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We have been on since I think October, had only 2 viewings and one offer of £317k which was withdrawn as it was the top end of their budget - we wouldn’t have accepted anyway.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

Fresh flowers are wonderful for making a home look inviting and without art, there is no personality. I think a home needs to look inspiring in order to catch the imagination of a viewer. Not everyone can picture things and see the inspiration, so it's good to use the neutrals as a base and invest in some arty cushions, wall art and fresh flowers, perhaps a rug and especially look at current trends such as Cottage Core.

I'd absolutely LOSE those dreadful dingy , dark curtains and cushions and replace them with something light , bright , pretty and appealing/ arty. I'd also lose the flat cushions and buy new inners that are bouncy and fresh.

Having to sit on a sofa that has flat sofa cushions is always a dread of mine if I visit someone. I don't say unless anyone asks, but I will say that many of the influencers on Instagram who are experienced in selling properties advise new inserts. OP you did ask. There is so much potential and it's a beautiful house, but just so bland. It honestly looks like no one cares about it.

You have a lovely house and it is very tidy and well maintained. I have only looked at the photos, not at the details but do make sure you point out any positives for buyers who don't know the area; it's a family house so things like 'short distance from country park, public transport' etc.

In terms of dressing rooms for photos, some easy fixes are:

• a large print/canvas above the sofa in the lounge
• a large picture above the double bed
• a vase of flowers/green plant (can be good quality fake) for kitchen photos.
• 'dress' /set the dining table simply but neatly.
• Reorder the photos eg: kitchen, bathroom, dining area, one lounge photo, garden, bedrooms, extras (incl other lounge photos, hall etc
• Improve the master bedroom photo. Try and dress it as a hotel and take practice photos and see what looks best in the photo.
• Try and improve the kitchen photo. It's a good size kitchen. Try some practice photos from difference angles to see what looks good. Even bringing in a tub chair and a side table might work.

You are brave posting and you have a lovely house - hope it sells soon.

Must be the price. Looks like a good blank canvas in good condition.

I would repaint, especially the hallway it looked like it needed it in the video view. I think repainting always makes a home look cleaner and fresher, as your home looks relatively new I think thats what people will expect, I would also go with a different colour, snowfall by crown is lovely and then I would put some artwork with black frames on the wall to bring it together.

I think some of it looks a bit dated and grey (sorry)
I would get rid of the curtains in between the family room and dining room.
I would also change the curtains to neutral in the lounge or perhaps the nice checkered ones in a neutral tone a bit like your blanket in your lounge and bring in some more neutral tones in blankets and cushions and a nice neutral toned rug.
To warm it all up a bit more.
I would keep the wallpaper in the lounge.
I would also repaint the bedrooms to a more neutral tone it will make them feel bigger and get rid of a buyer's feeling of the extra work they will have to do when moving in.

I think alot of people lack imagination with houses.
Clean and fresh is always the way to go in my opinion.

Your house is attractive from the outside as is the street.
And you need some decent pictures of your garden.
The dining table needs to be in the dining room it looks like it takes up all the room in the family room.
Why they ever thought moving the sofa where they have was a good idea I don't know🤦🏼‍♀️

Over all a pretty house I would expect to take a lower asking price though.

Your so brave putting it up, I hope it sells soon.
Good luck 🤞

Hi, I haven't read the entire thread. I think the house is lovely and spacious and looks clean and tidy. Yes you might be able to improve the pictures a bit....but, is it the right price. If so. Don't spend thousands decorating. Most people buy for location.
Have you checked out the school catchments? Are you really in the catchments for the schools mentioned? (Right move often just goes by distance and not actual catchments) - could that impact buyers choice? E.g. if you are in catchment for an RI secondary school.

It is a lovely house that anyone would be pleased to own, but if you want to capture the imagination and make someone feel as if it could be their home, there are some good additions you could make.

It's already clean and tidy, a good canvas. By getting rid of a few things and adding a few things it could be insta ready.

*A vase of fresh flowers in the reception rooms
*Pot plants

• Seasonal items, such as Easter bunnies/Easter tree or Spring finds such as a vase of Catkins/ any other seasonal item- why not bring the outside in and capture the imagination of your buyer.
• A pop of colour in cushions, throws and wall art. These updates can include the Pantone color of the year, Illuminating Yellow or any other bold and exciting color.

If you don't feel confident in choosing ways to accent your home to it's advantage, you could consider employing a Home Stager to do it for you.
*

House prices are bonkers though aren’t they? All these little things you could change and hope for the best. While in my town it would be 600k and go in a week.

@Handsoffstrikesagain

DN you have made some great suggestions, I think you’d be a fab home stager x

Thanks, I wouldn't be confident enough IRL but I love Instagram and Pinterest as there is so much inspiration there. If anyone wants, they could search the hashtag #homestager and find loads of inspiration and also there are companies offering Home Staging courses.

Stupid autocorrect

I think people, who say your kitchen needs replacing think it looks dated. Maybe that’s because of the worktops. They’re quite dark and you’ve exacerbated that using black accessories. Maybe add some greenery or a few herbs in some light coloured pots (eg very light grey concrete). I’d go for the same sort of colours but make sure they aren’t dark so light to medium green. Maybe add a wood chopping board. Natural and woods are very in vogue.

I’m not sure you 100% really need blinds if you add the greenery I suggested. But you can make false ones. There are plenty of tutorials online to make false Roman blinds but that’s quite a lot of effort.

As for the rest of the house, I also think a lot of your house is very dark. The carpets, the furniture downstairs, most of the throws and rugs upstairs (although I see your ds has a much lighter one, which is much better), a lot of your curtains. Then in the 2 bedrooms you’ve contrasted the darkness with quite bold colours.

I would spend the your money on accessorising the downstairs and the main bedroom. As already said, a picture or mirror above the beds. Your living room cushions look tired and need replacing completely including the padding. You could review your colour scheme at the same time - I’d go for really light colours and the cream rug. If you want to add colour in the cushions, I’d go for light colours with a pop of colour.
But no dark colours. Just for example, see this cushion from dunelm. It’s light, there’s some colour there to break up the greys in the room and it complements your colours including your stool. And if you get a new pad, you may be able to get away with keeping the two pink ones So find a cushion you like, buy a couple and maybe a couple of others to compliment that cushion. Then add a plant or two, maybe a picture or mirror. I like mirrors better tbh. They make the room seem bigger and you don’t have the angst of choosing a picture you like.

Get some accessories you like for what is the dining room and a mirror above the dresser Be careful not to buy dark accessories as so much is dark already. The only exception I’d say having looked at Dunelm is a black bamboo lantern. Not for the dining room but maybe in the windowsill in your bedroom - see through rather than a block of colour.

I also would put the dining room back and the sofa inside the family room so you have the outside inside as it isn’t necessarily a family room. It could be a sun room and people with no kids could imagine themselves sitting in to enjoy a glass of wine.

The room I like best is your office. It looks very calm. Great colour combinations with the yellow shirt on the wall. I also think the master is ok but needs titivation. I agree to get rid of the fan, add some cushions and new curtains.

I’m a bit torn about the lilac bedroom. The rug and throw are too dark and the curtains aren’t great. But if you can get your main bedroom (including changing those curtains) and the downstairs right, some pictures and mirrors up and your house will look far better.

@Runkle

Argoa do cheap good quality blinds. I'd definitely add women to your kitchen, it looks unfinished.

I know this is an autocorrect but am loving the idea of adding women to the kitchen to 'finish' it

Teehee bloody phone

@slithytoveisascientist, I love that rug from Land of Rugs.

@slithytoveisascientist I think your house is very attractive from the front, it's fairly neutral and decluttered, but suffering from poor photos/staging - it looks too dark even with the lights on, weird angles and lack of "pretty" clutter (colourful flowers in vases, mirrors/pictures, bright towels and colourful cushions).

Yes there are some minuses you can't do much about - the oddly shaped lilac bedroom and the overlooked garden. But even those could be easily helped - move the bed so it's under the window facing into the room (yes "blocking" the radiator, but still better than it is now - also I'd get rid of the large dark rug, get a smaller lighter one instead so the floor doesn't look as dark).

Unless you can afford some tall bamboo type things in pots or a couple of mature trees to help shield the overlooking houses; I'd only take garden photos of your bbq area and back up towards your house from the bottom of the garden (put some colourful plants in pots on the patio either side of the patio doors).

I think your kitchen is fine - it's not exactly what I'd pick personally, but it's not dated/bad to me? But I'd stage the kitchen with a small 2 seater breakfast table (to prove it's big enough to eat in) with some bright flowers on it, and switch the dining room and playroom/second seating area around so the dining area naturally leads off the kitchen.

I'd also get a large rectangular white rug for the lounge and put a big silver framed rectangular mirror above the sofa (works with and ties in the vertical striped grey/white wallpaper and will make the room appear lighter and brighter). Then add some colour to the black/white bathrooms with fluffy coloured towels - maybe Teal?

The master bedroom is fine, I'd just add a couple of pale blue cushions with the pink one to tie in the blue walls and perhaps a picture above the bed in similar restful, pastel tones to add interest. Leave the yellow bedroom and office as they are - most of your house is lovely, it just needs minor tweaks and better, lighter photos!

Hope all this helps!

Everything is so helpful and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all this.

So would anyone mind if I came back to this for help room by room?

Am thinking to start with kitchen. Mine is a lot like this one.

So really I could in theory improve mine with:

• roller blinds (do stick on ones exist as don’t like drilling very much!)
• flowers/plant
• Tea towels
• tea and coffee caddies
• Bistro table with two chairs (with coordinating chair cushion a la the image)

And maybe a breadbin?

Fruit bowl I already have several both wooden and wire. I also have a large wooden chopping board.

What do you think? And what accent colour would you choose?

Is thiis really naff?

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Compact-2-Seater-Kitchen-Dining-Table-and-Chairs-Space-Saving-Furniture-Set/112321454775?epid=21031290291&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item1a26e162b7:g:8TMAAOSw8lpeMVpM&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACgBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkAgU0umhwUTmgTFbE5cu7zcpHJ009orhpB5HjSjNI35I4xIdF5i2QilAjZ%252F%252FD2JBQjVjYDFyHCSuQ248SqMuexotVFF9s9tFjYAlxuBfeVV%252B0OUqe9VFjxUtxgKgY4eFDBSVNQDAx3bY022GjogzNBNbtdQvxKVlK9Lz99j6nfsoGd%252FQzdRq6Ge9qy04fs0xJ%252Byk4QMJh2n6T2he5p0f7AZOJC52cNRuKki1bAD%252B5J9lRwnMMl9J06%252Fcp8%252FdV0izMlBsWGY0qZ2TJgFVH5f7lRJId12ZtDm2EHGjBnnQ3u5pGAt6BSinNSPTEZ2ljHHcIp802ZSGODYAcCz1mLNoa4Hq7qFTxbKqb2FRZmzlAl9hmV45iuzOVQqpJAELmnIF6Lv9TyaTdH0DQu2uJypKmgJsnf7HSFraMrG4GaZF7MIuXQ3DagA3SPCcaDbyGSmu3aBwQ5ipAsIUiINv8yGNOUD0C9Cs%252BOmu%252B1dozUfmu3vy9km6q%252FNCViw90V1A4a0B01A5MRnGZmN0luROTbXB9zGM0jPys8f3JdVstp18o%252BY4ZebzSMwH0naQXMmKvMRIc%252FS5%252Bw03aU3THl4WmHsLC%252BzOV0gLpUzANYctNzEFsSiV5NGoCE9gquou4pMOHscepsD9CMlYAZJrvIllfE1KNDMJaQCjQtSlCKO4cc%252Fn3EXm5mBG0YShDwDu536giS6huGlX6Kuv9UzdHURhksdj7D0jlmPZxoglQ0lsWGmsrvK%252Bac442AoidWkOWiMPAvtsX57W0n0TvnA1%252FdHu%252B1uOmKITooy8HIklSPWMLV2cW2iI%253D%7Ccksum%3A1123214547752feed06bda42474299d200e532ed1a99%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524

Ffs sorry

Oh, and after all that rambling- basically I'd spend money if I could afford it on a couple of white rugs, a big silver mirror, a pretty picture for the bedroom, bistro table for the kitchen (maybe you could rent/borrow?), colourful towels, cushions and flowers, plus a couple of pots for the patio.

Shift furniture around and "dress" the rooms to add pretty, but subtle light colour where needed. However I personally wouldn't bother with major jobs like painting/wallpapering unless something looked shabby or was very garish/off-putting - buyers will all have their own preferred colours/style which you can't guess at!

I’d go for bright green accents in the kitchen, like the photo example. You could also use the same accent in the living room - would match well with the pink and greys.
If you had large plants on the kitchen window sills you maybe could manage without blinds.

No the table’s not naff, but maybe steer away from even more wood and black - something more contemporary?

@slithytoveisascientist

Everything is so helpful and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all this.

So would anyone mind if I came back to this for help room by room?

Am thinking to start with kitchen. Mine is a lot like this one.

So really I could in theory improve mine with:

• roller blinds (do stick on ones exist as don’t like drilling very much!)
• flowers/plant
• Tea towels
• tea and coffee caddies
• Bistro table with two chairs (with coordinating chair cushion a la the image)

And maybe a breadbin?

Fruit bowl I already have several both wooden and wire. I also have a large wooden chopping board.

What do you think? And what accent colour would you choose?

If you manage to add all of this (especially the fruit bowl), no doubt the house will sell at a record price.