What's wrong with our house 13 days no viewings

[Namechangetoshowhouse]

Help us out Please 🙏
We put our house on the market 13 days ago we have friends in the area who have put theirs on and been busy with viewings straight away but we've had nothing.

Three Estate agents said £375 so we started with that after no viewings at 9 days we dropped to £367
We know house is a bit bottom heavy a bit like me and doesn't look pretty but is well presented and has over 80 Sq m of downstairs living space. A huge Kitchen and lounge, 10 mins walk to most amenities as well.

We have seen a house that we love that won't come up again we've put in an offer for asking price but not sure we'll get it as they say they've had 6 offers already.

Anyway here it is do we drop the price some more or just wait a bit?
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-82594633.html

Seeing the old pictures you've done a massive amount of work inside and it's a lot better. The trouble is it had more kerb appeal before when the wall was there. There are lots of houses like this where I grew up and opening up the front like you have doesn't look nice. Could you put up some fencing? Definitely plants.

Anyway, good luck. Selling houses is awful.

Yes all the houses must have downstairs bathrooms as there's all but one/ two that have had two storey extensions. A few have done what we did and extended into the old asbestos double/ triple garage.

We do have an upstairs toilet which makes a difference.

Attached is a picture of the smallest room from a different angle funnily some of the new builds I've been noisy and looked at have smaller bedrooms without enough space for a wardrobe but are dressed nicely.

I have to say apart from the number of bedrooms the house works fine for us.
I've been so flat out with work and then we have 3 kids and a lively four year old I've kind over looked staging the house which I did with the last one and we didn't have any problems selling.

Only thing is my DH thinks he's the master of taste and has already ruined my plans by buying this picture which will clash with the bed set I just bought 🙄 I'm just eyeing the wardrobe doors thinking Oh FFS I'm going to have to paint you I swear this house is like the fourth road bridge there's always something needing painting!

Think I'll go to Wilko tomorrow and get some pale pink cushions to go with the picture.

@Namechangetoshowhouse It is the Forth rail bridge that needs constant repainting not the road bridge!

Aw, OP, I'm so glad it was just that you were out - I haven't commented but I did wonder whether so much feedback (not all of it kind, imo) had chased you off!

You'll sell it. It's the pictures and furnishings that are the clincher here - not the house itself. To paraphrase MN, when it comes to the photographs on the listing, "you have an EA problem, not a house problem"! :)

Price wise we have had 3 agents all quote us the same originally it was marketed as a 3 bed then discussed with the agent and he said maybe put 3/4 bed.

They probably all know what the other agents are like, so they've all inflated their prices to be competitive and stand a chance of getting your business.

When we were looking for our place we ended up buying a 4 bed because of how many 3 beds we viewed that had a teeny tiny box room. They were 2 bedroom houses marketed as 3 beds.

You definitely need to drop the price significantly and list as a 3 bed. Looking at other houses in the same area you're over priced.

This one is one road away, genuinely a 4 bed, master has an ensuite, upstairs bathroom etc. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-90297353.html
And it's £16k cheaper than yours.

A 3 bed seems to be more in the region of £250,000 - £300,000 so yours should probably be on as a 3 bed at around the £300,000-350,000 mark. Although I reckon it'll probably be somewhere in the region of £300,000-310,000

Good luck with the sale.

The main thing that put me off was the lack of a defined front garden. Looking at the previous photos the front was much more defined with the wall separating it from the street. I would reinstate a wall or fence with a gate to let your car in.

We’re trying to sell.
The floor plan is just atrocious. I can’t see it properly. Get on to you EA immediately to get it changed.
Yes, I agree it’s boxy, but buyers can change things.
My thoughts on Rightmove...

1. pictures
2. Area (if I’m not familiar).
3. Schools
4. Floor plan, does it work for us.

Honestly, staging, Wallart and cushions don't sell houses

Keeping it neutral as u have done is the right answer

Interesting u say that you're is in a nicer area than some others on the thread. Area is important to a lot of people, but when it comes down to it, they won't compromise on a house with small rooms and awkward layout.....

So here is my tuppence worth.
Positive. Overall it looks extremely clean, tidy and uncluttered, rooms and garden are a nice size.
Neg. The walls are extremely bare apart from large family pics and a large pink pic of what looks like an elder MIL. (sorry)
I think you need to dress this.
Some lovely pots and planting around the front as that is sooo bare.
Nice houseplants or flowers indoor,
Some cool, well framed pictures on the barest walls. Replace all the family ones
Plainish but Glam and not so busy bedding, plus some lovely bed cushions in the bedroom and remove the wardrobe roses.

Get those wardrobes painted, op! It doesn’t cost much and while it’s a pain in the arse job it will improve that bedroom no end.

We used Yopa and had the same problems you are having with poor photos, inaccurate floor plan and lack of measurements and description. They’re not proper estate agents, IMO.

It's not in an area I need to be, but if it were, and I were willing to pay more to adapt it to make it meet my needs, I would view it. The whole place looks uncluttered (congrats! tell me your secret!!!), but lived in, which is great.

For me, the things that don't quite work (but wouldn't necessarily be deal breakers, and wouldn't stop me viewing a property) are:

• one of the children's bedrooms is a boxroom. I wouldn't see it as a useful bedroom, so would knock it through to make the other room bigger, possibly turning it into an ensuite. As others have suggested, perhaps don't include a photograph of this room.

• the double room with the purple bedding and throw cushions - replace these with proper pillows and bedding that is either more neutral or something making a design statement that flows through the rest of the property. At the moment, it just looks a bit jarring, though that is subjective and down to personal taste.

• in the UK, people seem to like upstairs bathrooms (I grew up in a house with only one bathroom, which was downstairs, so it wouldn't bother me, but I have friends who find that odd and say they wouldn't live in a house that didn't have an upstairs bathroom). Nothing you can do about this, but perhaps ask the estate agent whether this is a potential issue. If so, perhaps the wording could suggest that there is the possibility to convert the boxroom into a bathroom?

• the long office rooms looks like a corridor you've shoved some office furniture in. If there's any way of repurposing this (e.g. perhaps put the dining room table in there, or add some sitting room furniture and plants?), I think it would photograph better. If you can't move / change the furniture, get rid of the boxes that are up to the ceiling - although tidy, they make the room look darker and smaller.

• some of the rooms are awkwardly shaped, which you can't do anything about, but a professional photographer might be able to show them to their best advantage

If similar properties in your area have been getting viewings, I would ask your estate agent to be honest about why they think your house isn't getting viewings. Is it the layout, description, price etc? Look at the ads for the other properties to see what is different e.g. better photographs / description/details of local neighbourhood?

Also, if you have the budget for it, consider putting your furniture in storage and getting the house professionally styled (though this may be a bit over the top, given the price point and area - your estate agent should be able to comment on this).

Good look.

Argh. Should say 'good luck'.

As others have said it lacks kerb appeal. I think the ouside is rather bland and the extension is, from a design point of veiw, ill-thought out. it looks tacked on and flat roofs rarely look good.

The description is very misleading - it's not a 4 bedroom - it's a 3 bedroom and actually with the size of the 3rd bedroom it's more like 2 1/2

Market it with an accurate description and add some kerb appeal

Ach in London anything big enough to swing a hamster in gets called a ‘bedroom’. That’s not the reason it’s not selling.

Just out of interest, op, what had you in mind for that room when you built it? It looks totally pointless, and it's massively impacted on the garden?

Because of the odd shaped room downstairs I would find ways of sectioning it off into zoned areas, with decorative screening or kallax units etc.

The layout is a bit odd and the pictures are pretty poor - dark and at bad angles. If I were you I would switch from on an online agent to a bricks and mortar agent with local knowledge. Get them to take new pictures and do a new floor plan. They will be able to proactively target buyers who might be into your slightly unusual house rather than just relying on people to find it on right move. In the nicest possible way I don't think your house will 'sell itself' so I don't think you can get away with a cheaper online agent.

It looks fine to me, but it is a three-bedroom (tbh, here it would be marketed as a two-bed + boxroom). That should be reflected in the price.

When you have no viewings, it's generally because it is over-priced.

Possibly not very important, but I wanted to point out to you that the grammar and punctuation in the description are terrible.

The description is hard to read and it really doesn't "sell" the house. It's very unprofessional.

Perhaps the main issue you have is your estate agent.

The description should let people know that the property isn't a new build for example.

Thanks for all those that have said I e taken this well it is hard to hear but I also know people can be a bit blind when it comes to their homes.

Okay so the plan is restage the house try and make the front look prettier, then retake photos
Consider dropping the price we can go down to a bit before we couldn't afford the house we've put a bid in for.
So I've been having a fiddle & moving things around. Granny corner is gone she was just keeping an eye on things until we found a place for her 😉 DH was a bit sad/ offended at moving her as she was a much a grandmother to him as to me. Taken a picture with the dining chairs that need to be thrown away they are very worn but you get the idea I'll try and find some smaller white ones.

I've also had a go at moving things around in the lounge I'm going to borrow some bits from Dsis at the weekend and go buy a white duvet and maybe pink throw & cushions.

Done some pictures for you all not quite so neat and "clinical" with the mess and DH eating ice cream in the kitchen in his dressing gown 🤣 in fairness normally we tidy up so it is very neat at the end of the day but been to busy rearranging.

The lounge looked better before, it looks like your couch and tv are in a corridor now.

Sitting areas so much better, but please lose the green rug it makes the space look smaller by chopping it up. Lighting on much better too. If charity shops/warehouses open chairs are as cheap as chips. Or go on e bay find someone near you who is selling a dining room table and chairs