Essex house with ‘dated brown windows and awful decor’ …

[JulieRtn]

… has now had two offers at asking price. Thankfully there are some intelligent viewers out there who can somehow manage to see past wallpaper, mirrors, flowers, furniture and candles which may not be exactly to their taste 👍

Glad to hear this. I thought it was a lovely house. Unfortunately there are many on this site who would have you believe they live a far superior life. They bitch about others as a way of making themselves feel better. Fantasists most of them. 🙄

Was that the one with the wallpaper going up the staircase? I thought it was lovely! Wished I’d said so on the original thread now. People always seem more keen to post something negative rather than a neutral or supportive post. Congratulations OP!

I thought it was a lovely house OP. Congratulations and hope it all goes smoothly.

absolutely agree with you, well done OP am pleased for you.

I'm about to put my house on the market, my estate agent has told me to do nothing except what you'd usually do in terms of putting away things in the kitchen etc. His view was that it's essential in move straight in condition and the buyer will be able to redecorate etc. at their leisure.

Some of the comments on that thread were ridiculous, unfortunately people these days seem to want the whole house exactly as they want it the minute they move in, rather than living with things and doing a house up over time. When I bought this house I lived with hideous carpets for years !

If you can’t handle the heat step out the kitchen. If you’re sensitive about the way your house looks then MN is the last place you should post photos.

Congrats! Hope all goes well with the sale, it’s a tricky market at the moment and the interest increase on mortgages in the last 6 months probably didn’t help. I always find it odd that people can’t see past someone else’s decor. I bought my home know my partner hated everything about it - that way I could put in new kitchen, bathroom etc to my taste without being told that it would be liveable. Everyone has different taste, not sure why people put the boot in - I imagine jealously due to not having such a large house like yours.

People are really dim when it comes to viewing houses. I don’t understand why anyone can’t see beyond furniture and finishes. It’s ridiculous. Nobody buys a ‘lifestyle’ when they buy a house unless they are lacking in their own personality and imagination.

I think sometimes with those threads, people feel the urge to say something even when there's nothing much to say, and it all goes downhill from there. Personally I looked at that thread, thought 'that seems like a nice house with whopping big rooms, quite understandably not completely to my taste since it's not my house, but also not something I could ever afford!' and didn't feel that would add much value to the question of how to sell it. I think with those threads there's a tendency for everyone to zero in on the 'not completely to my taste' part and go to town.

I can understand about literally ‘furniture and finishes’ but things like replacing all carpets and painting throughout, a new bathroom suite, significant work to clear and redo the garden is time/money/effort that a lot of people don’t have. I’m looking to buy and I won’t view anywhere which requires any of this work doing, I’ve just had it done to ourselves (only painting, carpets and a few minor jobs). Tradespeople take forever to book in, don’t turn up, charge the earth and when they do turn up they do a crap job then try to blame your house. You have to move all your furniture which isn’t easy if you’re pregnant/disabled/a single woman etc. We’ve had issue after issue just trying to do simple things.

I often think that many of the more unrealistic and sometimes bizarre comments on threads like that are from people living in hovels who dream of owning the perfect house according to their own dream.

Most of us settle for location, size, schools, transport, near family, jobs etc. and depending on budget, clean and habitable, or done up to the nines.

Anything can be changed to suit needs/wants, but once the fundamentals are sound all is good. Compromises happen every day.

Best of luck OP, your house was lovely, and I was green with envy when I looked around my own, but mine is fine too, it's just when I see something pristine it makes ne sigh a bit!

It's not compulsory for the new owners to turn all the lights on!

What sells houses is
Price
Location
Condition (dependent on what potential purchasers are looking for)
I'd be surprised if adding a few rugs, or changing the cushions

Fantastic. I live in Hockley and I saw your old thread and was so surprised you hadn’t had offers. It was just the market, not your house (which looked very well presented ). Our old house which sold well over asking had comments like “horrible cold tiles” and that it “looked like a hotel”. People are strange.

Thats great news.

You were the one who asked for help and pointers as to why no one was interested, though? I don't get the smugness.

@Cuppasoupmonster But if you thought that you'd just wouldn't view the property, you'd leave it for someone else.

The OP was asking why they'd only had 4 viewings though!

That's good to hear OP. What a waste of time your original thread was!

She is no doubt smug as quite a few posters were downright rude and others told her she'd need to knock 100k off the asking price!

Brilliant news OP. Hope all goes smoothly and you get to decorate your new home however you damn well like!

It’s a lovely spacious home. People are so weird on here. Looking on rightmove (I’m a bit obsessed) very few homes are Instagram style. Hope you have a smooth sale.

lots of homes round here have brown windows in the nice area of town due to date it was built. People clearly do but them.

The decor was ghastly it’s true, however the price was totally fair and it was a good house for the money.

As I recall it was a nice house. Good luck with the sale op.

If I was looking for a property , i’d look for one that needed updating. Surely the asking price reflects the dated interior anyway.