Advice on selling - Rightmove link included

[PumpkinChai]

Hello

We put our house on the market a few days ago. This is our first time selling so have very much gone on all the advice from the estate agent but I'm having a wobble.

Mainly because there is so much competition on our estate and we are looking for a reasonably quick sell (we are selling because we are worried about not being able to afford to stay here much longer).

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-98778998.html

Thats our Rightmove link. We have been advised to do nothing to the property and save money for new house by the EA.

Anyway, please do be honest.

I would repaint your bedroom, yes. A warm colour would be nicer. Also, can you lay your hands on lamps for the bedside tables?

Agree with everyone else about redoing your sitting room photos with the baby things and toys removed. Get a coffee table and perhaps a nice big rug to demarcate the sitting area.

Staging the spare room as a bedroom is a good idea. Right now, that photo is very offputting.

Get a photo of the downstairs loo.

Leave your table unpainted. Lose the tablecloth and pumpkin.

You need some big pots with plants or small bushes for your patio area and the back fence of your garden.

And move the big potted plant from the dining area to the sittingroom, over near the window, in a corner area.

It's a lovely house, I agree the living room would look better with sofa moved and declutter.
Have you considered painting the bathroom tiles? Just the blue ones. Might make it look less dated.

I would move all the toys. If your kitchen is big enough for a table then put it in there. If not it needs a separate space. Weed the patio. Yes get a photo of the downstairs shower room. Is the third bedroom being used as a study?

Yes 3rd is my office space @user1471538283

The photo of the third bedroom doesn't really give you any idea of what it is like as a room. You need to take most of the clutter out and get a shot of the whole room. And absolutely take a photo of the downstairs shower/loo, that's a bonus and someone flicking through Rightmove looking at possibles isn't necessarily going to register its existence without a photograph.

Garden looks boring - but some pretty pots, you can take them with you.

What a great kitchen OP, I love the light!

I think you have a lovely house OP, not much to tweak really. For me, the first photo of the outside needs to show more of your house, not next doors too.

Kitchen is lovely, a real selling point. The lounge just needs the toys etc removing and the sofa to be pushed back to the wall. Bedrooms are fine, particularly the second one isn't full of toys etc. Yes, the bathroom is dated, but I wouldn't do too much to it, as the new owners would probably change it anyway.

But you do need photos of every room and the parking. And maybe add some pictures to the walls?

Push the sofa back. I assume you've created a play area behind it? That's fine for you but looks odd. Also could you get another small sofa or chairs in the living room? As it looks like there's only room for one sofa which isn't great for a family.

I like the bathroom!

The kitchen doesn't do anything for me though so if that's the "selling point" it would be lost on me!

From the floorplan it looks as if it's an extension taking up rather a lot of the garden!

I think if you spent the money on a decent estate agent you'd sell quickly.

The pumpkin is going to date your photo's. If you haven't sold in a month then new people looking at the listing will see it and thing why is this not selling. I really noticed snow on garden pictures when house hunting in spring/summer.

Aside from that agree with reorder the lounge and diner to have less baby bits and look more spacious. Downstairs bathroom is not readable on the mobile app floor plan, so I had to trawl through the description to find out. If you don't want to repaint bedroom, at least get a white bed set as not everyone likes multiple colours.

I think it looks a very nice house. The garden is a bit small. I agree you could try and add some interest to it. Take the toys out of the lounge and move the sofa back. Maybe think again about using a Purple Bricks.

The pumpkin really winds me up hahaha @DennisTMenace it wasn't meant to be in the photos, but they were rather manically taken last minute 🙉

I would be put off viewing a house if it was being sold through purple bricks, and I don't think I'm alone in that.
Please don't be offended op, but I had a little laugh at the vacuuming lines on the carpet in your study. It immediately brought to mind an image of you frantically scrubbing backwards and forwards with your hoover, teeth gritted and determined to get a sale!
I think the house is fine it just needs 'cosying up'. At the moment it looks a bit stark and unloved in places (including the garden), it needs to look a bit more user friendly. I think all the suggestions you've had will do the trick.

Box up the toys in the sitting room, push the sofa against the wall and cover the table with a neutral table cloth.
Other than that, the rest of the rooms look really nice.

Lovely house for a reasonable price. Just some very small tweaks should result in a sale. If it was my property I would move the sofa back against the wall and put a neutral coloured rug in front of it. I would add a modern artwork on the dark blue 'chimneybreast' bit - you can get them cheap from Desenio. The kitchen is lovely but a bit grey, I would add a coir type rug in the middle and place an oblong island type table in the middle to show it as a kitchen breakfast room as described in the particulars. You can get cheap ones with metal legs and a wooden top - I know it would fit as we have something similar in our (black) kitchen. I would just dress the bathroom a bit better - a few stylish pieces and different bath mat. Weed the patio and put some pots out. Lastly I would definitely get the paint brush out as you plan to do on that pine table, maybe a colour co-ordinated oilcloth and then get rid of the kids toys. Such easy and cheap things which would enhance your home. Some people just don't have the imagination to see beyond other people's possessions. The kitchen is lovely - I'm sure it will sell.

Kitchen and bathroom are fine btw.

Haha add in a screaming 3 year old and a baby attached to the hip and your imagery is spot on @Reedwarbler

Same as everyone else, your lounge needs rethinking.

Also photo 4&5 make it look like your living room and furniture are two different colour schemes. One is green wall, sofa and shade and the other is blue and grey. Out of interest what is the right colour?

The photos look like you rushed them. The cushions on the sofa aren't even sorted and the piles of baby clutter in the living room give the impression that you have no storage space at all. I'd tidy up, push the sofa back to the wall and get a new living room photo.

Hi

I'm sorry to hear why you're moving. Have you spoken to a manager at the bank? I think it's really worth pressing the issue because the way things are, they're going to have to make allowances.

It's a nice wee house.

The photos are atrocious though. I presume your kitchen is actually white, not a peach /pink?

The lounge definitely needs rearranging & look at the colours on those photos. They're very different. The one that's green is unpleasant. (And yes, move some of the baby clutter fir the photos. Lots of people completely lack the ability to see past stuff).

I'd definitely paint your bedroom wall, a Navy will relatively easily cover the green and get a more neutral throw. Though that one might look ok against the navy.

The bathroom is a bit dated, but that's ok, it looks clean & totally serviceable and I'd far rather that & put my own choice in later than pay more for a house with a 'done' bathroom I'm not personally keen on.

You need a nicer weather photo of the garden.

You NEED. a photo of the downstairs shower/toilet. Lots of people will look through the photos & discard houses that don't appear to have what they're looking for.

But as I say, I think you'd be far better off talking to the bank, looking in MSE, calling a few brokers & doing your best to get a better mortgage on it & staying put. Selling & buying is expensive & you REALLY don't want to end up renting.

Best of luck

I can’t comment on price as I don’t know the area but I thought it looked like a nicely put together place. I would agree in decluttering the lounge a bit, not a dealbreaker by any stretch but the toys and baby stuff did draw the eye and make it look smaller than I suspect it really is. I’d also tidy up the scattering of cushions on the sofa (although how long it took me to organise cushions was a running joke with DH when we were selling so could just be me).

I’m also always a bit cautious of PB houses as I’ve heard so many horror stories of their aftercare or lack of causing chains to fall apart, which would make me worry with only a few months left of the stamp duty holiday.

I think the living room pictures need to be redone and a few pots for colour in the back garden. The living rooms needs to be much tidier and laid out to enhance the space. I think the kitchen would look better with a table in it (rectangular only), but others may not feel the same.

Remove all baby toys from the living room, weed the patio outside the double doors to the garden. Remove all but one thing from the windowsills in the bathroom. Hoover the carpet in one of the bedroom so that it doesn't look like it is marked. Ensure the sofa is more puffed up, and doesn't look as creased. The kitchen looks fine, I would probably move that table in the living room, the little white one as it serves no purpose. And I would clear the dining room table somewhat.