Page 3 | Viewing in this scenario

WonderWoman123456 · 2023-09-20T09:45:23+00:00

I just put up my house for sale as I am leaving the country. There was a flurry of viewing bookings around 7 in the first week, but only 4 bothered to turn up. One was exploring, one opined house needs work done, one didn't like the size of the second bedroom and the last one was coming for a second viewing but found something else. Now after the first week nothing. People are looking at the ads on zoopla but no viewings. Was wondering if I should knock the price down a bit or just find a new agent. It's been 2 weeks now, I understand things are slow. This is my listing. 139576364

TenderDandelions · 20/09/2023 14:11

I disagree with those saying it's not a maisonette - it is IMO - it has it's own front door. It was originally a word that meant it was spread over two floors, but (certainly in London and the suburbs) it now just means a "flat" with it's own front door.

You've had some really good advice on here OP, but I just wanted to add that your wooden flooring is gorgeous and a massive selling feature of the property.

Just remember that many buyers aren't imaginative, so if they come in and see it cluttered, they can't see beyond it. Be as ruthless as you can be and put things in storage or a friend's house while you're selling.

The photos definitely need re-doing without a roadworks barrier in the front garden though! Goo luck!

Twiglets1 · 20/09/2023 14:35

I agree with @TenderDandelions about the gorgeous parquet flooring in the living room. The house has plenty of other nice things about it too, like big windows. Get rid of the net curtains in the bedroom @WonderWoman123456 and let the light flood in! Buyers always like light rooms even if it isn't that practical for sleeping in.

Poor WW has had lots of negative comments including from me but at the end of the day there is nothing that makes this house unsaleable. Just a few tweaks and it could look so much better.

Original poster

WonderWoman123456 · 20/09/2023 14:44

Twiglets1 · 20/09/2023 14:35

I agree with @TenderDandelions about the gorgeous parquet flooring in the living room. The house has plenty of other nice things about it too, like big windows. Get rid of the net curtains in the bedroom @WonderWoman123456 and let the light flood in! Buyers always like light rooms even if it isn't that practical for sleeping in.

Poor WW has had lots of negative comments including from me but at the end of the day there is nothing that makes this house unsaleable. Just a few tweaks and it could look so much better.

Ha don't worry I have thick skin. I posted here specifically for this purpose. I will try new photos done next week. And going to buzz the EA this week to get an update and their views. Or might change the EA too.

OP posts:

DepartureLounge · 20/09/2023 14:54

I like it, and totally agree about the floors, which are a fabulous feature. Tbh, I think it would sell better empty, if that's possible. And if selling the solar panels separately isn't going to be throwing money away, I would clear them too. Are you a man, OP? It's a very bloke thing imo to be defensive about the money they've saved you but act completely oblivious to how weird they look and how completely they spoil the garden!

JustWhatWeDontNeed · 20/09/2023 14:55

Brutal truth?

It looks cluttered, messy and small.

Weird hodge podge of furniture. Desk with a sofa in front of it. Sofa with a cluttered table but no TV in front of it. Exercise equipment, freezer in bedroom, no oven door... a mango... Horrible solar panels all over the garden, crime scene in the front garden...

I'd assume there were bad tenants in it if I looked at the photos so I probably wouldn't bother viewing.

If you want to sell it and sell it for a reasonable price, at minimum you need to tidy up and make it look like a functioning home.

OhhhhhhhhBiscuits · 20/09/2023 14:57

It could be amazing flat but it is a doer upper in my eyes. I would be looking to reconfigure the flat a lot (ie, change bedroom and lounge around and knock kitchen through to lounge. Also knock through to have a bigger bathroom and not a separate toilet).

the solar panels will put anyone off with a young child, every room looks really small and cluttered bar the larger bedroom. Have bedrooms set up as bedrooms so people know a bed will fit.

I think with a lot of decluttering, cleaning, painting and gardening it would be a good flat but it will take work for you.

Original poster

WonderWoman123456 · 20/09/2023 15:02

DepartureLounge · 20/09/2023 14:54

I like it, and totally agree about the floors, which are a fabulous feature. Tbh, I think it would sell better empty, if that's possible. And if selling the solar panels separately isn't going to be throwing money away, I would clear them too. Are you a man, OP? It's a very bloke thing imo to be defensive about the money they've saved you but act completely oblivious to how weird they look and how completely they spoil the garden!

Well if it was well manicured garden with flowers and all (I inherited the current state of the garden from the previous owner), I would have considered. And considering it was just grass all around, I wanted to put it into better use (save on my bills after the Ukraine war) rather than just mowing it. At one point of time I had an idea of a small office shed, but just gave it up.

OP posts:

Johnnylewis · 20/09/2023 15:07

I know it's not, but the photos scream rental property to me. They look like a tenant has begrudgingly let the estate agent to take photos, but of course had no incentive to tidy or stage the property beforehand. The "no onward chain" would back this up.

This of course could be putting people off - when we were buying we avoided anything tenanted in case they didn't move out!

It needs a big tidy up and the photos retaking. I LOVE your parquet flooring. Good luck

TinglingTangling · 20/09/2023 15:28

You need to massively tidy up…. I don’t understand why you left all the stuff all over the sides instead of putting it away.

Tidy the back garden, cut the bushes hanging all over the fence.

Remove the building bollard thing from the front of the house and cut all the hedge right back as it looks like it needs a good trim.

RedDoughnut · 20/09/2023 15:38

Is that a fried egg next to the bathroom sink?

PragmaticWench · 20/09/2023 15:39

Is it possible to have half of the solar panels moved in front of the others, so they're taking up the end of the garden but the front part of the lawn is usable?

Also, the area under the desk needs a clean, it looks like damp/mould has got to the skirting.

instantpotnoodle · 20/09/2023 15:42

What’s going on with the oven?! There’s no door…?

Original poster

WonderWoman123456 · 20/09/2023 15:43

PragmaticWench · 20/09/2023 15:39

Is it possible to have half of the solar panels moved in front of the others, so they're taking up the end of the garden but the front part of the lawn is usable?

Also, the area under the desk needs a clean, it looks like damp/mould has got to the skirting.

Solar panels would get no sun if moved to the front in winter. Not is isn't mould/damp but just the colour of them. Not sure why they are a bit black. The previous owners had covered the floors with carpet in the room, I had them removed.

OP posts:

Original poster

WonderWoman123456 · 20/09/2023 15:43

RedDoughnut · 20/09/2023 15:38

Is that a fried egg next to the bathroom sink?

Pears soap

OP posts:

Timeisallwehave · 20/09/2023 15:43

If you wanted to, you could really make it look a lot fresher with a tidy up. It looks incredibly unloved at the moment.

DepartureLounge · 20/09/2023 15:57

WonderWoman123456 · 20/09/2023 15:02

Well if it was well manicured garden with flowers and all (I inherited the current state of the garden from the previous owner), I would have considered. And considering it was just grass all around, I wanted to put it into better use (save on my bills after the Ukraine war) rather than just mowing it. At one point of time I had an idea of a small office shed, but just gave it up.

Show quote history

lol, that's kind of what I meant by defensive! A garden's a nice thing, whether it's well manicured or not. Your garden looks like a weird quasi-industrial zone, which is...less nice. I totally accept that the solar panels met your needs, but you're asking for advice on how to sell the place, and the advice I'm giving is that it would be better if the garden were more garden-like ("just grass all around" is fine). The fact is that you don't own the roof, so no one is going to be surprised if the place doesn't have solar panels, whereas I'm pretty sure that most people who go into your very nice, sunny garden will be very surprised that it does.

It's a nice flat. I'd definitely consider it if I was looking in that area, but the solar panel thing is weird and presents a prospective buyer with an immediate problem/dilemma. That's not a thing you want to be doing in this market imo.

SM4713 · 20/09/2023 16:09

I agree with others about the clutter and garden needing tidying.

If I was a buyer, I'd want to know whether the solar panels could be moved at all and what a rough cost would be? I'd be thinking that if I built a pergola or garden room, could they be moved onto that?

PragmaticWench · 20/09/2023 16:19

The solar panels are great in that they add value by reducing energy costs. However somebody would be paying £x extra on their mortgage to have a garden, that they can't really use. I imagine that garden cost would be more than the energy savings.

Totallyterrific · 20/09/2023 16:34

I wouldnt book to go and see that tbh.
Clutter (that could easily have been cleared away just for the purposes of the photos), freezer in the bedroom (why? Plenty of space elsewhere) the garden is ugly and what there is of the garden is taken up with solar panels (again - why?)

Ok so solar panels reduce the heating bills but also...... massively reduce any prospect of the garden actually being used as a garden. Its a long garden too - bigger than average for the area I imagine, such a waste the way its being used atm. Solar panels on the roof if you are in a top floor place/house make sense but not in a ground floor flat (and yes its a flat not a maisonette)

housethatbuiltme · 20/09/2023 20:14

Reviewing and trying to be more helpful:

first picture - building works in garden

second picture - looks like a store room

third picture - first thing I see is that stained up chopping board, then the carrier bag easy fixes... but then the BROKEN oven

fifth picture - solar panels are a bit off putting

sixth picture - wallpaper joins look awful

seventh picture - bathroom looks ok

eighth picture - looks ok but personally I would be put by a separate toilet

ninth picture - I would paint the walls but otherwise ok

tenth picture - Broken oven again

eleventh picture - solar panels again

Honestly and I don't mean this nastily but it just doesn't look homely at all, it looks like uninviting student digs where they haven't bothered unpacking half of it.

It all just looks 'un-looked after'.