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Original poster

Critique my listing

71 replies

Southerner88 · 18/09/2019 10:51

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

OP posts:
JetPlanesMeeting · 19/09/2019 10:42

I agree with everyone else, it is just very dated. It feels like my parent's house when I moved out, they had a 70s house complete with "champagne" bathroom suite.

The kitchen and bathroom will probably need updating, that is not only money and disruption but the time and energy spent shopping for them.

I assume that there is no gas heating, it looks like wall heaters which is why there is a weird floating picture under the window in the bedroom.

It just feels like too much work and effort and I agree the 4th bedroom should not be described as generous.

The extension leads scream not enough sockets and the bedroom furniture suggests children have grown and left, the white wardrobe with blue handles feels very 80s. I think we had it from MFI with pink handles.

I think the viewings confirm the amount of work needed to be done and the cost involved. But Brexit is having a massive impact on housing, I would wait until the dust settles before worrying about not selling.

BogglesGoggles · 19/09/2019 10:45

I would ditch the red curtains and change the order of the pictures so that the bedrooms come first.

sotired2 · 19/09/2019 10:55

I would clear out all ornaments/knickknacks - I know they are what make your house your home but if you are selling they need packing up any way! Take out big bulky chairs in bedrooms to make feel more spacious.

Not sure on price as to me it needs new bathroom, kitchen, flooring throughout and decorating.

Comefromaway · 19/09/2019 11:35

For me, (and I've just spent 3 months looking for a 4 bed detached) your house wouldn;t work for me becasue of the lack of separate space downstairs. I would be looking for a separate dining room or a dining kitchen and I would want somewhere where dh and ds could either do their music or study away from the rest of the family.

I also think its very unusual for a 4 bed not to ahve an ensuite. I immediately dismissed any houses without one. No upstairs shower is a real deal breaker too.

The angle of the first living room photo doesn't do it justice , it makes it look very narrow.

The people in the market for 4 bed houses are usually families with at least 2 kids and everything seems quite codensed. No space to get away from each other.

dannyhaynes · 19/09/2019 12:28

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EmrysAtticus · 19/09/2019 13:05

I agree that for a four bed house there is very little downstairs space (I loathe integrated garages for taking up downstairs space) and I don't think lounge diners are popular.

I also agree with all the other points pp have made about it being dated and needing a lot of money spent to get it modernised.

cakeandchampagne · 19/09/2019 13:14

The wood at the corner of the grass & plants (near parking) looks like it needs to be replaced.
The numerous little things (small pictures, cups & things in kitchen, bottles in bath, etc.) are distracting.

Comefromaway · 19/09/2019 13:15

We have a 3 bed house that was an integrated garage and lounge diner and we expended the kitchen to make a kitchen diner and converted the garage to make a good sized study.

Hardly any houses we have looked at have had lounge diners that are used as such.

cakeandchampagne · 19/09/2019 13:18

And a flag-design rug to wipe your shoes on? It just doesn’t seem right.

GU24Mum · 19/09/2019 13:29

Hi OP,
I suspect that if you had lots of viewings initially then the house must seem smaller/darker/somehow less good when buyers get in than they are expecting. If you had that many viewings then a small price drop probably won't have done the trick as those were the buyers and they'd already discounted it. Have you asked your agents what the feedback from those viewers was?
Good luck.

Comefromaway · 19/09/2019 13:33

I agree that a small pricwe drop probably wouldn;t make any difference. However we went to see a house which was great except the kitchen looked lots smaller in real life and the garage/utility area needed work.

A few weeks later they dropped the price by £20k and we realised that at that price the general condition of the house was so good and others we were looking at were about £50k more so that gave us a lot of money to play with to make any alterations.

Shmithecat2 · 19/09/2019 13:40

Its really really dated. Who ever considers buying this will no doubt want to put a new kitchen and bathroom in at least. Is it priced to reflect that?

Samosaurus · 19/09/2019 15:54

I think the fact that it needs do much work to make it look more modern might be putting people off. Can you afford to get either the kitchen or bathroom re-done? Perhaps it's the thought of having to do both and the time it would take to do so that is a problem for your market.

higgyhog · 19/09/2019 16:06

I can't add much to what everyone else had said, it will certainly need a new kitchen and bathroom. I'm sure the bathroom could be done nicely for not a huge cost. If I was looking I might think that only having the kitchen to do might make a difference. The kitchen looks in good condition and very clean so maybe the purchaser could live with that for a while. I also thought the furniture in the living area looks verybig - could you take some out or perhaps swap f;r a smaller suite to make the living room look more spacious?

misspiggy19 · 19/09/2019 16:12

The red carpets are hideous!

Both the kitchen and bathroom needs replacing. Is it priced with these factors in mind?

user1471449295 · 19/09/2019 16:16

I would de-clutter. The carpet wouldn’t bother me as I’d be ripping it up anyway. The hump is a bit off putting. Apart from that, I think it’s fine. Shows potential, nice plot. I can’t comment on price as not from your area

Bluntness100 · 19/09/2019 16:19

Op, have you lived there a very long time?

Widowodiw · 19/09/2019 16:25

It’s the bathroom and the kitchen that will make this difficult to sell. I don’t know the area but at that price I would want these two rooms to be useable and yes they are useable
But they are dated. You could try to paint the kitchen units?

Neron · 19/09/2019 16:32

The red carpets are hideous!

To you perhaps, no need to be rude, this is the OPs home.

Comefromaway · 19/09/2019 16:57

I actually like them & from having traipsed round and seen photos of lots of houses recently. I reckon they probably don’t look as bright in real life.

Didiusfalco · 19/09/2019 17:38

We’ve just sold our house, which similarly to yours had lots of viewings but the feedback was it needed too much work. We took a drop on the price, got tons of interest and sold that week, because suddenly it wasn’t a house that needed loads of work it was a bargain, but it depends how much you want to sell.

Jem01 · 19/09/2019 18:35

There’s nothing wrong with the house. Dated yes, but main issue is it’s overpriced in this current market. What are other similar 3-4 bed houses going for? You need to be realistic when comparing what else in on the market, in your area. The house is in need of updating so your price MUST reflect that. It’s also only 5 weeks it’s been on the market so not too long. How desperate are you to sell? If then answer is you want to sell ASAP would wait a few more weeks (3-4?) and then if no offers would think about reducing.

onemorecakeplease · 19/09/2019 21:21

I'm sorry OP but I wouldn't come and see your house based on those photos

Too much red carpet - needs to be replaced by neutral and lose the cart thing and ornaments and so many pictures
Needs new kitchen - can you paint the doors and put on nice handles?
Needs New bathrooms
Bedrooms are really dated

I would think it's a lot of money if I then had to shell out £20-40k for all that!

Sorry!

linentowel · 20/09/2019 07:34

I like the external look of the house and love the garden.

Internally wouldn’t necessarily bother me if I had the budget to upgrade. You do have a lot of clutter. Get rid of all the stuff you have, horse and cart, some of the pictures, ornaments etc.

The biggest issue I can see just now is your heating source. What is it?

Gladimnotcampinginthisweather · 20/09/2019 10:14

We sold a four bed house two years ago without an ensuite. I don't think it is an issue for everyone.
The plot is very good so I think the agent has overvalued because of that.
Two identical houses next door to each other have just sold near us, one dressed Mumsnet style to within an inch of its life, the other not. I don't know what the sold prices are, but it does show that there are people who buy a house that is less than perfect.
I think it probably comes down to price.