Small bedrooms

[BeckiW93]

Hi everyone, our house has been on the market since mid May, we have had 11 viewings and reduced from 450 to 400. Every single viewing except one has said the bedrooms are too small. I agree they are small (we debated wether they were workable or not when we viewed). Wondering if anyone has any other ideas on how to make them look better (bedroom 3 and 4 specifically). I'm debating setting up a toddler bed or single midsleeper in bedroom 4 instead of the desk and instruments, does that seem useful? Any other advice gratefully recieved!

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135327521

Was going to suggest this too.

I’d also agree that you should turn bed 2 into a nice guest double and move the nursery into bed 3 or 4.
Also with bed 3 it looks from the floor plan that you could turn the bed against the wall which would make it look bigger. I’d also agree with getting rid of all but 1 of the wardrobes in that room and putting in some drawers or a dressing table. If you need to put some stuff in storage then so be it, or you could store under the bed.
I’d dress bed 4 as a nursery.

Bedroom 4 is no bigger than a dressing room or study. I would consider it a 3 bed if I was viewing it, as are your viewers it seems. People aren’t stupid, they can clearly still see the room dimensions even if you squeeze a bed in there.

So you may need to reduce the price to match the best 3 beds in your area. Someone who is looking at 3 beds will then be happy with the bonus extra upstairs room in your house. Some will consider making the downstairs room bedroom 4 (though that’s not ideal for many families) and the upstairs room the study. But the price needs to reflect that the house lacks 4 “proper” upstairs bedrooms.

Interesting thread and empathy for your current situation: it will pass and try not to get too overwhelmed.

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Issues^

I agree with the above, on the optics of downstairs v upstairs: having ample ground floor space amplifies how standard it is upstairs. This is compounded by being the priciest house on the block, the local area and then the house being special.

Spending on dressing could be a false economy, and may not be worth the hassle: I wouldn't and if you do, take advice from someone qualified/experienced before spending.

However, I would want better pictures. In pictures 18/19, removing the duvet entirety and the suitcases would give give a sense of space. Also where are the pictures of the gate, garage and drive, mow the lawn and take a prettier lawn pic. These pics would instantly add extra wow to the house and make it clearer why it's the house on the estate. It probably needs video too. ^^

Price

That said, every house can sell, unless it's overpriced.

a) What comparables did you get from other estate agents and what range did you get?

b) Special houses like this will have an asking price and what you've been told is a floor / selling / price you should accept. I can't see how long yours has been on the market for, but the two need to be rather close, morsel once you've had it on for sale for more than 6 weeks and it's not elicited an acceptable offer (assuming your agent couldn't really price it, so you tested the market).

c) Based on £425k and the^ 155 square meter footage, it's £2,741 a sq m. I don't know the local market, but there is a house - on the estate - that's £3k a sq meter (it's on for £275k and 89 sq m). So your sq m seems comparable, so is the ceiling that's the problem or are you not getting the right buyers to come look?^

Would anyone pay £425k, when a house on the estate is £275? Is the extra £150k worth the garage, the gates, the drive, the extension: and yes I know people who have spent x2 the estate average for that special house.

The real issues are, does your agent know the area, are they getting the right buyers (I say no, and the pics miss the mark and no video (special houses deserve special sales techniques), and will the pricing work for the right buyer, for whom the space works (I assume this would be a young family with a few kids who don't need big bedrooms but lots of communal space). ^^

Your problem is that anyone who is searching for and budgetting for a 4 bedroom house really needs more bedroom space than that. Your buyers when you find them will be searching for and budgeting for a 3-bed and will see this house as just-about workable (using the smallest bedroom as a dressing room paired one of the others). Market it as "3-4 bedrooms" and price it with "offers in excess of £" a figure which will be at the top end of the budget that a 3-bed buyer in the area will search for. You need to get it on their radar, and then see how far towards the price you want they are willing to stretch to acknowledge the significantly better downstairs space as compared to the other (3bed) places they have been looking at.

I'd put a door between study and utility and turn that into a downstairs guest room, then use bed 4 as a study -it's barely big enough to fit a single bed and even then no furniture really, I think a cabin bed might just emphasise the small size.
The 3rd bedroom I'd either chose smaller wardrobes and put some drawers in there too, or at the very least get rid of the suitcases etc stored on top-again emphasises the smaller space

I also agree with changing the downstairs to make the separate room an adult sitting room and having the bit next to the kitchen as a lounge/ playroom and also trying to get the lawned area of the garden looking better- giving the lawn some attention and putting some furniture and plants there. If people love the rest of the house more then they will be more persuaded to overlook the bedrooms.

The only other things you could do would be to set the gym up as a spare guest room and/ or get plans drawn up for an upstairs extension (but not sure if you’d get planning for that).

We viewed a house that had masses of downstairs space and then smaller bedrooms upstairs and I found it very jarring.

The only thing I can really suggest is to make all the rooms look as light and airy as possible, remove extra decor and just paint everything white.

I have the same problem with my house, although I’m not trying to sell. Also thought about it before moving but did it anyway. My ‘master’ bedroom isn’t really a master and the bedrooms in general are smaller than most houses. It has been a problem as the kids grew up and needed more space tbh. But I don’t regret the decision because we wanted more downstairs space and a bigger garden, which we have. I think it’s a case of small bedrooms combined with the slower property market at the moment, but the ‘right’ people will turn up eventually. People aren’t silly, they will look at the measurements of the rooms, but they will sacrifice that over a great living space downstairs, like you did, perhaps with a games room or playroom in the current gym or front reception room to make up for lack of bedroom space.

Are you there when they view the house? Perhaps if you’re talking to them you can give them positive ideas? I once viewed a house and the owners pointed out everything that was wrong with it, hence we didn’t take it further!

I think it’s more price than bedrooms to be honest. Sold in 2019 for 300k and now on for 100k 4 years later? Seems like a huge jump. Unless you did some of the major work like the extension then I would be questioning why there was just a change in price.

Your house is gorgeous though!

Bed 4 either needs not counting as a bedroom or turned into Nursery room with the other three rooms proper doubles.

Remove all the stuff on top of wardrobes as it makes the house look cluttered.

That first pic inside of the doorway into the playroom and hall needs to go it's pointless and doesn't help your cause.

Also, although I wouldn't use the playroom as a playroom, my first thought was "what a waste of that log burner" as you couldn't light it with kids playiing around it. Take the toys out and show that room as a proper grown up snug. Sofa, books, etc.

Get the guitars into the Gym.

The living room open to the kitchen can house the kids yous (a select few) to show it as a Family Room.

Agree with other posters, it's not a 4 bed house. It needs to be a 3 bed with study.
I think you will sell it then, the house is beautiful, good luck.

And in terms of price, the market hasn't increased 30% in 4 years, so unless you've done some major work in the house, it's overpriced.

It's a lovely house but I agree it's overpriced if it was sold for £300 in 2019. I wouldn't love the bedrooms but I'd probably accept them being small because at the end of the day their purpose is for sleeping. My DC always played downstairs not in their bedrooms.

OP, your EA needs to change the guide price description in the main text to reflect the new asking price.

I am really not keen on offers over. I think it closes the door to what could be reasonable negotiations. I think it's better just to have a price.

I am not keen on the gym being a gym. It's a good space. I think it would be better served looking more like a summer house.

Excuse me if I have missed something, but I can't see anywhere to store things I would usually have in a garage. Lawn mower, gardening equipment, spare fridge. Is there no space for those? That would be hugely off-putting for me. I need somewhere for messy stuff to live. I would rather half half summer house/gym half junk storage space than the large gym.

I also agree that a 100k rise in 4 years seems like a lot, unless you have done extensive refurbishments.

What are the other houses in your area like?

All the houses around us have a tiny box room (2.1x2) so can only just fit a single bed and a wardrobe. Looking at your floor plan it’s a little smaller than ours. But given all the other houses in the area are the same we wouldn’t advertise it as a 2 bed