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

It confuses me about the development. Is this house part of it? Or is it not?

OP, I think you haven’t prepared before selling.
You are not sure of the square metre space, the house looks like it needs a professional clean as well as staging and new curtains.
I don’t know about your area but that seems like an expensive price for a 3 bed newish build that’s not in London!

Hi, the house looks lovely. But where is the EPC cert? And are you in a chain with it? If not, say so right at the top of the bullet points. I think floor plans should have measurements on them and not in the description. It’s too much hard work for buyers who have choice. How big is the garden? It doesnt look too big but the measurements should be there. I am a buyer and i hate EAs that dont know the size of the garden when it comes with the property (it actually pisses me off)!

I think it’s okay there is no furniture, looks ready to move into.

i don’t know the market in your area but I would remove “guide price” from the description as you are a keen seller. maybe it’s overpriced for the area? Whats the area like? Noise from traffic? Busy? Or is it in the middle of nowhere?

one thing too, i think the photos are a bit over exposed, a bit bright. You need new photos that dont feel like theyre hiding anything.

the description could add “keen seller” and also that it needs work (cosmetic?). What youve told MN about the house should be told to buyers. Otherwise, if you get viewings people will figure it out themselves and feel like you wasted their time.

dont piss off buyers is my greatest advice.

It's got good bones, the outside is lovely.

Agree with others, it needs staging to show how it can be lived in.
Better pictures.
More photos of the lovely green fields surrounding area as seen in another house on the road.
Dimensions of the floor plan
Garden size and if it's south or west facing etc.
Size of garage
And maybe future potential of 4th bedroom etc.

Good luck

Sorry - just saw yours is 115 square metres, so it's not large. I would usually be looking for around 110 for a 3 bed and 160 for a 4 bed for an investment property.

I don't have any advice to add to what's already been suggested, but just wanted to say what a lovely house, OP, I am envious! Houses built in that era always have such nice proportions and give me a homely Janet-and-John feel.

So it's a perfectly pleasant property, why are you not getting the viewings ?

Can would be buyers not see past the lack of furniture ?

Is there too much choice on the estate ?

It looks beautiful from the outside

Better wording, how close to a station/shops/etc

Dress it maybe but better photos would be fine I think. The lighting and angles are bad but the rooms themselves are fine! The selling points for me are being ignored in photos - utility room, en suite, dressing room. I want to see decent shots of those!

Sure, but a good agent would be like "Charming and unusually large three-bedroom family home with potential to convert garage/loft/whatever to create additional living space...."

@shewasrooting

what do you think??

I would clean the carpets, put up nice curtains and possibly even paint a couple of room a nice warm but neutral cream.

At the moment it looks poorly maintained and dated always a harder sell for a family home because lots of people need to move in without doing work.

The photos aren't great. There's no pic of the en suite or the walk-in wardrobe and the floor plan doesn't have measurements.

But, it's a nice house. The rooms are spacious. The bathroom and kitchen are modern. The carpets aren't fresh and the curtains do look tatty, but that is all cosmetic and isn't going to put that many people off viewing. So it's the price unfortunately.

If it was mine, I'd take it off the market. Get another estate agent who'll take better photos and a positive listing and put it back on at a lower price. The market is rubbish at the moment so I wouldn't waste any money staging, it just isn't worth it. It'll sell without that when the price is right.

You’re really far from a train station. Is it priced correctly for this? Especially when it looks a bit rough on the inside. The frontage is great though.

When I go on google street view it shows me that this development is still being built with lots of new houses in the process of being built opposite.

Have these houses now been completed and sold or is it still a building site?
This could determine quite a lot. i.e. you are in the middle of a building site or you are up against a whole load of pristine new build houses when trying to sell an old new build property?

I also think not having the room sizes on the floor plan is wrong. Also you may have to invest in a staging company to present the property in the best light for a sale.

I actually don't think the photos look that bad. I can see pass simple decor. Kitchen and the family bathroom is in good condition.

I do think the photo with the ensuite looks bad. Maybe take it a position so it's not in view.

Otherwise, it's just the price. If you need to stage it, how much will it cost and will it be eaiser to just drop the price a bit.

I really wouldn't do anything.

It's a blank canvas.

Spending money, time and resources on it as a waste as someone will buy it and just redo it all again to their taste.

If the price is right, it will sell.

I think you have backed up my suspicion that it isn't clear what era this house is.
I first thought 1920’s/30’s and expected character accordingly. I was confused at how it seems to have a housing estate built around it…
This is a fairly new house though, as it has an NBC guarantee.

Confusing for potential buyers ( those looking for new and modern, those looking for older, larger scale, character) neither of whom might be seeing what they want.

I have flipped a few houses op. In this circumstance, I think you should remove everything personal / coloured down to the loo roll holder, lampshades, curtains and hand soap. I’d then do a quick repaint throughout the house and change all the carpets and possibly the flooring in the bathroom(s). The bathroom flooring doesn’t match the tiles for example so if you change it, make sure the new one does.

As for colours : Neutral carpets, a cream like the sort of thing attached, doesn’t have to be expensive. Looped carpets are good as they don’t show tread marks from viewings eg https://designer-carpet.co.uk/carpets/loop. Walls - either white or off white, avoid magnolia / yellow. Ensure the colours compliment one another.

This is a big item to sell and it needs more effort put in otherwise you’re throwing money away. You should go and look at it this weekend. Is the house clean, does it smell fresh etc.

The idea is presenting it as move in ready whereas right now it looks like a tired rental, which needs money spending on it. The bathroom doesn’t have to be perfect and some are saying it needs changing. It looks ok, basic. One thing we cannot see is the en-suite. I presume that’s a shower and it’s important to have a picture of this.

At a minimum I would ask the EA to put in something saying the housebuilder (Redrow?), the house model and the year it was built, so that people can do their own research and see what it could look like with a little work. Presumably if it's still in NHBC it's relatively new, and I think that needs to be brought out in the description so people can see what needs doing is highly likely to only be cosmetic.

The pictures are dreadful - look as though they were taken in 1970. You don't need to stage - you can use this https://www.virtualstagingai.app/
But you have to start with professional photos of the rooms.

I’d not do any of this, maybe clean the carpets and curtains. Past that it’s the price. You can get at detached for 25 k less… sure maybe smaller plot. But it’s not selling as it’s on for too much.

Hi @Whywontitsell My advice would be (if you don’t have to sell it) to try and rent it to military families as a private married quarter. If there’s a quarter shortage around the Salisbury Plain area, you’ll have a solid income lasting 2/3 years at a time.

If not and you really do have to sell, I would maybe get a better set of photographs for Rightmove. The bedroom carpets look old and tatty so if you decided to stage the house, defo cover those areas up. Definitely get ensuite pics - small is fine if it has nice fixtures and deco.

Pop up some better curtains too - i’d suggest quite a solid colour (plain not patterned) so it gets rid of the pale wishy washy vibes. If you’re a military family, and you have stored away your quarter curtains, you could use your own quarter ones for photos if they’re decent.

If you wanted to tart up the walls, opt for painting a feature wall perhaps - like a cappuccino/mushroom/pebble type shade. Something to give some warmth.
Maybe pop a few big plant pots with box hedge on back patio to give some character.
Your home from the front looks very pretty i think.

I think the description is lacking - there’s so much cool stuff to do in the area - you’re allowed to write your own estate agent description!
Make it family centred and give suggestions of nice places to visit nearby, such a country parks, Marwell Zoo, British Tank Museum, Monkey World etc

I’d have thought you’d get interest from military families looking at buying too, so you could always pop up an advert on local shop noticeboards, in the military quarter areas and see if you can put a for sale advert in any local military newsletters.

it looks cosmetically awful

How? It just looks like a 'blank slate' to me, so to speak...

It looks like there is only room for the toilet. So is it an ensuite with a shower, tub or just a toilet and basin.

It's a standard Redrow newbuild - still under warranty. Pretty much every Redrow development includes this style of house.