Why isn’t my house selling

[18Willow]

Hi my house is a bit unusual but we’re not getting a lot of interest, I’d be grateful if you could look at the link and advise on any improvements. Please note the outside wall has been painted since the photo was taken and a new photo will be done this week. The price is spot on for the area too. Thanks https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150644813#/?channel=RES_BUY

It’s a lot of house and upkeep so it will need a specific buyer
I don’t think the interior decor in all the rooms / photos shows it off at all or makes it look special
Why is the headline in the details that it’s £16,000 below value? Is there an issue with the property ?

Is it on a busy road with double yellow lines?

Yeah I agree with that £16k below market value bullet point. Would honestly put me off rather than entice me to view. Just makes me think "why?"
Also the wallpaper in you hallway looks very "busy". I'm sure it's lovely IRL but it doesn't look amazing in pics. I wouldn't have it as your first photo of the interior

TBH, it feels like an odd mix of original plus modern style inside.
The en suite will require a lot of redecorating. Most people won't be keen on the current style.
Room 2 doesn't seem to fit the bed properly.
I'd change the worktops in the kitchen. They look like cheap melamine on the photos.

What is the population? If the town only has a population of 50k that reduces your chances of selling.

To me- there's too much "upstairs" and not enough "down stairs".
If all six bedrooms were occupied, where would you all sit at night time when everyone's home. There doesnt seem to be cosy places to sit or space for one group to watch TV, whilst other listen to music or game.

I was going to say it looks like a HMO or a boarding house, then I checked it out on street view and see it’s a B&B. I’d be put off by the floorplan. The annex wouldn’t work for me, nor would the first floor with the weird study/nursery and the downstairs isn’t ’big’ enough for the number of bedrooms - it’s top heavy. Also I hate the look of the parking space photo. Sorry, this isn’t very helpful because you won’t be able to do much to change these things - but that’s why I wouldn’t be interested.

I used to live in Elgin. Your market is small; there are not that many people who will spend so much on a house.

So, it's the price. You'll need to reduce it to make it more enticing or wait a long time to sell. 16k off the price is not worth anything.

Not many need six bedrooms

For me, and I know it's common practice, but the fact that the lights are all on makes me wonder if it's dark inside, I'm sure it's not and being south facing on the garden means you'd have lots of natural light. Could you ask for photos to be taken in the middle of the day/when rooms are at their brightest? Our photographer did some light touch ups with ours on rooms that seemed a bit darker.

There's also lots of photos in there that personally I think are unnecessary and don't show off the rooms nicely - the first image of the lounge and the one where they are square on to the two sofas don't make it look as lovely as the others. For the kitchen the first photo doesn't show it off as much and photo 11 also. Photo 13 I don't think is entirely necessary either.

Generally I'd remove photos 2, 4,9 11,13,18, 20, 25,28, 30, 32, 36, 37... leave some things for people to wonder about, don't display things upfront like the fuse box/fire alarm thing.

But also as pp has said, it's a big house which with costs of living and heating may be an issue more than usual

The annex is weird in that it doesn't obviously look like seperate accomodation, just 3 bedrooms. So it is basically a 4 bed house with a weird extra bit stuck on the back. If the annex had a living space then I could see the utility a bit more. I am not sure what it could be used for. Are there lots of people who might want to rent a room in the area?

I’d paint the dado white or off white in all rooms. The Artex type ceilings in some rooms are a bit of a heart sink as many people loathe them, me included, but they are expensive and messy to get rid of. I’d also mentally be pricing replacing the front door but that wouldn’t put me off.

It’s a lovely house. I think some dressing in the kitchen would be good. Just like a full fruit bowl on the island and bright Le Creuset style or copper casserole or single kettle on the hob.

I agree the wording on the price actually had the opposite effect to that intended as I think WTF is wrong with it?

Way too many photos, you need to cut those by 50%.

It's a bit hard to get a clear impression of it because they styles are so mixed; you've got really cool wallpaper and a fab bathroom then massively bland bedrooms and kitchen. I think that might make it hard for people to get an idea of how they feel about it.

The kitchen phots are terrible.

But it's a beautiful house. I think the market is just very slow at the moment, particularly at the middle/higher end.

I tend to agree with the people who say the living bit is too small compared to the sleeping bit. Unless the idea is to rent out rooms, of course.

I’ve lived in a house with 5 bedrooms (not in the UK - not a chance of affording it here) and I think there’s an expectation of at least two living areas (possibly one on the first floor as a ‘family room’) plus a dining room, plus a separate kitchen/utility. Having a dining kitchen reduces the separate space to begin with.

Can you change the annex area to additional living space? It’s on the ground floor so that might help.

Also, the wallpaper in the entry way doesn’t help - it’s very much the personal taste of the current owners. I know people should be able to look beyond it but they often can’t.

Only half renovated, so if you're up for Reno then you're stuck with other people's choices and if you're not there are still rooms that require moderation

*modernisation

Floor plan is so off-putting, I can't even imagine how to start to put that right

Garden is all at the front and just a big lawn

Most of the inside decor is bland

No period features

Kitchen looks dark and also very bland

Your taste in wallpaper isn't mine and I would feel like it was going to cost a fortune to strip and repaper the stairs

I don't understand the 16k reference in the details

I think it's an absolutely beautiful house!

The floor plan & pics are a bit confusing but if I was in the market for a large house in this location, it wouldn't put me off viewing.

You could try 'dressing' the house a bit more for those that can't see beyond its bones.

I think the biggest problem is simply your small market.

While advise can usually be to dress rooms as bedrooms, I'd probably reduce bedrooms in this house and show the downstairs rooms as living areas. The annex as maybe office space - seperate office space when WFH would be a good bonus, but not if you think you're losing a bedroom for it.

How is access to outside, apart from via the from door? Assuming there is good access via the 'dining room' (where you can leave the door open) I'd make this into a living room and put the dining room elsewhere.

I think it's lovely. But it might just be a case of waiting for the right buyer, as its not going to work for everyone.

I’d look to get your floor plan redone to include measurements, it’s a very text heavy description and you’ve got some well proportioned rooms, current plan makes the annex rooms look tiny and also windowless,

possibly also add a site plan inc the garden room, that looks finished from the outside but no interior photos.

If you were looking to invest a bit, I’d be tempted to turn the smallest bedroom in the annex into a little kitchen/ kitchen diner, so the annex could be used as a self contained holiday let

And I'd probably remove the photo of the parking spaces - the floor plan shows them adequately but it makes it look a bit weird/industrial.

I think calling it a 6 bed is a bit disingenuous. It's a 4 bed house with a weird multi use annexe whose rooms looks to small to be bedrooms? They're listed as bedrooms on the plan but as areas in the description (I think) which is confusing.

There's also no measurements on the floor plan which I hate! I don't know how the house reports work in Scotland but does the value take into account that it needs a lot of updating?

It’s absolutely stunning!!

Only comment would be remove pic 37 as it looks a bit depressing from that angle

Good luck selling

There are likely planning restrictions preventing this.