No viewings - please tell me what I need to change in house!

[Whywontitsell]

Desperately trying to sell a house that we've never lived in and is nowhere near where we're currently living. We move around with DH's job and have accommodation provided with that, so we bought the house 6 years ago to keep us on the ladder.

We've already dropped the price from £500k to £490k to now £475k, but there's just zero interest. It's definitely not looking its best having had (good) tenants in for the past few years - some dodgy curtains left up and some hanging off the track! So the pics definitely aren't selling it well.

We live about a 3 hour drive away but I have a week off soon. If I go through there to do some work - what would I be best to focus on? The showhome pics make it look so nice - I presume you can't add a link to these on the Rightmove ad? An empty house is just so unappealing...

I would really appreciate any advice...

House:
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143709212#/?channel=RES_BUY

Is it worth paying someone to stage it just for the photos? Then when they look around the estate agent could say it was now vacant. I was always delighted there was no chain when house hunting.

Sorry I thought you said yours was 115sqm so I thought that 3 bed looked almost the same excluding the garage but either way the EA defo needs a proper floor plan especially if yours is even bigger.

My friend bought a house that was completely empty when being marketed. They had a great agent who made amazing photos with photoshopped furniture in it. We were so surprised when we went to view the property and it was empty.

The photos were enough to get us through the door and allowed us to visualise what the place would look like with furniture in it.

Maybe find an agent that can do that? Cheaper and easier than staging it.

It need a good clean of the carpets, resh curtains, and a few plants in the yard.

Use the previous photos first - then the empty ones. In the description "house is now vacant" type wording.

What did you buy it for? Usually when you click on Market Information it has the sold price history.

Were the photos taken for the rental market?

First two photos show stained carpet. Not a good first impression. Perhaps lead with the kitchen instead?

Bathroom photo is lazy - I don't want to look at toilet brushes and old towels

I did - I haven't found my floor plan yet, but I think theirs might include the garage in their space whereas I wasn't. Theirs is 2 doubles and a single whereas mine is 3 good sized doubles.

It's a very nice house but at the moment it looks grey and dirty, really grimy.
I disagree. I don't even think the carpet look stained or the curtains that awful.
If I had bought a house, I'd be redecorating and getting new carpets and curtains anyway, I expect.

It's just not been marketed well. It needs more and better photos and floor plan dimensions.

The similar properties are selling a lifestyle.

@Whywontitsell you keep mentioning sq footage, but we don’t work like this in England.

We buy houses on number of bedrooms,
so I think you need to start viewing it from this perspective too.

It doesn’t matter if this is the same sq footage as the 4 bedroom houses, this is still 3 bedrooms and you won’t be able to convince any many people to think otherwise.

The estate agent is doing a terrible job. The floorplan needs to have dimensions and the photos make it look dark and grey. I'd hate that kitchen floor. Also it looks like the development is not finished, the street view would put me off so your agent could include a picture of the street to show it's now finished off.

The garden needs a few shrubs in the back or a barbecue/ table and chairs, do you have any you could put there?

The carpets need a good clean, they look dirty, faded or both. Taken from a different angle or even a video would look better.

Price doesnt look ridiculous to me. It's not really a renovation project unless you hate the kitchen floor. I'd put light curtains and a large rug in there.

For me I'd like to be able to know if I can extend into the loft/attic and also at the back. Some estate agents put that potential there.

It is a very nice house, but it just doesn't look it, looks like a typical rented house so a bit run down.

No, these have been taken since tenants moved out, but I expect the original empty pics for marketing for rental may still be around - I've used the same agents for both.

It’s a really nice house, looks great from the outside. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly large for a 3 bed though - you said you think it’s about 115m2, does that include the garage as well? I’m in a 1970s terrace, originally 3 bed, and not large for the area, but it’s a similar size to yours. Your bedrooms are ok size but not particularly large.

I think you need to go and spend a bit of time there - what are people seeing when they go inside? You don’t know the house or the area at all really - 3 hours isn’t far, I think you should go up a fair bit more to try to understand what people are seeing, and what needs doing. Good luck!

I don't agree with some of the comments. Your house is beautiful and who ever buys it will decorate to how they want it anyway. Good luck.

I mention it because that's what sold it to us. We could've afforded a 4 bed when we bought it but the rooms felt so small that we chose the large 3 bed.

Same house but better pictures.

[[https://housesforsaletorent.co.uk/property/for-sale/3-bedroom-detached-house-for-sale-in-oakley-road-wilton-salisbury-sp2/6642248/?image=4

OP, if you ignore the stone built massive 4 reception room cottage, yours is the highest priced 3 bed detached house in that area. By 25k.

Stop pricing it as a 4 bed.

What would be the yield as a BTL at the current price? If it's decent, maybe include investment opportunity as a description. I seem to be one of the few people interested in square footage - 3 bedroms is a meaningless description for me if it's essentially a small double, a single and a cupboard.

1. Get the oil stains on the driveway removed, how - I don't know But the front of the house is the 1st impression !
2. Sort the curtains in the front living room, there's something just not right. At least if the window was ' dressed ' it will make the room look better despite being empty.
3. And the carpet, looks awful - but you know that.
4. For goodness sake ! that curtain in the bedroom !!! If someone can't be bothered to rehang the curtain - less than 5 min job, what else couldn't they be bothered with in the house ?!!!
5. Shut the door for the ensuite !!! the wc is the first thing the eye is drawn to :(
6. Is the curtain pole too long in the next bedroom, it doesn't look right. Or does it just need pushing along ? yet again attention to detail.
7. What is the nondescript thing on the bathroom windowsill - very distracting.
8. Same with the black ? thing hanging on a rail on the wall above the bath, what is it ? Is it staying ? Get rid !
9. Is the liquid soap on the hand basin for estate agents / viewers to wash their hands during viewings ? If so, you need to provide a hand towel, if not - Get rid !
10. The back garden, oh dear how depressing :(
11. Could you at least put a little patio set on the patio to one side of the back door ? So the eye focuses on it rather than the gate.
12. And a couple of medium / large pots on the other patio area, colourful and evergreen.
13. There's something ' not right ' with the bricks on the back of the house - is it frost ? same actually with the garden fence. Yet the front of the house photo is flooded with sunshine. So get a better photo taken of the back garden.
14. Maybe a phone of the back garden from the patio doors ?. Just so potential buyers can see the whole garden, tho I guess the Estate Agent took the photo from the very bottom corner of the garden. But at least I would see what the view is ( or isn't ! )
15. Oh my goodness ! When I go right in on Google street maps it shows that RedRow are still building the estate, right outside the front door !!! but when I go back out again the road does appear to be completed.
16. Indeed it appears not only has across the road been built, but they sold in the last 6 months ?
17. Rightmove informs me that No 40 sold for £625,000 and No 30 sold for £750,000 Are they both 4 or even 5 bed properties ?

The description is crap as well as the photos. I'd get another agent.

It looks like a nice house! I think possibly the inside and garden are a bit incongruous with the outside (I expected a bit more character inside and an established garden). Staging as others have said is a good idea to consider. For me, adding a splash of warm colours might help, (warm toned curtains in particular). Agree carpet looks like it has seen better days.
Our house was empty when we viewed it, no furniture, apart from fitted cupboards, but they had a few decorative touches (like one of those wooden words on the windowsill which said "HOME"). I would look at doing something basic to the garden (add a few shrubs, maybe a trellis on the fence with a climber, maybe something to sit on - even just a small bench). Good luck!

The dark carpets make the ceiling look low and the rooms less bright. I would wash them at a minimum but replace them
if you can. I would also use a few nice mirrors to make the place look brighter, a few nice prints, new curtains in the main rooms.

It looks.like a really good house with fantastic size rooms. I don't know the area though but the only thing I would guess is price. If no one is viewing, rather than viewing and then not liking it, it's price. Dropping to 475 won't bring in a new range of buyers. You'd need to drop to 450 as people tend to budget in 50k increments. Worth a shit to see if that's the problem. Most people are having to drop about 50k that I know

I agree the EA is rubbish. Bad photos, bad tactics.

Think OP needs to take control of the situation because the EA doesn’t seem to care about selling this property

Agree. Looks great from the outside. The photos of the inside of the house are not doing you any favours.