Advice on this house? How to sell it?!

[SayrraT]

I'm not a big poster but I've spent a lot of time reading in this forum when I was renovating our house.

I know you are all amazing at house selling advice, and nothing but honest!

Just wondered if you have any suggestions for this?

It's my PILs house, they thought they had a buyer but it fell through and since then not had much. Some people saying too far from nearest bigger town (which it is) and another from the village who likes it but can only make a low offer and has to sell their house anyway.

FiL has recently become ill so instead of just the usual sadness of selling a house they are now dealing with that so trying to get it sold.

Just wondered if anyone had any ideas to entice more people to view or anything that's majorly wrong.

Of course, the house needs modernisation but in recent years has had new roof, windows and oil tank.

Any help/advice much appreciated.

Nice house.
I would say paint all the walls a neutral colour. Bright colours will put a lot of people off, particularly the red.
I just sold my late mum's house and my own house. The market is falling here, and I sold quickly because I reduced the prices significantly.

The agent needs to remove that stupid ‘open house event banner from EVERY photo as it make the photos hard to view. I don’t thin the pictures are great either as it’s hard to get a sense of the space.

It's a shame they're not maximizing the views, which must be sensational! I can see beyond paint colours, but I'd want to get an idea of the outside space.

The house has so much potential but the listing is TERRIBLE!
no where on the listing does it say it’s recently had a new roof, oil tank and windows. I’d expect the listing
to open with bungalow in a lovely position along the river xxx, requires modernisation however in recently years has had new windows and a new roof.

the listing has obviously been badly written by AI. The opening line is “this confidentially articulated bungalow” what on earth does that mean?

the dates on the open event are wrong.

personally I think the decor requires so much modernisation that there’s probably little point trying to do small touch ups to it.

ultimately it comes down to price?!

Get some new pics of outside now it's summer, especially highlighting the beauty of the river and hills and some summer colour pots / olive trees outside to give it more kerb appeal. White wash the inside as there's alot of orange wood. (Personally I think the wood and the colour is lovely and anyone who can't see past a lick of paint is an idiot but that's the feedback you see all the time and people do still seem to prefer neutral houses).

I agree, I'd tone down the colours and check if there is anything quick and relatively easy you can do to lift the energy efficiency e.g. loft insulation

Otherwise, it's a nice house in a good location, so it's down to price and the right buyer turning up.

the first pic should be of the exterior. The banner I agree is weird. Definitely painting the house white would help, but if it’s too much stress I think I’d kill the red wall in the living room and pink one in the bedroom.

Ultimately it is price, since the cost of work has rocketed. Do take seriously how much it would be to modernise, new kitchen, bathroom, doors etc.

it’s a stunning location!!

Agree with the above lots of potential and v cheap compared to round here. White wash the lairy colours tho, I hates trying to cover it up when bought ny house

lovely house, change estate agent!

Yes, the open house banner needs to be removed, it’s annoying. Came on just to say what a lovely part of the country, someone will be very lucky to stay there.

agent needs to remove that stupid ‘open house event banner from EVERY photo’
This.

Thank you for quick responses!

I am out for the day, just leaving, so may not be able to reply until later.

I hate the banner too and I also thought that it was odd to not have photos of all the rooms.

The views are beautiful 😍 it's a lovely place.

I think the thoughts on the paint would be that a new buyer is likely to change a lot anyway. I'll suggest painting over in a neutral shade (the red isn't as red in real life if that makes sense!) but not sure what PiL will think...

I think if the younger couple from the village sold their house they'd be happy to accept their offer but I should check if they've actually told them that!

Maybe I'll have a go at writing something for the blurb instead and add in the useful points re the roof etc. I only know these things because we were there yesterday for the open house (which of course no one came to) as FiL too ill to go. Bit last minute for us but we had a nice day, should have asked for advice before and I could have taken some photos!

Thanks all, will check back later.

It's a lovely house with lots of potential.

As a buyer I would be looking at it and be thinking it needed new bathroom, kitchen, fireplace, all that dark wood would need painting and I'd be considering getting rid of the glass wall. So it would make me feel like a lot of work.

As others have said, a bit more white or light paint would help because the carpets are quite neutral. Get rid of all those dark runers. If you had the time and energy I would paint over some of that dark wood, even if just the doors, the kitchen one especially stands out as there are mutliple clashing wood and paint tones. Maybe add one or two plants. I'd be inclined to remove that breakfast bar, put the table in the kitchen and add some relaxing chairs or a sofa into the conservatory. Also show the view from the front of the house. In the lounge move the furniture so the sofa doesn't block the middle of yhe room making it look smaller.

The millions of aerial pictures just make me think ‘flood risk’ tbh

Beautiful house and killin is awesome, wish I could live there!!! But yes rewrite the listing, I can’t believe how useless it is. I wouldn’t necessarily whitewash wood, sounds like that could create a diy headache. Best if it looks like what it is, carefully kept style of a previous era.

I think it's probably only going to appeal to a small group of people. My parents wouldn't buy it because it has steps at the front - and when they downsized for retirement, step free was required.

I wouldn't buy it as a family home, due to the location of bed 3 off the lounge.

The views are stunning!

Yes have a go at writing the blurb yourself or change the agent. They are not doing a good job of marketing the house. The banners across every photo are distracting and let’s face it, this house is not going to attract lots of people to an open day anyway so it’s pointless.

I would say the house itself looks fine for what it is. Whoever buys it will want to update it but it should be made clearer in the blurb that it’s not a total renovation project as the basics like the roof have been well maintained.

The strong colours do look off- putting in the photos, which might make it seem like a lot of decorating is required. The rural location would be a negative for a lot of people I think. Views from the property of the surrounding countryside (not just past / through windows) would help get more sense of the place. Plus could a sane human write the blurb in plain English?

I love Killin and have looked at buying a house there before, but sadly not in the position to do that now.

I would paint that bright blue room a neutral colour. Ideally I'd paint out all the 'feature' wall colours to match the rest of the rooms, but that might just make the rest of the rooms look like they need done too, and I wouldn't want to re-paint the whole house. Loads to do to it to make it into the next person's home, but depends how much you want to invest now (in time, money and inconvenience) or whether to drop the price a little (offer over 280k for example) and see where that gets you.

I'd also move the sofa/chairs in the living room so that the massive sofa is facing the big window instead of taking up the whole room. It's a little bit awkward having that third bedroom off the living room, but new buyers could renovate and change the floor plan - check out the floorpans of other homes sold on the street to see what others have done. I'd also make that suggestion to interested viewers, so they can see potential.

I'd also ask the agent what they are doing to make it more seen and generate more viewers. This time of year should be perfect for viewers to be looking for something like this and they'll see it in the best weather so that's good. Maybe just have patience, wait for the open houses to be done and see what happens. I'd definitely be speaking to the young couple already in the village too though - can't promise it to them until they are in a stronger position to buy, but good to let them know where they stand.

Also the bedroom opening out of the lounge wouldn't work for some families- not that you can change that. In a family with a few kids, who would have it?

A “confidently articulated bungalow” is gobbledygook I agree with a PP.

I wouldn’t bother painting anything as it’s clearly a home that would need redecorating anyway (sorry!) and you’ll just use up time and money on something that your type of buyers will see past anyway.

I’d definitely work on presenting the spaces better though.

The third bedroom is key as it’s unlikely to actually be used as a bedroom - desk overlooking the garden to appeal to home working couples, single bed to show it can also work as a bedroom, etc.

Move the sofa in the living room (or take the photo from a much higher angle) to show the space properly.

Take photos of the garage! Stick some bikes or kayaks in there temporarily to take the photos so that outdoorsy people recognise the potential.

And yes, change that awful description and ditch the bloody banner.

THAT BANNER!! What is the agent thinking? You can't see the photos properly.
Apart from the things you can't change, eg location, I'd try and 'modern it up' cheaply. Personally I'd do what PP have suggested in painting it neutral. The interior doors are depressing - I'd definitely paint those and change all the bedding (get rid of the fabric draped over everything) - the twin room isn't too bad, but remove the clashing blue towels. (There is zero colour scheme anywhere as everything just clashes). The fabric draping is dating and drab. If you dress the beds with fresh bedding (duvet covers don't cost much) and take out all excess old furniture except the dining table in the conservatory and the beds, it will look a lot fresher and more appealing to the eye. I really want you to sell this OP as it's actually a really lovely property in a beautiful setting. And as PP have mentioned, get new photos of the views as it's stunning. Good luck - sorry if I've been harsh - I've just bought a property from a couple of 90yr olds and sold mine in an hour so I'm on the ball with this at the moment. My new one has these dark internal doors and I'm replacing them as soon as I move in 😁 also a tip from my agent - people don't want to do work these days, as builders and building materials are so expensive, post Covid. So they just want to buy and move in/live/do very little.

Shocking photos. Like everyone else, the banner is distracting, completely unnecessary and crops all the photos.

The third bedroom should really be a dining room or playroom, given its location.

Fixed price would put me off, but I’m not in Scotland, so don’t know whether that’s the norm.

Everyone has commented on the decor, so no need to add to that. Could be a stunning property.

It's a lovely house. I actually like the wood in the hallway, it reminds me of my own childhood home. Yes it's all a bit dated, but it looks all in very good nick and not in immediate need of replacing.
The only thing that jumped out at me was that hill out the back... Has rain water running off it ever caused flooding?