How to attract more viewings on our property

[Elzebelz]

We put our house on the market in November and didn't get much views at all or they were a cross sell.
We went off the market and reduced our house and extra 25k and went back on market on boxing day to encourage more people genarally interested in our property to put a offer in. We have had more viewings but feel they are not in a proceeding position. We don't want to reduce again as we are below our middle average and wouldn't be able to proceed with our dream home if we did.
We were a 3 bed house converted into a 5 bed house and good sized bedrooms. We use one room as a home office. It's a lovely area and very popular for Halloween and Christmas spirit even Easter events.
So many people are so keen to come to the estate on Halloween, Easter and Christmas for all the displays and events that are run. They are close to primary schools and high schools with a little park near the back of our house.
I have attached the link for some advice on how to get more people through the door and get us sold! We have found our dream home a really don't want to lose it and are so desperate to move closer to our children's schools as I do not drive and the travel becomes to much some times.
I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/154682705
Would anyone help us get our house out there and help a mumma move.?

It only has one reception room.

I’d market it as a two bedroom with an office and loft storage.

Or try to sell to an HMO landlord.

It’s not a ‘family home’.

It’s immaculate but the living space doesn’t reflect the price. IMO.

Im not sure that fresh photos would make a difference.

I agree. I think it's odd that your estate agent has drawn attention to the cup racks because to me, those are what you use if you don't have cupboard space.

Ultimately, that almost certainly isn't going to be the thing that stops someone viewing the house if they were otherwise going to. But may add to a general view of a lack of storage which other posters have mentioned.

It's a 5bed with the communal space of a 2bed. Move the computer desk and set it up in a bedroom. Daytime photos of the attic room and the lounge need to go in

The kids room with the Lion King sheets is weirdly layed out and doesn't show the actual space of the room.

The attic blue bedroom needs the bed in the centre to show that it fits a double.

The office pic is way too cluttered makes it look tiny.

The hallway shouldn't be the first pic.

Top heavy. It’s absolutely tiny, the downstairs space is minuscule, especially for 5 beds. I think it was a mistake to spend money converting this, any work should have been to extend the downstairs. It looks over priced for the area. The decor is all v drab and grey. You could give it a fresh paint and remove clutter but honestly it’s likely just lowering the asking price that’s going to do it…

I know it's difficult and you might feel a bit defensive but it's totally different growing into a house and therefore making it work for you, compared to choosing a house that you think could work for you. It doesn't seem like it's presented for a growing family at the minute.

Take the desk away just for the photos at least.

The virtual tour is better in some rooms OP, but in others shows a lot of storage furniture. It also doesn't have a dining table at all in the living room. And there is storage on the landing on the top floor. Is there anyway you can clear some of the storage out? If you did that would you be able to move the bed in the main bedroom away from the wall?

To me your problem is simple. You spent money converting it into a 5 bedroom house (at the expense of having any storage whatsoever) and now you are expecting to sell it as a 5 bedroom house when the living space does not meet the need of someone looking for 5 bedrooms.

Your original house layout (and age) is actually very similar to mine and there is a ceiling on what you can do to this sort of house.

A person who wants a 5 bedroom house wants way more living space and garden and storage than you can offer, and a person who is looking for that amount of living space probably can’t afford the inflated price you have set because of the 5 bedrooms.

Sorry OP, it’s just not worth much more than it would have been as a 3 bed imo.

Many years ago I posted my own house on here so firstly I think you are brave to do it as I know it can be hard to hear what people are saying about your home.

I think it is top heavy and it looks very busy with a lot of furniture especially in the main bedroom with the random basket on the chest of drawers and the bookcase in the corner hemmed in by the bedside table, the extra set of drawers and the chest of drawers. Plus whatever is on top of the bookcase too

When we were bursting out of our previous house we took it as an opportunity to declutter and we rented a storage unit and removed furniture and anything we could live without for 6 months. You have to look back to how this house was presented in the show home when you bought it.

It is the biggest investment you have and you are showing it how you live day to day rather than how it should be shown which is more stripped out.

The lounge is serving as a lounge, an office space and a dining space. You need to zone it and if you can put the desk and chair into storage so that it is just a dining lounge. Reconfigure that. Remove the drinks from the cubby in the kitchen because it is drawing the eye, put the spice rack somewhere else and put a potted plant there.

The front of the house photo needs to be cropped down and no pumpkins which screams this house has been trying to sell since October and remove whatever those stone things are too. Best of luck.

The photos are terrible. They need to be taken in daylight and all the random stuff like laundry baskets removed.

You also need to stage the house to sell, in as much as taking the desk out for the photos then put it back if you really have to. Each room should have a purpose.

Why a desk for the kids hwk when having a family dining table would be better?
Kids can sit at the table to do hwk and it's then also available for meals.
Im really sorry OP but for me id discount it immediately because there doesn't appear space for a basic table for the family to eat at... Where do you eat your meals?!

That yellow and brown silk room needs neutralising, paint it white and get some nice fresh white bed linen. Do the same with the purple tie dye room. Get rid of all the stuff, the wash basket, all the random crap. Bin it all or at least put in storage for a bit. You have to give steady the illusion of space in a small place.

I agree with @Chasingaces the price is too high. If you’re commanding top dollar, people expect top quality, turnkey condition.

In addition, and I’m going to be brutal:
The lounge is depressing. The images in the dark with those grey walls make it look like a dark and dreary place. The sofa’s don’t go with the room, and it’s quite cluttered against the busy wall paper. Too much going on. It’s also a small space for a 5 bed home.

The kitchen looks cheap. You’ve got a door missing next to the oven, gaps around the bottom of the oven, and a broken kick board under the tall unit to the right. If that’s picked up in the picture, I’d guess it’s worse in real life so I’d be thinking rip it out and start again. The cups over the sink are odd too - reinforces the not enough storage feel.
The flooring downstairs doesn’t look expensive, and is adding to the dull feel.
The bedrooms are busy. The yellowy one is very cluttered - there’s a whole corner that’s inaccessible being used to store (junk?). Not somewhere I could see myself sleeping as a perspective homebuyer.
The pink bedroom is a headache and extremely busy. Again screams lack of storage. The orange curtains clash - is the camera making this look worse, or is this really this bold in real life?
The attic room is very neutral and honestly should set the tone for the rest of the house, but again very cluttered and too much furniture in the space.
I cannot even see the floor in the home office. Far too cluttered.
Bathroom is inoffensive, although the window sill is again busy.
Other attic room is inoffensive although the carpet does look orange in the pictures.
En-suite in attic is ok, but is it grey or beige? The estate agent has edited the colour so it isn’t clear which.
The garden is a nice space.

I would be looking at this and thinking it needs:
New kitchen, new floors throughout, totally redecorating.

And if I’m going to all that trouble, I might replace the bathrooms whilst I’m at it to a more modern finish.

I don’t say this to be horrible, but you won’t sell this place if everyone tells you ‘it’s lovely’.
I also appreciate this is your home. But it’s obviously not perfect for you, otherwise you wouldn’t be moving. Hope this helps.

I’m just repeating what previous people have said but there’s just not enough downstairs space. Even if you only had 3 kids (so using 4 bedrooms) there’s nowhere near enough living space. Very overlooked garden. Quite a high price for a newish build on an estate which really should be a 3 bed.

We’re a family of 5 and I can guarantee this house doesn’t work for families of our size. You have 1 reception room!

We have a kitchen, dining room, living room and conservatory and still feel like we need more space.

Where do you dry clothes? Where do you put instruments, toys, stuff!? Where do you sit and have Christmas dinner with 3 kids? Let alone when they turn into teens.

I really don’t think converting bedroom space is a good idea in these new builds with tiny downstairs. 5 bedrooms and 1 reception room will be putting people off. Unfortunately, I think you’ll need to price it as a 3/4 bed house to get it sold.

Would it help to market one of the bedrooms as a reception room, so a snug or something?

There’s a virtual tour of the house with the lounge set up quite differently, in both the photos and the tour it doesn’t look big enough to use as a lounge and dining room, the kitchen is small. There is no storage in the main bedroom. The small bedroom used as an office doesn’t even look big enough for a single bed. I’m not sure if it’s priced as a 5 bed but if it is then that’s the problem. I would expect it to be similar price to a 3 bed house due to the lack of downstairs space and storage.

I've just realised you do have little table squashed into the corner.
Get rid of the desk it's spoiling the room. Use the computer at the table for a few weeks, putting it away in a cupboard (or even the garage/car boot!) as and when needed for photos or viewings.
But fundamentally OP the issue is the inequity between ground floor and upstairs... It really does seem like a 2/3 bed that's had 2 very small rooms squashed into the roof which I think was a mistake as it's created a house that will appeal to few people - too expensive for a 3 bed and cramped downstairs at that, but people looking for 5bed will discount it immediately because of the ground floor.
I defo wouldn't be marketing it as any more than a 4-bed with one bedroom designated clearly as an office.

Did you take the pictures at night? I would retake at the next sunny day.

I think you could do with better photos. The lounge photos - in particular - make it look like a windowless room. Place your sofas less straight and focus in on the coffee table.

Why do you need those sound reducing pads in the bedroom? We have them on our parish room ceiling to reduce the noise when people are crammed in chatting

@Mayflyoff that house on squadron drive did sell but they pulled and it now back on the market.

This house to be honest OP would work far better as a student let or even a young couple with a baby who both work from home and need an office each etc plus spare room and a room for a dressing room etc - but of course that comes at a price they will pay - anyone buying for a rental investment will tend to want it as a bargain and most young couples won't want to go to that .

As others have said it doesn't really work for a family with more than 1 small child or possibly 2 small children at a push with just a moderate lounge and quite a small kitchen - and hence if they can get a 3 bed semi cheaper in that area- they will go for that

I don't think it's anything you are doing/aren't doing - I think it's purely layout - no doubt it will suit someone but not priced as a 4/5 bed townhouse

It would've benefitted from a ground floor extension running behind the garage. Or a sun room added on to the back to create a proper dining room/ playroom.

Why are both double beds pushed up against walls? That screams "too small".

@Printedword we have the sound reducing pads because my partner works from home and is on call a lot and when bubs was in the bedroom it was to reduce baby getting woken up, he has a very deep voice and it travels 😅

If you look at the tour you can see the rooms at the top aren’t really proper bedrooms, you can’t even fit a single slim wardrobe in those rooms next to a single bed. You’re far better advertising this as a 3 beds, and making one of those converted attic spaces a walk in wardrobe, and the other a study. That way it’s an attractive 3 beds with those little bonuses. But I doubt you’ll recoup what you spent getting the loft converted. New builds always sell for less than you bought them so I would expect to make a loss on this property considering that and the wasted renovation costs.