Advice Welcomed on Sale of My House

[goodbyestranger]

I get on well with the agent who says he doesn't think a price reduction is a good idea; that the price is right. His view seems to be that the house may take a while to sell because I just need 'the right person'. The obvious problem is no on site parking but there's plenty on street parking nearby: I've parked on the street opposite for forty years (for the last twenty with a large VW nine seat people carrier) and there are a number of other spaces just a few steps up the road. A similar house with parking sold for £200k more a couple of years ago and another where parking could be created, assuming planning permission and c. £20k to create, sold for £50k more this summer. A smaller house with a small garden and no comparable views and no parking and much, much further from the beach sold for £125 less a few weeks ago. It's a ten minute flat walk along a National Trust path to the incredibly beautiful beach and the buses to both local schools (one a comp, the other a top co-ed grammar) stop at the door. I've brought my eight DC up in this house - admittedly a bit of a squash, but they love the house even so. I can't create any on-site parking, it just isn't there. The other possible issue is the extension I had to build in 2006 to accommodate the family as they grew. It's not the best looking extension ever but all that could be done within the confines of very strict planning controls in the area (AONB - Jurassic Coast) and is a really lovely room inside. The village community is vibrant and welcoming. Advice on how to proceed welcomed.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/73186305#/

I think it’s lovely and done well. However.

I think the extension is letting you down. It looks very odd with the three beds and the table looking over them and obvs doesn’t fit with the type of property. I’m surprised it was givenplanning permission to be honest.

I’d try to make it look better in some way. A double bed, chest of drawers etc. Make it a beautiful bedroom with the mezzanine level with a dressing table, mirror etc. It’s like something out of Goldilocks and the three bears right now.

In addition as others have said, the kitchen table is too big for the kitchen.

I would lose pic16 from the listing. It doesn't look good.
The extension might not look so odd in real life and maybe by the time they have seen (and loved) the rest of the house it might not be a concern. But from the picture I might be unlikely to book a viewing.

The pleasant outlook of the house (and those lovely views) are not in any way evident from picture one. It looks like a pretty cottage with a garage stuck to the front and a concrete paved frontage.
Inside was a pleasant surprise compared to the first picture. It's lovely. And the views - wow
Also echo other poster's comments about the downstairs bedroom. It's like there are too many bedrooms for the living space you space - I think reconfiguring it into a garden / dining room would work better. I imagine that a lot of purchasers in your area are likely to be looking for a second home so 3 bedrooms is likely to be more than enough for most.

MustDust good point about the furniture. In fact quite a bit (but not the huge farmhouse kitchen table) has gone to a DC since the photos were taken, so the house in reality already feels a lot more spacious.

Yes Viviennemary the extension was the result of a massive compromise between necessity (housing the DC), not wanting to spoil the front of the house, and strict planning controls. But I fully accept it's not what I'd have had in an ideal world (I'd have bought next door as an annexe instead :)).

A gorgeous house. If you can't do anything about the parking it's not worth bothering about. The right person will come along for whom all the other features outweigh the lack off on site parking.
Definitely agree with everyone else to turn it back into a house for less people. A family of 8 kids is unusual, and you'll have made style compromises to fit them in! Declutter and downsize the furniture.

I think it’s marketing it as a four bed that’s the problem. When uni children go back, could you present that back room as a living area (with reading nook where the chairs are?), current living area as dining area and remarked it as a spacious three bed?

*re-market

Bluntness I do agree about the extension but at the time I had it designed and built my only concern was to make enough room for a large teenage family. I have in all seriousness suggested to the agent that I knock it down but he says.... you cannot be serious! Literally nothing else would have passed the planners but we were a bit surprised (though relieved) that this did. It's ugly from the outside (but maybe a cleverer gardener than me could do something with it?), but lovely to work in or be in inside, and enabled us not to move house when none of us wanted to one bit. I shall definitely try to work a bit of magic on it when term re-starts.

I wonder if you could get up to the top of the field on the other side of the road and take a photo of the front of the house. So you can see the house with the views behind

It's lovely inside OP. I think to make the beds look more made, just pull the duvet down to cover the side of the mattress and perhaps put the pillows on top of the duvet. Agree with removing the big table and the extra bed, that'll make a difference too.

For me OP, and I'm sorry if this is a bit brutal, I assumed it was either mould, very old paint or that ivy had been removed from the front of the house and wouldn't have looked any further if I was a buyer. I showed DH without commenting and he thought ivy had just been taken off the front. Might that be putting people off? Is there a way of photographing the front so it's clear that's it's actually stone? The picture didn't make it at all obvious. Best of luck!

It’s a beautiful house and I definitely wouldn’t knock the extension down.

The stand outs for me are:

i) kitchen looks cramped so I’d remove the table and put it in the extension or if you don’t want it in the extension try a much smaller set up with bench seating
ii) bedroom in extension looks very unloved. Either reconfigure as additional living space (dining table /set mezzanine up as a study area) or at least remove a bed.

All of the beds could do with box valances on the bottom and a large throw blanket on end to make them look a little less like student bedsit accommodation.

For a beautiful but quirky house like yours you need to sell the lifestyle.

Bedroom 4 is very weird, for the purposes of selling the place I'd make that into either a dining room or a games and tv room and get rid of all those beds, that would really put me off.

WanderingHopefully that's really interesting and is the second comment about the front of the house/ its stone. In fact no ivy has ever grown anywhere at all around the house (the family has had the house for decades). It's just very clean Beer stone which is unusual in the village - there are only three house with Beer stone in Branscombe, and it's highly prized but clearly not photogenic! Very useful comment though, along with the previous one.

Its a beautiful house, in a beautiful location OP and I would be very interested in it, if I was actually in a position to drive down to view it.

However, I agree with many of the comments about the kitchen table, beds in the extension etc and am sure it would be worth you re-dressing the house and photographing again.

I personally dislike the extension and if I was buying the house would probably remove it, but again that is resolvable.

I suspect your issues are the parking problem and the fact that a lot of people out of area will be struggling to visit Devon to view it.

I would also be be questioning your agent. I have had experience of Humberts, albeit in Yorkshire not in Devon. I found they lacked proactivity and I became frustrated at their lack of follow through when people did view, or when, after the first month, my Rightmove viewing figures began to decline.

Given the price of your property and the fact that it could be attracting interest from out of area, I would be questioning why they haven’t added a video walk through on Rightmove. I would also be challenging why they haven’t discussed the photos with you and suggested areas where moving furniture etc might improve the marketing. If a group on MN can identify issues, why can’t they?

You are paying them a lot of money and they really need to earn it !!

The thing I love about this type of thread is how different people notice different things.

The first thing I noticed was the 'eyelashes', the kitchen table didn't even register with me (I actually had to go back and have a look!) because all I saw in the kitchen was the Aga / Rayburn, then my eyes went "blah blah ooh nice display cabinet in the living room, ooh lovely garden" and that was about it!

I clearly don't belong on these threads

I've already given my feedback, but just jumping back on to say that I completely disagree with the people who think the extension lets it down! It's doesn't work as a bedroom, but I think it's a really nice space - the mezzanine, the skylight, the French doors... If I were a prospective buyer, it would definitely be a selling point for me.

The poll is becoming very, very clear: extension remodelled inside and kitchen table substituted. It's striking just how hard it is to see these things with your own house. We just always needed a huge table and I've inched around it for years to get between the sink and the fridge (it's a bloody nuisance!), but I shall be delighted to shift it actually, with fewer DC here at any one time, even without it hopefully aiding a sale.

CarrieMoonbeams you most certainly do belong on these threads! I've always loved the eyelashes too (and your subsequent comments are nearly as good :)).

Thanks PowerslidePanda. It's weirdly nice as a space inside but just weird outside - that seems fair. It already has tv point and phone etc there, so it will be pretty easy to convert.

A few thoughts:

It would be good to show a picture of your studio, showing it as a home office in use (a very in demand feature I imagine).

I wonder if the dining table could be moved to the living room, and then one of the sofa go into the extension, to look over the lawn?

The bedrooms all look a little same-y - I couldn't work out which was the master without a lot of looking. Adding some colour, maybe with bedspreads could help. Agree with other posters that the beds could look neater. If the double bed isn't already in the master, move it in there.

The picture of the extension with all the beds looks a bit youth-hostel-y.

Put the chamber-pot away and put the lovely jug and wash basin on the table in the bathroom!

Although you say parking is not a problem - it looks like it is in the pics. The road looks narrow and as if a parked car would block up one lane - so if you can park a car there at viewing times - it might be a good idea, if the agent and client don't need it if course. Looks like a nice well looked after property.

inmylifeIlovedthemall very interesting comments. I like the people on the local team and I guess I don't want any arguments or hassle which might make them think I'm a nag. That's not my usual position but I'm fairly nervous about this sale and the other agents in the area are either very small and local or huge big house agents. They're at least positive, so I've been lying low and just keep sweeping and polishing and hoping that someone will turn up and offer to buy....

tara66 the lane widens right behind the house and I completely agree about leaving my car there, especially given how enormous it is.

It’s a beautiful house. Going to add to the comments about smaller/ neater table and chairs in the kitchen and making the extension look like a fabulous master bedroom. Definitely take some photos of the studio as a home office as that would be a brilliant plus point in these working from home days.

Holyrivolli the studio in the garden currently has two single beds in as well as a large table for work, so that looks like another job - getting rid of those beds too.

I think I've been quite lazy - just leaving the place set up for DC to come back to, rather than moving things around to appeal to a more conventionally sized family. It genuinely hasn't crossed my mind.