Help me sell this house!

[eggofmantumbi]

On the advice of a user on my other thread.
This house was meant to be our forever home. Then things went a bit wrong and now we're relocating. Bought for 210k in September 2015. Need to sell ASAP.
On the market for about 6 weeks. 7 viewings. Common theme about kitchen (1 or 2 also just downstairs in general) being too small.

I've done what I can for pictures but teaching full time with an 18 month old and no family/ friends nearby....

But it's half term next week and I have childcare so any advice??? Please be nice- I'm a bit tearful! 🤣

www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/67709629

If that three bed sold for 165 in 2016 I think you paid wayyyy too much for yours. The three bed had been updated and had a modern decor. I don't think you'll get out without making a loss. No one who has to buy is really buying right now while we all wait to see just how bad brexit will be.

I don't know the area to know the market (round here a 4 bed house would be closer to £500k), so just followed through a couple of the links on market info and similar properties. The two below are very nearby, based on a similar model/layout of house, but have been done up (nice floors, lovely kitchens and bathrooms, more open plan etc), whereas yours needs updating and rearranging. But, they are on for very little more having had all that done. By comparison, sorry, yours looks tired and dated and would need many thousands spending to get to similar condition. To me, it says yours is overpriced relative to what else is available, and that if you need to sell quickly, you will have to price lower. Sorry.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66606667.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66900064.html

I think you need a better dining table in the dining room
Take down the stair gate ( for the photos at least )
Better duvet covers on beds ( and valances)
Mirror or art on walls in living room
Too many photos of garden , though it looks like a good space

To me it’s a house which requires a full renovation so I’d be looking to spend about 30-40k on it. I think you just need to make sure the price reflects the work needed. I’d snap it up but because I don’t like paying for other people’s taste so it’s perfect for doing up

Is the summer house presentable? If so, put in pics.

There's a pic of the room with the cot that looks like a tunnel! Get rid of that one.

YY to taking the toy shelf out of the dining room, and getting the table out properly. And iron the tablecloth, if the table is grotty!

Unless it's a bad photo and the door is actually beautiful wood, I'd paint your front door (i like a pale colour) remove the ramp and put some pots outside with something like lollipop bay trees or anything that might still be in flower. Kerb appeal is really important and it's usually the first thing buyers see.

It looks clean and tidy and with a lot of potential....but it is a project - new kitchen, bathroom, flooring, decoration etc, is it priced accordingly for this?

Also too many repetitive pictures, and the bushes are making the garden look smaller. I think it has the bones of a lovely house though, good luck in selling.

Ah you did it!

It's a decent floor area and nothing much wrong with it, but I agree the ones OnceUponATime linked to are better value as they're more recently decorated and have bigger kitchens.

I think putting a table in the kitchen would really help. Kerb appeal is not ideal with flat roofed extension but very similar to those others linked to and you can't change it much. The extension bedroom is a bit corridor-like, and might be better with something across the width to visually widen it if you can. But these extension rooms over garages are always like that.

The photos are all a bit dark and combining that with the outside pic it doesn't send a particularly happy vibe. However it's a lot of floor area. If you were to spend money anywhere I would remove the visibility of WM etc from the utility (maybe just hiding them?) And swap the hall and landing carpet for a much more neutral grey or beige one. However I'm not sure spending money is the right thing to do. I would definitely get rid of the twerking reference!! And get photos re-done on a really sunny day if poss.

It might be worth taking it off the market for a bit so it can go on as a new listing in Jan?

I'd also cut the brown hedge right back and if possible trim the trees so they aren't covering the house.

Also, sounds silly, but every house looks better in the sunshine. Could you take some exterior shots on a bright day (even on your phone) and see if they look better?

To me this house requires updating and compared to what else is on the market in that area, your house is overpriced.

Sorry, meant to say, paint the garage door the same light colour as the front door. I like duck egg blue or a pale green but everyone is different!

You need a stunt pineapple in a fruit bowl for the dining room 

Why don't you hire someone to stage the house? It's a pain if you are still living there as you have to remake up the rooms to match the photos but paying for good quality staging could get you more money in the long run.

It needs complete redecoration and a new bathroom and kitchen. The decor and carpets are just awful. The buyer would need to be looking for a project house.

Like pp have said some small touches like bedding, dressed table, artwork and cushions will help it look a bit more homely in the photos.

... or take £10-15k off whether it needs it or not, and move on with your lives.

I think you have decluttered in the wrong areas.
You actually need to add in some interest.

Remove unnecessary stuff in kitchen but add in a couple of colourful things.
The bathroom is lovely and tidy but needs colorful towels added (have some Stunt towels only for photos and viewings!) plus a couple of nice toiletries on shelf.
Back living room too bland. Again coloured contrast cushions required.
Needs a bit of kerb appeal, maybe some planters by front door
It's a nice tidy house but I think you have overdone the depersonalisation

Did you ask for help before? Sure I’ve seen this house already and lots of advice given. (I could just be in Rightmove too much)

If you get photos redone, make sure curtains and blinds are tidy. Several are squiff

Well you said you wanted honesty ( whispers) it is a little soulless. To me it has the look that someone has already emotionally detached themselves from it, so that tells me it is unloved, so as a buyer it is hard to find the love and put yourself into it as a home.

It looks like a nice house, but one which although it is fine ‘for now’ will want decorating throughout, new kitchen and knocking through the back rooms.

I’d set the front room up as the living room and the back room up as a proper dining room. Then I’d get the estate agent to add in the blurb about lots of potential to create a large kitchen dining room.

220 seems cheap to me as it would be more like 500 in my area! But make sure you’re priced to take into account that the house needs work. If ‘done’ 4 beds are going for 225 then yours needs to on at 205.

Did you buy the house with all the furniture??? It's exactly the same as in 2015 minus a fireguard!

It looks like you way overpaid in 2015 and it's had absolutely no updates at all...even down to the bathroom mat!

I know people should be able to look past the décor, but that's why newbuild show homes are set up for living rather than just being empty - aspiration innit! We have friends who paid to have their house properly 'dressed' for sale (both working, 2 small children, house by their own admission was a tip). Think it cost them about £2K but they more than made it back and the house sold really quickly.

The main things which jumped out at me are the curtains, lack of pictures and where you have them they're hung too high, and the mismatched furniture. the garden needs tidying/cut back.

First picture - is that a ramp leading up to front door? Can't quite work it out. Garden needs to be tidied and trees pruned. Would also have a better picture showing the front garden.

Back garden needs tidying and lawns mown.

Living room - straighten curtains and drape them equally on either side so they hang nicely and cover the edges of the windows. Hang a few pictures - and hang them at eye level, not high up on the walls. Maybe a rug in front of the fire place.

Dining room, again, curtains need to be properly draped. Bigger dining table in the centre of the room would make the room look better. Pictures - hang at eye level. You could perhaps remove your daughter's toys just for the photos. There are lots of 'bits' of furniture - perhaps one larger bookcase or shelving unit would be more cohesive.

Try and make it look as if the laundry is part of the kitchen - trying to think how you'd do this, maybe some of the same units instead of the cupboard. The kitchen is small, but to me the proximity of the laundry means that wouldn't really matter.

First bedroom pic - again, curtains. Put a valance on the bed base. Hang pics and mirror at eye level and swap the smaller pieces of furniture for one larger piece.

Blue bedroom looks OK if a bit bland.

Child's bedroom - sort curtains, invest in an Ikeas storage solution and get rid of the bits of furniture.

Bathroom looks fine.

Too many pics of back garden.

Picture of fireplace unnecessary.

Cloakroom looks fine.

Would there be room for another kitchen base unit next to the cooker instead of the pan stand or is it in the way of the door?

You need to present the rooms as they would be used.

Inject some colour, cushions , a vase of flowers, lay the table,

Too much mismatched furniture.

Make the beds, looks like an unloved rental property.

Agree you need to get rid of a lot of that furniture. Anything that isn't functional or doesn't match the room, that grey table in the room with red carpet, clear books out of bookcases, etc. You want people to be able to imagine slotting their stuff in.

@IceBearRocks - the previous photos showing on RM via sold prices are from September 2018. Looks to me as though the OP has decluttered since then. Those aren't the photos from when they bought it.

That house does not need a new bathroom or total renovation! Bloody hell - just shows that some people can't see past decor they don't like.