No one will buy our house

[Sellmyhouse]

I’m so frustrated so will try not to witter on endlessly, but it will be a struggle. We put our house on the market in August of last year and went with Purple Bricks because my husband loves to save money. We didn’t have a great deal of interest to start with and then viewings picked up, but we had no offers. We also had a bit of bad luck because our neighbours coincidentally went on at the exact same time and they had recently had their kitchen and en suite done, so they sold almost straight away. We reduced the price in January, I think, and then had more interest. In February we had an offer of £240k, but unfortunately things were suddenly very uncertain with my husband’s job with a possibility that we might be moving to America quite soon, so we declined and took it off the market. In March we went back on with a local estate agent and then after a couple of weeks with Purple Bricks as well. We’ve had far more interest through Purple Bricks than the local agent, so we are looking to drop the local agent as soon as possible because I don’t think being on with two agents is helping. We’ve reduced the price a bit more but only had one viewing since then.

For the most part feedback regarding the property has been positive, but people always seem put off by things we can’t change, such as the rooms being too small or the house being located on a built-up estate. We have also been told that the price is right, and my husband categorically refuses to go any lower. If we got an offer of £240k now we’d take it in an instant, but now we’re barely getting anyone through the door.

I look at the house and I know that there are things that need to be done: it could do with a new en suite and a new kitchen at least, but obviously we don’t really intend to invest that kind of money in a house we’re trying to sell. I’m especially now feeling panicked because I’m very newly pregnant and there is no way we can fit three children in his house without me losing my mind.

Please be gentle, but is there anything you can suggest to help us make some progress?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53349933.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53098638.html

Definitely get that photo of the row of houses all with for sale signs taken down - the fact they are all on the market makes it seem like something is wrong with them.

I didn't look at the location at first and thought it looked just like the estate a member of my family lives on, and it is! It's a lovely estate, we were there on Saturday.

I'm surprised at the asking price. I would've expected it to be more expensive given the area.

One thing I'd do is paint the kitchen wall, the yellow looks a little dated.

The second set of photos need to be redone. One thing bothering me with the Purple Bricks photos is that one one the living room looks large while on the other it looks quite small.

The family bathroom looks a bit dated but to sort that out for photos I'd change the wall cabinet for something more modern and put in some brightly coloured towels, paint the walls and put in some decorative toiletry bottles or candles. Same with the en suite.

Good luck, it's a lovely house in a great location!

The first set of pictures make me feel sick looking at them because all the walls and angles are slightly distorted. I definitely get them redone.

@MacaroniPenguin, the paint is Dulux, but I can’t remember what it’s called. I think the name is alliterative, but I’m afraid that’s not much help!

Unfortunately, the boys are only two so we’re kind of stuck with their toddler beds. Of course, tonight they’re both sleeping on the floor.

Thanks for all your kind comments. It’s given me a lot of good ideas about how we can improve the photos to hopefully get more viewers through the door.

Does anyone smoke/vape in your house? The first picture looks like there is smoke/vape floating near the window.

Iron your bedding before taking photos.

Remove furniture from toilet.

Remove speaker from lounge.

Sorry to post for s third time! In your op it says the feedback has been rooms are too small. I think I’m this case you need to present each room as a double (agree remove king size bed) to show actually all rooms are good sized. People may see an office or a kids room and assume the room is too small for a double bed. I would also get someone (who doesn’t own a dog and you trust) to sniff test your house just in case. Although I’m sure it’s fine (I’m a cat owner and am often surprised by how my house can smell after we’ve been away for a bit!). Over all remain positive. You’ve had one offer, no reason to think you won’t get another in time :)

Good grief the second set of pictures are awful, really odd and seem to be taken by someone three ft tall.

It looks like a lovely house. I'd put some nice bright towels in the bathroom and loo, and put a bed in the third bedroom. It looks well decluttered but perhaps a little too bare imho.

Are your neighbours the semi-detached, modern 4 bed that sold for £320k? Because that makes yours overpriced.

The only thing I would say is it's hard to tell from the pic if the sofa monopolies the room. I feel that room lacks something. A coffee table prehapes.

The exterior shot shows three for sale boards.
Is there another in your terrace for sale and for what price?

The local agents photos are dire and all taken at knee height!
Agree that your king size bed makes your bedroom look small

Petulant, the neighbours that went on at the same time as us were in the townhouse that sold for £258k.

Breakfast, the house on the other side of us was to let. All the boards (except ours, obviously) are down now. We will definitely get that photo removed, though, as I appreciate it does look like a mass exodus.

We've just updated our house to sell it, (sold today!) my mum/friends told me I was crazy to spend money on rugs, decor etc - we updated the downstairs loo, carpeted and decorated the snug (previously unused junk room) and changed all the internal doors and door handles to make it more modern. Painted the kitchen cupboards, new worktops and dressed the garden (yours looks lovely). Cost us £1500 in total but sold in two weeks. Your house looks lovely but agree about the big bed, yellow walls (and I love yellow) and removing furniture from the DS toilet. The market is a funny place at the minute!

Thanks OP. It's a nice colour anyway!

I’m in the process of trying to move too and I’ve looked at a lot of houses. Yours looks lovely! However as a buyer I am really put off by Purple Bricks. I don’t really get how it works but I want a person to talk to about viewings and offers and info about the house etc. I want a point of reference to chase up if and when we do move.
We are in a frustrating position of having found the house we want to buy but can’t get a buyer for ours at the moment. I’m constantly feeling slightly on edge that we will lose the house we want if we don’t get sold soon!
Moving house is stressful! I hope after this I never have to do it again!
Good luck OP!

The main bedroom looks cramped, the lamp on the right is so close to the fitted wardrobes that it just says it's all a squeeze in there. Also it looks as though you have a lot of furniture in the boys room and the layout of the beds suggests lack of space again

I think people are going to be shocked by the sizes of the rooms because, apart from the bedroom that appears to be almost completely filled by bed the photos have wildly stretched the rooms out.

Seeing a 3 storey house under 1000sqft I wouldn't even have viewed it because it's obvious that the house won't be particularly spacious for my family of 4 but not everyone is going to be able to envisage how that would appear in the flesh. We certainly viewed a few houses where the numbers were fine on paper but once you got into the rooms is was obvious that without a foot added in each direction we would have struggled to fit our stuff in it.

In the agents description it says the master bedroom is 6’11”. I’m sure it’s not but that is a bit off putting

We bought our house through purple bricks and tbh would be unlikely to look at houses being sold through them again unless they seemed very good.

Nice house.
For the price and a lot less there are 3/4 bedroom detached.
Is there a service charge.

Vitalogy, in this part of the city you’d be hard pressed to pay less than this for a three bed. There is another part which is generally less well regarded and prices are considerably lower there.

There is no service fee.

I get what people are saying about the small rooms. They are small. We prioritised living space over bedroom size when we bought the property and that was fine for a while, but doesn’t suit us anymore. Unfortunately, we do still need to live here while we try to sell, so our options with things like having an office and the arrangement of the boys’ room are limited.

Purplebricks have local agents who deal with everything. They know the area and market so it's no different to any others. At least you can contact them out of office hours

The house looks completely fine to me, although I agree that the photos could be better.

I’m a great believer in the basic economic principle that something is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. If nobody is prepared to pay £245k, then whatever any estate agent says, it’s not worth £245k.

It’s a lovely house but I would present every bedroom that can take a double bed as such. If that means the boys sharing a double and the kitchen table becomes a workspace to sell then so be it. Even the ‘good’ photos make it look as if you’ve only got one proper bedroom. And I’d also be looking at your house and mentally adding up the cost of a new kitchen and bathrooms, I don’t know your area but does the price really reflect this?

That's good to know that there's no service charge.
The neighbour that went up at the same time and sold for £258 was it a smaller house then?