Why has no one viewed my house?

[CinnamonSwirlLatte]

Previous marital home has been on Rightmove for a month. Thousands of clicks but not one viewing.

Already reduced by 15k.

I'd love to know what's going wrong - although it's going to be very difficult to amend/improve anything as my controlling ex husband lives there!

Thanks

4 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in Maple Avenue, Keelby, DN41 (rightmove.co.uk)

You are expecting a 60k increase in value from 2017- but it doesn't look like you have done anything to the house

It's larger than similar properties on the same street. But the photos don't make it look spacious

It also looks like you have moved out. No bedding on kids beds. No toys, books. But double bed made up. Tbh looks cold and foreboding and that's before I read your partner is an arse.

Like many have suggested, new photos, new floorplan

I'd switch the main bedroom and the twin one. The twin one has an ensuite. Because you haven't done this, it looks like that wouldn't work to the viewer.

Personally, I don't like angled rooms and would look, and then flick over and not go see this one.

The photos are poor. Who’s your est agent. The photos need to be taken from inside the room with a wide angle lens not lookin in through a doorway

We would buy it if location was better it's literally exactly what we need.

Hard agree. They have a terrible reputation and I have friends who have had an awful time with them. Wouldn’t touch them.

The 4th bedroom upstairs I completely missed the first time because it is labeled different

Id ask the estate agent to take some new photos and definitely a new/better floor plan. I'd maybe look at listing it as 3 bed plus study?
I didn't see it as a 4 bed when looking at the plan, neither did a lot of other posters. Sorting that out alone may make a difference to views.

That floorplan is awful.

First major problem; the space is not consistently represented, the fourth bedroom is represented as the same size as the bathroom and ensuite when it is in fact bigger. Second gripe; there's no feet measurements given. Maybe I'm an old fuddy duddy but don't most people still work in imperial for that sort of measurement?

You/he need to reduce the price.

I hate to say this but the extension is awful. It would have been better to keep the width the same at the back as at the front.

The bricks don't match (I appreciate it's hard to get a perfect match) and there are a lot of odd wires/ pipes coming down the walls at the back and front.

The view at the back makes it look like 2 semis joined together, badly. And the garden's a wreck.

Was it originally a 2-bed?

You need to focus on a sale even if it's not as much as you want.

It's a shame you can't do anything to it, because all it needs is a coat of neutral paint, the floor plan to be enlarged so you can fit bedroom 4 wording on it, and the last photo of the garden to be removed.

It’s a nice house but the photos are terrible. They’re all dark and drab.
-the guttering looks really dirty
-take one of the twin beds out because it accentuates the odd shape and is off putting
-the things like the ceiling fans put me off because it makes it look a bit old fashioned
-put bedding on the beds because I think bare mattresses look awful.
-maybe try and tidy up the back garden a bit because i instantly think “a lot of work”
I just think the photos need to be brighter and add a bit of colour etc.

"I hate to say this"

lol, no you don't!

I’m another one who had to look carefully to find the 4th bedroom. It also doesn’t really look suitable as a bedroom size wise so that will be putting people off if they want four proper bedrooms.

The photos of the kitchen are very off putting to me - it looks very drab and cramped with the table in there - can anything be done about that? Photos from different angles perhaps?

The term playroom also isn’t very vogue - I would remarket it as a snug or a dining room (to compensate for the cramped kitchen table situation).

Well, I must be some kind of genius because without even reading that it was listed as four bed I saw the fourth bedroom. I totally agree though that the dimensions need to be inside the square drawing.

And, for me, room sizes need to be in feet. I'm a total dunce when it comes to the size of things, but I know I want key rooms to be 10x10 feet minimum and from there I can work out the rest. A bed is about six foot, so having a room in feet helps me visualize that. I've no idea what that is in meters.

As the ex instructed a useless EA, can you instruct your own? It's not unusual for a house to be on with two agents at the same time.

But, on balance, I think the suggestion to get a court order that you and the kids live in the house until it sells would be better. You can arrange it properly and use a different EA. Maybe even paint a wall or two.

• The photos are bad quality, try getting a local photographer to do them
• The photos are in the wrong order (Front, Living Room, Kitchen, Living Room etc) hard to work out the layout
• Redo the floor plan, really does look like 3 bed. The 'storage cupboard' text is too close to the bedroom (it looks more like a cupboard than a bedroom its so small)
• Although, I would still class this as 3 bed with an office personally.
• Put some bedding on the beds to make it look more like a home
• I'd remove the 2nd bed from the slanted room far too crammed
• Get Chat GPT to redo your description

Looking for a 4 bed, here's what would put me off:

• Even though there are 4 beds, I'd class this as a 3 bed with an office. and one of those rooms have slanted walls. So I'd see it as 2 bed with extension.
• People who look at 4 bedrooms actually want 4 bedrooms, 3 with 1 crammed into a small space & 1 funny shape you cant get past the bed
• I'd never class a downstairs room as another bedroom, I think this is a underhand technique becasue the Uk prices by bedrooms
• The slanted walls in general
• I'd remove the 2nd bed room the slan
• Purple bricks over price so you pay them as they're upfront payment, so reduced by 15k is probably about right
• Go to a local estate agent, they'll be free until you've sold

I think you'll sell around 170-180 mark looking at other 3 bed houses which have sold

There's no square footage listed anywhere and the floorplan makes it look very small - you can't even see the fourth bedroom upstairs, it looks like part of the hall

Most has already been said. terrible photos, weird shaped rooms, easily misinterpreted floor plan. I would just keep scrolling. there are other houses for sale. Your estate agent is failing you badly

So I’m going to sound very rude, but I don’t think any of this is your doing.

It just looks so depressing. Fourth bedroom looks tiny and I was one of many people who didn’t spot it at first. What would be the consequences of calling it a three-bedroom and pleasantly surprising people with how spacious it is?

No curb appeal, but that’s partly down to taking the pictures on a dull day.

The room with the twin beds in it looks terrible. If possible I’d take one bed out and make up the other.

All photographs should be taken from sitting down height. At the moment you end up focusing on the ceiling and the ceiling light, which is on but the room still looks dark. Taking photos from high up also stuffs up the perspective, so the corner loo in one of the bathrooms looks tiny.

Is there a circular patio in the garden? Because it’s been overtaken by weeds. Garden also should be photographed as if sitting in it, especially if the view really is nice (difficult to tell from current angle).

The odd table lamp and indoor plant/flowers would make the whole house look cosier and more lived, though I understand why it doesn’t. If your ex wants to achieve the price he wants, though, he’s got to work for it.

Is there any way you can get a photo redone of the view of out of the back straight from the back door? Also I'd have that as the second shot if it's nice.

I know you're limited by not living there but do the kids do overnights there? If not, maybe you could suggest that you help out by getting the beds sold or into storage. The bedrooms would look a hell of a lot better empty compared to as they are.

The room with the two beds in it and the rainbow looks really unmanageably small from that angle. Try to take a wider shot and maybe take one bed out for the photo as you can't even walk round one of them. It gives the impression that the house will be crowded. Some people have no imagination so you have to show it will be usable for them.

The patterned wallpapers close it in and make it look smaller and more cluttered than it actually is but this could possibly solved by taking the shots in brighter light.

The brown carpets and floors again make it look grubby, tired and dingy.

The overall picture is of a very tired, run down, old fashioned house which is very cramped and cluttered. Even though there isn't actually much clutter it's just the effect of all the patterns and dark colours.

The garden looks shabby and uncared for. You could fix it just by weeding, spraying the slabs with weed killer and jetwashing them. It doesn't need to look amazing just tidy and well kept.

I think the only "deal breaker" is the fact that it's only a 3 bed house. People looking for a 4 bed won't view it and people who want a 3 bed might not look at the listing.

I do think the photos make it look sad and a bit odd, sorry, I know that’s probably hard to hear. And the floorplan isn’t great either.

If you don’t live there AND he’s doing the viewings himself, how do you know there’s been no viewings? Is it possible he’s lying and/or putting people off to stall?

Ok sorry op here is why I wouldn't view it.

No kerb appeal -The front looks boring, put some nice plants up and a bench so it's got a feature and stands out.

The photos are dark so not taken well.

The bedroom with the 2 beds in it that look like you have to climb over the beds to use the room. Personally I would say change that to a playroom for photos as it would work really well.

The rooms are very difficult to see how a potential buyer could make it there own home. The house looks bitty and some flooring etc is a very personal taste which is fine for your own home not great when your trying to sell it.

It looks unloved and I can't see it being a comfortable home. You need to stage it for selling nice neutral decor with pretty bits.

I would get the playroom listed as a nice big bedroom / second reception room

and I would get bedroom 4, the tiny one, listed as a study/office. lots of people wfh now and that can be a bonus.

Id ask for new photos, and I would rearrange the house to reflect the above, plus the advice that others have said to brighten it up/make it more homely

I take my comment back re 'nothing done and expecting extra 60k' in fact you have added a utility and bathroom. I'd get the EA to highlight this.

The 2017 photos are sooo much nicer. They look happier.

You need photos that say 'this is a happy place that I can see my family living in '. The photos that the EA has taken are not that.

I'm guessing ex isn't motivated to move. Would not surprise me if choice of bad marketing was deliberate. Who on earth would look at this set of photos and say 'yeah, looks great'.

I'd see if you couldn't put it on with another EA too- at the same time. Find one you like. Explain that it will need some staging. Chucking some duvets on the beds, plants, toys, books, making it looked loved would be a start- if you found an understanding EA maybe they would do that for you? They have a vested interest in swelling- so maybe?

Was the scale drawing done by the work experience kid?

Either stage it dressed or stage it completely empty.

Odd shaped rooms are SO marmite; give people the room to think about how it could work for them rather than seeing a bed you need to hurdle to get to the drawers and thinking "feck no".