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Why doesn’t anyone want our house?!

488 replies

noitsachicken · 11/07/2019 13:21

Been on the market since January.
Dropped the price twice, recently switched agents.
Lots of viewings, generally positive feedback. People like the house, but no one wants to buy it!!

OP posts:
Multiplybyone · 13/07/2019 06:12

Comparing it is other 3 bedrooms in your area I would prefer one of the cheaper ones on offer tbh.

I don't think your offers enough to be worth £15k more.

Avacadoandtoast · 13/07/2019 07:12

I like it - I haven’t read through the whole thread, but do you have cats? Or an animal you might not notice he smell of but others would?

BadAndGoodAgain · 13/07/2019 08:31

Sorry, I haven’t read the whole thread so excuse me if this has already been mentioned but I’d remove the (lovely) bunting mentioning your children’s names. This will depersonalise the rooms a bit. However more importantly I’d be concerned about someone knowing my children’s names and address (I understand they don’t know the door number but this is easy to establish) as you never know you may try to use this information to target talking to your children. ‘Are you Stephen from X address? Your mummy asked me to talk to you...’. Confused

mathanxiety · 13/07/2019 08:45

There are several design problems that are very obvious and might cost a bit to remedy even if this were possible. Several issues can't be solved:

Kitchen is at front of house.
Access to back garden is via light-carpeted room with French windows.

  • Can't see small children playing while you're in the kitchen.
  • Small children running in and out, as they tend to do, are going to ruin your sitting room flooring in one wet week.

Door at side via 110cm passage.

  • How do you turn a double buggy to get it in through the front door and what happens to it once inside - hall is small.
  • In addition, there appears to be a step up to the front door - this would make maneuvering a buggy difficult.

Hall:
Is small. Where to leave a buggy or pram - kitchen?

No downstairs loo:

  • PITA to have small children traipsing up and down.
  • All round PITA even without small children.

Kitchen:

  • At front, downside for young family already mentioned.
  • Oven - where do you put hot dishes straight from the oven?
  • Wall mounted oven seems tucked into a corner with little room for access except from the rhs.

Bathroom:

  • Is at front of house - despite frosted glass the possibility of passers by getting an eyeful might be offputting.
  • Is too small to allow for installing a double sink that would appeal to a couple with a tight morning schedule.

In general, space is allocated quite randomly.
Two of the bedrooms are very small.
Living room is a bit big and lacking in natural features.
Couldn't knock kitchen/living room together as there are stairs in the way.
Ceilings are low.
Nowhere to put a downstairs loo.

Cosmetic improvements:
Paint all beige walls in a warm white. Not cream.
This means all walls except the two small bedrooms.

Take oilcloth off table for photos and viewings.
Get rid of pastel coloured plastic storage in dining area.
Get rid of child kitchen and whatever it is that is visible behind it (plastic storage box?) in kitchen photos.

Take out some of the books in the living room shelving and replace with vases, some photos - shelves look crammed. Clear the window sill.
Consider recovering the snot green couch and ottoman in the living room - use the red accent in the Poang-style chair upholstery. The green is a very dated colour.
Get rid of photo 6/13 - photo wall in living room. Take those family photos down.
Take pet bed out from under the chair.
Consider moving the couch to the photo wall.
Put ottoman near armchair.
Move Poang chair to window.
Put coffee table in front of couch.
Move toy chest(?) out of the living room. There are so many cupboards in the wall unit - why is this needed?
The living room is strangely featureless despite the big bank of shelving.
Get a bright rug for centre of this room.
Add tall and dramatic potted plant or two.

Blue bedding in master bedroom looks cold and stark. Doesn't match curtains at all.
Walls are beige - paint warm white.
Get white bedding (must match wall).
Get new lampshades for the bedside lamps - not beige or greige. Black would be nice.
Flowers, candles on bedside tables.

Boys' room:
Get rid of plastic storage beside bunks.
Shove items visible under bed far enough in that they are not visible in photos.
Get rid of the two fans, the board games, the white /plastic bin storage thing beside the wardrobe with the deep blue doors, and whatever that black or navy thing is that is tucked in between the white/bin storage tower and the wall.
The beigey colour under the dado rail doesn't go with the strong yellow at all. Wrong colour and wrong tone.

Bathroom:
Beige floor tiles need to be replaced - light grey lino/rubber floor or wood-look tiles would be very nice. The beige does not go at all with the white/grey tiling or the fixtures. Looks grungy.
Panel at side of bath is tacky.
Mould in grouting is offputting. Buy bleach and tackle it or get the bath/shower and any other problem areas regrouted.. There is a very visible crack in a tile above the cistern.
Put plants on the windowsill.

Is the fence behind the swingset falling apart/missing bits at the top?

What is in the front door gangway near the back gate? Looks like a buggy and a pile of junk of some sort - need to be removed.
I would invest in a tall wrought iron gate instead of the wooden or solid gate to the back. That gangway seems so dim.

Bleak appearance to front of the house - if you don't have room for big pots the you need to install hanging baskets

mathanxiety · 13/07/2019 08:47

There is a link to a MN double buggies page that I didn't insert. What gives, Mumsnet?

mathanxiety · 13/07/2019 08:47

Gah..

mathanxiety · 13/07/2019 08:49

YYY to BadAndGoodAgain - the bunting has all sorts of issues.

The door number is on the front of the house.

JazzyGG · 13/07/2019 09:33

I understand that you've dropped the price twice already but be honest is it realistic or is it estate agent flattery? I don't know your area but I live in quite an expensive part of the Midlands and can't imagine it's too much different to Bristol outskirts and this would struggle to begin with a 3 here. I think people are looking because it is nicely presented and in a nice area but they are probably expecting more at that price. Main issue would be make the front prettier to get more people through the door. Good luck!

Ambydex · 13/07/2019 09:36

Poor OP. I know you asked for help and I'm as guilty as everyone else for trying to "help". However 16 pages of this, including comments on bathmat choices, positioning of Poang chairs, and plain rudeness about your choice of sofa colour, must be brutal to read. If you are still reading.

Please don't replace a wooden gate with a wrought iron one, or changing the colour of the sofa, purely to sell. You just need to snag a buyer who is prepared to compromise on a couple of big things like downstairs loo and garage, and that means ensuring it's in budget for those buyers. The solar panels sound like they could be an issue further along the buying process, but I'd expect you to have heard about those in feedback if that was what was standing in the way of offers. Perhaps you're being a bit ambitious on how much the garage conversion has added to the value. That's all.

Snog · 13/07/2019 09:43

I think your house looks lovely and is well presented. I don't think presentation is the issue.

It has a low square footage for a three bedroom house and this will limit how many buyers are interested. Personally I wouldn't buy a family house without a second WC but this obviously won't be an issue for everyone. I think you need to either wait it out for a sale or drop the price a little. I don't think you need to make changes though.

Howslow · 13/07/2019 09:45

Snagging that buyer probably wont get you your extra 15k tho. Math is bob on, and if you want thousands extra you must work for it. Which is more important? The 15k or not having anything to do?

strawberry2017 · 13/07/2019 10:08

I find the garage conversion off, why would you set the window back like that? Why isn't it all on one level across the front?
I'm In the north so get that prices are different but would never pay that price for something so small with no space to extend and with neighbours that close.

Crazyunicornlady · 13/07/2019 10:24

Most people have already said it. The house is being marketed as a 3 bed family house but it’s not really laid out in a way that a young family might prefer, especially when they are actively comparing it to other available properties in the market. Ask yourself why you are selling it? Would this be the same for the next buyer?

I’d worry about getting a pram down the side to the door and the kitchen doesn’t allow you to watch the kids in the garden. You can’t fix those things so instead look to declutter (we put stuff into storage when we sold ours) and make it as visually attractive as possible.

Ambydex · 13/07/2019 10:28

But Howslow it doesn't necessarily follow that spending all that money and doing all that work will add £15k or even cover OP's costs. There's a ceiling price.

If there were other houses sold in the area at this price point that have similar compromises, then fair enough. OP should be able to find them and reassure herself about the asking price. But my quick look at Rightmove hasn't found any. A handful sold at around £300-315k but they all have some combination of a garage, downstairs loo, conservatory. I don't think buyers in this area will pay over £300k on a house with none of those, whatever colour the sofa is.

Nearly47 · 13/07/2019 10:28

. The house inside is pretty but a bit bare on the photos. Furniture pushed against the wall not very welcoming. I thing a bit of staging helps on the photos. Have a look at other houses for sale. IKEA / furniture catalogues. Improve kerb appeal with flowers or ornamental plants. And I would have the solar panels removed. People don't want to deal with this kind of things. The passage to the front door is very narrow at 1.1 meters but you can't do nothing about that.

Nearly47 · 13/07/2019 10:34

The plastic cover on the table isn't nice. I know it's practical but for the photos leave the table bate with a vase with flowers or fruit bowl.

bringbacksideburns · 13/07/2019 10:35

Jesus Christ Math. She asked for a kind critique not to be ripped to shreds. Hmm

Yabbers · 13/07/2019 11:28

She asked for a kind critique not to be ripped to shreds

I saw the kind of things buyers are thinking but not saying. OP wanted honest feedback.

SoupDragon · 13/07/2019 11:46

I saw the kind of things buyers are thinking but not saying

Some of them were utterly ridiculous though. Eg the ceiling height is exactly right for the age of property and the same in millions of similar properties - nothing unexpected about it at all. Double sink.?? Can't knock kitchen into living room when it's already a kitchen diner? Seriously?

TSSDNCOP · 13/07/2019 12:14

OP lacks ambition. A determined seller would mount the entire house and turn it 90 degrees so the front door can accommodate a buggy for starters Grin

daisypond · 13/07/2019 12:27

And I would have the solar panels removed. People don't want to deal with this kind of things. Not allowed to remove them, as the OP doesn’t own them.

TigerTooth · 13/07/2019 12:54

Apologies op - haven’t read all comments but we’re buying at the moment and we’re not looking for anything where people have already converted the garage/loft - it’s a big money saver to buy one that hasn’t been converted and then do it ourselves - if there are others the same where they can get it cheaply and extend themselves then maybe that’s why? I think as others have said - you’ll have to drop the price.
What was it that attracted you to it? Scope to extend i’ll bet.

TigerTooth · 13/07/2019 13:00

Bloody hell Mathanxiety you’ve ripped the woman’s home to shreds!
I love all the books and no you can’t see garden from kitchen but you can from lounge, so what?
Please put some pics of your perfect home up as it must be palatial to be so critical of ops!
Good grief.

PCohle · 13/07/2019 13:10

I don't really understand the point of totally shredding someone else's house.

Either suggest things they can actually change or indicate it's a bit overpriced because of issues like X and Y. Going on a massive rant about every tiny perceived flaw is unhelpful and not very kind.

Aprinceinapaupersgrave · 13/07/2019 13:46

I would not say that is expensive at all since you won't get anything under 300k in somewhere like St George with 3 bedrooms and not even detached, totally different area but to give some context!
Well for 5k more than the OP's house you can get
this 4 bed detached house in St George which for non Bristolians is a perfectly nice place to live and much closer to the city centre.