No views on House

[Fimilo]

First time poster long time lurker, sorry if not in the right place. We have put our house on the market, in Scotland the home report determines the market value. We have put it as offers over but £5000 under the market value.

House has been on the market for just over 2 weeks with not one viewing, last house in the street sold for £10,000 over ours current market value. They are very rarely available, ours is a blank canvas for someone to walk into and make their own.

At a loss as to why, unsure if we should reduce the price, change estate agents, take it off the market completely just now. So disheartening.

Any advice welcome

@Fimilo
It would be better to market as 2 bed with a flexible 3rd bedroom/living space. I dislike the current fashion for calling a second reception room a bedroom. I'd filter you out straightaway when I looked at the floor plan.

Same with the bathrooms - if I'm looking for 2 bathrooms you would be filtered out straightaway,

I appreciate you can't change thx kitchen/fittings, but try and make it coordinate more and definitely get better pics.

Better pics and a description highlighting the flexibility for a 3rd bed/dining room/play room/home office would get more interest, Overall it's a nice house but needs some tweaks. A lot of people will think like me and discount you for not being a 3bed/2bath property. I would think you were pitching 2bed/1bath property at 2bed/2bath prices so I'd consider you overpriced.

It doesn't say if freehold or leasehold- just ask agent (on Rightmove) - this puts me off as it usually means leasehold but the agents don't want to deter viewings,

It will sell, it's clean, looks like a nice area and has had obvious work/upgrades, but suspect for less than you are after,

It's a bit dated and dull but maybe people will think it's a blank canvas

The kitchen is nice but the oven doesn't match - not really a deal breaker either.

Overall it's just a bit lifeless. The garden especially. But surely people can see past that and it could be made lovely.

Pp said something about the estate - is it nice or not?

Surely even in the Peoples Republic of Scotland the market decides the price, not the home report? I imagine the home report is intended to be an accurate valuation, but in a falling market, or one constrained by peoples ability to borrow / rising interest rates it can only be an indication?

I am in England but I like it OP it looks nice to me!

I agree while it’s used as a three bedroom I wouldn’t consider it a three bedroom house.

if the ground floor bedroom had access to a shower room then I might reconsider - but it does look like a reception room has been repurposed.

sone people will be fine with this layout - th loo on the ground floor helps a bit. But it would annoy me to have to have a shower on a different floor to my bedroom.

It’s okay, not a fan of the dark wood and floor in the hallway. In my mind though it’s a two bed as the third bedroom is downstairs.

Your house is nice but I think given that the similar one sold for 280k last year yours would be less in this market. Id think offers over 245/250 would get you more viewings, but i guess you could hold out for the right buyer if you've time, retired people without mortgages probably a good target audience just now. We sold recently and unfortunately got less than we would likely have achieved last year as the market has gone down here (Scotland, different area). But we wanted to get it sold by September so possibly different scenario.

It’s a nice house, presented in a way that can’t offend anyone.

I do however agree with PP, I wouldn’t personally classify that house (or the others on your estate that are the same) as a 3 bed. In my mind I would classify it as a 2 bed with a downstairs study/snug.

I appreciate that houses on your estate are always described as 3 bed 2 bath but it seems a bit optimistic on the EAs part to people not familiar with your estate. At a time when people expect to get a lot of house for their money, maybe some are more tempted by houses with 3 upstairs bedrooms.

I don’t even need to open the link or read the thread to know it will be down to one thing and one thing only

price

It’s a nice house. My concern would be the proximity of the motorway and the noise.

I love the house - if it is priced accordingly to others in the area then I really wouldn’t reduce - if that house was in other parts of the country, you could get around £400k for it. It’s in a liveable condition too and work not really required for a few years at least.
Could the photos be taken on a sunny day to see the exposure of light?

I hadn’t noticed that but yes. I wouldn’t even look at a property that close to a motorway.

Brutal honesty: The lounge carpet looks awful. Revac and get the photos retaken using different lighting perhaps.
Not much kerb appeal with what looks like a dead shrub and scorched grass pattern (which I assume is actually because of how the ground is underneath).
Back garden looks a bit sparse with nothing in that bed.
But otherwise lovely and decluttered and tidy.

Sorry if already mentioned, but your listing doesn't seem to be on the ESPC website? Given that it's the first place most Scots would look for property, that seems odd.

Can I ask what is that at the back of your rear garden, behind the 6 foot fence? is it a busy road or dual carriageway? Just wondered as I can't make out what it is?

The school holidays is a bad time to sell imo.

Also are people perhaps being out off by the amount of building in/around Dullatur perhaps?

Is there a reason you chose that estate agent? Were they able to show you their list of buyers looking for property and the amount they have to spend? I’m not sure you should be relying on walk-ins, they should be letting people know they’ve got your property that might be suitable and arranging visits. Else what are you playing them for? Your house looks fine, other than time of year? If you’re not in a hurry I would find a new agent and relist in the autumn.

Don't know your area but here the last 3 bed semi on our estate went on the market at £300k, got reduced to £269k and they accepted at £265k.

Tough market especially when interest rates haven't stopped rising yet.

It's lovely except for the "garden" which looks sad, and has no plants, flowers or shrubs and looks unfinished.

It’s not a 3 bedroom, people won’t want one of their kids sleeping downstairs, and it’s vastly overpriced for its location. Sorry, it might be the ‘nice’ bit but it’s still Cumbernauld

What would put me off is:
Textured paint on ceilings.
Style of the doors.
Colour of the unpainted wood.
Kitchen - stove is nice, counters, cupboards, lack of dishwasher (?) are not. It's also quite small.
Bathroom - I would be mentally costing a complete redo.
Garden - lack of curb appeal in front; sand area at back. Is there access from the deck to the patio?
Photos of the front of the house appear to show vertical blinds?
Paint colour throughout. A light sage green would look more up to date.

3-bedrooms, 2- bathrooms isn't an accurate description. 'Flexible-use downstairs room/ potential office/ craft room/ exercise room' would attract more interest.

The impression I have is that the house is a little dated and would need a good deal of work.

Overall, the cost and practical difficulty of getting work done (decor and possible kitchen expansion) would make the asking price a bit steep.

I think it's really nice op and this is just to do with interest rates and mortgages. People who might have been able to afford it those upsizing or first time buyers, might be more cautious and be holding out for prices to fall.

Hiya @Fimilo I've reduced mine tons (north west england) and I'm going to again, its really just the climate, absolutely nothing you can do but reduce price :(

There is nothing inherently wrong with the property and the decor all looks fine. Downstairs bedrooms are always a tricky sell and people will think of them as a dining room or study rather than a bedroom. Looking to sell around the summer holidays will not be helping and people will be going away and not thinking about moving house as much.

I am not in Scotland so couldn't comment on whether it is a fair price for the area but is the estate agent well known? If not, could you try a more recognised estate agent that could get more potential traffic?

It's got a lot going for it and is in a well kept estate. I'd also consider that a 2-bedroom house though some people do call anything which is not a lounge, kitchen or bathroom a bedroom. For me the issue which I can see is the presentation. It's got no soul at the moment. Obviously you don't want to spend loads but I think a little investment might mean it can also appeal to people's hearts. It won't scream 'home' to anyone right now - it's very harsh. I expect that's how you've presented it for sale rather than what it's felt like to live there but perhaps a little colour in some key areas (muted colours for widest appeal) and a picture or too (maybe put some back up? I'm guessing you didn't live with such blank walls?). The kitchen is mismatched and I wonder whether some sort of colour on the wall might make it al hang together a bit more? Will something like a rug in the lounge soften it? The bathroom is really not to my taste and obviously you can't change the panels really but I wonder whether changing the bath panel to something lighter will at least make it more palatable to people who prefer a less dark look? Little cheap tweaks might just grab people a bit more. I do think you might want to consider describing it as a 2/3 bed because I think more people than not will not consider it a 3-bed and it slightly puts people off to be expecting one and not feel like they get it.