House not selling. Honest feedback please!

[twinmumoffour85]

Only two viewings in two months and one booked for this Friday. Estate agent reluctant to reduce price and sister who’s also an estate agent thinks we should give it a few more weeks but we really want to sell soon but also need as much £££ as we can for our next move. Is it the pictures? Price? What do you think? Honest feedback very much appreciated!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143559242

The bar/hot tub wouldn’t put me off in the slightest, if anything I’d think, “happy days, most of the work’s been done to make this a potential home office”. Agree however that there should be some info on the scope of the storage space in the unconverted part of the garage.

Obviously price is a factor here and you’ve taken that on board, fair play. The short time you’ve had it would ring alarm bells for me, but short of hanging on to for a few more years there’s nothing you can do about that.

Getting the photos redone on a brighter day will help, and I would also ask the agent to relabel the bathroom photos with “master bedroom en-suite”, and “bedroom 2 en-suite”, as at first glance I thought it was the same photo appearing twice. Perhaps a small cosmetic change to further differentiate those rooms might be helpful for people like me who often discount based on photos and don’t always even get to the floorplan- I’m not talking about French Chic’ing your cabinets, but a distinctive plant or pictures would do.

The main issue for me personally would be that the shot of the back garden looking towards the parking/road makes the whole lawn/patio look very, very exposed. I’m not one to be bothered by being overlooked normally (I live in a new build estate ffs) but I saw that and thought, “so that’s why the hot tub is in the garage”. I would seriously consider getting some pleached trees planted to afford some degree of screening from the road.

I prefer the op's house!

I'm surprised at the disdain on here fkr terraces but I've spent most of my life in London.

@twinmumoffour85 having had another look at the garden, it needs some pots with flowers - quite a few and you need to big up the patio as outdoor entertaining space.

Problem solved, and looking at the price history it was selling for well under 300k when borrowing costs were basically zero, the price level is not going to work at all in this market.

Lose the pics of the sex pond and bar. It's really at odds with the rest of the property and looks very cramped.

I'd be wanting detached for that money.

It’s clearly the price, you bought it for £450k in 2021 when interest rates were very very low!

We now have high interest rates and we are in a recession. My understanding is property prices are nose diving in sub regional areas. You’ll be lucky to get £450k back and I would be factoring in making a loss.

Of course the estate agents don’t want to reduce the price, they don’t want to believe the markets on the way down. But you have had very few viewings over a long period of time and that is always due to the price!

I looked on street view and your house looks much nicer than on Rightmove. The front garden looks bigger as well.

And that’s ok , it’s personal taste, but most folks would not pick a terrace over a detached.

Really appreciate this! Gardening just isn’t our thing and I know it’s not obvious but there’s only three other houses on the road behind us so it’s very quiet. Will definitely spend some time redesigning outside over the next few weeks and also add some bits to the bathrooms so people can differentiate.

It's a lovely house, love these stone houses personally and it looks like a pretty road.
However, as most other people have said, it's the price. Two viewings in two months is very low. I think you probably overpaid in 2021. If you really want to sell soon, you probably need to reduce, possibly to around what you paid for it.
What is the reason that you want to move so soon? Is it an essential move?

You paid £450£ in 2021

How has if gone up to £525 in just 3 years? Have you done lots to it?

And why are you moving so soon?

It's a stunning house. As a buyer, id be waiting for the price to drop at least £50k

good luck, OP. I admire your courage. We hope to put our house on market soon. I would never be brave enough to put my house on here & ask for comments.

I'd say in my area that prices now are what people were paying 2 years ago or maybe a bit less. By which I mean to say, you will sell for roughly same as you paid.

It looks really lovely inside and the rooms are really spacious. But I wouldn't consider it due to the lack of garden. As others have said it seems overpriced as well for a terrace. If the schools aren't great that would also be a major factor.

As there’s a few people asking this, we are moving for a number of reasons, my daughter’s mental health being the biggest factor but also to be closer to
husbands work (he works very long hours) and to be closer to our support system. Our neighbours are absolutely lovely and the village is gorgeous. We love the house, we would just like to pick it up and move it 20/30 miles away!

We’ve done a few things but nothing major no. We just went off the valuations our estate agents gave us. We got three who all said the same.

Thank you! I know we’ve had some criticism but I do think I’ve had some great feedback on here so I’m really pleased I posted. Friends and family will never give such honest and direct opinions!

You have a beautiful house.
For me it’s the price.
I’d rather buy a detached house with a huge garden ( price permitting.)
At that price I’d also want more privacy which a terrace just doesn’t offer.
Everyone is different though.
I would sacrifice say size for more private parking and a better garden. By that I mean size of garden not necessarily expecting the hanging gardens of Babylon, but potential is what I’d be looking for.

It’s a very well presented house but doesn’t come across as big in the photos

pics needed of driveway and garden

but you’re not going to sell at 75k profit if you bought two years ago.

Considering the house is very nice, two viewings in eight weeks is just terrible and points to something being seriously wrong, especially as any place gets the most interest in the initial listing period because it's new and people are keen to see it in case it goes to someone else.

I'm surprised that if your sister is an EA that they aren't pointing this out.

I can't think of any other factor that is likely to be wrong than the price. As people said before dimensions missing on the floorplan but that's not exactly going to prevent people from making a viewing....

The detached £400k one that people have pointed out is very close to it, to me being a new viewer I can't see why that should be on at a cheaper price, maybe if there is a reason it could be in the listing? Incidentally that one also has been on the market over 4 months so that could be overpriced as well.

It will be the fourth time sold in just over 10 years. You may want some narrative to explain that. As unjustifiable as it may be, this fact may put off a lot of people.

As I mentioned previously, that is a lovely house but is 500 sq ft smaller, kitchen is much smaller, no second en suite or utility. It is detached and is more private though.

445k seems a more realistic price. It looks dark inside with the dark furniture & curtains and all the lights on, so I'm thinking the lighting needs upgrading. Although neatly decorated, it's not my taste so I'm factoring that in too. Removal of the ugly grey carpet & putting wooden floors throughout. Hate the spa pool & bar, so that shed area needs ripping out. Also not keen on the brick patio, would prefer sandstone slabs. The fake fireplace needs to go and the eyesore stove too. Those brick tiles behind are really ugly.

Lovely house, I agree price reduction with get more people through the door. Buy some pots and plant some bright spring flowers, some at the entrance and definitely the rear garden. What was the feedback from the couple of viewers you had? You only need to find one buyer that falls in love with your house, good luck I hope you get a buyer soon OP.

Sorry to hear about your daughter. I don't blame you for wanting more support, especially with several younger children and a husband working long hours. I would just bite the bullet and lower the price significantly to get it sold, negotiate as much as you can with your onward purchase and get on with your lives.
It's odd that your own agent and your sister (also an estate agent) are telling you not to reduce when you have barely had any interest. No wonder there are so many unsold homes, being very slowly reduced on Rightmove. The market has changed massively in most areas since the red hot 2021/22 years.