Wondering why this house is not selling?

[Bedtimeforever]

Hi,

There has been a house I have had my eye on since it was posted. Usually, when this happens, the house is pretty much sold the next day. However, this house is still unsold, and was in fact reduced from 290k in the first few weeks.

My husband is not so keen as it is not detached, and so we haven’t even been to view it. But I was wondering if anybody could give some insight as to why they think it’s not been snapped up yet (compared to other houses in the area/city). Because the house looks perfect (in pics) to me 😂

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122299946#/?channel=RES_BUY

Whoever did it up is just a builder and has no idea about interior design. I wouldn't buy it because I couldn't live with the sterile decor, but I also couldn't live with ripping out brand new fittings, floorings, cupboards etc. I'd rather buy a place that is old and tatty, where everything needs replacing because it is no long functional, than a shiny new house that looks like a regus office space.

It's had a two storey extension since then, that's a big chunk of the 130k. Having said that the garden is awful, digging up all that hardcore and old patio would be a nightmare, and I feel like I've gone colour blind the inside is so grey!

Why is everyone so upset with colour scheme? It's plain, and by the time you put your stuff in there would be colour and life.
I'd be more annoyed if they'd done feature walls with glitter or that giant floral wallpaper!

The kitchen is horrible, the lounge is tiny, the bedrooms are small and bedroom 1 is an odd shape. Garden is awful.

if someone loves the interiors and area then they’ll buy it but it’s not to many peoples taste so they’d end up having to spend more money changing things on top of the inflated price to buy it fully reno’d (except the garden).

This (although I don't live close). It has clearly been renovated but I don't like the kitchen and wouldn't want to pay that much for a house to then install a new kitchen when that one is new...it's just very specific and a more neutral one would have been more appealing to a wider market. The garden needs a fair bit of work and pushing £300k for a semi would be a lot, even round here which is an hour's commute from London.

Also, one upstairs bathroom for 4 bedrooms would put me off.

Agree, even though they've done a lot of work to it they haven't done enough to warrant the huge price increase and that's irrelevant if people don't like any of the update (I'm not a huge fan of most of it, main bathroom is ok) so will have to do more work themselves.

Also the ensuite is pointless - why have a toilet but nowhere (other than the shower) to wash your hands? Grim!

I know that area and that house is very expensive for a semi around there. You could get a detached new build for the same price just around the corner.

It looks cold. Who ever has done the reno doesn't have an eye for design. The layout is awkward, the table as you walk into the kitchen rather than by a window, the small sitting room with no place to put a sofa, those tiles on the chimney breast!, no fireplace, you have to walk through the sitting room to ener the kitchen, the navy kitchen that was all the rage about 10 years ago and now looks dated, the bathrooms too are what was trendy a while back, the master bedroom is tiny, the bath looks like a short one, the basin in the main bathroom should be large with storage underneath rather than a tiny cloakroom one, the white walls all over while some say provide a blank canvas are actually cold and off putting, the grey is also dated, and off course the garden and garage are not finished.

I wonder if people are put off from buying a house that someone has bought, done up and flipped?

I'd say it's been done by a builder who has a checklist of what people want ie kitchen dinner, bifold doors, utility room, 4 beds and en suite; just throw it all in and it will sell.

Because it's absolutely hideous and needs gutting inside.

of course, that is just personal taste! There are obviously people who like that sort of interior.

the exterior is hideous too - no kerb appeal and the back garden is terrible.

Oh yeah, I didn't see that, no basin in the en suite!

You can get toilets that have a sink above the cistern. There's a chance it's one of those.

I would rather have bought it in its previous state and done my own doing up. It's been horribly renovated, has a stupid shaped bedroom, ugly garden, don't like the kitchen. I'd have to rip out and start over so I wouldn't view it.

Someone clearly thought they'd make a quick buck and have put in as little effort as possible to achieve it.

I'd be suspicious about the garage/asbestos etc.
But bottom line, it looks overpriced and most people need a mgage. Could get to mgage valuation and fall over.

Yes exactly.

It would break my heart to rip out a new kitchen like that, the waste of materials and expense.

But at the same time it currently looks like a morgue on a Star Trek ship.

The rest of the house is just bland and sterile. I think we’re reaching the end of the Grey Grey Grey phase, so there’s nothing aspirational about the place either.

The en suite has a sink set on top of the toilet cistern.

Bedroom one is too small to be a master cos of the ensuite.
Bed 4 has a box above the stairs

Way overpriced, looks like homes under the hammer style developer has done it. It's priced over £100k more than any other semi on the street and was only worth £150 last year. Buy a different one and do the work yourself for half or even a quarter of that extra £130k.

The shiny white tiled floor, the tiles in the chimney breast, the black bathroom fittings, the navy kitchen... none of those things are going to be improved by putting your own things in.

That’s what I would think too.
Plus, the decor is not to everyone’s taste - I personally really don’t like the grey carpets and that fake wood in one of the rooms, much less so if they contribute to the increased price.
The kitchen looks a bit bling, and yet cold and empty.

I didn't notice the en suite so take my one bathroom comment back, however I don't like the decor of it anyway! Basically, too much to do/spend on an already 'finished' and pricey property.

I hate it. It’s awful. It looks tacky.

I can't stand that grey carpet that seems to be present in every house that's been tarted up for profit.
Kitchen looks dated already.
Bathroom is horrendous.

As others have said, possible asbestos garage roof which would be expensive to remove. The rest of the garden is a mess.

So many of these 'renovate to sell' houses have the same boring identikit layouts, particularly the open plan kitchen / dining area.

It all looks cheap and nasty in the pictures, the shine on the carpet in the photos and the plastic panelling everywhere in the bathroom is hideous. I bet it's way worse in the flesh.

The extension also looks like a cheapo job with all the beams etc sitting underneath the ceiling level everywhere- I couldn't live with that.

The garden is also awful for a family, massive hard paved area like that.

The fridge etc may well be integrated so I wouldn't give too kitchen thought to that.

But in general I'd have looked at it and written it off without trying to view.

Ha, I was trying to be a bit more diplomatic about the grey carpets in my post, but I fully agree with you! Also agree about the rest of the decor.

A stunning house which I presume is up North as very cheap if it was in the midlands.

I suspect it's a "refurb for re-sale" that's been done (probably by a man, dare I say it!) without the practicalities of daily life being considered, eg doesn't seem to be space for tumble dryer, slippery kitchen floor, impractical kitchen island, insufficient storage, etc. These things add up to put people off making it a home.