Honest opinions on this listening

[Whytoday23]

House up for sale for a couple of weeks but only one viewing. The feedback was that kitchen is in the small side (fair comment, but potential for extension is there) and the fact that a nearby property is for sale at 650k (note that the said house is a 3 bed as it doesn't have a proper loft conversion). Is it simply the time of year or price. Note that the house had full rewire, every wall replastered, plumbing/new boiler/ heating system, a wood burner added and a garage conversion downstairs. Front and back garden with the potential for a double story extension (if more space is needed) as well as a lift conversion. So more value can be added over time.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142007819

If you put it up for £625k you'd probably get some decent interest.

So, it's down to price.

Nothing to do with straightening out a throw on a bed, or re-painting a bedroom.

I like it, nice place and well presented.

The trouble is price, obviously you are trying to recoup what you paid plus improvement costs but the market doesn't work like that.

Market conditions may be better in spring, they may be the same, or they may be worse. Taking it off removes the possibility of someone with a family wanting to buy this with a view to moving during the summer holidays to not disrupt the school year.

The first 'nearby' property is a bigger 4 bed (with all 4 beds upstairs) for £650k, and this hasn't sold either, plus en suite to master, I would regard this as a bit more family friendly and better value.

It's a lovely house OP- and personally I like the layout as there are only 2 of us and we like a good downstairs office and a small upstairs bedroom to use for clothes rails and storage, suitcases, Xmas tree etc

The dark colours wouldn't be for me unless it's big old house, but that's just a taste thing.

I think it's just a poor market generally, interest rates have made it that mortgages have almost doubled for many and hence it comes down to price. You probably can't afford to drop much more , so I understand that too- I'm sure if it was say £100k cheaper you would be inundated!

As I said earlier, I really like your house. But I think the crucial issue is that if a 3 bed at the same price pooint had a bigger kitchen and more even bedrooms upstairs I would go for that. If such 3 bed houses don't exist in your area then fair enough.
Put another way, as much as I like your house, I immediately started thinking what to do about the kitchen and how to increase the 3rd bedroom and adding up costs. These are expensive changes that can put people off if the house is already quite pricey for the area.

As I said I am up the road from you and the third bedroom is only a single, even for SE standards a 3 bedroom sold in 2021 for £598, that was the boom time.

We have had 14 months of interest rate rises since then, and COL crisis.

The fact you have had one viewing on that price tells you everything, and I know that you think your house is worth more but it's not, a house is only worth what someone is prepared to pay.

I definitely think the market will pick up more next year. Like one user said boxing day is when the most properties are viewed.

Good luck!

@Whytoday23 I see nothing wrong with your kitchen by the way -

Love the house but for me, at that price I'd want another bathroom. Also it's a 3 bed, not a 4 as having a bedroom downstairs wouldn't appeal to me at all so that room would be a playroom/office. I think if I saw a 4 bed in tutor I'd be disappointed to then find one room is questionable and only one bathroom, whereas if I saw a 3 bed I'd be happy with the bathroom and chuffed with an extra reception room

It's a lovely house and garden - I don't think the decor is the problem.

The downstairs bedroom is an issue, the single family bathroom is an issue, but I don't think these would stop it from selling.

I see the last house of the same type sold for less than £600k last year, when the market was better. I'm wondering why yours is valued higher? You mention there is potential to extend the kitchen, which is nice, but people will knock that cost off what they would offer.

Basically, I'd say it's the price.

Like one user said boxing day is when the most properties are viewed

Personally, I think that's just marketing fluff from Rightmove.

As someone who's owned a firm of estate agents for 15 years I've never seen the slightest increase in enquiries on Boxing Day, or over the Christmas holiday period at all. Market picks up late Jan/early Feb onwards.

I love your decor. Right up my street but not to everyone's taste which might be off putting. The exterior is not my style though and a bit bland.

I think it's probably the price though. The 3rd bedroom is very small (from the dimensions) and it must look bigger in the photos. I wouldn't advertise the downstairs room as a bedroom, and say it's an extra reception room. It would annoy me if I was looking for a 4 bed and then clicked to see one was downstairs. The kitchen is pokey so if need to factor in extension costs which is expensive atm.

I guess that people searching for a 4 bed may look and be disappointed as one bedroom is downstairs. I don't really buy this as a 4 bed, as you could put a bed in any extra room downstairs and call it a bedroom. So it may come down to needing to be priced as a spacious 3 bed.

I am a maximalist and love your decor, but I think there are more minimalist people in the world so it may put people off, particularly the colour drench rooms. It's a lot of the same deep colour used (I love it BTW!).

The outside space is fab. It's a lovely property.

I love your decor and it's a nice house. It's always price though isn't it? If you're not getting interest at that price it must be too high.

The 4th bedroom is an issue we'll have if we sell. It was marketed as a 4 bed when we bought it but the 4th one is pretty tiny and eavesy and I use it as a dressing room/ sewing room. Seems to be quite common for 4 beds though, we needed 3 but saw loads with some weird extra room.

@yellowlane I wouldn't say the kitchen is pokey, it has a table in it and lots of floor space

What it isn't though is one of these enormous open plan rooms with bifold doors etc- and yes some people have an expectation of those these days.

I love these big kitchens by the way, but only if they have a nice big lounge too (as OP has). What I've found is lots of houses with enormous kitchens often have poxy sized lounges these days.

It's a beautiful house overall, however...as others ha e said, it is overpriced for what you are getting.

There is a lot of "stuff" I would look to put stuff in storage to clear it up and show it at the maximum space.

It is also quite dark in decor which will make things look smaller.

It isn't a 4 bed, it is a 3 bed with a garage conversion.

It doesn't have a garage, can't see a shed and can't see wardrobes in some of the rooms so my thought would be a complete lack of storage.

There is no dining room and neither kitchen or living room is described as diner on the floor plan which would put most people off I think.

Worth a good look at what else is local and reasses your price and dressing.

It’s beautiful, but it’s too expensive for a three bed. The layout works for you as you don’t mind having a teenager’s bedroom downstairs, but many people dislike sleeping on the ground floor and / or a different floor to younger children, they won’t consider it as a four bed.

People who are willing to extend to get the home they really want are generally looking for more of an overall project property at a lower price, so they can add value; they’re less likely to be looking for something otherwise fully done which is already at (or even over) the top of its value added capability.

This is what would put me off as well.

I appreciate you saying people can extend, but do you have any idea what costs are like these days? 225k plus vat for a two storey extension in the North of England. What would that be in the South East?

I think you need to let go of 'possible to extend', anyone who has got a 900k + budget will be buying a 900k house considerably larger than yours.

As you have already had lots of feedback, the one thing I noticed that is really off-putting is one very small oven in the kitchen. That's not enough for a family home. I don't want to move in and have to redesign an entire kitchen straight away. Unless it is cheap as chips. Which it is not.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/property/4921629-extension-costs-these-days

It lives up to the immaculately presented promise and I don’t think the slight inconvenience of overpainting the dark colours would put off viewing.

My (hopefully constructive) feeedback is the listing is confusing, not just the 3/4 bed description but also the order of the photographs. I got frustrated flipping between the floorplan and the photos. I think you need the photos to do the same tour of the house you would do so start with 1/2 photos of the living room then kitchen/hall etc then upstairs with master first. Scattered photos of the same room at different angles interspersed with the (lovely) garden just add to already mixed messaging as to no. bedrooms.

I agree with those who say it’s a three bedroom house with an option to either have a small study or child’s bedroom in what we used to call the box room and either a larger bedroom or additional reception/playroom study downstairs. Honestly think you’d be better off marketing (and pricing it) as such and letting people make their own assessment on how they would use the space.

@Crikeyalmighty you're right. It's not pokey having just looked at the dimensions again. It's prob the weird angle of the photo and the big fridge. Another photo of the kitchen would be good.

Issue is clearly you’re trying to pass it off as a four bed, when in reality it’s a three bed, the third bedroom is beyond tiny, it is below the now min bedroom size for a single bedroom in the uk. I’m in south east and it is not the norm but is common . You may get a small double bed in there, but you’d not be able to get a wardrobe in or walk round it.

its fine this is the layout, but you’ve priced it like it really is a 4 bed.

this is your comp. It is on for less and it really is a four bed, with the tiny fourth bedroom, but is bigger than your third bedroom and meets the min standards for a single room, and they have not pretended the office is a bedroom and called it a five bed.

so its price. You’ve priced a 2-3 bed like it’s a 4 bed.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140914115#/media?id=media0&ref=floorPlanPage&channel=RES_BUY

Also you only bought it in 22 , a year ago and for 598k? Why are you selling?

Sorry no advice just wanted to say I think your house is beautiful. Yes it's not minimalist but it's not a hoarders paradise either. It's really well put together and tastefully decorated in my opinion without being generic. Good luck with your sale , I really struggled selling our first home mentally. It made me feel so vulnerable opening up my personal space for others to pick over and pull apart and you're even braver to post it in MN, well done!😊

Fair enough about the throw but otherwise I don't understand this comment at all. It's a beautifully decorated house, not cluttered or untidy. I don't get what "stuff" you're seeing.

The inside is much more attractive than the outside would suggest.

I think that’s taste. I’m not seeing it, I think the master and living room are painted a nice colour, but the rest of the rooms, and the kitchen, I am not seeing as things of beauty, more generic.