Why isn’t my house selling?

[slithytoveisascientist]

Please can you help?

We have been on since I think October, had only 2 viewings and one offer of £317k which was withdrawn as it was the top end of their budget - we wouldn’t have accepted anyway.

Most other houses locally seem to be moving really fast. Would appreciate guidance.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88479571#/

Very attractive but kitchen sink is style over substance. Even with a dishwasher, there is stuff that needs hand washing. Where does that go to dry? (andthat's not even a nitpick because it's such a daily reality thing)

Oh come on - you’d reject a gorgeous house because of the sink?

@Pieceofpurplesky

Pickachew I don't have a drainer for my sink. I cope. Everything goes in the dishwasher

Including non stick pans and oven trays wine glasses etc? (not quite in bed, yet)

@VinylDetective

Very attractive but kitchen sink is style over substance. Even with a dishwasher, there is stuff that needs hand washing. Where does that go to dry? (andthat's not even a nitpick because it's such a daily reality thing)

Oh come on - you’d reject a gorgeous house because of the sink?

No, but I'd not be wowed by something that makes everyday living such a ball ache for the sake of looking pretty.

Pics are fine except all the little lamps are on in every room in the middle of the day? It suggests the rooms are dark. I'd retake them with the lights off and brighten them up.

[quote Pieceofpurplesky]It's a lovely house but expensive. I am local and there are nicer houses in the area. A friend has been to look at this one a few miles away (which is in a nicer area).

Stunning extended and modernised family home
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-102591746.html[/quote]
Seems very expensive to me for a 2 bed plus tiny box room semi with one bathroom and a study accessed through the downstairs loo! Shows that some people will pay a large premium for the right ‘look’! I don’t think a rug or a lick of paint etc would be worth it for op though, you’d need to go to town and spend a lot of money. Reducing the price a bit would probably be more cost effective.

As I predicted people are coming up with a million and one reasons. I would ask your estate agent. But it’s likely to be a bit overpriced and we are in the middle of a pandemic

The walkthrough is so much more attractive than the photos. Your picture of front-of-house makes the house look twice as big.

The sitting room is by far the worst room in the house. I would paint the wall, and again I would lay down a pretty rug. I'm personally a fan of Ikea's Persisk line as a decent but inexpensive solution to lack of color: www.ikea.com/gb/en/cat/oriental-rugs-10695/ Or you can often find proper things on eBay.

Alternately, something large and plain. Or--maybe think about replacing it altogether? It's not a huge room, looks relatively level, and would be cheap to re-floor. If you painted the walls a lovely dusky blue-grey (or even a green blue? Like www.farrow-ball.com/en-us/paint-colours/green-blue) with a nice light carpet would be a delight and would handle your couch well. Could probably get away with redoing everything for a grand or close to.

I'm afraid I agree about the furniture. It's good sturdy stuff, but it's very much not in style. So lean in to the home-y-ness with a tray, some books, etc.

Don't center the couch on the far side of the wall (as if the tv were the midpoint)--pull it away from the wall with the doors. You could put a side table between the couch and the wall, should you want to, with a nice table lamp.

You can put the second couch back in. If you're going to keep the coffee table, I'd put it with the second couch and the ottoman, with a nice throw, in front of the sofa. This subtly opens up the room. When you're taking pix of the sitting room, make sure the doors are open. Gives more spaciousness, and also they're a bit out of date in terms of style.

Reverse the family room and dining room. Agree that you should only photograph one TV.

I actually like your kitchen just fine! I'd add a few more items on the counter (e.g. fruit bowl), but it's really about angle. The original photo makes it look poky; the walk-through makes it look clean and bright.

Agree about the heater downstairs (paint it), the rug in the purple room (remove it), and the orientation of the purple bed (flip it). The purple is more clearly a lovely lilac in the walk-through.

This is only going to take you so far--the price is certainly going to be an issue. But this will help.

Photographer is no good.

Photos are too dark. Can't see natural light in many of the rooms.

Kitchen is taken from a ridiculously low level where you can't even see the surfaces or the stove

Light isn't balanced between outside and inside. Suspect the photographer doesn't know how to do this. So rooms inside look too dark, light outside looks too bright. It should be bright inside the room and be perfectly exposed outside as well.

Dirty grey looking towel in the bathroom (I'm sure it isn't, but looks like it!

Garden pictures are taken at angles that make it all seem very overlooked.

Need a wider lens so see the rooms properly.

Get a new agency. and good luck!

I think it certainly has curb appeal, but concur with others - it’s really poorly photographed and not ‘dressed’ well downstairs.
Dining area where you have it normally is so much better and more logical and highlights the benefit of a second sitting room/garden room/family room.
I think the kitchen’s fine, add a small seating area. I would remove the gold curtains separating the dining room, and also take the curtains down in the garden room and photograph with the bi-folds open for a wow factor. Flowers and plants dotted around, and a couple of big pictures on walls if you can borrow them. Remove the coffee table, try different layouts to make the furniture cosier in the living area.
Personally prefer carpets upstairs wooden flooring downstairs but that wouldn’t stop me buying.
Maybe drop the price £10k when you remarket. Your house would worth about £500-£600k where I live and I do agree with you non-estate makes a big difference to my choice of house but many families with young children prefer houses on estates which unfortunately is your market.

By the way I have exactly the same tv unit as you!

These are mostly minor things that I can’t believe would be the deciding factor in buying a house. Certainly a couple of the photos aren’t the best, but overall the house is nice and I doubt the photos are stopping people viewing.

I recall reading once that if you are getting viewings but no offers you are overpriced, and if you are not getting g viewings you are way overpriced. The pandemic is no doubt also having an effect, but if others are selling and you are not it most likely comes down to the bottom line.

Nothing to add to what pp have said about the awful quality of the photos. I couldn't see past every single light being on. Then the weird angles. And then how barren it looks.

But they MOVED the dining table? And removed plants and pictures? Wowsers. And by the looks of it climbed onto DD's bed to take a photo which adds nothing.

I like you're new plan. Don't spend much OP, I'm not sure that you really need to.

It has to be the price in the end. The photos aren't great and downstairs just doesn't feel lived in and gives no sense of the proportions. It looks dark and dated , if other houses are on the market are more attractive for the money they will go first.

This is probably a bit brutal but all I could think was that it is a very boring house. It looks dull and bland. I know posters are often asked to to tone things down but I think this one needs life and vitality injected into it. Some colour and personality would go a long way. Even the garden is boring. No flowers anywhere. Maybe get the photos done to add light and see if you can add some colour.

I've gone back and looked again and can see there is colour but somehow the photos strip it out.

Seriously OP if you are going to spend any money, just take it off the price instead. All the things people have mentioned - odd photo angles, colour on walls, bland decor etc etc are just fiddling around the edges. Any house will sell at the right price. And your house is actually very nice. It’s easy for that to get lost in these threads where everyone is invited to criticise. Good luck!

You’d be making a big mistake to spend any money on the house, as I and a few others have said if it is overpriced you will not get viewings and it will not sell. The photo’s are not that bad, not so bad that people will not view of the price is ok. Your expectations are too high, you’ve already had to reduce it once and you still are getting no viewings. End of stamp duty holiday and state of the market will not help but you listed it when someone could have bought it and saved stamp duty and that still did not work. Get the price right this time (multiple price drops look awful to buyers) and don’t faff about with changing anything - it will be a total waste of your money. People on here love to play interior designer but it really will only be price given the circumstances you have described and which you seem least willing to engage in discussing.

@Handsoffstrikesagain

thewink contrary to your post, I run a very successful home staging company. It is not about ‘playing interior designer’, it is about making small changes to increase the sale ability of your house. I have plenty of sales evidence to back this up :). I am not for one minute suggesting the OP spends thousands, a few hundred is all that’s needed to improve the selling potential.

And I quite agree. IF you are in a competitive market and IF the price is right. Otherwise no amount of staging will help.

Wow,what a beautiful home. I'd move in in a heartbeat if I could. Your home is lovely, why do you want to move?

I agree staging a house can generate excitement and even secure a bidding war. People are buying a lifestyle and want to show off their new home online to friends.

But this house should sell if it’s properly priced. Yes it’s uninspiring inside but there doesn’t look to be any fundamental issues.

Any house should sell at the right price, staging generates that excitement but only if the house has a realistic price

Its nice but id add a few personal touches, candles, some pictures and some wall artbin the living room, the wallpaper wall looks a bit plain.
The outside shot makes it look semi detached rather than detached, I'd scroll past if detached was important to me.
Dress the house a bit more and turn the lights off!

It looks fine. Nice house. Must be the price. Lots of stuff already mentioned but buyers usually change things anyway. Maybe photos a bit dark but it wouldn’t put me off. I look at size, floor plan, garden and are rooms livable for now. Also is kitchen and bathroom newish. Ticks all those boxes.

It is very very dark, why are all the lights on?

Its the price. Its top whack with a kitchen that people will want to change and i cant see that there is a bath in either bathroom, so that will limit your buyers.