Help! What are we missing with our house sale?

[GXDavid]

Hi Everyone,

We had sold our house but then got dropped three weeks before exchange. We have had some viewers and a lowball offer but haven't found that right buyer yet.

Our house is a 1928 Arts & Crafts style house in a private estate, ten minutes from the station/ shops and with a good selection of local private and public schools included a coveted catchment and distance to Dr Challoners grammar schools. The house is fully modernised (wiring, plumbing, heating, windows, kitchen and bathrooms) and is neutrally decorated apart from the kitchen/ dining room which is big enough to take quite a bold maroon colour that offsets the modern kitchen and flooring. For the local market we are on point re pricing , if not a little cheap. So my question is what are we missing?

If you look at the details - what is there that might put you off? Any comments very gratefully received as we feel like we have done everything we can to present the house but wonder if we are missing anything?

www.frostweb.co.uk/property-details/375332/buckinghamshire/gerrards-cross/the-queensway-1

Thanks and regards,

David

I think the problem is the price. We’re looking for a house of about that size and in that price bracket in a different area at the moment.
When I did a quick Rightmove search of all detached houses with at least 4 bedrooms within 3 miles of GX priced at £1m - £1.5m there were many I would view before choosing yours.
I like ultramodern and I love period properties but, in the photographs, yours doesn’t strike me as either of those things. I think there is an appetite for new and for very old but your house falls somewhere in the middle. The exterior is not in vogue and there are others for sale very near you which are. Sorry. I don’t mean to be rude and I’m not saying that I wouldn’t view yours but I am definitely saying that I would view quite a few of the others first and only see yours if they were unsuitable.

The vast majority of people want to visualise living in a house. When a house is a lot of money, people want it to feel good! At £1/4 you would not bother but this area has very many decent houses and it is a competition to get yours sold. So how rooms are used and displayed is important in this market. It’s aspirational and the interior here doesn’t match that. But not everything is expensive to change!

Whoever posted the plant link, thank you

It’s just a bit vanilla, mostly. A nice enough house, but most of it doesn’t have much personality and then the kitchen has a little too much personality. Most of the period features are there, but the light neutral colours make me not really notice the picture rail. And I think some of your features have just not survived. We live in a house of similar period, and the Rightmove photos were awful, for which I am eternally grateful, because it meant there wasn’t a lot of interest and we got a good price. You’re at a price point where someone needs to fall in love with the house but it didn’t make me want it. It’s nice and bright and clean, but ultimately feels really modern.

I think it looks great. Don't know area to comment on value / police.
However, I wouldn't even view a house with such a poor EPC score. Particularly not as it has already been refurbished, hence I would think near impossible to make efficient.

Its huge! Know any footballers with matching salary?

Ooh; tough crowd!

To some of your points. We bought it sixteen years ago and it had not been touched for thirty years. No original features were removed other than a hideous green tiled gas fire in the living room.

I am intrigued by the queries about flow and what is suggesting that there is no flow?

The house flows off of the hall; I'm not sure where you get the feeling that the dining room is off of the kitchen (just a study and utility).

Kitchen - we didn't want to use an island as it seemed a bit pointless and preferred to zone by doing an L shape of worktops. Classic triangle with sink looking towards window, fridge to the right and ovens behind on back wall of kitchen (worktops to the left).

9ft ceilings!

@HardAsSnails

I was expecting it to have some arts and crafts character or heritage inside but it looks like it's all been stripped away to make way for an identikit modern interior.

At that price the garden should be landscaped or at least thoughtfully and attractively planted.

It's a shame, it's a lovely looking house from outside.

Exactly this. It's a beautiful house from outside but the inside is soul-less, hard and shiny (sorry, and only in my opinion of course). It's not in keeping with an Arts & Crafts style and therefore may be disappointing viewers who want the A&H vibe.

If I was looking for an A&H sort of house and had 1.5m to spend, this would not be it.

It is Gerrards Cross and the price point seems right. I am not a fan of the maroon in the kitchen but if I was buying I could see past that to what I would want to change it to but many people can't.

I do think the Frost pictures aren't particularly good. I also know that many estate agents do not want to put pictures of all rooms online so that there is "something to view" but currently with covid many people are doing more virtual viewings and then choosing just a few to see. It may therefore be worthwhile having more and better pictures done.

I think at that point in the market people are waiting to see if the market drops a little after the stamp duty holiday ends (or is extended).

It doesn’t look big. The garden looks quite small. The photos must be really bad.

My pet hate is an integral garage. It really spoils the look of the house. Did people want garages at the time it was built? I'd get rid of it. You have plenty of parking.

I don't like it ? It's doesn't flow and I'd have to spend loads on it to make it to my taste so although the price is right for the area ( as you say ) I'd want it 'done' .. I think it's a bit unusual inside and not very 'current' so it will take time to find that person .

Gorgeous from the outside. Nowhere near enough photos though. Where are all the rooms it seems very small considering the size from the outside
Don’t like the kitchen paint, but easily changed.
The bedroom doesn’t have a high end finish at all, and is there only one?! like it doesn’t really belong.
It’s very modern and empty...and not what I expected from the outside.
I’m sure some people will love it, I expected it to look more traditional on the inside and more homely.

It's just too big and empty, cold looking. I keep imagining the fuel bills!

I think if it was Home Staged, it would take people's minds off how much the bills might cost.

It seems quite dark and dated, and very very few pictures, non at all of the other 4 bedrooms. The pricing point may be right but I think for most buyers it's going to cost them a lot of money to get it looking up to scratch.

The photos aren't great.

It looks very much like they were done by an estate agent with a camera, as opposed to a professional photographer. At a £1.5m house I would expect the agent to be employing the services of someone who knew how to take a decent shot. The main front shot is taken at the wrong time of day for a start.

You don't need to photograph every part of every room, least of all bedrooms. The photos are there to sell the lifestyle and entice prospective buyers to arrange a viewing.

The photography here is not up to standard.

And the estate agents description is shockingly poor, just a few lines! New estate agent I think is your best bet, they haven't done your property justice AT all

I think buyers would negotiate on price.

I am assuming this house is in The Firs conservation area? That makes it more interesting to buyers. (I notice CDC said it was Chalfont St Peter!). It’s a decent established area of GX so I think you will sell with a few tweaks. You don’t need to spend a fortune but you need to show individual rooms for individual use. I’m one of the few posters who actually knows the area. You cannot make this house like The Red House. There are lots of houses like this in the area. You have to try and give it more soul with a nod to its heritage.

Your agent also hasn't contacted Rightmove to get the listed date updated after the fall through, it still says "Added on 30/09/2020"

Well if that’s when it was originally for sale: it still is! No change.

Obviously, with the time of year the back garden is difficult; I am a bit nervous cutting it too short until things warm up.

You don't want to prune back anything hard now but you could trim off worst stragglers. You can mow the lawn in winter:

www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=425

You can't do much about the bare patches at the edge of the terrace now but you could cover them with potted plants.

I think the price is reasonable but not cheap. If you want to sell I'd probably drop the "offers over" and encourage offers. I expect things will be slow now stamp duty holiday is coming to an end

Eg I'd probably look at these and think that yours isn't worth the extra £000
www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=62064576&sale=10060666&country=england
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/76582482#/

Well if that’s when it was originally for sale: it still is! No change

That's when it was originally for sale, but presumably under offer for a large chunk of time since the end of September, so a simple email to RM attaching the sales memo and advising RM the sale has fallen through and RM will update the "added on" date.

As others have said, too few photos, none of key rooms.
The garden would deter me a bit, looks like a patch of rough grass (but might well suit family with children).

I haven't read the full thread but I've read your replies, and please bear mind that I have no knowledge of the area or your local housing market.

I think the replies that I have read are a little harsh, I think the main issue is that you havent got enough photos and the ones that you do have need to be retaken as the estate agent hasnt done a good enough job to show it to it's full potential.

I think you need more photos of every room, for a house worth £1.5m you definitely need 25-30 photos (if not more!)

It is possible that the style of kitchen isnt what people are looking for if they are looking for that style of house - is the house priced accordingly for someone to spend money updating the kitchen?

I would say that I would assume for someone looking to buy a house of this size they are probably buying it as a family home and the interior decor/layout shown in the available photos doesnt really scream "this house is suitable for family life".

I'm not saying you should change your decoration but it's something you'll need to bear in mind if you're not getting people through the door to view it, but think about your potential buyer.

Have you had many viewings? Is the house listed on rightmove and zoopla?

I actually think that the garden is a good size and the rooms are all large and have lots of light which are great plus points.

Good luck with selling and I'm sorry your original sale fell through!