waaah, no one wants to buy my house

[hoxtonchick]

i know selling your house is meant to be one of the most stressful things to do, but whenever we've done it before it's been very straightforward....

we've only been on the market for 6 weeks, had a fair few viewers & 1 lot had a 2nd viewing, but no offers yet. i am the most impatient person in the world, but we need a quick sale as have found dream house & need to sell ours asap as other people have offers on it too.

we're with the pushiest agents, & have already dropped the price by £50k. dp & i were just discussing going multi agency and sacking the first lot if they don't sell it by the end of the week.

all advice/commiserations/gin welcome .

OK just to saw I come from the 'everything is so overpriced pov' so please feel free to ignore everything I say! Just don't say yah boo sucks to me when it goes for 1,000,000!The living room is nice, you bedroom looks messy, I like kids pictures but it's personal taste, who has been coming round what do you think they would like? Your kitchen looks dire (sorry not because it's your kitchen) but it's way too small for a family house and it's possible to do so much better that alone would make me walk I think.
Foxtons are seriously difficult to deal with as a buyer, and notorious for overpricing round here i've become convinced it's only developers who buy from them, we would automatically take at least 10% off everything they showed us.
re price obv. I don't know your area but seriously could you afford to buy your own house? (feel free not to answer that), you've told us others near by are on for much less, how much have things been achieving? Is anything selling? Over quite a prolonged period of time I can tell you the agent(s), asking prices and selling prices (along with school catchments ) of just about every house in a massive radius of this part of London in our price bracket. i believe (but have been too busy to walk along the street and check) that things around here just aren't selling going under offer yes but completing no. (I can aso give you details of most of the ones that failed to complete too)
Not much help but loved the garden, loved the cat, loved the kiddie art work.
Ask Foxtons how much is selling, at what discount from asking price and how much completes....

I started writing that just after reading marthamoos.
Love the Devon place....

OK now I've upset you all sorry....

re adding colour to the garden .. it did stand out to me that it was rather bland

may I suggest you buy big terrecota pots with plants you can take with you

or you can rent plants I think

look at that propertysnake.co.uk site and put in your postcode to see which houses / how many have been discounted

I also agree that foxtons are notorious for scary practices and overpricing

Having sold with Foxtons 5 years ago, we had a similar experience, they really overprice and you can't help but put it on for the max price they say.
You then have to drop the price and then you will often still get an offer lower than the new asking price as everyone knows that Foxtons prices are too high!
What you need is two people who both want it.
Have you tried their open day? They call it "Fresh" or something like that in North London, they have an open day where lots of people all come at the same time and you have to get the house looking fantastic and you go out.
If you really want a quick sale you may have to drop again, perhaps the other agents price of £700,000 is where you really need to be. I wouldn't go for a joint agent thing either as it always looks a bit desperate.
Good luck, it looks like a lovely house and six weeks isn't long and only feels like it is because you have found a new dream and want to move on.

good suggestions already, agree with all the decluterring/neutralising/de-personalising advice. This is not going to be your house anymore once it sells so you don't have to like it!

Here's my other thoughts, for what they're worth,lol

Picture 4 says it's the master bedroom there's no bed? would make me wonder.

picture 6, the stairs, is a bit weird. Guess they're trying to show the light but is it necessary?

There is no picture of the other bathroom? Would make me wonder why. Also I would assume that there is only a shower, no other bathrooms

picture 8 is unescessary, picture 9 is there so no need for it. But as others say the white van needs to go at least.

You need to remember that a lot of people will only look at the pictures, not read the description. If they like the pictures maybe they'll read, but most people are too lazy. The pictures MUST be good and show the house off.

right, i have made a start by clearing out the big pile of clothes between the bed & the cupboard on picture 3....

f*&k me, London is expensive isn't it?

lovely house, lovely

but it needs tidying and looking like a magazine shoot

when we had ours up for sale, I tidied everywhere and then about an hour before the photographer turned up, I went in each and every room lining up a cute teddy bear just so, straightening my IRONED duvet cover, opening blinds, piling up lemons in a white bowl on my sparkling windowledge

etc etc etc

when the photos are done, you can slob out again then, just have a quick scoot about before viewers turn up, they will expect a tidy but lived in house, not a showroom imo on viewings

yes you're right olive. i was having palpitations at the thought of living in a bare & empty house but the biggest effort is for the photos isn't it.

and yes, london is crazy expensive.

absolutely

I handed my children over to MIL, spent a morning cleaning, then tidying, did photos, then they came back and trashed the place again

when we had viewings, I had a set thing to do in each room that took say 15 mins tops so the whole place was as tidy as it could be without me screeching at dd1 and dd2 about toys

then slob out again after viewings

pain
in
the
arse

dd & i are watching balamory instead of going to ikea...

I am a Dorset Bumpkin so don't listen to me, but I think the biggest problem you have is your kitchen. It isn't very big but opens up onto the dining room so I guess that shouldn't be a problem. But I think it looks cheap and not at all what I would expect of a kitchen in a house of that price and it would really really put me off, far more than the other bits.

we are not putting a new kitchen in!

hoxty, good house. You have all the basics, imo.

Kitchen

I don't think you need to replace the kitchen but it does need to be 'dressed' properly. IMO the turquiose paint cheapens the units and there is no window dressing. I'd go with a creamy/stone colour (look at Farrow and Ball for good choices) on the walls.

The window dressing doesn't have to be flouncy big-knicker stylee curtains, but a tasteful, contemporary (maybe patterned) blind would look good. I'd probably go for a roller, they've come a long way in recent years and will look clean and simple in your dinky kitchen.

Do you have any 'lifestyle' appliances like coffee machines etc or anything chrome really - one of those Allessi juicer rocket things next to a bowl of citrus ? Cliched, yes, but buyers are suckers for set dressing !

Have you re-oiled your worksurfaces lately ? Give them a light sand and re oil them to bring them back to life. It's cheap and easy to do but makes a big difference.

dining area

IMO, this is fine, I love your pigeon hole shelf and the dining table is a good size.

front of house

I love the tree and would be gutted if it went. Privacy is valuable and people LIKE mature trees and greenery. Maybe prune/shape it back a little but please don't get rid altogether. But the wheelie bin HAS to go from the picture !

HC, you are moving to Devon? WHY didn't you tell me?! Bloody hell woman, need to catch up soon, before you bugger off escape!

Agree with NDB, what she suggested will make a BIG difference to how it looks.

shower room

Looks fine. The tiles and fixtures are good. Lose the bin in the picture though, buff your basin unit and give the front of the shower tray a wipe (it looks a bit grubby but it could just be the light in the photo).

landing

Rug/mat MUST go !

third bedroom

Those curtains are far too big for the window, they swamp it and block (valuable) light. Swap them for something a little more minimal.

Master

This should be a WOW room. Get rid of the turquoise, go neutral (I know, I know. You could have a boldish fireplace wall if you felt it was a bit too cream).

Pull that sofa out of the corner.

Clear the mantle of all that stuff and make a big fuss of your bed. It should be the centrepiece of the room and should certainly be in the photo !

sorry, am on a roll !!

ha, ndp, we have a gaggia espresso machine & one of the alessi orange squeezers, they're just not in the photo!

have to say, curtains are just not my thing & it clearly comes across in the photos....

deffo see you soon edam .

second bed

Good sized room. Again, I'm not thrilled on the curtains, a bit bulky but stumpy looking (?!). If you're not in the mood to repaint this room then just get smart WHITE bedlinen and have a tidy up (lose the dangly fairy things!).

I'm done now . You've got a fab house, it just needs a couple of tweaks.

The appliances need to be in the photos imo. All other assorted 'stuff' that you (and every other person in the universe) use every day should be put away and only the gorgeous stuff should be on show. It's not how you (or I ) live day to day, but it looks good on the photos and will get people booking viewings.