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Original poster

Would you buy a house if . . . . .

65 replies

LisaLastic · 24/07/2023 19:05

Would you buy a house if it had a 2 separate rooms downstairs - 1 currently being used as a lounge/dining room and the other room being used as a playroom? Could you see passed the fact the one room was being used as a playroom and see it as a potential dining room if there were no table and chairs in it?
My estate agent thinks not and that it will knock 10s of 1000s off what someone is willing to pay for it. Any thoughts before I create a storage nightmare and upset kids? Thanks!

OP posts:
greenspaces4peace · 24/07/2023 20:29

easy enough to envision especially with floor plans on the realty site.

Original poster
LisaLastic · 24/07/2023 20:29

strongcupofTea · 24/07/2023 20:13

My husbands an estate agent and he says
It won't devalue your house, but in the current market it will help it sell if you set it up for its intended purpose.
So I suppose it depends how quickly you want to sell it really, as some people are able to overlook it but some might not and you don't want to risk putting (narrow minded) people off.

It makes sense that it could be to do with the current housing market. The estate agent said it would be put on the market for less if we keep it as a playroom and don’t change it. Does this sound right to your husband?

OP posts:
Original poster
LisaLastic · 24/07/2023 20:31

Whirlwindinacup · 24/07/2023 20:15

Is there a space in the kitchen for a table or would that be the only room to put one? If there is room in the kitchen, a playroom or second living room would be much more appealing to me than a whole room for meals but depends on your market.

No, there isn’t room in the kitchen for a table unfortunately.

OP posts:
Cupcakequeen75 · 24/07/2023 20:32

I know someone who when viewing a house cannot see past how it is currently laid out, they have no vision or imagination as to how their own furniture would look or to move items around (table, sofa, TV etc). As to remodelling the house (pull a wall down here, add a doorway there etc) that is completely beyond their comprehension!

That said, 95% of people CAN use their imagination so I would leave the rooms as they are.

Original poster
LisaLastic · 24/07/2023 20:35

Sleepyquest · 24/07/2023 20:27

I have two small children and myself and my friends would see a playroom as a bonus over a dining room. Dining rooms are so old fashioned. We all want playrooms!

This is what I thought too. The EA surprised me when he said it would make it less desirable. Most parents I know either have a playroom or want a playroom.

OP posts:
Whirlwindinacup · 24/07/2023 20:35

@LisaLastic could they just put dining room/playroom in the description? Tens of thousands does seem extreme but I'm not an estate agent. Maybe get a table free on Facebook Marketplace if you can fit it in with the children's toys and people can make their mind up how they'd like to use the room.

TeamsInterview · 24/07/2023 20:40

Some people really have no imagination, I had a viewer ages ago who said that she didn't like where I'd put the sofa because she wouldn't be able to see out of the window, her husband did point out that the sofa wasn't staying and they could put their sofa in a different position. So it's not impossible that someone wouldn't be able to imagine the room in any other way than a playroom.
I would just make sure the room is tidy and shows that there's enough room for a table and chairs.

Fretfulmum · 24/07/2023 21:00

I think the issue here is that you don’t have a dining table at all and this may put off buyers thinking there’s no room for one as one won’t fit in the kitchen? If so, the playroom has nothing to do with this, and yes I would advise getting a cheap dining table set from Marketplace to stage one.
buyers want somewhere they can sit down to eat. The playroom is a red herring here.

DrySherry · 24/07/2023 21:01

Reading between the lines - what is happening here is your agent is trying to manage your expectations for the value of your property. He knows its not worth what you think it is in the current format. He's trying to come up with ways of bringing the value in line with your expectation. He's also trying to manage your expectation down because he knows its a difficult sell in its current format. I would follow his idea. It's hard to sell anything that isn't at a bargain price at the moment.

Tulipvase · 24/07/2023 21:02

Would it be worth staging it as a dining room for the photos but still using it as a playroom while you sell? Or is that a complete faff?

Alphabet1spaghetti2 · 24/07/2023 21:03

Yes. We did. We knocked money off the sale because of a need for a rewire/replaster and new subfloor- not because a room was being used for a different purpose than we now use it for.
Your estate agent is being very stupid.

mnahmnah · 24/07/2023 21:04

Same set-up as we have. We sold on the first day of viewings to first time buyers with no children! The estate agent said before it went on the market to keep it like this for viewings, as it shows the versatility for a growing family. It worked!

Original poster
LisaLastic · 24/07/2023 21:16

Fretfulmum · 24/07/2023 21:00

I think the issue here is that you don’t have a dining table at all and this may put off buyers thinking there’s no room for one as one won’t fit in the kitchen? If so, the playroom has nothing to do with this, and yes I would advise getting a cheap dining table set from Marketplace to stage one.
buyers want somewhere they can sit down to eat. The playroom is a red herring here.

The other room has both sofas and a dining table and chairs, it’s much larger than the playroom.

OP posts:
Original poster
LisaLastic · 24/07/2023 21:21

DrySherry · 24/07/2023 21:01

Reading between the lines - what is happening here is your agent is trying to manage your expectations for the value of your property. He knows its not worth what you think it is in the current format. He's trying to come up with ways of bringing the value in line with your expectation. He's also trying to manage your expectation down because he knows its a difficult sell in its current format. I would follow his idea. It's hard to sell anything that isn't at a bargain price at the moment.

We didn’t go into it with any expectations of value, we also didn’t vocalise what we expected as we didn’t know what to expect in this current climate.

OP posts:
cleverliterarynamehere · 24/07/2023 21:23

How bad are the toys?

KievLoverTwo · 24/07/2023 21:34

Your EA is thick.

Get a better EA, because how the hell are they gonna sell your house if this constitutes good advice in their mind?

Soapyspuds · 24/07/2023 21:38

No. Unless the room had table, chairs and a piping hot roast dinner served I would realise that the room would work as a dining room.

I think you also need to leave a steaming turd in the toilet so that any potential buyers know what that room is for too.

Notellinganyone · 24/07/2023 21:53

When we sold our last house the EA told us the books would put people off and we should put them in storage! We ignored him - bonkers idea.

bigdecisionstomake · 24/07/2023 21:56

Our dining room was a playroom when we sold our house. The agent insisted we re-instate the table and make it look like a dining room for viewings. This was in 2004 and we had 3 competing bids and went to best and final offers achieving nearly 25K over asking. The kids hated me but it was short term pain for long term gain.

CharlotteRose90 · 24/07/2023 21:59

Your estate agent is an idiot, most people prefer 2 rooms not one knocked through. My house has 2 rooms and one isn’t a dining room.

Strictlyfanoftenyears · 24/07/2023 23:14

Just move your dining table into there for the photos, then move it back, simples.

Original poster
LisaLastic · 24/07/2023 23:21

Strictlyfanoftenyears · 24/07/2023 23:14

Just move your dining table into there for the photos, then move it back, simples.

It’s too much of a playroom to do that really. It would look too cluttered with the table too. It’s very much a playroom so without a whole other room to put the playroom stuff in, it would be hard to do for the photos.

OP posts:
Original poster
LisaLastic · 24/07/2023 23:23

Thanks for all of the replies. Lots to think about. I am glad that a lot of you would be able to look beyond the playroom. I think I will get some more estate agents out to value it and see if they can see beyond it or not.

OP posts:
ParisP · 24/07/2023 23:23

I would be able to see past this

dudsville · 24/07/2023 23:27

I can but my DH couldn't. He couldn't see past current decorating and furnishings, hasn't got an eye for space and how it might be used in other ways or whether things will fit or not. So this will be true for some others. Could you borrow someone's table and chairs and just do a display pic for the EA site?