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Original poster

House too small

116 replies

Emily2023 · 20/02/2023 20:56

So I've been searching online and this group seems to come up on this topic.

Me and my husband put our house on the market this time last year, sold the first day of viewings but then the buyer pulled out after a month as it was supposedly taking too long but we'd had an offer accepted on another house who also needed to look for another house.

We resold in May last year (again within the same day as first viewings) but again, once the chain was all sorted in September (5 houses), our buyer went AWOL a week before completion on 13th Jan this year. It turns out he used cheap solicitors that outsource to sri Lanka and they didn't deal with something from the searches properly (or at all).

Now we've have had to remarket again, we've dropped our price by £10k already and absorbed another £20k to the mortgage as the original buyer offered £11k more. However, after 16 viewings, one really low offer £30k below the price which we declined, everyone is saying it's too small even viewers where it is just one person. Prices for other 2 bed houses near here without a garage go for more than ours and some a lot more. It's really frustrating us as we don't know what more we can do, we've decluttered and tidied as much as possible.

I wondered if anyone had any ideas?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
parietal · 20/02/2023 21:44

prices are crazy at the moment and probably falling.

otherwise, post a link and people will comment.

Ithinkimthebfg · 20/02/2023 22:09

you can post a link if you genuinely want to know. Other than that folks can’t really do much.

Saz12 · 20/02/2023 23:47

Id guess that they mean “it’s too small for the price”.

It sucks, but market has fAllen.

Seaitoverthere · 21/02/2023 06:43

I agree that people mean it is too small for the price. My Grandmother’s house went on in the spring at 450k amd we accepted an offer of 480k after best and final offers.The trustee died so sale fell through and we have just accepted an offer of 425k. 5 of us had to agree and everyone was in agreement as we know the market has fallen.

it isn’t great if you are selling but don’t forget you can negotiate on your next place and if you are upsizing it affects you less than downsizing when the market is falling.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 21/02/2023 07:17

I'd post a link so that others can advise.

We sold our house last year, we had two sales fall through before it finally sold. We originally put it on the market in February, got loads of viewings but also got a lot of feedback that the bedrooms were too small. Even though we had 3 double bedrooms. House did sell, stc, but it took several weeks.

When that fell through we had to decide how to make the bedrooms feel bigger. We changed our king-size bed for a double, and one of the double beds to a single. We got loads of viewings, lots of offers, and no one said anything about the size of the bedrooms.

Sadly that sale also fell through, we put the house back on the market in October, when the market had started to fall. Hardly any interest, but just as we were about to drop the price we suddenly got two offers, and sold it for more than the previous offers. Again, no mention of small bedrooms.

I couldn't believe how much bigger our bedroom looked just by changing the bed. We had built in wardrobes so couldn't really do anything else in the room. Similarly with our 3rd bedroom, changing the double for a single made the room look much larger and appealed to families.

With regard to other, similar properties, I don't think it's easy to compare them in a falling market. You can't see the sold price of properties until 3 months after the sale goes through, so at best you'll be looking at properties that sold in October/November, which means the price was probably agreed before the Liz Truss debacle. The market has definitely fallen since then.

PinkPantherPaws · 21/02/2023 07:24

Prices for other 2 bed houses near here without a garage go for more than ours and some a lot more

In the last couple of weeks?

If it's longer than that then you can't expect to price match houses that sold in 2021 and 22...the market is on the way down and people are being cautious.

MissyB1 · 21/02/2023 07:28

The market is as dead as a dodo in our area. Houses seem to be on the market a long time. Tbh I would take it off and try again when things kick up - could be next year.

MissyB1 · 21/02/2023 07:28

*pick up not kick up!

77toozy · 21/02/2023 07:50

You know the rules OP, post a link and you'll get loads of honest feedback.

Greenfairydust · 21/02/2023 07:57

Hard to say without a link but in general it just means that the house is too small for/not worth the price that you expect.

You need to look at the current market, not what it was last year/six months ago when prices were still up.

LettersOfNote · 21/02/2023 08:05

Ideally a link but understand why you might not want want to.

If that's the case:

  • more decluttering in that no personal stuff is on show - absolutely nothing.
  • change any unnecessarily bulky items of furniture for smaller ones.
  • mirrors in every room; light pouringbthrough windows.
  • make your home look as though there's plenty of floor space and plenty of shelf and work surface space. Make it look rather bare. Appreciate not easy if you have children.
LizzieSiddal · 21/02/2023 08:07

Have you decluttered?

bussteward · 21/02/2023 09:11

Gwan, gissa link

LulooLemon · 21/02/2023 09:14

Post a link and you'll get some honest answers and great tips!

FurierTransform · 21/02/2023 09:20

Yeh I'd 2nd the fact it must be 'too small', considering the price and the price/size of houses available locally - be prepared to drop the price further. No property is too small In absolute terms.

Do search of your local area with a buyers mind for your property value/size & see what you're competing against. If it genuinely seems broadly inline with other property available then you have probably just had unlucky feedback.

ImAvingOops · 21/02/2023 10:00

Have you brightened up the paintwork and made the walls a light, neutral colour, got rid of or covered any light sucking dark furniture/fabrics?
You basically want it to look bright and spacious, which means putting into storage somewhere else, all the stuff that makes it look like you live there!
Are the estate agents photos of the house good? When my neighbours were selling, the pics were taken on a dingy day and didn't show any of the beautiful views.

Original poster
Emily2023 · 21/02/2023 13:03

this is the link, I am still reading everyone's comments but I don't have long as I'm on my lunch. Would appreciate some feedback if there is anything obvious that is maybe making it worse :-)
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/130778495#/?channel=RES_BUY

OP posts:
bussteward · 21/02/2023 13:16

It says semi detached but it’s really link-detached (think that’s the term) – rear access only through the garage which is attached to the next house.

I think you need to declutter a lot more, sorry! Eg the sitting room photo there’s stuff all over the fireplace – it looks like instead of decluttering you tidied everything onto the fireplace.

In another photo there’s an extension cable on view which suggests not enough sockets; the bathroom has lots of bottles all over the bath and windowsill, suggesting not enough storage. The kitchen is similar: way too much stuff on the counters! And lose the placemats on the dining table and move it away from the wall – where it is looks like there’s not enough room for it.

Sanch1 · 21/02/2023 13:25

There are a few things:
Lounge seems tiny, only one small sofa? maybe move out the piano and put another sofa or chair?
Clutter all over the fire place, piano and under the table - move the bin!
Washing machine placement is odd.
I dont like that you have to walk through the lounge to get to the kitchen.
The bed in the main room looks squashed, can you swap bed with desk and chest of drawers?

Ithinkimthebfg · 21/02/2023 13:26

bussteward · 21/02/2023 13:16

It says semi detached but it’s really link-detached (think that’s the term) – rear access only through the garage which is attached to the next house.

I think you need to declutter a lot more, sorry! Eg the sitting room photo there’s stuff all over the fireplace – it looks like instead of decluttering you tidied everything onto the fireplace.

In another photo there’s an extension cable on view which suggests not enough sockets; the bathroom has lots of bottles all over the bath and windowsill, suggesting not enough storage. The kitchen is similar: way too much stuff on the counters! And lose the placemats on the dining table and move it away from the wall – where it is looks like there’s not enough room for it.

It is semi detached it’s attached to the house on the left of it. Not just the garage.

I don’t think it needs decluttering further either and don’t count a few candles as stuff everywhere.

Seaitoverthere · 21/02/2023 13:28

I think the position of the bed isn’t doing you any favours, the table squashed against the wall and is there only one sofa in living room?

JassyRadlett · 21/02/2023 13:34

I agree, you need to get really ruthless with your decluttering. All the stuff on the piano, mantelpiece, get rid of the side tables and the bin etc in the living room - they draw attention to lack of storage.

Your floor plan doesn't have dimensions - that's absolutely key to people understanding how big the space really is in advance, no wonder you're getting people disappointed by the size if they don't have much to go on in advance.

The large bed in the second bedroom emphasises that it's an awkward space and quite small - is there any way to swap it out?

I'd also think about dressing the rooms slightly better for the photos - a valance for the beds, beds really neatly made, all the bottles off the shelves in the bathrooms as again it's just drawing attention to lack of storage/space. It's a buyers' market now and you're going to have to work a lot harder than before and tbh I'm really surprised that your estate agent hasn't advised you on some of this.

Good luck with it - not a fun time to be selling!

LulooLemon · 21/02/2023 13:42

I agree with the above points for improvement.

I would also add go to the garden centre and buy big pots of things in flower. Your back garden needs cheering up!

Spendonsend · 21/02/2023 13:46

I dont think its cluttered. I think the bed needs moving though as that makes that room look awkward.

ImAvingOops · 21/02/2023 13:49

I think it needs tarting up - it looks 'okay' but just okay. A bit dated. There's nothing special or particularly appealing about it.
I'd get rid of the dark colour on the dado rail, and basically paint everything fresh and neutral so it looks really clean and new.

The bed in pic 9 is bad - it's an awkward shaped room and the bed looks squashed in. The extension lead looks scruffy and as pp said, like you don't have enough sockets.

Basically you want your house to feel aspirational - you want buyers to want to live there, so it needs to be visually appealing. It needs nice bedding, nothing scruffy on display, furniture to look like it fits properly.
You probably don't want to do much about the fireplace but it looks old and sucks light out.
As a starter I'd see if you could paint the brickwork and get rid of the wallpaper. And rearrange that bedroom in pic 9.

Sorry, I feel like I'm being a bit brutal but hopefully it will help you sell. If it helps my house is a bit run down too, but when you live with something you just stop seeing it as a stranger would.