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)

Thank you. It's brutal x

I’m so sorry you’re in this situation it must be really hard.

Agree the photos are bad- definitely need re doing. Too dark
Floor plan needs improving so it’s clearer
I like the books wallpaper in the loo, it made me smile. Thinking of people reading on the loo!
It does look unloved but that’s surely the circumstances? Your ex needs to put some work in if he wants it sold.
Well done for getting out 🌹

I agree :(

I can look past decor, but I think what would put me off is the main bedroom. It doesn't look big enough to comfortably put in a double bed and has even less room at the foot of the bed than mine, and I can only just get past it comfortably. I think I'd rather have the bedroom that's next to the bathroom and not have an en-suite. Or, if I was able, move the en-suite into bedroom 4 and have a better sized room. But that's not something you can do.

The utility room is an amazing size. I'd probably try and make that more of a boot room than just a utility, with a good coat and shoe storage area. But again, not something you could physically do sadly.

The garden having a field behind might be putting people off if, like a few pps have mentioned, potential viewers are worried it might be built on. But to have a garden with sky and no buildings behind it is a wonderful thing.

The other thing that might put people off is the lack of a door into the playroom/bedroom off the hallway.

If somehow you are able to relist it with another agent, get some quotes on installing a door to the playroom and moving the en-suite and include the ideas in the details. And get brighter photos done.

I wish you all the best with this op. Must be such an awful stressful time 💐

Three bedrooms and a boxroom/nursery, it doesn't matter whether you call the dining room a playroom or not, or if you stuff 2 beds into it it is not doing you any favours. I assume that's Photo 10, which looks ridiculous unless you're planning on running it as an HMO. Much better to dress that room as a dining room and call it a dining room on the plans. It's how most people will use it.

The garden is neither here nor there, someone is either going to want to tidy it up themselves or concrete it over.

The problem is that in the price bracket and area you're up against much better presented 3-bed properties (and they're not selling either). And your fourth bedroom is so small that it's likely to be discounted as either a potential office or storage, unless a buyer needs a nursery.

He won't. He'll be a charmer no doubt

Not read all replies but have read your messages. My initial thoughts are:
On floorplan Bed1 looks huge! But photos make it look tiny. Can the floorplan be redone more in scale? I know it says not to scale but this seems way off when compared to the photos.
Access to playroom is odd, I'd expect a door off entrance hallway, but guess it wouldn't be too tricky for buyer to add on.
Can the photos be labelled? I spent too long trying to work out where all the bedrooms were in relation to the floorplan

Hopefully a couple of these bits are things you can get sorted

It’s all as has already been said;
The rooms are cramped and the photos are godawful making it look even smaller, darker and more awkward than it probably is irl.
4 good sized bedrooms is somewhat of a fib.
The floor plan is (as evidenced by this thread!) a little difficult to understand if you don’t look closely. It’s strange to have no measurements.
The garden is awful.
Kerb appeal isn’t great.
I suspect the main issue is the price, as is often the case when a house is slow to sell but I don’t know the area at all so couldn’t say for sure.

The photos are dark and dreary and the floor plan is not particularly clear.
it looks like it would need completely redecorating which for me would be fine but maybe not for others so that may be cutting out a big chunk of buyers.
One of the bedrooms looks like it needs a bed removing as it looks like you’re having to squeeze past it.

I agree with what everyone has said about the terrible photos. Some things that would be quick improvements before new photos taken:
Pops of colour, e.g. bright cushions, flowers, pictures, lamps.
Tub of flowers by front door and a few more in back garden.
Make beds up fully with nice bedding.
Fewer photos - only one for each room except perhaps kitchen and living room - but label them and the floor plan clearly so we can see immediately which room is which.
Re-label the big downstairs room as "dining room / playroom / bedroom 5".
If the land at the back can’t be built on, big that up.
I know the floor plan says "not to scale" but at the moment it’s ridiculous. E.g. the tiny bedroom looks smaller than the en-suite on the plan but according to the measurements it’s bigger.

I'm privately renting which is extortionate

as a victim of DV you don't have to have a connection to an area, ford social housing application

Is there anywhere you'd like to move to with a large amount of housing being built?

I say this as I know of someone who moved to a refugee for just 2 months and applied for social housing in an area where there were over 1500 homes being built - this meant they bid every week for social housing and the average in the area for a 3 bed is just a 3 months wait - they got somewhere after 8 weeks. The rent is council rates and so under the local housing allowance - meaning UC covers the entire rent

@CinnamonSwirlLatte Change estate agents and go to one who will accompany viewings.

As it is, you have no idea what your ex might be saying to buyers-telling them that there's a problem with neighbours, subsidence-anything at all, so that he can stay there..

I've already tried this and was offered nothing except a privately rented house 3 hours away (council paid the deposit). That's when he tried to block the move. We very nearly lost this house but the landlady waited for court to grant permission for me to move x

Maybe if you are not too bothered about the price, maybe try selling at auction with a reserve?

Then it’s time for him to accept the current market value (due to his lack of home care for the past two years) and sell it for that. Those are his two options. Buy you out or accept today’s value.

I don’t think the photos are too bad. Not great but I’ve seen worse. Decor is fairly bland, not cluttered and looks clean. Garden is very much a blank canvas

The floor plan is the issue for me. People just spend a minute or two at most on a rightmove listing deciding to view. The floor plan needs to be to scale.
It’s not a great timw to sell and it could be a bit expensive for the area
Floor plans are more important than photos as you can change decor but you can’t easily alter the layout

Sorry, I've added to the clicks to look for bedroom 4. I can now see it but firstly thought it was a cupboard. Although it says not to scale it should be, it looks a bit amateurish. Also rename the playroom as a sitting room or family room.

Sorry, OP, it’s obviously an emotional thing for you to see your house in an unloved state.

I would market it as a 3 bed (with study and second reception). Lots of people will discount bedroom 4 as too small and won’t want a ground floor bedroom either. But as a 3 bed it’s loads of space and the study (bed 4) and second reception are fab.

I also think you need to price it as needing a full refurb, I’m afraid.

If you can get the pictures redone, that would be well worth it. I know you have limited ability to change the inside but if there is any way the agent could suggest eg either removing beds or making them up rather than bare mattresses, that would help.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the garden- it looks like a project for someone which I know is upsetting for you having made it lovely before, but that won’t put buyers off.

Bedroom 4 isn't big enough for what most people would call a bedroom (study or nursery maybe). And you say the playroom is a bedroom but there is absolutely no chance I would have a bedroom off a utility room.

So if you said three good bedrooms with a separate study and large family living space, and could persuade them to take decent photos, you'd probably be well away.

Here are my thoughts

The floor plan is rubbish as are the photos.

It looks cold and uninviting.

The garden looks a mess.

The beds in one room take up too much space

A door is missing to the en-suite

The house doesn’t seem to flow

Also I hate to say it but buying from a divorcing couple can be absolutely horrendous especially when one party doesn’t want to move.

get a better estate agent

Having read your update I can see why you're a bit snippy

I would be too, in your shoes

Lots of people on this thread are saying bloody amazing stuff.....but can YOU get any of the ideas put into practice?

Is the sale being driven by your ex?

Does he "allow" input ?

I'd take a bed out of the bedroom that has 2 beds.

No it’s 3 bedroom, the 4th upstairs is barely more than a cupboard/small office. The downstairs playroom is a reception room. I appreciate that you lived in it and used the house in different ways but from looking at the advert and floor plan that house has 2 reception rooms (living room/dining room, which is fairly standard) 3 bedrooms and an office. People can only make an opinion based on what is in front of them. By your thinking I could say my 4 bed is an 7 bed (utilising the office/dining room/play room) but the floor plan wouldn’t reflect that. So you need to see what 3 beds are selling at and price accordingly and market it correctly 3 bed plus office

Last year I posted on MN to ask opinions about using Purple Bricks or similar, because I felt my house would "sell itself" anyway. Loads of people responded saying they wouldn't even view a house if there wasn't a proper estate agent involved, so I changed my mind on that.

She marketed it really nicely, putting a lot of thought into how it was presented, and I had several good offers.

That's a shame considering he is 100% sure it's worth 200k.

Realistically, there aren't a lot of changes you can make to the house considering you aren't living there. The main thing I would try to do is convince him to use a different EA, research them yourself and find a good local one whose properties have decent floor plans with room sizes clearly displayed in square feet. Remind your ex you will be paying half the EA fees so the extra expense is not all on him but you really feel it's needed to sell the house.

Purple Bricks are notoriously bad and get awful reviews. You need an EA who will take better photos and produce a better floor plan as the house is already a bit of a hard sell due to the tiny 4th "bedroom" (study/nursery) upstairs plus he hasn't kept the house as nice as you had it I'm sure, especially the garden.