Are there companies which will fix all the little things before a house goes on sale?

[MagentaRavioli]

We’ve had our house on the market since the end of July. Four viewings, no-one has made an offer.

Objectively, it’s an unusual layout in a lovely but out-of-the-way location. There are lots of small decorative things which might be fixed. We could do with a bit of advice on some cushions and lighting to make it more attractive. I’m happy to throw some £££ at it if it helps us sell the place. Are there companies which do this? Should I just get a decorator in? Should my estate agent be advising? I know we’re going to have to drop the price, but I worry even that won’t help. I just need a house sales consultant who’ll project manage a tidy-up of garden and improve the kerb appeal and house appearance as I think that will make the difference. Do companies like that exist? Help!!!

The lack of viewings suggests it’s not about the cushions. It’s either priced too high or the layout is so unusual that it’s off putting to a lot of people ( bedroom directly off the kitchen or something). I’d be reluctant to spend money on it unless the feedback has indicated that the scruffy garden is a deal breaker.

You can pay companies to stage the house and put their own furniture in for viewings.

A handy man/person/woman could fix some snagging issues- depending what they are?
A gardener would tidy up the front garden.
Personally, I wouldn't use a staging company that the EA recommends, because they would obviously take a kick back payment for the recommendation!

unless someone is specifically looking for an “out of the way location” you’re not going to be able to tempt them to buy with cushions

Not the staging side of things, but we got a handyman type person in just to get a few small jobs done to improve kerb appeal/ make it look fresher. So, in our case, we got the windows painted, had the bathroom retiled and painted, got the kitchen splashback retiled, got the french doors repainted. Bigger jobs we didn't do as we were advised it wouldn't add any value.

I'm really glad we did it - we ended up using someone one of our agents we approached recommended as they could fit us in. Cost us about £3k I think in total, but completely worth it as we got the upper end of the price range we were going for and I think those bits looking fresh really helped.

If you have only had 4 viewings, I don't think making minor cosmetic changes is going to help.

Only four viewings in as many months isn’t down to decor.
You say unusual layout and out of the way - is there anything else like non-standard construction/how is it priced for the local market?

Thanks for the tip @minisomum i will get a handyman in to tackle the little things inside the house, and give the garden a tidy.

The house looks good in the photos but it is an out-of-the-way location. No bedrooms off the kitchen (thank goodness) but you do walk through the kitchen to get to one part of the house (small hall, two bedrooms and a bathroom). I can’t do much about the layout. What attracted us 20 years ago was the massive open-plan living space (the kids rollerskate in it!). But there are some bits in need of repair. We know we’re going to have to put the price down - but anything else which might make a difference to that initial gut feel is probably worth us investing in too.

use the next couple of months to tart it up a little

but really - all you need to do is quite substantially lower your price

I’m intrigued! It sounds great. But agree, likely to be price unless out of the way location means the target market is tiny.

If it would appeal to the Escape to the Country crowd, get a huge tree and take some really Christmassy photos. That combined with some summer photos, plus maybe even the kids roller skating, might help the imagination as a family retreat. Otherwise, if the photos are already good, I can't see that doing minor work is going to make much difference.

why are you wanting move op?

Moving because the house is perfect for babies and little ones. Fantastic rural primary school straight out of the 1950s (in a good way) where there are three classes, huge amounts of outdoor space, some kids ride to school on their ponies and the children trek to the village church once a week for assembly with the vicar. Village fete with dog show sort of place, carols on the village green at Christmas, and if the kids want to go to the nearest shop for a chocolate bar and bottle of pop it’s a 4-mile round walk!

Now the children are bigger it’s not so good being a parental taxi. Also am amicably splitting with DH - neither of us will stay in the family house as we recognise it’s better for the teenagers to be a bit closer to civilisation.

so you have to drive to the primary school?

@morestraightforward we can walk but it’s very muddy as it’s rights of way over fields. We usually drove the car. There’s a big road to cross so it’s fine for the older kids but you wouldn’t want to do it with a buggy.

Please let me know where you can find cushions to sell an overpriced house.

😆

OP you say it’s out of the way
you are moving because now teens… it’s very restrictive
but also involves a drive to primary school so not ideal for a younger family either

forget faffing around with cushions and if you want to sell - you need to slash your price