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

@Whytoday23 there was a similar thread a few months ago from a Scottish poster who had a bedroom downstairs.

The sheer number of people who could not compute the fact that a bedroom was downstairs was staggering. It had to be a dining room, a snug, a study. Definitely not a bedroom. Because in MN-world, bedrooms are upstairs and upstairs only.

It's very weird. Cannot really advise on price as I am the other end of the country to you.

I'd describe it as 3+ bedrooms or 3 bedrooms plus flexi room/ hobby room/ exercise room/ playroom/ study. You are going to disappoint people filtering for four bedrooms and miss people looking for three.

I'd tone down the decor a little. There's a lot of personality in the house. I'd take about a quarter of the books out of the sitting room bookshelves, especially the ones lying horizontally on top, remove the neon sign, and get rid of the birdcage in the bedroom. I would paint that bedroom ceiling white too.

What a beautiful house!! I loveeee the decor. I think it must be the price really, altho I don’t know the area that well. There’s just nothing else that stands out as completely off putting, more just niggly (the dark ceiling in the bedroom, the fourth bedroom being downstairs etc)

@parfaitamour the OP has already explained this- they need to fund some special needs provision only diagnosed after they bought the house

Absolutely this.

A bedroom can be downstairs in certain situations like a bungalow but where that's the case you should also have a bathroom downstairs too.

A random room downstairs homeowners can call it what they want but if there's no separate dining room or study, most people would mentally classify the room downstairs as a dining room/study/snug. In England at least, the situation may be different in parts of Scotland as the Scottish poster stated.

I could call my house a 6 bed seeing as it has a study and a dining room but it's a 4 bed house. Calling it a 5 or 6 bed house when I come to sell it won't get me any more money.

I agree with others that it's a big mistake to market it as a 4 bed.

I have nothing against downstairs bedrooms...it's actually our current set up. We have a 3 bed house and use one of 3 downstairs reception rooms as a bedroom. We chose to sacrifice some living space so that 3 dc could have their own rooms. Eldest dc is downstairs, it's no issue at all. BUT - it was priced and marketed as a 3 bed.

We're planning on moving in the next couple of years and want a 4 bed. So I refine Zoopla to 4 beds. I want 4 upstairs bedrooms AND the equivalent downstairs space that that brings.

As a potential buyer of a 4 bed there's nothing more time-wasting than seeing a 3 bed house marketed as a 4 bed - because they've shoved a bed in the study/converted garage/small second lounge. And yet it's priced as a 4 bed.

Just no. I skip past them as soon as I see the floorplan.

It was sold for under 600k in 2022, when rates had already started to move up, where are you getting 675k from with rates even higher now?

I think it looks nice, OP. No idea if worth that much, though.

Not going to lie that pink throw is infuriating, why? It looks like it's just been dumped on the bed. The pictures are so tidy that really stands out.
The kitchen picture with the view of the fridge. This picture really doesn't do the kitchen any favours as the angle makes the fridge ridiculously big and makes the room look smaller.

That’s really petty, no one is not viewing because of a throw or kitchen image,

Missing the point but that takes me back. My grandparents used to live just around the corner in Larch Crescent. I always liked the area and have many fond memories of staying with them for weeks at a time in the school holidays.

Ah, I hadn't read that far forward when I typed The market has changed since they purchased, and no matter what we all want to get for our properties, buyers will determine the end result in these tougher times.

@Frasers I agree but they were the only things I thought were wrong.

It's only 2.5 bedrooms with no garage, that's why! One bedroom is actually a dining room. I'd assume the latticed windows haven't been replaced since 1985 too.

Latticed windows make rooms look darker, so does dark paint especially on ceilings.

If I was considering this property I would be taking into account the cost of replacing the double glazing with clear glass. This is something we did actually have to do on a property we once owned and it immediately made the house appear much lighter & brighter.

Love your style OP! Particularly the living room, but straighten the pink throw pleeeease

too much stuff esp personal things and dark-colored walls it's an oldie but magnolia walls are much better when selling. you also need to remove clutter and personal bits thing is if the rooms are cluttered then people just see small house no room for them either

For me I want an ensuite or 2nd
shower/bathroom with a 4 bed as standard.

Nice decor. Magnolia looks cheap and nasty imho. Always good to declutter a bit though.

Please add Council Tax band- looks lazy and sloppy from the agent.
I would relist in Jan. Awful time right now.

I like the way you have decorated it.

I assume it is a combination of the price and the time of the year.

Might be better to try again in Spring and make sure you research the local market at that point before pricing it.

The sad truth is that you bought at the peak of the market and it has crashed in Kent since then. When you bought yours, the house next door to me sold for £500,000. It's much smaller than mine, four bedrooms one of which is tiny. The identical one with a larger garden has recently sold for £415,000. Mine, four double bedrooms, was valued at £515,000. After several reductions I got £435,000. Despite your hard work and alterations to the house, you can't expect much more than you paid. I'm guessing that £625,000 would be the maximum you could get. On the bright side, I got a fantastic bargain with the one I've now bought so hopefully, once you have a buyer, you can negotiate hard.

It's nice, but honestly, it's a 3 bed.

Value wise I would put it at about 5 to 10% under the price paid in 2022. If you want to sell now in this currently declining market you will need to at least drop the asking to under 600k. That should at least get you a few viewings.

Haha! It is good but I think the other schools have also caught up. St. Margaret Clitheros and Slade are very well regarded at the moment.

My thoughts on the property are:

• I love the decor, absolutely my vibe. Might be a bit much for some to look past though.
• I don't like that there is a dining table in the lounge. That makes it seem like the one in the kitchen is impractical for some reason, which makes me feel like the kitchen isn't a 'real' kitchen/diner.
• I don't like downstairs bedrooms, they don't work for our family. So, to me, this is a 3 bedroom house. But then bedroom 3 upstairs is tiny, so really it's a 2 bedroom house.
• There's only 1 small bathroom upstairs.
• You bought it in 2022 according to the listing. I'd be wondering what was SO bad about the house/area/neighbours that had you putting the house up for sale so quickly after buying it.

Bedroom 3 is ok. It’s small but it’s a proper bedroom size for a single.

It’s a 3 bed house with 2 good doubles, the bonus of a dressing room and a single 🤷🏼‍♀️