How to market quirky houses

[effy6]

Does anyone have any tips for how to market unusual homes? We're reluctantly selling this property (due to health problems and care needed) and I'm just not sure it's reaching the target audience.

It's a gorgeous home but definitely quirky - a pond with working fountain in the conservatory(!), as well as land and buildings.

Braving posting a link - I know it's not to everyone's taste but hopefully it will find someone who loves it as much as we have. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134912855

Really welcome any tips on how to reach a wider audience who might not necessarily be local.

The filing cabinet is quite an eyesore, a photograph without it would help.

I also hate offers over. Relist it without this

Nice home, but just overpriced. I see you haven't reduced the price since August last year so it's going to need a pretty big reduction to pull in any interest. I would guess 500 to 525k will get you a buyer fairly quickly if you really want to sell it ?

Declutter Declutter Declutter

Then neutralise the walls.

Then a frontal image of the house.

Definitely needs to reach a wider audience.

It's so cheap! Detached around my way is over a million now.

Don’t paint it white - the living room that is white has the least character and looks most out of place with the furniture.
i find the single chair at the kitchen table odd - makes me think I’d have to eat there alone, and then having lots of dining tables in every room makes me think there’s no purpose or identity to each room - that makes it feel cluttered more than the volume of stuff and puts me off (well it doesn’t put me off, I’d be interested if I was in the area but would make me have questions before viewing). It also makes the loft room where it hasn’t been staged seem odd - is that a billiards table with a sheet on? It’s just randomly in a massive room with nothing else which seems at odds with the rest of the house.
I also find some angles a bit odd, the toilet room looks like the photographer couldn’t even stand in the room as it’s so small.
the garden also looks like a mammoth job to tidy up and maintain, can you get someone to come in and cut it back so it looks more manageable to Joe bloggs maybe?

Ps I don’t know how much the agent told you ‘potential building plot’ is worth but I have mentally assumed that has added £75-100K. I’d pay £50-75K extra for the benefit of a big garden over a similar house but not £75-100K for building plot potential. I think people looking for family houses are not looking for development projects by and large.

i know the area a bit and the price doesn’t strike me as absurd for the house without a building plot but I would 100% take that out of the ad and the equation.

I agree, I'm not keen on this 'better' house either. The living room is nice, but the rest is bland or odd (eg the position of the freestanding bath makes it look like it is just placed there temporarily ahead of installation) IMO. It is a lot less house for your money.

OP, I love your house. I think the listing presentation would be improved for me by including a very clear shot of the front of the house (it is suspiciously absent), decluttering further still, and getting in some help to tame the garden. After that it will be price, although compare to where we live it seems a bargain to me!
I would be eyeing it up thinking it needed redecorating, but I would think that about any house. I love colour, so the colour in yours wouldn't put me off. I would also be replacing the bathrooms and carpets.
I disagree with PPs that it needs a new kitchen. The current one is very much in keeping IMO, and that style of kitchen is usually fit for just a few repairs and spruce up. It isn't like modern units that are made of MDF and chipboard.

I just looked at recent sold prices near by and it is significantly over priced,

op that’s the issue, even in tip top condition it would be over priced. But this needs work, redecoration, new carpets, new bathrooms, and possibly other hidden things, like boiler, or possibly electrics. And the poly carbonate roof on the conservatory and the water feature are problematic.

it is lovely though, but it is significantly over priced for the area and the condition. That’s why it isn’t selling, not because it is “quirky”.

Firstly You have been on the market since summer 23 (seeing you reduced it then) so my first thought would be many houses aren’t keeping their prices as much now as they were in summer 2023. Making me think it’s overpriced,
I’m not from the area but a Quick Look on rightmove shows local properties selling quite low, that makes me wonder about the area.
I get no real sense of the front of the house from either photos provided or maps, also garden looks quite small from maps and can’t really see size in photos.

Also I look and see lots of work required, dated bathroom etc, it makes me wonder what else the owners haven’t upgraded such as basic property maintenance etc.

It's clearly a big house with a large garden. From the photos: the grass needs cutting, it looks as though it needs more decluttering and a bit of thought/staging going into some of the photos, e.g. one chair at the kitchen toilet, the voile curtain right by the toilet, the covered over snooker(?) table, the carpet in the bathroom. And quite possibly a bloody good clean. I know that sounds rude, but with stuff hanging up and on top of things it's difficult to clean properly.

I'd take it off the market and spend a bit of money addressing some bits and pieces then put it back on.

At a lower price. In a lot of ways if they're downsizing then providing they can afford their onward purchase it doesn't need to go for top dollar. They've clearly owned it a long time as there's no previous sale history on RM.

Obviously it isn’t cheap for the area. Louth is not renowned for employment opportunities. Closest big town is Grimsby. Not great either.
There is a very small pool of potential buyers as there is little reason to move there.

I’m afraid I agree, the bones of the house are really good, but it’s exceptionally badly decorated (and I can look at a house and see beyond the colour of the walls) and needs a LOT of updating in terms of bathrooms etc

From the photos I am finding it difficult to tell what each room is - every room should have a clearly defined purpose. There's also a mish mash of furniture, some of it in what looks like odd places in the photos. This needs addressing which is what I mean by a bit of thought/staging for the photos. Even if things are moved back afterwards.

To be honest, I’d drop the price. A lot. I’d say closer to 450k max. The area, dated condition etc. she can spend money doing it up, but it’s so over priced it is pointless.

I haven't suggested doing it up. I don't think there's a massive amount of work needed to make it more appealing, but it will help. A lot of people just can't see past the stuff that's being pointed out on this thread, whatever the price. The Streetview is interesting: you can't see the front of the house from the gate. It all needs hacking back/tidying.

It’s the kind of property that could get quite a bit of traction in auction. We sold some thing similar in auction a couple of years ago and it reached a decent price, but started at a low reserve. It all depends really on whether you are serious about selling and moving on or if it’s just on the market to see if anyone bites.

It's a lovely house but it looks like a lot of work.

I like colour in a house but it's all very bright and clashing. The carpets and the bathrooms are dated so that's another job. There's a wardrobe in the fitted kitchen which would need attention.

The biggest problem is the garden I think. It's lovely but it's so overgrown and I would just be concerned that I would never be able to manage it.

This is my view too. It’s lovely, I’d buy it (or a smaller version, we don’t need 5 bedrooms) but I’d expect to spend about £50k on a new kitchen, bathroom and general painting, and would offer accordingly.

Your photos are awful - why on earth do you have a closeup of the toilet but not of the frontage? Stage it and get some new photos taken.

It's going to cost a good bit of money to tone it down! It looks cluttered and like it needs a damn good clean. Too much furniture in some if the rooms as well.

Because of how it's decorated, it looks dark. Neutral or white will open it up even more as it looks like a decent size house.

Also, the carpet in the bathrooms... just isn't good and the same with the coloured bowl. That's a relatively cheap fix, as is giving them a quick paint.

Think the price is decent for that size of house and more than reasonable but I'm down south.

Its a lovely house. Needs updating and a refresh, but that wouldn't stop a keen buyer.
Your issues is location and price. Very few people in rural Lincolnshire would be able to afford a 600,000 house. Your target market is very small. So you either need to wait for a buyer to come along who can pay that amount, or keep reducing until you find a buyer able to afford it.

To be honest, it’s very dated and a doer upper. No room makes me think I want this house. Most of it would make me grab the calculator and then think it’s not worth it. So much needs replacing and changing, and it looks like nothing has been updated for 40 plus years.

There is no building plot unless it’s got PP. Do get pp and see how it goes then.

The very vibrant colours are horrible. Loads of stuff everywhere and what does the front look like? I fear it’s a money pit and others have thought the same. So it’s too expensive.

Which agent are you with? Sign up with one who is a member of Countrywide. Your house will be in around 1,200 shop windows up and down the UK.

Okay, so I know Louth, it's a gorgeous little place (I grew up nearby) and I would love to move there.

Your house is fabulous but what I'm thinking is that £600k in that area is a lot. One of the things that puts me off moving there is that the area is pretty remote from other places.

Your house is totally worth £600k but what I'm trying to say is that there may be limited buyers for that area