House too small

[Emily2023]

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?

Hi OP,

I'm your target buyer - FTB in Birmingham who would love to live somewhere like Stirchley. I think there are a few things at play here:

1. The market has gone down. Even really nice houses in the area are hanging around and being reduced. There are also a lot of landlords selling up so there's a lot of competition.
2. The buyers likely to be interested in Stirchley tend to be very trendy and focused on appearances. Your kitchen may be not be old but the style is dated and that is likely to matter to your prospective buyers. Alternatively it needs to be priced low enough to make renovating worthwhile. For similar reasons cute victorian terraces tend to be more desirable to this type of buyer.
3. This isn't specific to you but a more general comment on the market. With increasing prices and interest rates FTBs tend to be older now and as such will be looking for a family sized house. As much as I love Stirchley I would probably be looking at 3 beds in other areas that are walking distance. I think we've reached a point in the market where 2 bed houses/flats need to come down in price enough that younger couples or even a single person can afford them. You can already see this happening with flats in the city centre. That's another thing to keep in mind. People interested in Stirchley would also be interested in JQ and flat prices are dropping quickly. I think your biggest selling point compared to other houses in the area is that you have garage.

We did a lot or rearranging and changing some decor in the limited timescale we had for EA to retake pictures today as well as the price reduction. We plan to do more before Saturday like some paint retouching etc and focus on setting the table in the kitchen etc. If there is anything we've missed on these ahead of viewings so let us know. The only two things mentioned that I don't think we can do in the time available and cost is moving the piano and adding another sofa plus adding a bed in the spare room. Although someone did mention a single airbed on boxes with bedding but I'm not sure that wouldn't look weird.

The bedroom looks so much better! Well done. It was me that suggested bedding on boxes- try it and see if it looks ok in a photo. I do still think it would be great to get at least a single bed into bed 2 for the photos. The only other thing I’d suggest might be trying to fit a small armchair in the lounge for the photos so it looks like you can have a bit more seating- maybe move the footstool in front of the sofa and fit it next to the TV. Not perfect but better than nothing.

Something like this- at an angle (Google bucket armchair)

Agree with @Heronwatcher that the bedroom looks massively improved in those new pics!

I'd also agree that adding an armchair or even an 'accent' chair would give the impression of more space for seating in the living room and definitely move the footstool in front of the sofa so it looks more purposeful and coffee table-like.

Even if you just do the latter for new EA photos and viewings...although I have to disagree with the OP's comment about coffee tables being toe-stubbing obstacles. I've never seen the point of buying furniture only to push it to the edges of the room in the name of making space!

But well done @Emily2023 and @doormattt - you've made a great start.

Your bedroom is transformed! It looks really lovely now and the desk in the alcove makes that look like a positive rather than a negative.

I agree it's worth trying a fake bed of boxes in the other room just for the photos because seeing it as a bedroom makes all the difference.

I don't think the kitchen is too dated. Just make sure it and bathroom are spotless.

Piano is fine.

If you are willing, paint the fireplace brick and mantel white to give it a more updated vibe; it looks a bit Miss Marple.

Get a couple pots of daffodils for dressing up exterior doorways.

A minor thing but the exterior light next to the front door could be spruced up with paint. Either white or sage green.

Thank you for your help 😊

As you can see, we managed to somehow find a chair in decent colour and fabric so living room is improved. Re the toe stubbing Matt mentioned, I actually broke my toe on the corner of the vacuum which was to the side of the room 🤣 didn't make our trip to Thailand as easy either.

Clock went up in the kitchen along with table pulled out and a bit more decor added. Removed tea towels, bottles and other random stuff.

We have hanging basket on the back of the house, plant pot full of spring flowers as well as two at the front.

New towels (which we won't use lol) in the bathroom folded nicely and all items minimised to the minimum.

Ran out of time on the 2nd bedroom but added masking tape on the floor to where a single bed would come out to to give people an idea.

We had a viewing earlier and they fed back that they really liked the house so fingers crossed. Funnily enough she liked seeing with the desk as didn't plan to have it as a bedroom so it probably worked white well with tape.

We do still need to touch up some paint where the bed used to be and add hooks for the curtain tie backs. I'm quite pleased with how it looks now 😊

It looks lovely @Emily2023 - and you have made the yellow wall add to positive vibes of the house - @doormattt’s yellow wall vision has been realised! If you can get the updated kitchen and living room photos added to the listing (obviously without the folded clothes drier etc) I think that would be helpful - fingers crossed you can a buyer soon

Well I think the improvements are making a massive difference, it looks great. One other thing, if the last viewer doesn’t buy (fingers crossed they do) I would try to give the garden a bit of care over the coming weeks, maybe a new patio set and a chimmenea (even if you don’t use it) and some slightly larger plants (like tall trees in pots) if you can muster up the energy.

It looks much better

Much improved.

I would make sure that you emphasise you do have the door for the washing machine as that will massively improve the kitchen.

The piano is obviously something most people won't be trying to fit it but it's easier to see now that the room can take more furniture.

Wall mounting the TV would create more space and make more of the alcove. You don't have to do it but you can say it as part of general chit chat.

The new photos look good!
Good luck with your sale.

I really like it! I've found when selling houses someone always says its too small! It's a 2 bedroom house so it's not going to be big. It's quite expensive though.

My favourite house was a 2 bed and it literally just had some bits in it to stage it so it seemed bigger although I understand you need to live in it.

I'm coming on the market in the next few weeks as your direct competition, OP, (2 bed in Stirchley) so I'm watching with interest...

I don't think yours is over priced compared with some on my street, which have sold for over £260 recently. Ours are Edwardian, but there is also no parking (although I also have a garage at the rear, which I have never parked in) I think mine will be going on at about £250k too, but I expect to get around 240 the way the market is going.

Good luck to you. I think I'm going to need the same. Some of the posters on here have exacting standards and it's scaring me a little. I have had the gardeners in this week and am having the second bedroom replastered ready for decorating before The Photos (hugely important) I have decluttered madly and repainted a lot of bits, but it is not perfect. We do actually have to live in these houses while they are on the market!