Why doesn’t anyone want our house?!

[noitsachicken]

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!!

I like your house, it's really nice. Unfamiliar with area so can't comment on price.
Two things that I question slightly are the dado rale (replastering job, but not a deal breaker for me) and I don't see many plugs? How old is your house/when was it last rewired?
I agree the photos could be better. I think staging your living room would help too.
I really envy your bookcase/TV cabinet, I want one like that!

There is nothing 'wrong' with that listing. House is nicely presented. It is quite small for a 3 bed tho, 800sqft. Must be price, or maybe the house feels a lot smaller than the photos suggest (as photos make it look quite spacious).

I really like your house, it's lovely! Garden's too small for my liking, but that's why I live in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand your bookcase is to die for!

The floorplan seems off to me though - how do you get into the kitchen (there's no doorway marked) and what's the sectioned-off area to the left of the lounge?

I love your bookcases in the sitting room! And if you loved the house enough to buy it someone else will (And I do know you are not supposed to start a sentence with And...)

The house was built in The early 80s
Three sockets in the living room, one in the hall, five in the kitchen/diner I think, one in the smallest bedroom, I think two in the others

The bathroom is ok:
Lose the mats.
Bleach the floor grout with a toothbrush.
Sort the bath panel; replace, paint or drape a bright colour mat over side of bath.
Add some expensive looking accessories/ornaments.
If you don't mind forking out I would replace the shower curtain with a shower screen as this is the only bathroom in the house.

Like others have said the first photo would put me off straight away as it looks as though there is no front door. Also the converted garage wall and window isn't flush with the rest of the house though I appreciate there's nothing you can do about that.
There's no downstairs toilet. There's only one toilet in the house. That would put me off too.

Take some of the books out and make it mess busy.
What size tv can fit in the opening?

Another saying it looks like there is a tiny passageway to the front door, then a tiny hallway. I would worry about access especially with getting the buggy round the corners. And I say that as someone who has bought 2 houses with tiny hallways.

I think perhaps people with younger/potential future children will compromise on 3rd bedroom size but not access, and those with bigger children will compromise on access but are looking for a bigger 3rd bedroom and/or a garage. You just haven't found someone who'll compromise on the specific combo of compromises your house appears to have. (And you're right, they do all have compromises, but we buy the house that best fits the set of compromises we find least onerous.) Your options are drop the price - I know, I know but that is the only surefire solution - or rejig the way it's sold to reassure people about access. New photos for the passageway problem and perhaps a buggy in the hall cupboard to show it works?

Looks really nice inside, and back garden great, however

Front is unappealing, re are the picture excluding next goods scruffy garden, perhaps some colourful pots of flowers etc under the windows.

Front door, it’s not clear from the picture where the front door is , floorplan shows it at the side, but the picture makes it dark, narrow and to small to get down the side of the house

Floorplan also does not indicate how you get into the kitchen diner,

Ooh well spotted @Chloemol about the floor plan!

I hate to say it, but I think it’s probably the price. The house looks decent from the pics - and I’m assuming there aren’t any nasties you’re not considering (eg smell from sewage works/factory, near a noisy main road etc.)

I don’t know the area but a quick search on sold price results suggest 3 beds in Stoke Gifford are pretty much all under £300k and a lot under £250k. So I would guess even if people really like your house if they can get something for 20% less, even if it means a bit of a compromise on location, that’s what they’re going for.

I agree with lots of pp.

You need a square on good picture of the front and put some planters etc out there.

You could dress it a bit better. Our house was on the market for 1 year and we got new photos and tarted it up a bit. Reduced the price and finally sold it.

I think it's things you can't fix. I'm sorry. There is no front door, so clearly it looks very odd. It's normal to have a front door.

Two Of the bedrooms are incredibly small and would struggle to fit a double bed and wardrobes, making them slightly unusable unless for very small kids.

As such, the only way to shift it I think is to drop the price. I think removing the front door has likely devalued it quite substantially.

Inside pics all look great to me, I'd happily view based on those. As pp said though, the pic of the front isn't great. It's not obvious where the house ends and the next one begins, or how you get in. You do need some sort of hanging basket or decorative wall art, it's really stark.

E.g. this type of thing, or an equivalent that is to your taste:

www.amazon.co.uk/METAL-JEWELLED-PEACOCK-FACING-FRONT/dp/B00WOFNL8M/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?psc=1&s=gateway&keywords=outdoor%2Bwall%2Bart&th=1&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1562854551&sr=8-13

My neighbour has quite a nice lizard one.

The leased solar panels - did you put those in? It can be very hard to sell a house with leased solar panels because mortgage companies are very reluctant to lend on them. You might have to buy out the lease and that can be expensive.

Agree with other posters re: Front door, but it is what it is, and you can't change fundamental features of your property (without a lot of expense, and upheaval). Would second trying to increase kerb appeal though. Same really about the lack of a downstairs toilet.
I noticed on the second photo, there appears to be either a mural, or quite 'busy' wallpaper on the wall next to the dining table - maybe that could be off putting to some people. I know viewers should be able to overlook the vendors personal taste, but know from experience that is not always the case.
Finally, I have to agree about the bathroom. It is quite basic for what is (to us Northern dwellers) an expensive house. Not wild about the wooden panel (looks quite old fashioned) - could you possibly replace with a modern moulded plastic panel? Maybe even new taps? It is hard, as you really don't want to be spending a lot on a property you have already had to reduce.
On the plus size, the kitchen area looks great, and your lounge area is lovely - all that light!
All you can really do is keep going - as an estate agent once said to us when our property was in the doldrums and we were struggling to attract viewings - 'you only need 1 buyer'. Good Luck!

Could you put some planters down your boundary line at the front, to break up the view of your neighbours' garden, and then ask the agents to rephotograph?

Meant to add, I’m not sure solar panels can “easily be transferred to new owner”. Yes, if they take on the lease but no if no mortgage company will loan them the money for the house in the first place - it’s a matter of ownership of the roof or air space that complicates things.

I see that next door has the same side door, but because they aren't so close to the neighbour the approach is wider.
I know it's not an issue for you but it is cearly an issue for several on here. Also in the picture there's an old for sale sign thrown down in that passage, so it isn't clear that its the main access.
The house itself is lovely. You are getting viewings so the issue isn't the listing, it's something else; something which isn't necessarily visual.
Do you have smelly pets/nappy buckets/fishtank? Do you smoke in the house?
I'd never buy a house that smelt funny because I'd envisage having to recarpet immediately and DD is allergic to cats, for example.
On viewing days does it look like the pictures or has real life/toddler thrown food etc inflicted itself? Are you absenting yourselves and letting an agent do viewings?

I think you need to up the kerb appeal.

Your house is lovely but I think the outside is letting it down. Sorry, to be blunt but your front garden looks like a shared concrete car park.

The most important thing first …. you need to define your borders. Mark your territory! You are marketing a detatched house and you need to emphasise that. Having a driveway that merges into one with next door is not helping.

Put in a hedge between yourself and your neighbours - a fence won't do, you need some greenery going on. You can buy mature privet at most nurseries.

Then I would go and buy the biggest flashiest hanging basket you can afford. Not a piddley little one - something spectacular full of pink, red and orange. You need something to mark where your front door is.

Once that is done, get the estate agent to take a better photo of the front. And perhaps also a separate close up photo of the actual front door. Don't forget to polish the letter box!

Oh and no cars on the drive for the photos.

I just measured the access to the door, it’s 110cm wide.

That is narrow - I just measured my sofa, it's at least 95cm deep so how would you turn it into the house?

Did you do that conversion yourself OP, and did the garage have a door into the house originally?

I think it's lovely internally, love the bookcases! Agree with others about the outside, have a picture taken square on for the front. However when viewers do come, might they be put off by the state of next door's front parking area? (We discounted a beautiful house at the beginning of the year because of the state of the garden of the house oppositive - very offputting!). I appreciate that there's not much you can do about that, but maybe define the boundary in some way - small fence or those oblong troughs that you could put some plants in as a bit of a screen? As well as other planters/hanging baskets etc. I think the market has slowed since the beginning of the year, maybe it will pick up again in the autumn. Indeed, it does only take one buyer!! Hope you find one soon!!!

Thanks for pointing out those things in he floorplan, I hadn’t noticed that since it’s been with the new agent

Yes we did the conversion, there was no access through the garage

I think your house looks nice. I sympathise as we were in the same position until a few weeks ago. I couldn’t understand why people weren’t even making us offers. So we dropped the price and had a lot of interest and actually got quite close to the new asking price. I must say though, we did end up accepting a lower offer than same size houses on the street have achieved - I think the market is not as good as it has been in the past.