How many more viewers - 23 and counting!!

[Miltonglade]

We have had our house on the market since December 2020 and initially went with a local estate agent had lots of views but no real support or advice - changed to Purple Bricks in the last few weeks and they suggested reducing guide price. We are not 23 couples viewing with only one second view and no buys. House is in a nice cul-de-sac close to amenities, kitchen needs updating but is huge and bathroom the same but we don't even get lower offers help....... can't keep up the showroom tiddiness anymore with a toddler lol

Although to be fair, I'm thinking its the price too. I think you can do more with the decorating to sell it better, but I don't think that's the problem as you've had 23 viewings. I think there are just too many things people want to change and when they see the house in person it's confirmed.

Personally, I would want to redo so much, inc the kitchen and the downstairs bedroom. In the kitchen I would want to see if it can be rerigged, the unit layout is a bit too odd for me. And the downstairs bedroom I would want to make into a study or playroom. I would want the downstairs toilet to be accessible in another way, not a fan of this long room with the toilet access through there. So all that would make me look at the price of the property very critically.

Hope you get a buyer soon.

Ahh, just found it. It seems to be lacking in charm but looks like a decent basic house for a young family. I wouldn't buy it but then I am not young with a family. Agree, probably the price.

I had a quick browse on rightmove within your postcode area and there's some nice 3 beds with better living area space for around the £300k mark so maybe you need to bring the price down.
The things that would put me off it are clear from the details so i wouldn't even get as far as a first viewing.

We're actually looking at the moment. Different area but 3 bed semi/detached with reasonable garden in same price bracket. So in theory yours would work.

For me your house isn't a semi detached. Because of yours and your neighbours extensions you are a terrace. I would discount you on that just from checking streetview. I wouldn't bother viewing, I'd hope your viewers are doing at least a basic look through of your property details but it's possible they aren't.

Also looking at street view your extension under the 3rd bedroom window looks rough. I can see you've done it to not obscure the window but the roof just looks like a big expense waiting to happen. It's the first thing your viewers are seeing when they arrive. Not really sure whether that's something you can do anything about.

I agree your photos are underwhelming. Personally I'm not bothered about decor /where furniture is. I think your kitchen is fine. It looks functional which is all we're after. You've got the virtual tour which is good. I prefer to see photos in a logical order as if you were walking through the house but thats not major. Suspect it's price.

Price. Advertised as a 4-bed semi when it’s a 3-bed terrace, as others have said.

And on the video tour, it’s quite a rough finish that people wouldn’t necessarily notice in photos but will in person: eg in the sitting room you’ve got beading for the floor that doesn’t match the floor or skirting, all the central heating pipes are exposed running along and up walls, sockets halfway up walls, bathroom boxing in is old and tired: lots of “little things” that aren’t deal-breakers but together they add up to a lot of work. It just feels a bit more tired and dated than the price.

I don’t think any of it’s a hard fix, though: change the ad, lower the price, boom.

@DinoHat I just meant that the initial price (or advertised price) isn't massively wrong as the house wouldn't be getting viewings at all - I did go on to ask if there was something apparent on viewing that meant it was priced too high.

I think now the OP has posted the link, the fact that its a 3 bed with a garage conversion is probably the explanation.

Hi Op,

I think your biggest issue to solve issue is the fact that the pictures and floor plan lead the viewer to think that the garage conversion means that you can only access the garden through the house? I’d be put off having to walking grass cuttings etc through the house. What do you do?

As others have said, no front door picture does not entice the viewer to imagine living there.

The decor could be updated cheaply to reflect the current 50 shades of grey trend and appeal to a wider market. The bed positioning in one room is a bit odd looking. Remove the nets from the bathroom windows and the clutter from the bath sides etc. Put white towels put. Get rid of the minty green paint as it’s a bit 80’s. Mow the lawn, add pot plants, paint the fence - those fence sprayer devices can do it in an hour or so. I think if you applied elbow grease and about £2k you could transform the appeal. Dress the former garage as either a full WFH space (v appealing) or a guest suite. Ideally reduce the size of the sofas in the lounge with smaller, lighter coloured sofas. You can pick up ikea sofas v cheaply on marketplace or eBay and just buy new covers for them.

Nothing you have to do is insurmountable but you do need to work hard at everything else to counterbalance the fact that you have no access to the garden and have a real lawn....

Good luck!

I love these threads. Definitely stage the downstairs bedroom as a playroom. Needs some TLC though op- I’d be looking at it as needing a fair bit of work. Needs decluttering- there seems to be little random Knick naks everywhere and visible extension leads etc

Do you need to keep the bins out the front then? Because you can’t go round the side anymore?

I also think maybe it needs a bit more work than you’ve possibly recognised. The video tour shows all the carpets need replacing up the stairs and upstairs itself, and I don’t think it’s been decorated for quite some time, and some of it looks quite cheaply done Ie cheap laminate fix and fittings etc. Which is fine but you need to recognise it impacts the price you can command for it. It’s a great basic house, but you’re not going to be commanding top dollar for it due to the work required and the awkward garage conversion.

I dont think it can be decor or price on paper as you are getting viewers through the door. Something is putting them off when they view, you need to try and find out what that is. I also think purple bricks will put some people off and also they are not proactive at pushing for feedback or trying to convert to sale (why do they care, they have there fee already).

Personally I would move it to a local agent, do a bit of tarting up, defo market it as a 3 bed with office/playroom/reception room rather than a 4 bed and then hope that a good local agent will get the feedback on what is putting people off. If you want a really quick sale, lower the price to 299k and see if that helps.

I think your house is a 3 bed. No garage would be a compromise for me.

Grass cuttings? Compost area!? That’s surmountable.

It's not a four bed. It's a three bed. Really annoys me when I've been looking that things say they are a four bed but they aren't. Get that changed and drop the price to reflect it is a three bed.

I agree with posters who have said that the virtual tour is very telling. It needs complete redecoration, new kitchen (including floor), the finish is poor in areas, the neon green bathroom is not to everyone's taste and it needs staging with stuff removed for the photos.

One small thing is that I would lose the table by the 3 seater sofa and shove the sofa across to widen the access point.

I’ve just looked at the video. And I’m a bit confused. What is the actual colour of the en-suite? In the brochure it looks minty green. Which isn’t my cup of tea, but I could live with.
But on the video it looks a really garish bright lime green, which I absolutely couldn’t live with!

It's not a bad house, just lived in and not particularly up to date with a slightly odd extension/layout. Buyers will probably be feeling it needs more work than expected on closer inspection, for the price. The video tour is quite unforgiving.
I don't know how this one www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85171639#/ compares for location but it seems to offer a lot more for the money, better state of décor and more useful layout.

My first thought is that it’s overextended, giving a sense of claustrophobia. Same applies to lighting and the confusion about doors in some of the rooms. I think you need to try to give a sense of space and airiness, deal with the cluster and the heaviness.

Agree with a pp that the virtual tour is quite unforgiving and I think viewers realise when they view that its going to cost alot more than they anticipate to get into good condition.

As well as the issues with layout that you can’t really change, I think you really need to inject some charm into the garden space if you want it to be a draw, It does not feel like an exciting space. I think the house’s finish is the real issue that you might only get on viewing. The wires, the wonky hall shade, the bits of clutter on surfaces, the lime green, worn carpets, shocking kitchen floor, fans, all give a rental feel. I think these just make people mentally chop a lump off the price because they would all want to be changed.

So basically I think it might be a case of rethinking price.

What is going on with your kitchen cupboards, do they not match or is it the lighting? They look way nicer in the lighter colour at the far end.

Purple bricks would put me off.

I say appoint a proper, rated local agent and get them to do some good photos on a sunny day

Front door? How do you get in?
Ceiling fan isn't great.

Honestly it’s not in terrible condition or anything op. There’s been much worse posted on here.

But I think you probably know it does need some new carpets and a lick of paint, as much is just old or done cheaply/not done well. And the garage extension causes more issues than it fixes.

It will totally sell. Just for the right price, since you bought it for 177 nine years ago, I’m not sure it’s nearly doubled in value in that period, when it’s not been maintained.

I’d drop the price, it will shift.

For me it’s a 3 bed with an extra reception room. And the third bedroom is tiny.

It absolutely could be a selling point to have the garage conversion - lots of people are looking for home offices now. But it needs to be marketed for what it is and priced to reflect that.

Ah, I hadn't done the virtual tour, just looked at the photos and I think others are right. It needs a hell of a lot more work than the photos show.

This could well be the issue. People thinking it probably needs 50k spent on it when viewing and suddenly it's not a good price is it?

You need to do a lot of painting, re flooring or lower your price to under 300k.