Don't people neutralise before selling any longer ?

[Milkasheika]

found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/145090202 Oh my eyes

Most of it is white…..there are just a few walls with wallpaper.

Or beige

It's gorgeous, the only bit I find too much is the kitchen cupboards but that's a quick fix.

Looks lovely to me.

(The bath pulled me up short on first view, then I decided actually it's probably quite nice, 'cocoon-y'.)

God, now that really IS tragic for that beautiful house.

And time moves on, advice changes and maybe people are not convinced by said ‘TV experts’ to entirely redecorate their house before selling, so the buyer can redecorate anyway….

Personally, I’d say that if someone else style puts you off and you can’t see beyond a bit of paint or wall paper, then you’re the one losing out of opportunities.

I don't think the whole "neutralise" thing was ever necessary in the real world. It was a thing for TV shows. Just like the "staging" advice you'll get from people on Mumsnet. When you're paying hundreds of thousands, you want location, size, sound physical condition and other big things to be right, and if you find somewhere with all that, you are really not going to reject it because of someone else's wallpaper choices, or whether they have the right fruit in a fruitbowl.

It's an absolutely beautiful flat - i'd love to live in it. The bath looks cosy but I do wonder how you get out of it.

I remember staying in a similar flat in Edinburgh years ago where the shower was in a cupboard off the kitchen!

I love bright colours and have never had a neutral home. Never had a problem selling . Two houses sold on the first day of viewing .

The only people who ever bother to 'neutralise' a property are developers on Homes Under the Hammer.

I like the flat, it's not all to my taste but then why would you expect it to be if it's not yours yet? The bath is weird though.

What is "Greggs grey?" If you mean the pasty shop their colours are blue and yellow?

Tupster
The staging advice on here seems to range from common sense to unreasonable and unrealistic.

It makes sense to show rooms as usable space, for example the smallest bedroom is better being a nursery/home office/single bedroom/playroom/well thought through dressing room than it is a dumping ground for clutter or a room with huge storage furniture that means the room doesn't look usable. That would be common sense staging advice to me.

It's also common sense to keep the kitchen work surfaces reasonably clear. In reality I like to have some of my appliances on the work surface for ease, but I can see how too many things out on the counter would make a room look cluttered and leave a potential buyer with concerns about storage.

Other suggestions make me laugh though, like redecorating rooms to be beige/grey, staging a room with new furniture, hiding all your possessions so it's bland, making sure you've got a tastefully designed tray on the bed for those mornings where you require a hotel style selection of refreshments in your bedroom.

When I see a house that's been neutralised with no personality and limited possessions I have huge doubts about the property because I can't see how it would work for a family like mine. I actually want to see houses that are lived in.

I’ve seen worse. Odd set up for getting in the bath tho

Eh? I like it. It has character.

The bedrooms are rather busy but otherwise it's pretty nice and looks well finished.

But then I bought a house with a purple, orange and red kitchen and no fitted units so maybe am an outlier. Two months later it was coffee and cream with maple units and travertine tiles in pastel shades, and the main thing was it had doors onto the garden and was MASSIVE, and the rest of the house we could live with.

On a grey background with grey window frames and grey walls....

I love it! The kitchen units are my favourite bit. 😂

We had our entire old house professionally painted in (what we thought were) tasteful, neutral colours before we sold, which was a significant expense. It's gone back up for sale again recently and a friend sent the listing to me. The new owners have clearly reverted it all straight back to personality-less new build stark white, so we may as well have just left it as it was after all. I wouldn't be doing it again, that's for sure!

Tv 'experts' also told everyone to DIY plywood doors, lino over historic tiles and hardwood and destroy any and all original features back in the 60s.

We are still dealing with the nightmare of undoing mid century 'tv experts' advice 50+ years on.

Only a naive moron would listen to 'TV experts', they are there to make entertainment by stirring the pot not to guide good life choices.

I find it odd they say to remove all family photos so the buyer can imagine their family instead.

I can honestly say a picture of your grandkids on the wall or your wedding portrait on the mantle etc... would not put me off unless they was a painted on, tiled or engraved permanent murals. I mean I assume the seller is taking their family with them when they move, I'm not buying a 4 bed AND 8 year old Timmy.

I find it odd they say to remove all family photos so the buyer can imagine their family instead.

I can honestly say a picture of your grandkids on the wall or your wedding portrait on the mantle etc... would not put me off unless they was a painted on, tiled or engraved permanent murals. I mean I assume the seller is taking their family with them when they move, I'm not buying a 4 bed AND 8 year old Timmy
😂
I agree with you on this. Who's going to be put off buying a house because there's evidence the current owners live there?

I find there's a lot of ridiculous advice on here when people are trying to sell their home. It's always about getting rid of colour, character and personality. Plus stupid things like buying fluffy towels and posh hand soap. Just silly.

*Tv 'experts' also told everyone to DIY plywood doors, lino over historic tiles and hardwood and destroy any and all original features back in the 60s.

We are still dealing with the nightmare of undoing mid century 'tv experts' advice 50+ years on*

I grew up in an Edwardian semi and DGF did exactly that. When DGM was selling DM ripped out all the fireplace boards and found lovely fireplaces with the original tiles that would have been a real feature in the rooms. And unfortunately, people are still doing this to lovely Victorian/Edwardian properties - turning them into bland grey boxes.

So true, @MrsDanversGlidesAgain . A man local to me bought a beautiful stone Edwardian house and has absolutely ruined it. He's put in grey windows, a grey plastic porch and a grey front door with a massive chrome handle. He has covered over some of the stone with grey plastic cladding. It's so ugly. An absolute crime.

I have been watching renovation shows (like the great house giveaway etc...) and almost every time the man will walk in and go 'that fire is dated I'm ripping that straight out' when its actually a period feature. In contrast the women almost always go 'oh, thats nice maybe we can clean it up and make it the focal point'.

I cringe in anticipation now waiting for the moment the guy inevitably says 'I'm ripping that out'.

The men almost always charge in knocking down walls too, I think the fact that the episodes with women tend to make far more profit says a lot.

We ripped out a fireplace but it was a 70s monstrosity that was triangular. The base of the triangle was about 12 foot so the thing took up the whole wall. Hideous to me but maybe it will eventually be considered period.