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

Good God, that second set of pictures looks like it was taken by an intruder with the flash on his phone!
We had several sets of photos taken to stage/centre them in the best way. The photos are what people who view the house will go and look back at so need to remind them of the best features. I think you may have too many or at least they're not in the best order. Better to group the ones of the same room together, surely

I'd get a rug in the hallway, make it look more homely. Your living room colours are lovely, kitchen not so much!

Unfortunately a house that I knew to be on the market before, then off, then back on a short while later with multiple agency would make me suspicious... drop an agent, you'll look less desperate

To describe a bedroom as a double you would expect to be able to fit a double bed and sufficient storage for 2 people's clothes and stuff in it and still be able to comfortably walk around without bruising your shins or banging your head.

Hmm. My house is tiny so I'm not judging but your living room looks small in the photos and the bedroom with the mirrored wardrobe looks like you can hardly walk round the bed. It might be the wide lens used, this really bugs me when agents do it because you can't get a sense of the proportions at all.

Your kitchen is quite dated but painting it white and getting new curtains would really help. Things like the spare toilet roll and child's step in the toilet just look cluttered. The main issue I have is that the outside of your house looks nicer than the inside, the bathroom and doors etc all look a bit 'new build from about ten years ago', which I recognise because I had exactly the same in my last property!

Do you have an oversupply of townhouses locally? Where I am every newish development has loads of townhouses so they don't seem to have increased in value like other styles of housing.

Hate the photos. One set is rubbish and dark, other set gives me a headache from the crazy angles and makes it look like you have a really low ceiling in the kitchen diner. The use of the lounge as the main photo will make you look desperate, its a sign you have been on the market for ages even before someone has left the search page. Get a new main photo of the front without the estate agents signs.

Can you set up the other two bedrooms as doubles just for new photos and then put them back as they are? At least that will demonstrate they are double rooms.

I think the house looks really nice, I just think the small bedrooms and it being a townhouse will put a lot of people off and there is nothing you can do about that. If you are desperate to sell then I think you need to drop the price.

Awful pictures. Get rid of the yellow. Wouldn’t have a pic of the loo.

I think better pictures would make the bedroom look more spacious.

I moved house a few years ago now - it had 4 bedrooms but we got much more interest and offers when we turned the 4th bedroom from a study back into a bedroom . It didn’t cost much but made a huge difference . I would agree with others about repainting the kitchen an I would put some colour , maybe with a throw or cushions in the main bedroom .

Your house looks nice, it's got everything: garage, garden, downstairs toilet, en-suite and bathroom. I also would be ok with Purple bricks and don't care about walls colour. My problem would be that bedrooms are not big enough, it's obvious from their dimensions, also not on the same floor, which makes things trickier for a family with small children. So I would think again about the price.

The listings have one of my pet hates, no measurements on either EA's floorplan. So frustrating as I usually end up printing put the floorplan and writing the measurements on so I can better understand the layout. Ask your agents to put them on ASAP.

OP I personally would not buy it because it is terraced and over three floors - my worst nightmare. However obviously there are plenty of people who are happy with this setup and for those people I would have thought that this would be a lovely home. It is beautifully decorated.

Personally I would be massively out off by the room sizes, it would be far too small for us. I couldn't cope with that that master bedroom and the lack of space around the bed. I definitely think that you have no choice but to try and get a normal size double in there.Surely if the childrens room is also a double then you should be able to line their beds up and still have sufficient space between them - therefore doing this will show it as a double? If you cannot do that, then I would not call it a double room.

Has your dh gone for the cheapest EA he could find - you mention he is unwilling to pay much? You get what you pay for and he has made a massive error here. I would never ever use an online agent and that dreadful job the EA has done is also very off putting, sorry

@PickAChew, your condescension is unnecessary. I understand the concept of a double bedroom and I assure you that these are doubles. They aren’t particularly spacious, but they do comfortably fit double beds. As mentioned, the bed in the master is a king, and we are looking into changing that.

@MissDuke, we could comfortably put the boys’ beds like that, but there is a radiator against one wall and I’ve been worried about having one bed against it. Perhaps now that the weather is improving and the heat won’t be on I could move the beds to that position and remove the chair from the corner. To make the room appear more spacious.

I’ve just had a notification that we have a viewing on Saturday morning, so hopefully I can make some quick changes between now and then and we’ll get an offer.

I don’t think it’s the photos that are putting people off. Presumably it’s people who visit who say the rooms are too small or they don’t like the estate. I think the fact that its been on the market since August last year might put people off who are aware of that - wondering why it has been hanging around so long. In the end I think with all properties which fail to sell it comes down to price. Are you expecting to get the full price or will you take an offer? If the latter I’d put it on for what you are prepared to accept and say offers over.

Yes I think you can

But I think your biggest issue is not one that can be sorted searching on rightmove for 3 bed properties in lichfield between 200-300k brings up 120 results which is a huge amount of property available for what looks to be a small town. You are not suddenly going to get that amount of people wanting to move to the area so its a buyers market - they can carefully choose the right house for them and make an offer.

Within that town houses and new builds further shrink your pool and together they are a niche market. If someone wants a new build townhouse in Lichfield yours is perfect: the problem is that someone is rare and there are 18 of them for them to choose from

Secondly your local agent seems to market Burntwood more - which looking at the map seems slightly further away. People who go to them probably want Burntwood you need a Lichfield agent

I have a similar kitchen to you but painted it white with a cupboard paint as I thought it looked very old fashioned and it now looks fab! It made such a difference - I will put in a new kitchen when I retire but painting the cupboards may make a huge difference! Also maybe add a little colour in your bathroom to make it more attractive perhaps but other than that it looks a fab house- agree with re-arranging some furniture in the living room too maybe add a bright rug. Best of luck!

Good luck, Haribo!

Lillian, we would happily accept £240k. I have suggested reducing the price to £240k, but my husband wants to have a built-in buffer for negotiation, which I understand. He thinks people would automatically subtract £5-10k.

Quartz, I agree that there’s a lot of competition. It doesn’t help that there are a few new estates being built in the area, so people can theoretically get a new three bed using the help to buy scheme, which probably makes us pale in comparison. It’s not the way I would want to do it, but I can understand why they make that choice.

We chose the local agent because they were recommended to me by a friend who sold very quickly with them, and they did a good deal. You can see a theme emerging. I feel quite certain that the agent discussion is one my husband won’t entertain. All of our viewings are coming via Purple Bricks, so he sees absolutely no reason to try another local agent who will likely charge more than our current local agent.

I do feel that we’ve done everything wrong since the start. I wish we’d gone with a different local agent instead of Purple Bricks, I wish we’d started at £250k instead of £255k, I wish we’d come off the market sooner when we didn’t know whether or not we wanted to move, and most of all I wish we’d accepted £240k when it was offered.

Put yourself in the position of a buyer - if you were looking for a new house and there were lots of similar houses to choose from in the same area what criteria would you use? If you husband is allowing a margin of £10,000 for negotiation then I’d price accordingly and make it clear that’s the price, not the starting point. I think that will make it far more attractive to buyers than making minor cosmetic changes for the sake of the photos.

It’s a nice house. Have you already paid the local agent? If not I’d end that contract and tell them to take their listing off RM.

Photos: quality > quantity. Remove the toilet photo, all but the first living room photo (I honestly though the subsequent photos were of a different room as they made it look so small) and the first photo of the kitchen (makes it look tiny and doesn’t incorporate the dining area.)

Definitely buy a couple of v cheap double beds and set up both the children’s room and study as double bedrooms. I’d also replace the king sized bed in the master with a double. Only has to be for as long as it takes to get an acceptable offer; store the books in the study and use the kitchen table as a workspace even if you have to use laptops temporarily, so they can be put away for mealtimes and viewings.

Is the market locally the same as it was last August? I know it isn’t here - much as I know it rankles to move on price I really do think your husband needs to think about this. It comes down to, do you want to move enough to reduce the price to a level that will get your house sold quickly; or risk being there when baby arrives and spend the same money on a garden office.

I'm not sure why you are taking my view as condescension. When we bought this house, recently, we had a similar budget to the price of your house in a similarly priced area and we're looking for 3 double bedrooms. I'm not the only one who is going to think that no way is an 8' by 9' bedroom a double.

And yes, we disregarded many similar properties to yours for that reason, instead going for an older house in need of some work but with better bedrooms and more space all round. Buyers in your area are going to make the same sort of choices regarding what they're going to prioritize within their budget.

first set of pictures are good, the second set are awful wouldn't have recognised the house.

The study - I had to look twice to work out this is a big bedroom, it need selling as such, and marking as bedroom 2.

The living room, one photo loks as if it is focussing on a big empty wall, and it makes the room look small. That one with the light coming in the frecnh windows is lovely, I would remove the others.

@Sellmyhouse get a friend to mystery shop your house on both agents. See how hard each one pushes for viewings or tries to sell it.

Can be very telling indeed!

Agree with pp about the layout making (an otherwise nice) house feel abit soulless waiting roomy. Pull stuff away from walls, use space to create "zones", add a bit of visual "movement" with something eye catching.

@Sellmyhouse @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!

Dulux Chic Shadow?

@MacaroniPenguin naffed up the tagging in my prev post^

PickAChew, I found your description of a double room condescending. If it wasn’t intended, fair enough.

Obviously people make choices depending on their priorities. We chose our house because we liked the spacious kitchen/diner, the plentiful green spaces around the estate, the ease with which we can cycle/walk to town, the fact that it is set back from the road so gets very little traffic and the convenience of a Waitrose around the corner. The small rooms were not a concern for us at the time, but we never intended to have twins there, let alone three children. Obviously, if someone wants bigger rooms they are going to choose a different house, and there isn’t a great deal we can do to change that. Having said that, there are plenty of houses like ours in the surrounding area - some even smaller - and they do sell. As I’ve said, we’ve made lots of mistakes and I’m doing the best I can to sort out the house to make it more desirable, but its size is one area where I’m stuck.

Shots, that might be it!