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Original poster

What's wrong with our house 13 days no viewings

868 replies

Namechangetoshowhouse · 06/08/2020 10:47

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
74
whenwillthemadnessend · 07/08/2020 08:03

The main issue for me would be the size of the bedrooms. Not a lot you can do about that tho. I'm sure lots have given great advise already

Chocolateoo · 07/08/2020 08:07

@Namechangetoshowhouse

Just don't let opinions on style get you down. People are most likely right about the angle of the pictures. Maybe the price is a little higher. But also covid will be slowing people down right now.

In regards to people saying the rug doesn't match. Or the pictures are too big. I personally think your living room matches fine. Your room is brown and shades of green. they match absolutely fine. It's clean and tidy. If you had stuff about you would have been called a hoarder. This is Mumsnet and people are not always kind. There's nothing horrible about your home. It's definitely the pictures and the angles. There's plenty to be done with the garden for future buyers. It's simple (like mine) and that's absolutely fine. People who want to grow stuff up the side of it can do that if they buy. Don't take thinks to heart.

It's a nice home. Just not everyone's Taste clearly. But I think people have been harsh on some of these posts.

Hopefully some better pictures will help. X

Beachcomber · 07/08/2020 08:15

I quite like it. I like quirky houses. For me it really changes everything to understand that it is an extended old house rather than an oddly laid out new build. That fact alone makes me not mind the downstairs bathroom for example.

I really think your estate agent is terrible. The photos aren't good and the description is awful.
Neither tell you what the house actually is.

Good luck!

Curiosity101 · 07/08/2020 08:23

You're a stronger person than me OP, some people really have been downright rude. And tbh although the angles and lighting of the pictures isn't favourable, I thought the house itself looked fine. Although I do like your changes and think it will look even better once the pictures are retaken. Make sure they open all the blinds/curtains and turn on all the lights in the pictures so it looks its best.

If we do drop again it would probably be wiser to go to £350.

I was one of the people suggesting that the house is probably worth about £75k less than it was priced at but I do 100% agree with your logic. I do believe it'll end up selling for £300-310, but it'd be daft to drop the price that quickly if you don't need to. I do still think the agents have all inflated their prices to get your business though.

Hopefully relisting as 3 bed at £350 will generate some interest and get you the sale. Fingers crossed for you Smile

LioneIRichTea · 07/08/2020 08:26

OP I rarely see good photos taken by estate agents. Can you take them yourself? This isn’t a dig at your listing, we’ve been looking at houses ourselves and by God, the photos!! All dark, taken in the middle of rooms. I know they’re not photographers but my 20 year old nephew could often do better Grin

LioneIRichTea · 07/08/2020 08:27

I meant 10 year old nephew Grin

thesunwillout · 07/08/2020 08:31

Op, I like your take on this.
You're open and to be fair we're all going to end up gunning for you, offering suggestions.

Tricky layout but tweaks and better decisions about marketing will turn this around.

Meeeh · 07/08/2020 08:35

Lots of good ideas already and I’m sure you will sell it. I’ve sold four houses myself and find that if you really de clutter it and stage it people can imagine living there. One buyer kept commenting on the staging items so if you were selling to a young couple, for example, then showing the lifestyle they’d be looking for is a good idea. So the bathroom needs to look like a spa, the kids stuff minimised but still look like a family home, and that old kitchen and carpet that you can’t change much about Just has to be spotless and useable. No big empty rooms. I’d have changed that Brown carpet but you also don’t want to run out of money. Good luck

SoupDragon · 07/08/2020 08:35

I've asked the agent to put it back to a 3 bed in the listing

I do think this is the main reason you've not got viewings - the right people haven't been seeing it in their searches.

DoTheNextRightThing · 07/08/2020 08:53

I don’t dislike it, but I would think it needed a lot of redecorating and that's a bit off putting I guess. It's so white. It feels cold and clinical. Not cosy and welcoming. But in terms of the size and layout etc, I'm quite happy with it.

ChicCroissant · 07/08/2020 08:54

Well done OP, definitely get a photo of that smallest bedroom the same as the one you posted last night to show that you can fit a wardrobe in there as well - better photos will really help.

Good luck with the sale, as I said earlier it just needs one person!

LioneIRichTea · 07/08/2020 08:56

I’ve actually read the whole thread and not sure why people are commenting on the furnishings and to an extent the decor. We are house hunting right now and we go straight to the floor plan. I don’t care if there’s green chairs in the room, they’re not ours and won’t be there and unless it’s got wooden cladded walls and tiled ceilings (seen a few) then you can paint or strip anything. Also, some saying take family photos down and then others saying it needs to be more personal - as you can tell OP it’s all personal preference! I’m not sure how people can’t look past other people’s furniture though Confused

burritofan · 07/08/2020 09:04

I’m not sure how people can’t look past other people’s furniture though
Me either but a lot of people can't. It comes up on the home decoration topic a lot: "I've got no imagination/can't picture it" etc.

OP, I think I was a bit rude on this thread but I think you've taken it all brilliantly. I would say take some time to digest it all – you've have conflicting information, lots of opinion but not all of it wise, and some stuff is complete bollocks – don't take photos with the lights on, it looks shit! Photos in daylight, blinds and curtains open, always.

And don't rush to "dress" it with cushions and such from Ikea etc; it sounds like the house you want to move to will be the very top of your budget, and every penny counts. Don't waste £100s on tat and paint and furniture to change rooms around – a lot of what you can change should be paid for already by your fee to the estate agent: floor plan, photos, description, price.

Curiosity101 · 07/08/2020 09:07

We are house hunting right now and we go straight to the floor plan.

I’m not sure how people can’t look past other people’s furniture though

I feel the same. We did exactly the same as you. We know how big our rooms are in our current house and so can compare the sizes without seeing pictures. I spend maybe a second or two looking at each picture, after all they can be very misleading.

TatianaBis · 07/08/2020 09:14

don't take photos with the lights on, it looks shit!

It is absolutely standard for estate agent interior shots.

As I’ve said previously, the pics need to be redone by a better photographer, I’d ask the agent to organise this.

Don’t need to buy anything new for the shots, just get all the clutter out of the way.

diddl · 07/08/2020 09:18

"We are house hunting right now and we go straight to the floor plan.

I’m not sure how people can’t look past other people’s furniture though"

I agree with that.

Op, I may have been harsh earlier.

If I wanted to live in that area I might give your house a look.

I like the kitchen.

How about a pic of the garden that isn't taken up by the extension?

HerNameWasEliza · 07/08/2020 09:51

Personally I prefer the lounge in the new arrangement and think the sofa/tv looks much more cosy. It is a corridor as someone said but there's no getting round that as it's the only way through the house. In terms of matching, I actually like your green rug. I'm not keen on the wallpaper but different strokes and all that. I think the pictures make the sofa look red which does not match the green, and my guess is that you don't have a red sofa, you have a brown leather one? It might be a lighting issue again. Whilst people aren't buying the decor and furniture arrangement we need to be realistic about how much people buy with their heart and not their head. They need to want the place on an emotional level so the tweaking you are doing will be well worth it I think. Keep us posted and good luck - I hope you do manage to get the place you are after.

burritofan · 07/08/2020 10:01

It is absolutely standard for estate agent interior shots.
I spend more time on RightMove than Mumsnet (and that's saying something), and I'd say it's 50/50, not standard. They weren't on for the property just sold, for instance. And I just had a quick scroll through my saved properties – all bajillion pound mansions I can't have, it's a hobby – and their lights are all off. Curtains open. Daylight shots, pics probably edited a bit too. When they are on, it looks like the seller is trying to hide something: namely that the property is dark and poky. I agree it's standard for estate agents to turn the lights on before a viewing, but it looks shit in photos.

Fennelandlovage · 07/08/2020 10:07

I would say small bedrooms esp bed three. Also maybe ground floor layout might put some off. No viewings is weird though. Don’t know the area - is the price right? Prob not going to appeal to a family market because of bedroom sizes. What else is in that bracket? Ask your agent. Also it is the holidays so probably quieter right now. Good luck.

ReceptacleForTheRespectable · 07/08/2020 11:05

We are house hunting right now and we go straight to the floor plan.

I’m not sure how people can’t look past other people’s furniture though

I do this too. I look at the floor plan and plot before pictures, and if the floor plan makes clear that it doesn't tick my non-negotiable boxes, I will close the browser without ever looking at any photos other than the front one.

If it ticks my non-negotiable boxes, I will then look at the photos and description, but the decor wouldn't really make any difference to me. When I was looking to move last year, I viewed pretty much 100% of the houses that met my essential criteria, decor didn't stop me.

However, if a house that met my needs was advertised with incorrect details (e.g. a house with a garden was advertised as one without), I might not have seen it at all as I filtered my searches. This is the danger - that someone who is looking for 3 beds plus office won't even see your house advert at all.

Requinblanc · 07/08/2020 11:26

One of the 'bedroom' is way to small to be considered a proper bedroom...

The pictures are quite dark overall and it all look a bit bland.

I would try to retake the pictures but make things a bit brighter/colourful first.

I think you also need to be realistic and market this as a 3 bed with an additional smaller room that could be used as an office.

And yes it is expensive for what it is.

I am sure you can sell though, it just need some attention and a bit of a reality check.

GabsAlot · 07/08/2020 12:01

@ReceptacleForTheRespectable

EAs are often shite at their jobs sadly.... The first house we sold, we got three similar values, went with the middle one. It was still massively overpriced and we got stung in that the EAs fee was a % of the list price, not the sale price.

You'll get there OP.

yes do make sure you know how much theyre charging my dsis got stung for this they reckoned they told her at the start it was the listed price not the sale price they were charging for
Honeyroar · 07/08/2020 12:53

Can I just say, your dignity, humour and patience shines out of your replies.

CatkinToadflax · 07/08/2020 13:19

@Honeyroar

Can I just say, your dignity, humour and patience shines out of your replies.
Yes! Well done OP! Hope you get a sale soon. Flowers
loobyloo1234 · 07/08/2020 13:21

Fair fucks to you OP. I didn't think you'd come back as there have been some really rude, personal responses initially. You've taken the better and more constructive comments on board and it looks better already I can tell

I think marketing it as a 3 bed, better photos and dropping to £350k, you'll have much better responses from buyers. Can't believe the EA didn't leave the lights on for the photos - looks so much better when the spotlights are turned on

Good luck with the re-styling