Suggestions to improve my house...

[Morrisseyswife]

My house has been on the market for coming up for a year with no offers.
I'm about to reduce the price for the second time.
If that doesn't work I'm considering remodelling the ground floor as it has a traditional layout, not open plan.
Any thoughts or suggestions very welcome.
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86943297

It is a fab sized house, it will suit someone eventually! You just need to get someone through the door who is willing to do the work.

It’s not got much curb appeal. That’s a wide expanse of tarmac at the front. I would get a different photo done of the front. You need pots with flowers and some hanging baskets to give the front a lift.

Youre right, downstairs is a bit mad - sitting room with no windows, two kitchen areas and what on earth is the long dark ominous thing behind the dining table??

But you can tell that it’s in excellent nick and if I was local I would snap that up in an instant. What an awesome project! Seems huge and doesn’t need masses of work at all - decoration and knocking a couple of walls down downstairs. Perfect!

These comments are meant kindly, so please don’t be offended. If I were selling this house, just for starters I would:

Make sure my pricing reflects the fact that the kitchen and all the bathrooms are very dated and need complete replacement. I wouldn’t be so hung up on open plan, as people either like that or don’t, but for certain the price needs to take replacement of those key rooms into account. Not everyone wants to do this big work which will put people off - even with a price reduction though unfortunately.

The living rooms and bedrooms aren’t being shown to their full potential- get rid of the mismatched cheap furniture and make up the beds properly with luxe looking bedding - everything looks sad and tired currently. Buyers have no imagination- make it look lovely. Plants, flowers, cushions, pictures.

The front garden gives the house no kerb appeal, it’s just an expanse of concrete - add a couple of planters either side of the front door with some big plants in and flowers to soften things up.

I think your photos are all too wide angle. I think better photos could help, focus on the front of the house rather than all that useful parking etc. and a few rugs might help pull things together a bit

The long dark thing is a built in fish tank. I know. My exes hobby.

All comments really appreciated.

I don't think the photos are doing you any favours here. They make it look even more sparse than it is as they are taken from a distance. I don't usually say this but you could definitely buy some potted plants and soft furnishings to make it look more homely. I would do this, have new photos taken on a sunny day to make it look as warm as possible and change agent.
It is, despite being lovely and large, a project house with an unusual lay out. This is undoubtedly what is putting potential buyers as the cost of work has increased so much since 2022. Looking in your area, you can buy a large, modern house on an estate for less and many families would choose this option now and just more in.

You mentioned that other homes in the area which are open plan and more modern are up for 300k more. Do you mean this kind of thing, up for more like 200k more? They haven't sold yet at this price. I would say this road is a little better too, although yours is perfectly pleasant.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160904324#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/159921728#/?channel=RES_BUY

In the end, as you seem to realise, it comes down to price, which includes the amount of work and hassle of doing the work. Would you consider re-marketing at offers over 425k? Hopefully, that would get you a lot more interest.

Is there a photo of the sitting room which has no windows? I don't see one which makes me wonder how dark it is in there. I think you should add a photo and maybe consider if/ how the room could be staged to seem less odd...a playroom maybe? Or a snug or library or something? And the floor plan is confusing given it makes it seem like there are 2 separate kitchens and the photos also look a little like there are 2 kitchens so worth considering if the plan at least could be amended.

The front garden, which is the first photo is not very appealing, so I agree with suggestions to improve the look and take a new photograph.

I wouldn't recommend knocking down walls to sell, the rooms as they are are very spacious. I think you'd be better making a few cosmetic changes as others have said, new photos and floor plan changes, and a price reduction.

If it was in my area, I would be interested as it had lots of space!

I would buy it for the space it offers think it's lovely. As others have said needs staging think lots of colour, perhaps a feature wall some bright colourful fabrics lots of plants and fresh flowers

The room that has no windows, but three doors bizarrely, is photo number 11

I really appreciate the comments. I really don't want to do the remodel. Price drop here we come.

Ah, I assumed that was a very large hall, which makes no sense as there isn't one on the floor plan! Definitely needs something to show a purpose in there. And the light fitting looks a bit odd in there.

Imo it's just out dated and labour/materials are too expensive to do a kitchen and a bathroom

Alongside some better staging as suggested. Thanks again.

I think the downstairs layout is odd. Personally I would turn what is currently the kitchen into a hallway. Add a wall across to the right of the front door and make the sitting room into part of the kitchen by knocking through the wall there.
Other thoughts are
some pots with flowers at the front of the house
Any blank walls put some pictures up
Some plants or pots in the utility room
If you don't change the downstairs layout, some furniture in current sitting room (indicating a purpose)
A sofa or similar in loft office - or rearrange if current furniture
Clear some units from pink carpetted bedroom, looks a bit muddled
Chair with desks in bedrooms
Open curtains in back room overlooking the garden
Hope this helps - nothing majorly wrong that I can see, just some window dressing.....
Good luck

I think its lovely. The room with no windows could you set it up as a cinema room so that the no windows is a bonus

That's almost what the remodel would involve, with the addition of moving the kitchen into the back room and knocking down a couple of walls too.

The house is big , got huge potential but it’s dated and the carpets are awful. I would updated it a bit .

Nothing obviously too wrong. A wee bit of softening of the big expanse of grey in the first picture? Are you getting viewings? Any feedback from the viewings?

There are slightly too many rooms for a house without any wow factor. I would want a proper entrance hall, which would mean moving the kitchen. The price needs to be attractive enough to allow for some remodelling and updating.

Not many viewings and not much feedback even when they do happen. Which is why I thought a virtual view by the mumsnet massive might give me some direction. Which it has!

No idea on price, but it does look dated in a 'last decorated in the late 90s' kind of way rather than 'retro mid-century' kind of way.

This might be petty (and in general I HATE this kind of advice) but as you can't do anything about the furniture, I'd get some massive cheap throws to cover the beds. And get some better photos taken.

Also, it's a minor peeve of mine, I can't see the floor plan for the second floor.

Floor plan for each floor is definitely there. Just checked and confirmed.

Is the wall between the kitchen and the windowless room load bearing? I think you could take that one out and rejig the hallway to create a small downstairs study and an even bigger all in one kitchen diner and creat a front entry hall which links to the stairs.( see photo attached). I would then also consider doing a bit of modernising on the kitchen which looks to be in good condition, so I would get someone in to change the cupboard fronts, work top and tiles to something more modern. Also agree you need some greenery out the front, even just some bushes in pots either side of the front door would be good.