Advice on our house listing please

[LancsRose75]

Hi all, I’m looking for advice from the MN property experts on our house listing please.

It’s been on the market since beginning of March.

We never actually wanted to move, we loved the house and had long term plans for it, my my husband got offered a job we couldn’t say no to so had to move. We are now no longer in the country.

The feedback we have had is it’s too expensive. We listed it at the agents recommended price which we thought was a bit ambitious and dropped it £15k almost straight away. We are reluctant to drop it again, but are still being told it’s too expensive and needs too much work doing. It’s £45k more than we paid in 2016

We’ve done So much to the house since we moved in, every rooms had new flooring, levelled out uneven floors, new internal doors, added a bathroom, opened up the loft and had it boarded, new plumbing and heating, extra powerful boiler, new kitchen... I have added the link from when we bought it and there is a very good reason there are no kitchen pictures, it was so bad we actually went without one for 4 months rather than attempt to use it.

The biggest job that needs doing is new windows and doors. There is nothing wrong with the windows other that they look old. We weren’t planning on replacing them until we had the money to renovate and extend the back of the house. I asked my husband to paint the front door, I stupidly assumed he’d just give it a coat of its original colour but he decided to paint it blue, although our plan was to do this colour eventually, it looks completely out of place the way it is now 🤦‍♀️

There are a couple of areas not covered by the agents, I’ve added pictures. I also hate the green in the agents pictures, it looks nothing like the actual colour.

Location wise, the house is on a main road but in a very sought after area, it’s a couple hundred yards from an outstanding primary school. The council actually block the road so parents don’t block resident parking so that’s not an issue, it’s with in walking distance to the township, other outstanding schools in the area, train within walking distance, within walking distance to a holiday village with lots of facilities...

Here is the link and the link to what it looked like when we bought it.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/103572305#/

Original listing

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=37356456&sale=87986772&country=england

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My husband is going to go back in a few weeks to check in the house and do some jobs. The garden will be over grown with weeds by now so he will sort those out and anything else he can.

Clearly you and your dh have worked hard on the house and put a lot of love, time, money and energy into it, so it is difficult to accept you probably won't recoup that, but the cold fact is any buyer isn't comparing with what you started with, they are comparing with other houses in the area in the same price band.

Am amazed at the number of people who think a sticker on a wall or the colour of a wall is going to make any difference though. It really won't put off anyone who might be going to buy it. It's not like you've got peeling wallpaper or a whole house covered in woodchip or dark wood panelling or anything difficult to change.

Eek that garden access would be a no go for me.

please be very careful of the 'just rent it out' advice on here. I see there is no EPC yet, you need to know if the rating will allow rental now and in a few years. You also need to cost out the insurances, cost of voids, repairs, etc etc. And I hope you are aware of the current extreme risk to all landlords due to the eviction ban.

@parietal

is the garden split in half with an alleyway or access for other people through the middle of it? that would be VERY off-putting for me, but it is not easy to work out on the photos.

if you have people who view the house but then don't offer, that could be why.

How on earth did you work that out? I’m impressed!

Photo 14 on Rightmove shows how the garden is split in half with 2 high walls & gates & probably keys etc. I wouldn't like that at all.

I think it’s a lovely house and the blue door is great .
I’d ask them to retake pictures or swap some if you can.

Woah, that garden split is a killer. It's not just about the neighbours (and however nice they are, the next ones might not be), it's about not being able to look out into your garden and go in and out of it without hassle. It's not the same at all to have to leave your yard and let yourself into a separate garden. That massively reduces the appeal for a lot of people.

Also agree that your price increase is based on what you paid for and subsequently spent on it, rather than what it's worth to anyone else. You paid that money - and accepted the garden inconvenience - because you expected to live there long-term, not because they would help sell the house. Therefore it doesn't stack up to charge so much more for the house. Maybe if it had been all finished to a great standard and looked turn-key gorgeous. But it still looks like a project and will cost someone £ for the windows and redecorating etc. It feels very overpriced, sorry.

Take off all the stickers and decals. They’re a very personal thing. To me they look messy or like they’re trying to hide something and it looks like almost every room needs repainting.

Garden access is very common in parts of the North West. It's not necessarily the deal breaker it would be in other places where it isn't a"thing".

Gosh, sorry OP but the list of things just gets longer and longer. Now it's not only finishing off the house (and there is quite a bit to do), you've reduced the number of bedrooms to 3, but it's the garden split as well plus the pricing issue. The garden split really is a very off putting factor in this. And you admit you were worried yourself about it.

When you compare your house to the other one on your road (albeit that one is £14k more expensive) there literally is just no comparison whatsoever. The more expensive one may settle at a price slightly nearer to your pricing but your house needs so much more work doing to it and has the garden split.

Sadly I think you need to take away your emotion out of it all, and what you have spent on the house, and accept that you really do need to reduce the price down to sell.

Serious credit to @parietal, I've been looking it for ages and could not work that out.

Although I just challenged DH to find the weird thing and he spotted it. Git.

OP, if the house needed so much work, will your electrics be up the new rental requirements? We've got a Victorian flat and have been told we'd just about edge through... you'd need to take that into account, as well as the EPC etc. Go into it with your eyes open!

Sorry if this sounds rude but the photos make the house look like it needs a really good clean. There is still a shampoo bottle and stickers plus other bits and bobs which is weird in an empty house, plus the beige carpet looks filthy.

Also i know you have spent a lot of money on the house but unfortunately it was all on invisible fixing type work, and the stuff that is visible, like the kitchen, looks like it was done on the cheap. None of the curtains fit so they look like they were thrown up for the sale. Also you have unfortunately got rid of a fourth bedroom at the same time the entire world is looking for study space in their house.

OP, some things that make it look like there’s lots of work:
Messy weedy lawn in front garden.
Hallway looks a bit tired and dingy - I think this is probably just the picture, but the wall colour hasn’t photographed well.
Front room - the cupboard looks like you’ve a tangle of plugs beside it. Looks untidy and makes me think there aren’t enough sockets.
There’s also a random picture of a radiator? What is that meant to tell me?
Dining area - looks dreadful with the internal window. Window film will help but it’ll still look bleak. Can you move the benches out from under the table and buy a couple cheap floor lamps & get agent to switch them on before viewings to make it look more welcoming?
The skirting board “gap” in the bedroom - at first glance the shadow makes it look like damp / mould. The need to fix skirting then repaint is yet another job...
Back yard is depressing. Can you put out some potted plants, even just for the pictures?
The bit at the back with rotten window frame looks awful. It makes the whole house look super run-down. You need to get agent to drop this picture or take it so the window frame doesn’t look as bad.
The curtains all look a bit hap-hazard in the pictures: it would look smarter just for having them gathered evenly and with extra curtain hooks added.

Some of these are easy wins (even just new photos would fix some of it!). It’s hard when it’s your home to think of making changes to sell it, but these are really small fixes.
The beautifully done mid-terrace for £14k more does suggest though that yours is very overpriced- sorry.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

Serious credit to *@parietal*, I've been looking it for ages and could not work that out.

Although I just challenged DH to find the weird thing and he spotted it. Git.

OP, if the house needed so much work, will your electrics be up the new rental requirements? We've got a Victorian flat and have been told we'd just about edge through... you'd need to take that into account, as well as the EPC etc. Go into it with your eyes open!

Yes, we upgraded the electrics along with the plumbing when we moved in.

Wow, you've got to have a very thick skin to share a link to your house on here

@Saz12

OP, some things that make it look like there’s lots of work: Messy weedy lawn in front garden. Hallway looks a bit tired and dingy - I think this is probably just the picture, but the wall colour hasn’t photographed well. Front room - the cupboard looks like you’ve a tangle of plugs beside it. Looks untidy and makes me think there aren’t enough sockets. There’s also a random picture of a radiator? What is that meant to tell me? Dining area - looks dreadful with the internal window. Window film will help but it’ll still look bleak. Can you move the benches out from under the table and buy a couple cheap floor lamps & get agent to switch them on before viewings to make it look more welcoming? The skirting board “gap” in the bedroom - at first glance the shadow makes it look like damp / mould. The need to fix skirting then repaint is yet another job... Back yard is depressing. Can you put out some potted plants, even just for the pictures? The bit at the back with rotten window frame looks awful. It makes the whole house look super run-down. You need to get agent to drop this picture or take it so the window frame doesn’t look as bad. The curtains all look a bit hap-hazard in the pictures: it would look smarter just for having them gathered evenly and with extra curtain hooks added.

Some of these are easy wins (even just new photos would fix some of it!). It’s hard when it’s your home to think of making changes to sell it, but these are really small fixes.
The beautifully done mid-terrace for £14k more does suggest though that yours is very overpriced- sorry.

Thanks @Saz12

I’m definitely more and more unhappy with the photos, they were done after we left. They don’t show the wardrobe in the main room is actually walk in or the size of the ensuite. In fact I don’t think they show the real size of any of the rooms.
The cables are actually for the outside sockets in the garden, they are fed through that wall. We could feed them back through if we need to.
The radiator, I’m assuming the agents are trying to look at the size of the room 🤷🏼‍♀️
I couldnt figure out what gap in the skirting board every one is referring to in the bedrooms as there is none. But now I’m thinking the pink room? Is it next to the wardrobe? That’s there so the wardrobe can open. Agree those skirting boards definitely need a fresh coat and my DH is doing that room when he goes back.
That table in the back room has gone now. We never really used it as a dining room hence no real dining table, it was a play/tv/craft room. The agents took the photos the day before a friend went in and painted it for us so It should look better now. DH is going to see what he can do with it.
I agree with the rotten frame. I hate it, it was a job to be done. I agree with dropping the picture.
Again the back yard 🤦‍♀️ We started digging it up but then never got time to finish it. My DH is going to see what he can do with it. He’s going to do the front garden and plant some flowers and do the weeding when he goes back.

I think the difference with the old listing and this new one is definitely the pictures, the old agents didn’t take pictures of things that needed doing unlike these ones.

Thank you for your advice.

@BackforGood

Wow, you've got to have a very thick skin to share a link to your house on here

Haha I do 😂

If you have a garage, you need to say that early on in the listing. The other house on the same street doesn't have a garage.