No offers on our house

[housetales]

Our house has been on the market for 2 months - launching as the school holidays started which I think was a huge mistake - with what I'd describe as a handful of viewings (mostly right as it went live).

The price it's been listed at was the agent's price, not ours, and when compared with others locally, doesn't seem OTT. All the agents who came round gave similar valuations too. No viewers have said upon viewing it that it is overpriced either.

We had only one bit of negative feedback and it was only from a couple of viewers, not all - that we are overlooked from the side of our property - so we purchased some 10ft trees to allay that concern.

I'm putting myself out there with a link to see what you guys think so be gentle! Should we stay on the market or take it off for now? I should say we only went on the market as we fancied a project for our forever home and were told there was a massive opportunity in our price range as there is such limited supply.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110082437#/?channel=RES_BUY

Mine has been on the market for 5 weeks, had 8 views, no offers.
I've even reduced it by 25k as I just want to get moved but nothing so far.

Everything is slowing down now unfortunately after the mad rush re:stamp duty

It’s the way the ghost has deliberately turned it round to look at the camera.

The only 'issue' I could see is the overlooking neighbours- is that standard though for the area and the price point? You're never going to have loads of viewings at that price point- it's more likely to be less viewings that a house at 300-400 juts due to the number of people looking

No seriously tho. It’s a lovely house. The hallway and sitting room are lovely, and I think the photos are great. It’s the kitchen and the bathrooms as everyone has said. They look like they belong to a totally different house.

Ok so apologies in advance for being brutal but here is my first-look reaction to all the pics on your Rightmove ad, in sequence:

Pic 1: is that curve of lawn bordering on the road? It’s very close to the windows. Front of house looks very bland. Not got much kerb appeal. Is that two actual car-sized garages at the far side? Looks like two smaller sized doors.

Pic 2: ditto but looking slightly nicer at dusk; why both?! Just use this one.

Pic 3: ok so it IS two full garages; but my attention is focused on the utility lids in the tarmac - not very appealing. Pic should be angled higher up/zoomed in more.

Pic 4: really unappealing entrance pic, does not look sufficiently grand. Have you considered turning the entrance into a porch running across that alcove?

Pic 5: doesn’t add anything

Pic 6: nicer than pic 1

Pic 7: (most people would have given up scrolling by now) not sure what I’m looking at here. Stairs? Looks like I’d bash my head going up those stairs - very low ceiling. Also grey decor - dated. The eye is drawn to a plug socket!

Pic 8: another shot of the same steep looking staircase and some framed jelly babies ?! Still no sense of the actual living space.

Pic 9: ah, finally some actual living space. Low ceiling, long and narrow.

Pic 10: more of the same room, unnecessarily

Pic 11: I’m going to step out onto the decking and shin myself on one of those sharp-edged bits of furniture which are positioned too narrowly

Pic 12: same again, other direction, unnecessary

Pic 13: dining space

Pic 14: same again other direction unnecessary (this one is better than the previous one)

Pic 15: study with three random Christmas trees - ?!

Pics 16-19: kitchen - I think this has been covered pretty well already by other posters

Pic 20: large bedroom, very cheap looking wardrobe doors

Pic 21-22: two shots of same bathroom

Pics 23 and 24: bed with therapist’s chair?

Pic 25: bathroom

Pic 26: bed, cheap door, another odd chair

Pic 27-28: bathroom

(TBC in another post)

@Candleinthebreeze

I haven’t read every post so sorry if I’m duplicating.

It’s an estate type location, the gates mean nothing, any estate in the country can stick some gates at the end of the road it doesn’t increase the value.

The house isn’t unique, is built from a common style plan, using run of the mill materials, fixtures and fittings. And it’s in Sutton Coldfield, hardly a place full of millionaires.

It’s just not worth the money, sorry to be so blunt

It's fine to be blunt, don't worry.

But I'll argue with you on one point as will anyone else on here that lives in or near Sutton Coldfield. There are a LOT of millionaires round here!

@Shinyflecks

If you really want to sell. And for that price you desperately need an interior designer.

Is there a window missing on the back? 😵‍💫

No, where you're thinking a window should be, it juts out left and right with windows to both aspects.

@HTKB

It’s the way the ghost has deliberately turned it round to look at the camera.

Can I command a higher price with a ghost as a tenant? Just asking for marketing purposes

Ok, no criticism, but for the price, there are issues
The overlooked garden, it is kind of off putting. I’d delete that photo
The garden itself it’s quite plain and featureless, nothing about it is particularly appealing. It’s quite stark.
House itself is utterly spotless you and the kids must be wearing paper soco suits
It’s maybe overpriced

Im sorry but for me its too nouveau riche. If I had that kind of money to spend then it wouldnt be on an obvious new build with a nouveau interior.

Sorry but you did ask!

@Porridgeislife don't for goodness sake remind people who live in this area that it is part of Birmingham or heaven forbid, Walsall!!

Sutton Coldfield is separate darling.

Sorry OP, I have nothing useful to add, but good luck. I'm at t'other end of Sutton

You say you have redecorated recently, but honestly I think it's the decor that is letting you down here. I think a lot of people would think 'lovely house, but I am going to have to redecorate the entire thing'. There's a lot of yellow which is a love it or hate it colour. The pelmet things over the blinds as well as the actual blinds are a really strange choice (dated style and a long way from neutral). I think if you painted the entire house white and got neutral blinds or curtain poles and plain curtains and furniture/fittings, it would sell in a heartbeat.

The decking is grey. I would absolutely not buy a house with grey decking. It's just going to date and will need replacing in short order. I admit I don't really love decking anyway but grey decking would immediately make me think no way.

I can see it's a house that you have carefully decorated to your taste and it works for you but I also think this style won't work for everyone. If you are spending that much on a house, you don't want to have to change absolutely everything in order just to feel comfortable in it. I like lots of colour and have a fairly quirkily decorated house myself. But I would not buy a house decorated in this style. A neutral house will mean people can imagine putting their own stamp on it much more easily. It means they can imagine their own furniture and belongings in there. It means they are not thinking 'I wonder how much it will cost to redecorate the entire thing in one go'.

I don't mind the bathrooms or kitchen apart from the yellowy cabinets but can imagine making that work with other choices on the walls and floor. But that would be fairly expensive.

Sorry OP but it is definitely the decor letting you down here.

Pic 29: chair, crib (presumably empty? No signs of actual family life anywhere)

Pic 30: child’s room

Pic 31: light fitting it looks like I would bash my head on going down stairs. Is it a very steep staircase? The pics both up and down make it look steep

Pic 32: ditto

Pics 33-35: I’m intrigued by the lack of an upstairs back window, it really draws the eye. Is there a hidden room?!

36-41: sex pond

42: hidden upstairs dungeon room again

Spotted another thing.

The fridge being in the utility would put me off.

A house at that price where the main fridge isn't in the kitchen is less than ideal....

@EspressoDoubleShot

Ok, no criticism, but for the price, there are issues The overlooked garden, it is kind of off putting. I’d delete that photo The garden itself it’s quite plain and featureless, nothing about it is particularly appealing. It’s quite stark. House itself is utterly spotless you and the kids must be wearing paper soco suits It’s maybe overpriced

Have you seen us entering in full hazmat / soco gear? My poor, poor children. They've tried to be tidy but I am literally that mum moaning about no shoes, no drinks upstairs. That alone makes me want to just take it off the market.

I have no idea on the price but the kitchen and bathrooms are quite dated looking and the kitchen area seems quite small for the size of the house.

Assuming that is a higher end price for the area they definitely let the house down. The tiling also looks dated.

It’s a nice space but whoever buys it would expect to have to replace kitchen / bathrooms so would need to be priced accordingly.

The biggest issue is the price range, I agree. There's just not a lot of people with that sort of money. You only need one interested buyer though so just be patient.

Agree that bathrooms and kitchen don't look wow. They're not WRONG though and if it were my house I wouldn't replace them for my own family, why? There's quite some life left in them and they're perfectly functional and I wouldn't want the disruption of work for a rather marginal benefit.

I'd also think a bit more about your reasons for wanting to move in a 'be careful what you wish for' kind of way. Projects are not easy at the moment after covid, good builders are hard to come by, shortage of materials etc.

And why Shenstone house? I used to work there (about 16 miles down the road, towards Burton). Again sorry to say this but anyone with that kind of money will live in actual Shenstone.

@PyongyangKipperbang

Im sorry but for me its too nouveau riche. If I had that kind of money to spend then it wouldnt be on an obvious new build with a nouveau interior.

Sorry but you did ask!

If you met me, I think you'd describe me with the same term too

@PyongyangKipperbang

And why Shenstone house? I used to work there (about 16 miles down the road, towards Burton). Again sorry to say this but anyone with that kind of money will live in actual Shenstone.

Developers named it. I liked it.

[quote SufferingSailors]@Porridgeislife don't for goodness sake remind people who live in this area that it is part of Birmingham or heaven forbid, Walsall!!

Sutton Coldfield is separate darling.

Sorry OP, I have nothing useful to add, but good luck. I'm at t'other end of Sutton [/quote]
Hello fellow Suttonian! B74 might as well be Walsall eh?

By marginal benefit I mean that it's a marginal benefit for you. For prospective buyer it may make a crucial difference but your buyer may or may not materialise regardless of what you do with your bathrooms.

In short:

• it needs updating (wardrobes, kitchen, bathrooms, make a grander front entrance)
• it needs kerb appeal
• it needs a landscape gardener (plant something like bamboo or high trellising all round your back border to give some sense of seclusion; put a climbing rose or honeysuckle or wisteria across the space where the back window is missing; plant up the front for kerb appeal)
• it needs interior design - get someone in if you don’t have an eye for it.

Fair enough. Just seems a bit... sorry.... but trying to prove a point about being in a posh area!

Imagine making over 800k on a house in 17 years. Insane. This is why the young are fuc*ed