Tell me why this hasn’t sold?

[Bouncebacker]

Hi all,

This is a relatives house. It needs to be sold as owners are divorcing and so far, it’s not. I have given my opinion on how the listing (and the house) could be changed but independent verification is needed. I’d like to know if you think what I think! Please let me know your thoughts. (Obviously dramatically reducing the price would help, but suggestions of price strategies would be good too). It really is a great house in a lovely village and will make a great home for the right people....

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-61442808.html

Despite being lovely looking it is essentially a 2 bedroom house and a very expensive 2 bedroom house at that.

Downstairs bedroom is massive problem as families would not want that layout. The only bedroom photo, which I assume is the master bedroom, makes the room look tiny so not only is it 2 bedroom but 2 small bedrooms.

Having the study off the third bedroom is odd. I think the downstairs rooms need renaming/redefining.

i would wall off the door to the study and put a door in the lounge for the study, then it could be a 4 bedroom home, id also paint the whole place in one neutral colour, as every picture shows too many competing colours and features, its too much, too busy, id also look at why the en suite was built so bloody weirdly in the master bedroom and no walk in wardrobe and if it was all one shade and half the nick nacks were removed then the hideous light in the dining room and the hinges exposed beams etc could be the feature of the room, the lounge needs to be rearranged and pull that couch away from the wall and change that table its wrong for the room, too small, wrong wood, pack half the shelves of stuff away, take all the personal shit out and maybe hire some statement art for the walls and some statement window coverings.... far too much to do for that money

As most people have said it's not really a family home having only 2 bedrooms upstairs & a small garden for the price. No idea of the prices in that area but I would want something bigger for £800k even in the Cotswolds. From what other people have said a figure closer to £600 would seem more like it, but as the couple are divorcing I very much doubt they will agree to such a price drop. I can see this dragging on for a very long time.

There are no pictures showing the other half the house (bedrooms and bathrooms).

Its still being shown as taken off the market.

It is MASSIVELY over priced compared to the houses that have sold nearby. I don't understand why they think its worth that much money or how the agent possibly came up with that price? If they seriously want to sell it they need to market it at no more than 500K.

Overpriced, old looking (dated) and small ungated driveway, it's also right next to the road so quite unsafe.

But for me the #1 thing is it's massively overpriced- that would get you a lovely house with 6 bedrooms where I live (south east coast).

I'd price it at £350,000 honestly (and I wouldn't pay that for it anyway!)

Overpriced like lots of stuff on the market, especially when you add in stamp duty and other fees

You might be better off asking again if there’s still no interest a couple of weeks after the “no longer on the market” detail has been removed.

I’m house hunting and I don’t even look at Sold STC properties because I don’t want to get my hopes up, so I definitely wouldn’t entertain one that doesn’t even appear to be for sale!

On Zoopla the value is listed as £689,000
It was purchased in 2004 for £390,000.

There has been a lot of new builds in the near vicinity in the last couple of years.

I would get it revalued with several agents it appears the price is too high.

Agree it's a two bedroom, massively overpriced. From an initial reading, there's norhing there to stand out.

No pics of 2 of the bedrooms & bathrooms which would make me think they were dated & in need of re-doing. Also no descriptions of the rooms other than the floorplan.
Downstairs bedrooms always put me off as well. The fact that you walk through the third bedroom to the study is a bit odd as well.

Kitchen - get rid of the chickens, ditto blind in the utility.

Ranges and log burners are out of favour for a lot of eco types.

Where's the 'basics' list?Too much waffle about stone and beams, no practical information.

I don’t think their estate agent has done them any favours here - lousy listing and photos. I'd consider a different agent that actually wants to sell the property.

Nobody would want a 2 bed with too many receptions, probably the opposite, unless particularly wealthy who then would buy something a lot better.

Actually it is the type of layout I will be looking for when I next move. I particularly want the space to have a downstairs bedroom and bathroom fur my old age! I hate novi g and want my next house to be my final home.

I am also used to lots of space but will need less bedrooms in the future so while I accept my requirements may be unusual, this house would be perfect ( in the right location for me and at the right price).

I looked at that one online, OP, as I’m buying in the area. I didn’t even go view it as it really isn’t a 3-bed house.

It is hugely overpriced for a relatively new build and the garden is tiny for an £800k village house. The price needs to be reduced significantly and the write up needs to focus on the benefits of the house rather than the local area.

Beautiful but not terribly practical. Hard to tell by just a teeny floor plan on a mobile browser, but there appear to be more bathrooms than bedrooms and the upstairs bedrooms seem to be on a mezzanine with no sound buffering from downstairs. There is no description and there are not enough photos to explain things like the odd shaped bathroom in the master bedroom. Bedroom and bathroom photos seem to be lacking, in general, so no idea of the look and feel and quality of fixtures.

I quite like the layout for my downsized house after DC leave. I'd more or less close upstairs so it was there for when DC visit but I don't need to clean regularly and I'd put a bathroom/dressing room in the study. Probably take out one of the upstairs bathrooms to make storage. Although all of this depends on the rooms being a decent size.

Only trouble is at that price, it wouldn't really be downsizing, whilst in good condition, it is dated, so there's lots of money to spend plus the market for people like me must be fairly limited. And the garden seems really overlooked. The kitchen layout is very odd with very little storage?

The interior is cluttered and very dated.

No idea on prices in the area, but my learned friends above seem to think it's the price. TBH, in these cases, it's usually the price.

It's a 2 bed not a 3 bed.
The kitchen is dated.
The sitting room looks dark.
No photos of the bedrooms apart from one - makes me think something is being hidden.
Bedroom built in wardrobes etc are very dated.

Thank all - that’s very helpful. I think you have listed most of the things on my list!

I think the listing doesn’t point out how the space could be used - the two rooms at the back could be used - with the downstairs bathroom as a totally separate Two bed flat - Granny flat or similar, Or as a self contained space for a small business as it has its own outside door. I think if that was made clear, it could be sold as a two bedroom house for a couple who like entertaining (large reception rooms, leading out on to a garden which is good for parties) but also need space for an elderly relative or a business. - Current owners did rent that space out for a while to a lodger. It clearly isn’t a family house, and I think the listing implies that it might be, which makes it seem ridiculously priced. I think the agent has got carried away with the ‘character features’ - Mezzanine floor over double heigh kitchen diner etc - and priced it as a unique 3 bed, when really it’s a weird two bed.

(Strange en-suite in second upstairs bedroom was so that the downstairs bathroom wouldn’t be needed by that bedroom)

If they had spare cash you could make another upstairs bedroom (bedroom three is double height) - then I would close off the downstairs bathroom to make a loo and a corridor to the other rooms which become a garden room and a study. Or add a corridor from utility to bedroom three to make it useful as a dining room. New kitchen and bathroom. - but there is no money available so that’s not possible.

So difficult to feed this back to two people who don’t speak, and have been given a crazy (imho) valuation and now think they need this price to be able to live separate lives. Agent less than helpful!

Thank you all x

Price is generally the reason for any property not selling.

Interestingly, a friend of mine was trying to sell her house in roughly the same area . Her house is in a lower price bracket but has a similar bedroom layout (ie 3rd bedroom on ground floor). The EA warned her that this layout is unpopular with families and, as the house is too big for downsizers, may make it harder to sell. It didn’t sell.

Looking on rightmove there are currently three houses for sale in the £750-800k price range. There’s is the least desirable and has the highest price.

Layout of house is very off putting and affords little privacy/sound (and smell) proofing to the bedrooms

• bedrooms off the sitting room which you need to walk through to get to the study. How do you go to bed if someone is chatting/watching TV in the sitting room?
• Open from kitchen to upstairs bedroom doors which means if someone is doing anything downstairs, again the bedrooms hear everything.
• mezzanine style upstairs hall, hazard for young children
• 3 toilets and 2 bedrooms upstairs is over kill.
• kitchen has too little worktop space, range cooker is excessive for the small size of the kitchen
• houses look too close and garden exposed near road

All in not £800k worth of lifestyle. Décor is ok, is the price right for the house/area?

I’m a bit confused about the references to the small kitchen - it’s huge! The Aga works well to heat the large space. But interesting that several people have said that the kitchen is small - maybe it’s not clear that it’s all one room? I think photo 5 shows most of the room?

From the plan it looks like there's a strange arrangement with the cooker across the corner and then only one run of cupbards/worktop, which is a long way from the cooker?

Actually, what it with all the diagonals?!

And no sink?

But interesting that several people have said that the kitchen is small - maybe it’s not clear that it’s all one room?

It is clear that it is all one room but the dining room part of the kitchen is large the actual kitchen space is pretty small for the size of the house

The downstairs bedroom and bathroom wouldn’t put me off, it would be an advantage for me as DH is disabled and can sort of do stairs at the moment but in a couple of years he won’t be able to.

It definitely needs more photos of the other rooms.

I can’t figure out what the space above the kitchen is? The bit with the chair on?

Also where are the stairs, there’s no photo of them.

Nor can I figure out why the kitchens diagonal. That’s odd.

Really weird layout in a relatively ‘modern’ house, so it can’t even claim it’s a quirky, characterful old house.

By ‘modern’ I mean being built only 27yrs ago, not in decor!