look tired, but it also looks welcoming. It just needs a bit of love putting back into it.

longtompot · 21/03/2018 09:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LemonysSnicket · 21/03/2018 09:35

It’s only been 2 weeks ...

confuddledconfudle · 21/03/2018 09:45

It's only been 2 weeks and it does depend on the area you are living in how quick things sell - it took 2 months for your neighbour to sell.
I've just moved from an area where my house sold before the photos even made it onto Rightmove. The area I am in now, a colleague has their house up for sale for 3 years! I don't know the area so can't judge on that.
However I did a rightmove search for your postcode with 3 mike radius and up to 120k. I think looking at this you are over priced. There are 2 bed detached bungalows going for same price. A 2 bed new build is same price and they are always overpriced. There are some nice 3 beds for same price. Have a look and see what you think as those houses may be in a terrible area and I wouldn't necessarily know that. Include STC in your search.
When selling my latest house I went with top quote but told the estate agent that I was concerned he was top quote so he agreed if he hadn't sold it in 6 weeks he would wave fee. So that gave me the confidence in that top quote and I had nothing to loose.
Best of luck with your move

Also maybe as it was a quick turnover market but estate agent told me not to redecorate as people will always redecorate themselves anyway. I also had horrible flats out my back. However I had changed my house to neutral colours when I moved in. And photographer moved everything out of each room bar bear minimum when taking photos

Thinkingofausername1 · 21/03/2018 09:53

When we moved, I had to keep chasing the estate agents because we didn't get a lot of viewings. Our price wasn't high though so I think it depends on individual estate agents. I think it is better to go with a large well known estate agent, rather than an independent one.

Angryosaurus · 21/03/2018 10:04

@longtompot it's double the price of OP house!!

Bluntness100 · 21/03/2018 10:24

Double the price and double the size. Not sure of the relevance, Confused

GrowThroughWhatYouGoThrough · 21/03/2018 10:24

I think the pictures need re doing and the house needs emptying a bit. We have just sold ours and for the pics we emptied the rooms out as much as possible and just moved the boxes into a different room for pics as had no where to store it.
The mantelpiece massively puts me off as to me it says there should be a fire but there isn't so I'd either put a freestanding one in or loose it. I'd also paint the bathroom magnolia/neutral colour and empty the kitchen as much as possible and possibly loose a piece of furniture in your sons room.
We had loads of viewings but everyone said the main problem was the master bedroom was too small we put the dressing table in the garage and on the next viewing we sold it. People can't always see past what there seeing if you know what I mean

emsyj37 · 21/03/2018 10:37

The market is odd at the moment in that if you are even slightly overpriced, people don't view. The practice of making cheeky offers is falling away and you need to pitch your price at the right level.
I wouldn't view a house with no shower unless it was an amazing bargain, because as a previous poster said, it would need doing straight away. Your kitchen also needs replacing and your decor needs updating. When people see the work needed, they don't just want a discount for the work but also for the inconvenience of doing the work.

DoAsYouWouldBeMumBy · 21/03/2018 14:38

I can always see past decor when I'm property hunting, but I wouldn't book a viewing because of the pylon and the cramped look of the house. Your house is probably very nice, but the photos are not great at all. The one of the kitchen and the upstairs hallway are worst, and the purple throws are not very enticing. The blank fireplace is off-putting to me. I had to sell my last house at way under what the estate agent valued it at - it was disappointing, but that's all people were prepared to pay for it. And I couldn't really be bothered with the time and money needed to make it look amazing Blush

SpringHen · 21/03/2018 14:43

Sorry OP but you cant play down a flying freehold. I wouldnt consider a houss with flying freehold even if it was a MASSIVE bargain.

To shift a house with a flying freehold you will need to go well under market value for the area usually.

FluffyWuffy100 · 21/03/2018 15:40

@longtompot that house is twice the size and twice the price! Not a comparable!

To shift a house with a flying freehold you will need to go well under market value for the area usually.

Not sure I agree. Flying freeholds can be relatively common for some types of builds/areas.

longtompot · 21/03/2018 16:10

Not sure what I was thinking this morning tbh Hmm sorry about that. It is more than double the price. For some reason I thought they were closer. I'll delete that post so as to not derail things for OP Grin

mathanxiety · 21/03/2018 23:43

Your photos are terrible.

Sitting room:
You need to take all the family photos and the collection or whatever is lower down off the shelves in the sitting room, and arrange a few books neatly, some stacked, some standing up in their place. Maybe an artistic looking object or two as well. Your lamp needs to be out in the room a bit. Lose the blue box and maybe also the two stacked boxes (old suitcases?) near the lamp. Lose the green rug too. Get a light grey or cream fluffy one instead. Straighten the couch cover and the cushions. You need a photo of the view from the window. Take away the flower picture and hang the tigers at the same level they are at now but over the couch. Leave the window wall bare. There is enough there with the window. Put the plant to one side on the windowsill, not bang in the middle. Putting stuff in the middle divides the space in half, visually.

If there is a presentable chair under the purple cover in your bedroom bring it down to the sitting room and create a little interesting and alive space between the fireplace and window wall with the lamp moved out from the wall to at least halfway across the shelves and not directly up against them.

Your fireplace looks bare, and also fake with the wainscoting running at the bottom. Maybe take off that wainscoting (or paint it the same colour as the dark tiles) and tile the floor in front with black rustic/ limestone tiles extending about six inches into the room to suggest a plinth, and then put a selection of tall and medium potted plants of different textures on the tile - five should do, arranged 3/2 with the space of one plant in between the 3 and 2. Don't space them equally or line them up straight. Get rid of the hearts by the fireplace, and also all the photos and everything else on the mantel. Replace with a few black candlesticks of different shapes and white candles.

Can you take down the current fireplace cover at all and recess it considerably instead? Is it a real fireplace? Your house is old enough to have had one.

The wallpaper and painted wall colours in the sitting room are screaming at each other. I would repaint in a colour that is closer to the colour of the vines/stalks in the wallpaper. Choose a light tone, not deep (a mauvey grey?). The colour should complement your couch, but don't go as deep or dark as the couch. Maybe www.dulux.co.uk/en/colour-details#cool%20neutral Misty Mountain, here? I would paint over any wallpaper that is not on the chimney breast, leaving the chimney wall the only feature wall. You will lend greater depth to the alcoved areas that way. Paint the pipes in the far corner the same colour as the wall. There is no need to pick out details like this. Get a new dark grey or black lampshade, or cream to match the ceiling one. Get more of a drum (horizontal) shape.

You need to swap the chevron cushion near the window for the one in the corner facing the shelves. That part of the couch is a chaise longue, and the extra element of relaxation associated with that feature should be emphasised. Take the small white cushions away from that part too. Put them elsewhere on the couch. Maybe get a nice cream and grey throw to drape at the chaise end? I would also put a nice big potted plant between the end of the chaise part of the couch and the shelves, on the left side of the window but not lined up with the window upright. If you put your cursor half way between the end of the chaise and the suitcases (?) in the photo, that is the spot to put the plant. You need something with a decisive shape, not wispy and not vertical, that comes to just under half the height of the lower window pane including pot and saucer.

Main bedroom:
Take the shelves off the wall. Leave that wall with only the window and curtains. Change the purple duvet cover for a white one. Tuck it in at the foot of the bed so you show the bedframe. You want to avoid the sense that stuff is all over everything. Get rid of the purple thing from the corner. Maybe bring up the two suitcases from the sitting room. Get rid of the boxes under the bed. Put nice candles on the bedside tables. Put a nice indoor plant on one bedside table goo.gl/images/1i9WJN . Photo needs to be taken further back.

Plants and candles suggest restfulness, relaxation.

Second bedroom:
Take all the posters off the second bedroom wall. Tuck in the duvet a bit. Lose the stuffed animals and clutter on top of the wardrobe. Take away the little figurines from the window sill. Replace the blue blind with a white one. Get rid of the little blue bedside table and bunting. Stand further back to take the photo.

Kitchen:
You need another view of the kitchen too, even if you have to climb up outside the window and stick the camera inside. Clutter on top of cabinets, and on the counter near the window must go. This includes your kitchen utensils and their shelfy/hangy thing, and the oven mitts. You need to group your plants better on the window sill. Plants will draw the eye and suggest that this is a kitchen that is not so small that every spare inch counts, unless you have them arranged the way you have them now. You need to put one plant on the counter in the corner (biggest plant) where the utensil thing is now. The rest can go on the left side of the window sill, in ascending order of height, on the left. Get one more plant to achieve a 1/3 relationship among the plants (one on the counter, three on the sill). When you take new photos, take the basins out of the sink.

I would be very tempted to repaint the kitchen in Dulux Tuscan Terracotta or maybe Copper Blush www.dulux.co.uk/en/colour-details#orange. The beige of the tiles is not in the same family as your yellow paint colour. The white cabinets would look nicer too with different walls. White often takes on a grey or dirty tone when paired with yellow.

Bathroom:
Stand further back to take the new photo. Clean up the area with the pipe (?) between the loo and the bath, on the floor. It looks grubby and suggests a water problem down there. Cover up with white paint if necessary. Repaint the walls a nice clean blue - www.dulux.co.uk/en/colour-details#teal Blue Reflection might be nice. Paint all the woodwork white. The wood rims to the tiles and the wood surround of the bath look cheap and make the space look smaller because they divide it up, visually. Use a basecoat, then white gloss. The shampoo and soap holder things above the loo need to go. They only emphasise that there is nowhere else to put them. Take the ornaments off the window, find a tall box or rectangular potted plant pot in white or light terracotta, and put the shampoos in there, on the window sill. Or put up a long, tub length shelf above the tiles that can extend as far as the sink tiles, and put stuff on that.. Take the toothpaste holder thing off the wall too. You can keep toothpaste, etc in a little basket on the floor under the sink if you don't put up a shelf, and on the shelf if you put one up.

Tbh, if I were buying your house I would want to rip out the bathroom and put in a bath/shower, retile and put in a basin with unit underneath. In the end it wouldn't matter that it is now brown. But the brown paint and other details look really bad, and you want to avoid putting people off, because unless you sell to a rehabber, a family is going to have to live with the bathroom. People need a bathroom so you should make it look as if it is a usable space that doesn't require immediate work.

I would also want to extend the kitchen and second bedroom out into the garden sideways, and knock the dining room and lounge together, sectioning off the stairs (are they in the dining room now?) and creating a new front door area, maybe relocating the manhole.

You need dining room photos and the flying freehold needs to be mentioned in the blurb.

Your floorplan needs dimensions. It's not easy to refer to a separate page (Description) for these.

Garden:
Front is nice and neat. Add potted box shrubs and big potted plants - three should do - near the downspout in ascending order of height from left to right to soften the border between house and gravel, lead the eye to the gate, and make the front more homey/welcoming/cared-for looking. Add another four or five in front of the section of fence in the front, with one level as the front of the house, though at the right side of the path. This will emphasise the entryway/gate and draw the eye forward.

Get another few bags of gravel and spread it evenly in front - it looks sparse, and there is one bare patch in the photo.

In the back, get a strimmer and neaten up the grass edges. Mow the lawn. Put down mulch by the fence. Put the paddling pool away in the shed. Put the big blue slide away too for the purpose of photos. Add some chairs and put up the umbrella.

Put a cheery outdoor mat outside your front door - looks as if you had one there before?

Stairs:
It would be a big job to paint over that wallpaper but I would do it. I would use the same colour as the landing. The reason to paint it is that people might not like it, and would worry about the work involved in painting over it or tearing it down themselves. At least with white walls people are looking at a blank canvas. A blank canvas is energising, whereas wallpaper in a bold colour and assertive pattern needs a good deal of prep work in an awkward space before they can get started on making it feel like their home.

The picture on the landing needs to go. It's way too high anyway.

Issues:
The pylons - marmite issue. Nothing you can do about them. They are what they are. Some people won't mind them. On top of that, there is the flying freehold.

Given the issues, you can only aim high if your decor is nice and potential viewers won't be put off by it. At the moment, your house is a mishmash of unrelated colours and tones and it looks cluttered. You need to do a better job of making the most of what you have to offer, and neutralising negatives.

mathanxiety · 22/03/2018 00:06
  • Kitchen window will - descending order of height, not ascending, from the left.

YYY to a professional photographer. They have wide angle lenses and other tricks up their sleeves that can do wonders for dimensions. They also see everything in a frame as it will be seen online, and can suggest moving certain items, etc or turning on all the lights.

Jon66 · 22/03/2018 00:18

Move the fridge freezer into the garage, it makes the kitchen look v cramped. Too much furniture in the little bedroom and remove the stuff on the walls in little bedroom and decorate the bathroom in a neutral colour. Reduce the price, no/few viewings means the price is too high.

Jon66 · 22/03/2018 00:36

And there should be a photo of the dining room . . .

sausagedogsmakechipolatas · 22/03/2018 07:18

Afraid to say that when we had the same problem, it was because our house was overvalued by the agent. Reducing helped but I’m sure people scrolled on by because of the reduction only a few weeks after going on the market.
That said, we did a major declutter and paintwork refresh that helped a lot.

wowfudge · 22/03/2018 07:29

I doubt that it is necessary to do even a fraction of everything on mathanxiety's extensive list in order to sell the house! It's most likely to be price that's the issue and a few tweaks can make all the difference to the appeal.

BeyondThePage · 22/03/2018 07:49

The inside of the house is the last thing that needs looking at.

It will have fewer viewings because there is a pylon and overhead wires, the floorplan seems to indicate a flying freehold, no picture of the back of the house with next door - so can't see what is happening - what does the dining room window look out on? There is no "kerb appeal" (untidy stone chippings and a sky dish) , no "front door" and no garage.

There are also inconsistencies - the view from the garden at the back is of fields, the view from the kitchen at the back is of houses.

The inside can be changed easily - the other stuff would put me off.

HisBetterHalf · 22/03/2018 08:25

Dofferent photos would definitely help. Comstrictive criticism would be the angle of the kicthen photo makes it look very cramped, bathroom bery basic but easily given some personality and the fire surround looks odd with no fire

WhalesOfYore · 22/03/2018 11:22

For God's sake, OP, redo the photos on a sunny day as soon as possible! The current light levels make them depressing to look through - dark, cramped interiors with a brooding sky outside. Don't underestimate the psychological effect of blue sky and sun!

thecatsthecats · 22/03/2018 13:56

Main issues - fixable:

Get a photo of that dining room! TBH, a lot of people might miss the floorplan having seen the rest, and they also would likely see it as an opportunity to extend/remodel into a kitchen/diner.

Refresh photos and move some furniture - the small second bedroom looks worse for chunky furniture in it. Looking at the landing on the floorplan, I'd be wanting to reclaim hallway space into that room - could the chest go there in the meantime?

Unfixable (without considerable building work):

Sorry, but that 2nd bedroom is tiny! Only 2.5 x 2.15. No room to grow into except for the littlest children.

I wouldn't want to buy a house that I couldn't keep a child in until they were 18 - that one looks to be grown out of already. We were FTB last year and bought a 3 bed with two large bedrooms - one for us, one with ample room for two to share. It was touch and go whether the 3rd room 'counted' (it's 2.3 x 2.3, but we can extend to 3 x 2.3 internally very easily without impacting on other rooms). I would never want a house with a room that would force a move quickly within a couple of years of purchase.

thatmustbenigelwiththebrie · 22/03/2018 15:53

Well not sure where you lot live but that looks like a lovely house to me!

Vitalogy · 22/03/2018 16:44

Well not sure where you lot live but that looks like a lovely house to me! That's what I thought. Some of this thread reminds me of some of the viewers on A Place in the Country program, spoilt!