Why is my house not selling?!

[ThePandoricaOpens]

We've had our house on the market since September and have only had one offer - 40k under asking price! We're thinking we may have to drop the price in the new year, but houses are so expensive around here that we may not be able to afford what we want if we do. We're looking to 'upgrade' to a 4 bed with a bigger garden and will have to add a further 160-200k to our sale price! Feedback so far has been - garden is too small and bedrooms are too small (wich is why we want to move). We want a new build (?!) We feel like people are just wasting our time! https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152025230?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

It's always the price, especially if you've been on for a while and not had much interest (or the only interest you have had is for £40k less!)

What are comparable properties in the area going for?

Can you put the fridge somewhere where it doesn't look out of place.

You have a lot of furniture in the bedrooms. Have a declutter and lose some of the furniture. Put the stuff in storage.

It's a poor time to sell, it will pick up end Feb.

Look at the recently sold properties- houses just like yours going for 100k less in 2023.

It looks very nicely presented. Are you getting many viewings? The general wisdom is, if you’re getting viewings but not offers it’s something that’s not visible on the listing. If you’re not getting viewings it’s the combination of the listing and the price; either you drop the price or improve the listing.

The only thing I can think of with the listing is that perhaps the first pic isn’t hugely alluring. I like the lavender bushes - perhaps a more tightly cropped pic with lavender in the foreground rather than the road, pavement and driveway might be a little bit better? You could also stick a climbing rose or a tree in a pot between the front windows, to soften the expanse of brickwork. And possibly paint the garage door a bougie colour like sea green?

Do the other expensive properties round your way have 2 bathrooms?

It's the price. It's always the price. It would be good to move your fridge and coats out of the dining area though.

The house is nicely presented and looks in good condition but the rooms are very small for a family. TBH I think it’s more like a 2 bed so upsizing to 4 bed will be a huge jump. Could you look instead for a larger 3 bed?

Agree that the position of the fridge isn’t ideal.

Are you getting viewings? The kitchen looks great. There are a few shots where there’s too much going on and it’s making the space look smaller.
if you have “stuff” out it will break up the space into smaller spaces and seem like you don’t have enough storage. Both make people think “too small” and this seems to be the issue you have. You’re going to need a purge.

Like in the garden you’ve chopped the space in half with the pots. I think it would be better as a single connected space. Get rid of the pots, some can go out the front.
your dining table looks to be sharing space with the coats. Can you thin out the coats? Or move elsewhere?
some of the living room plants could go into the blue grey bedroom. There’s too much stuff in the living room and the grey room needs warming up.
Green bedroom is fine.
brown room is this an office? There’s loads of stuff. It needs to go. At least into drawers.
im sorry if this sounds rude! It’s not a question of style or taste. It’s just that visual clutter makes spaces seem smaller. You need fewer things. Ideally bigger but you probably don’t want to spend so group what you have in odd numbers. Like living room plants. Don’t scatter. They should be all together to read as a single large item.
good luck!

The price, always. But the pictures aren't great - a wide angled lens would give a better idea of the actual rooms. The fridge freezer sticking out is a problem, as are the coats in the dining room. Many people will be put off by the corner bath and will see £££ to remedy that. The overall impression is of a house that you've definitely grown out of with you having too much stuff - it all looks cramped. For me, the plastic grass is a complete no too.

Oh, one other thing: is there a separate shower in the bathroom? It looks like there’s just a bath. That will put off a lot of people.

The alternative viewpoint is that you are wasting peoples time by listing the house at a far higher price than the market appears to be willing to pay.

The presentation of the house seems OK to me. The garden does look a bit small and the sqr footage is not huge at 850 sqr ft. Maybe the reason why people don't want to buy it is exactly the same reason you want to move ?

A quick look at other selling prices in the area and street implies that it is overpriced. Who set the price on it ? What does your agent say about what has happened so far in terms of response ? What are their suggestions for selling it ?

I doubt you are going to fix this by swapping curtains for new ones with purple spots. If there is one thing you could do easily and cheaply that may help it is probably to make the front aspect look a bit more appealing.

@sweetpickle2 well there's a couple round the corner from us - one is on for 385 and the other 425. They're very similar, but both have tiny kitchens! The more expensive one has a conservatory

I think a £200k uplift in 13 years is what is putting people off...

They're for sale though, right? So they haven't achieved those prices.

Looking at local sold prices, yours looks expensive. Without wanting to cause any offence, the rooms do seem small, and my initial reaction is that I'd want to move for the same reason as you... Can you put some of the furniture into storage? It's not really presenting as somewhere that a family would fit into.

I asked DH if he'd go and view it, and he said probably not as we'd be losing space on our two bed... and then definitely not when he noticed the increase in price from when you bought it. If your only offer has been £40k under asking; it's the price, I'm afraid.

@Onekidnoclue it absolutely doesn't sound rude - it's very helpful thank you. We decluttered so much, but sounds like we need to do it more! We've not had that many viewings - around 20

The first thing is the fridge! The second thing is the corner Bath. Other than that it looks lovely but can't comment on your area price.

I think with that sized house, your target market will be a professional couple or a starter home. You need to dress the house to reach those markets. I'd be inclined to borrow an outdoor table from somewhere and set up a dining area in the garden. Try to sell a life style. Its a nice secluded garden so perfect for lounging and entertaining. You need to show that it is.
It has very little curb appeal so I'd try to get some nice pots of there.
That fridge needs moving; its advertising the fact that there is not enough space.
I'd get rid of the cat paraphernalia on the wall; I'd find that a massive turn off.
Everything looks cramped: small dining table, coats and shoes in the kitchen. If someone sees coats, it makes them realise there's nowhere for coats. I'd move out as much furniture and personal items as you can to make things look more spacious.

The bedrooms are smallish we have a mid terrace that has two bedrooms and a boxroom.

Probably not relevant to you but where I am it's very much still "Improve Don't Move" I'd be checking if the garage and side return could be replaced by a double storey side extension You still have plenty of parking on the drive .
And though it is a messy faff to get building work it's cheaper than moving pricing up to a larger house.
But of course you might not be able to extend or might want to move away from the area

@SoNiceToComeHomeTo yes it is pretty small for a family really. A 3 bedroom would be fine, but I would like a seperate room downstairs as I work from home and a utility would be great!

@N1C we have actually got a downstair loo too - we were in the process of decorating it at the time, but managed to get it done for the first viewing!

I really like it, and I like that you have kept your colourful walls! The kitchen is lovely! I agree about the fridge, but maybe it can't be helped. I think the front garden is a bit boring, could you add some more shrubs and flowers? The price is high, too, but I would be interested in making an offer if I could!

@70isaLimitNotaTarget unfortunately we couldn't extend up as our neighbours have a window on the side. We also can't go up at the back or out at the front due to the 45 degree rule. The pitch on our roof is also very low, so we can't convert the loft

Potential buyers are comparing it to this property nearby which is significantly nicer from what I can see, and is on for £50k cheaper!
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153293405?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

I think I'd rather lose the seating area in the kitchen than have the fridge jammed in the middle of the room. You have a lounge, maybe the additional TV space is not needed. I'd be tempted to beg/borrow a bigger table/chairs and lose the TV so the fridge could be relocated.