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We have been on since I think October, had only 2 viewings and one offer of £317k which was withdrawn as it was the top end of their budget - we wouldn’t have accepted anyway.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

The pictures aren't great - they make it look dark downstairs, and although there are lots of rooms, each room looks cramped.

Mind you, looking at the dimensions, some of the rooms are meanly sized.

I think you've overdone the decluttering in the living rooms, and in fact the main bedroom. They're very characterless and unhomely.
The lilac bedroom looks very awkwardly shaped - could you change the arrangement of the furniture so the bed isn't stuffed in that cubbyhole hole? It may work for you but it's a bit weird.
The photo of the yellow bedroom is taken from a strange angle and now that the idea of a bed in a cubbyhole has been planted in my head, I am wondering is this bed is in a cubbyhole too.

I think those photos are just not good enough. I'd ask they be redone.

The living room. You need to get those photos reshot because they’re taken at weird angles and it just doesn’t look very welcoming. It looks very well kept and tidy though.

I agree with PP, photos are strange angles (the low angle is particularly irksome), and all the lights on makes it look very dark. Especially because you can see a good amount of sunshine in the garden.
Garden photo highlights how overlooked it is - is there a better angle?
Decor doesn’t bother me to much, although I would probably remove the coffee table and open the doors between that room and the next. And remove the heavy curtains to to dining room - you want to give a sense of flow and space.

More photos of the kitchen - like pp have said it doesn’t give a good sense of the space.

Good luck!

Fab feedback thank you!

We will defo be changing agent
Noted on the lights
I have a grey rug or indeed no rug for DD room
They are all big double bedrooms, the smallest fits a double and a wardrobe (currently a study)
You can eat in the kitchen but only a bistro table really

This is what the living room usually looks like, they moved the blue sofa!

I think those who missed the stamp duty holiday are waiting to see what is in the budget on 3rd March. If the stamp duty holiday isn't extended then people will take this into account when making an offer.

I know we're supposed to declutter before advertising a house for sale, but the photos look very drab with nothing homely. It looks like a fine building but the inside looks like a partially furnished house for let to me. Sorry. 😬

It's lovely but I agree, the estate agents would put me off

I'll be honest. It looks like you've just moved in and unpacked. The only character and warmth is in the children's rooms.

It's not overly modern and wow which is what a lot of minimalist houses are like.

It's lacking warmth and pazazz. I agree that the photos are poor. They don't help. They've very dark. I think you should add some colour and character in the decoration, like flowers outside and inside, and see if they can retake the photos as the lighting's bad.

I know nothing about the area and pricing but the photos are DREADFUL. Angles are so unflattering, they show more the furniture and floor than the rooms. It's taken me ages to realize your lounge continues into an additional sitting area, then a back extension! There is no sense of the space and flow from those pics.

Your house is nice, OP. You have it very clean and tidy, and it has plenty of kerb appeal. My thoughts would be to repaint the purple room white, and get rid of the scatter cushions in the lounge as they look very old/messy. Coffee table might be crowding the lounge, try removing it or at least take the dish thing off it.
Try and get a cuddle seat or something in the bay window as currently that room is being shown as only fitting one sofa.

Basically there are two ends of the town, our end houses do sell for significantly more.

The £250k town house is just a very different sort of house, I’m not sure we would attract the same buyers

Photos are not good. Bad angles, bad lighting.

(Former estate agent employee)

Firstly, picture one, lovely looking house. Great first photo

The photos inside do look quite dark and clearly a wide angle lense hasn't been used. I'd get the photos taken again and make sure they are edited to be as bright as possible and use a wide angle lense

The lounge does look a bit bland

What prices are similar properties? Price is the usual reason a property hasn't sold, unless there's a landfill next door we don't know about

When we were house hunting Sept-Nov we saw a house that had been for sale since January. They eventually budged on the price and it sold within days

Last week I heard that compared to previous years there's currently 250,000 less houses for sale so that will mean there's a lot less interest in your house as people aren't moving as much. A lot of uncertainty out there with people on furlough etc who also can't get a mortgage right now

I want to add, I think the house is lovely. It has kerb appeal and is a good size, clearly very well looked after. I think with updated pictures, you'll do better.

@lastqueenofscotland

First and foremost there is a four bed within half a mile of yours on for £250k... which sorry to be brutal is nicer - very newly decorated and very smart kitchen so it’s most likely price

That aside. The living room looks very drab.
The lilac room is really not great. It’s a weird shape and VERY purple.
The kitchen isn’t “old” but already looks slightly dated.
Being brutal nothing is unpleasant but it’s all a bit meh. I’d scroll past it.

That 4 bed for 250 is a town house. A detached is much more appealing to a lot of people.

OP, if I were visiting as a guest, I would think your house is perfectly lovely. But as a buyer, it doesn't stand out as particularly attractive. The bedrooms aren't appealing and could do with neutral colours or less garish colours. Other than that, it looks ok to me, just wouldn't excite me. Buyers would need to see the bigger picture. But, in the current climate, I think you really need to paint that picture for them and be more enticing.

First immediate impressions

The main photo made me think it was a semi detached which I’d dismiss straight away I can see it’s not but people scrolling may think that.

So many main lights and lamps on in the middle of the day suggests it’s dark and has no natural light

Most of the photos are taken from a weird low down angle and don’t show the rooms off well

Lose the photo of the back garden looking out. All it says is how over looked you are. You’re eyes are just drawn to the houses behind not the garden

it's a nice house, well looked after, a bit bland but you've probably tidied everything away to sell.
i think it must be price if you've only had 2 viewings.

The only photos I didn’t like were the dark lounge, turn the lights off and edit the photos to make them brighter.

I think the kitchen looks spacious, the hallway looks clean, bedrooms looks like good size, front of the house looks lovely.

The only downstairs room that has any light/outlook is the dining room, which you’d barely use. I’d want that as a living room and the formal dining room somewhere else. Otherwise it’s a bit grey for me, but lots of people like that, I’m sure it will sell, it’s nothing bad about it. Does it compare price wise to other houses that have sold?

Poor quality lighting in photos
Bad angles of photos
Although the house looks clean and decluttered it looks soulless and uninspiring.
It needs dressing
Change the walk paper in the sitting room and give it a focal point
get rid of the curtains in the sitting room dividing the two rooms
Repaint the pink bedroom white and possibly re paint the yellow bedroom white also

Have a look at similar houses which have sold

A four bed town house in our street goes for around £70k less than a four bed detached in the same street so I don’t think that’s relevant

Photos are very poor. Not doing your house justice at all. I’d move bed in lilac room 90 degrees so looks bigger space. Sitting room needs pops of colour. Price. Always price.

What would you do to the kitchen and carpets? We can move the bed in DD room.

Which rooms are meanly sized? I’ve never felt that ☺️ Can’t do too much on that one

It's a nice house, but the photos make it look cold and flat. You have removed all the clutter, which is normally good - but in this care I think a wee bit of set dressing would bring a bit of warmth back to the rooms.

The furniture placing in some of the rooms - especially the living room - is of the "everything jammed against the walls" type, which makes the room look boxy and small, and really not comfortable at all.