Critique my listing

[Southerner88]

i am selling my property, its in faygate, west sussex, it has been on the market for 5 weeks now and has had 1 price reduction
it initially generated lots of interest and has had around 15 viewings but no offers and now the interest seems to have faded and only had 1 viewing following the price reduction.

feedback has been to much work and the road it backs on to. link below

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-84057332.html

is it just the current market? brexit? do i need to change something? is the price to high?

any advise would be hugely appreciated!! thank you

Southerner88 Brexit is playing a huge part in the slowing of the housing market and I suspect a lot of people are waiting for the autumn budget statement to see if they do scrap stamp duty up to £500k. Personally I feel that's a vain hope as no sane Government will scrap a cash cow like stamp duty at such a economically difficult time but I may be proved wrong!

I have no interior design skills at all so don't usually dare to critique anyone else's ideas but one thing stood out on your photos - the living room seems very red! Obviously you don't want to change the carpet as it's a huge expense if you're moving (and buyers would probably do it anyway) but would changing the curtains to a cream/softer colour be an option?

Can't comment on the price as don't know the area but you've only reduced down by £10k so won't be opening yourself to another price bracket on RM which goes up in £25k so that might be why the price drop hasn't generated much interest.

It's very busy with your stuff. Lots of stuff. I'm struggling to imagine how it would look with my furniture in there. I wouldn't book a viewing, sorry.

As above, can't comment on the price.

Hi OP
I think is a lovely house, me and DH are looking at similar properties where we live. One thing I always consider, is the amount of work I feel I would want to do, to make it better for me. It isn't necessarily what needs doing if you see what I mean? I would be looking at your house and thinking I would like to modernise the bathroom and kitchen so what would that cost me, in comparison to a similar house with that already done. Can I get a cheaper house, could I buy somewhere it's already done so no hassle for me etc

Angle the sofa that is in front of the TV, remove the horse & cart and the dogs. Remove other knick knacks.
Garden is lovely.
Work does need doing so that needs to be reflected in the price.

I think the key piece of feedback you are getting is that people feel they would have to change every single room quite substantially. I personally feel this shows a certain lack of imagination: much of the change that I would be doing is quite cosmetic and relatively easy to do.

The question is: given the economic uncertainties of the moment, what is the best plan? Are you prepared to take the property off the market for a few weeks and do some work so that it can go back on at a higher price? I think for a few thousand you could make some dramatic changes that might enable you to sell at a good price- changing the doors on the kitchen cupboards instantly leaps out as a relatively quick job that would be transformative.

I think it looks great but I have no idea about the local market.

What is the problem with the road behind?

I think the EA shouldn't have listed 4 "generous" bedrooms when one is only 7ft x 7ft.

Presumably your price reflects the fact that it needs a new kitchen and bathroom at least? I would have painted the kitchen cabinet doors a pale colour before going on the market but it's probably not worth your while to do that now.

1 criticism - the road hump on your drive is very ugly!

The fact that you got a lot of viewings very quickly suggests that the price is about right. I honestly think no one is buying and selling at the moment because of Brexit!

Don't know about price, but I think brexit is having an effect. There are some wonderful houses round me that a few years ago would have sold very quickly, and are now being reduced. Oh to have a large pot of money!
Anyway, your house looks very tidy and clean, but a bit cluttered in places. I have never seem a painting hung below a window before, for example. I would severely edit your posessions. (Hope you have got room for them in the garage). We had a kitchen similar to yours when we moved here and I painted it in a sort of linen colour and changed the knobs. It made so much difference. Don't know if you're up for that.
But, unless you are desperate to sell and price it accordingly, I would just be patient, 5 weeks isn't that long.

Again, I don't know the area but where I live that would buy a very nice 4 bed detached indeed.
I think the house looks dated.
The kitchen could do with modernising.
The bedrooms too are a bit old fashioned.
It depends really On the price.
Could you get another 4 bed detached for that price which doesn't require as much work?
Or are similar properties cheaper?
It's a nice house but The bottom line is price.

Op, I live not too far from you and the market is slow but I think you are over priced. The house is lovely but I'm sure you know it is in need of some modernisation, kitchen, bathroom and the red carpet. People are telling you it needs work. The price needs to reflect that. People will be thinking they need at least 25k to replace rhe kitchen and bathroom, never mind the disruption associated with it.

Probably Brexit and stamp duty are slowing purchasers, but 5 weeks isn't that long. Also, as with any home, your identity is clearly marked in throughout. If you want to move it quicker you could stage it more. So go ahead and pack up most ofyour things, live minimally, like you're on holiday, but also get rid of furniture that doesn't suit a picture perfect notion of your home. The chair next to the single bed, the 2nd soda, could both go, the dining table is misplaced where it is. You could replace the red carpet with a neutral but I did sell, in easier times, a house with red carpet a few days after it was listed. The red carpet and giving the house a once over with a neutral paint throughout would help those who struggle to see beyond where your choices differ from theirs.

The Bathroom and kitchen would both need to be re-done. The kitchen also looks very small so I think a lot of people would be thinking that some sort of remodeling needs to be done either by just getting a new kitchen or by reworking the living space or adding an extension.

Your price needs to reflect this but the market has definitely slowed down.

Reduce the price and it will kick start more interest if you really need to sell now. Otherwise, take it off the market and see what happens over the next few months.

Honestly, if I came and looked at your house I'd come away thinking it needed a new kitchen and a new bathroom suite. Decor is nothing and it looks clean and tidy if not a little cluttered and old fashioned .

I would need a new kitchen and bathroom, new carpet in living room and to repaint all the bedrooms, so if others are thinking that, it may be why. The garden is a fab amount of space though. Honestly I would consider decluttering a bit too, especially in the photo of the table and back of the sofa.

Brexit has impacted the market, people are being more careful with their money. What you need to look at is your competition. If there are other houses with more modern decor without a road, that will be your problem

We are SE and not much is moving here unless it’s cheap ( or so it seems) . However I agree with other posters that if I were looking I would be needing to update the kitchen and the bathroom as well as the cosmetic things like the lounge carpet . The lounge / diner looks really cramped with the seating end basically looking like a means to watch the Tv IYSWIM , so not exactly selling a lifestyle . Having looked at what else is available within 3 miles it does look a tad over optimistic price wise but the comparisons are not in a village so maybe your village does add a premium .

You are prices the same as this one nearby (although don’t know area so don’t know what impact that may have)

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-61656747.html

It’s got a much much better kitchen and potential up stairs for a en-suite to the master bed.

Hello @Southerner88 I think to sell your house you've got to be pragmatic, dispassionate and ruthless. There's absolutely no disrespect meant with any of my comments, at the end of the day the object is for you to sell at an acceptable price and move on.

I'd think the number of viewings you've had is good, so that suggests the size and price of the house in themselves are not a problem. Viewings haven't translated to offers, so what to do?

First off decide who is likely to buy your house? and in that location I'd imagine young(ish) commuters. Therefore they are going to want to change the kitchen and bathroom, redecorate throughout, including all the floor coverings and revamp the garden. Unfortunately the house presents at the moment like a house that's never been updated from brand new and as others have said that translates into lots of time and money. It's not only the obvious things you can see, it's the questions about insulation, electrics, plumbing and glazing etc.

What's your Agent advised about the price?

How much time and money are you prepared to spend on changing things? You can't change the road at the back or the lack of privacy from the Station, you can turn the location into a strength if the house itself is more appealing.

To me it looks worth about 350k

It's a complete refurb job so will appeal to some as long as it's priced right. Given the number of viewings you've had, the market is ticking over in your area so it should sell for the right price.

The number of viewings suggests people are looking past the personal decor and the facts that the kitchen and bathroom are very dated, but that something else is putting them off.

I wonder if the listing is doing you no favours by not explicitly mentioning a few things: it looks as though there are electric storage heaters rather than gas central heating - the living room is the only place I can clearly see an electric heater on the wall though, in other places there are bulky radiator covers and some of the bedrooms appear to have no heating at all? Two of the bedrooms have extension leads visible in the photos which suggests there are insufficient sockets and that the house is quite likely to need at least some rewiring to bring it up to modern standards.

There is no photo of the downstairs shower room. Does this also need updating?

The Streetview and map references in the listing take you the wrong place and it's quite possible some of the viewers haven't understood the location is literally at the station car park entrance, close to industrial units, etc. It won't just be the road behind putting people off, but you can't do anything about the location.

If I'm right about the heating and the electrics then it may be better to market the house as a renovation project and price it accordingly.

To be fair I wondered if there was no central heating too. I'm not sure how much that costs to install, but I imagine it's not cheap and is disruptive. I think adding this on on top of the kitchen bathroom and carpets, and you could see why people would say it's too much work. In both time and money, to do it, and pay your asking price would make the property very expensive indeed.

It's been kept immacutaley, but if you add up the costs, it would not make financial sense to buy it compared to what else is on the market.

As such, it then comes down to price, it needs to be priced to reflect the work required, and it's priced at rhe moment like the work has been done.

I think you need to either

• wait it out longer and then make a decision as it could just be taking a bit longer to sell but marketed at the right price
• do a full renovation incl new kitchen and bathroom and possible layout change
• drop the price if you want to sell quickly

I don't think tinkering around moving a sofa, decluttering further or changing a carpet is going to help though.

The garden and proximity to the station should be big positives for you.

No idea on the price, but things that would bother me:

• no photos of either bathroom - makes me suspect they're not great
• flat roof garage
• back garden not completely secured (there seems to be no fence at the front on the garage side) - meaning young kids/pets wouldn't be completely safe
• trailing extension cables across the skirting in the bedrooms - suggests that the electrics would need attention, as there's clearly not enough sockets or they're in the wrong place
• doesn't seem to have central heating - no radiators under windows and what looks like a storage heater in the lounge, but there's no mention of the heating system in the particulars
• the kitchen is very dated and dark

No idea on the price, etc though as I don't know the area.

I live in Horsham and it's a good price as it has a lot of potential but I guess the schools could be a problem. As I'm sure you are aware there is a secondary places for Horsham so I would imagine your catchment / allocation may well be Crawley now which would put people off . It's not a very big 4 bed either even though it's detached so that along with the work is probably putting people off . I'd say it's value should be nearer £380-400 those things considered and it would no doubt sell at that .
Remember people put in their top price bracket into right move and 415 is a funny price .

There is a photo of the main bathroom - it's the last one.

Not sure if the price reflects the work that would need to be done to modernise the property? For me I'd want to completely renovate the bathroom, update the kitchen and replace the living room carpet. Most rooms would be repainted too. What is the heating situation? I can see one storage heater. Does the rest of the house have storage heaters too (can only see covers)? The location would also put me off - too close to the station car park, railway line and industrial units for my personal liking. Nice big corner plot though.