House what should we do to sell

[Vs123]

Hi,

We want to sell our house. We have been there 15 years and the house has lots of good memories. We now want to sell it but not getting a lot of traction. The houses in the neighbourhood have sold for similar price or more. Any suggestions of where is it We are missing the trick here?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/159203675

Thanks
Vanya

Kitchen is too narrow, too small and outdated (especially worktops), I’d need a bigger and nicer kitchen for a house this size, nowhere to convene, one person cooking at a time currently.

The swirly ceilings are dated and expensive/hassle to change, may be worth doing now.

The bathroom looks old and a little dirty due to grout.

The layout is odd but I could get used to that/make it work but I’d need to factor in the cost of changes, especially the kitchen knock through.

I imagine the other houses have already updated before marketing.

Astro turf
Artex ceilings
Mouldy bathroom
Bad kitchen (layout and units)
Poor house layout for a family - most would need to reconfigure to make it work)
Low kerb appeal
No ensuite

And all for the low low price of 800k

I'm not being mean but it looks like very poor value to me

I say that as our house in London suburbs is size sq footage has 5 actual bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms (one is ensuite and we have a walk in off master) nice garden, nice bathrooms - solid wood kitchen with quartz counters.
Its worth £1.1m...

you would need to spend 200-300k to get yours to the same spec (ie total cost 1-1.1m) and its maidenhead...

It has potential but the asking price seems too steep given work needed.

Kitchen looks like a small galley kitchen - not a lovely big one you’d hope for in a 5 bed house.

Agree the bathroom floor is manky. You’ve probably become blind to it- we all do! Get a professional with some decent chemicals to come in and get that sorted out.

I can’t really understand the downstairs layout there seems to be tonnes of small rooms but no flow to the house. I guess that’s a big thing to change?

I don’t think the photos are great. The kitchen floor looks horrible but I’m sure it’s just the light. The kitchen wouldn’t be what I’d be looking for at that price point. I think the whole house looks rather soulless and unloved I’d need to rip it out and re configure.

edited to add the bathroom situation is ridiculous. I have. 5 bed with just a little more square footage and we have an upstairs bathroom , 2 en-suites and a downstairs toilet. The 5th bedroom should be an en suite imo. Did you extend the house yourself? I think this is all the reasons I’d never buy a house that’s been extended , all the space is in the wrong place!!

I can only see one comparable house and that sold for £750k and has a much better layout. I think you would be better marketing it as a 4 bedroom and then people will see the potential to add a bathroom in the smaller room / office. Astroturf would put me off and so would paying top end for a property that needs a new bathroom and possibly work to make the kitchen area make sense for a large family

It is dated and basic for the price, even compared with what has sold locally. It's a do-er upper. Outside, the back garden would have to be redone. The plastic grass in the back garden has been so poorly laid that the joints are obvious from the tiny photo on my phone.

Only having one bathroom would put me off. It is also very bottom heavy - plenty of living space downstairs but only two of the bedrooms are reasonable size, 2 are on the small side and the smallest probably wouldn't be used as a bedroom. A family who need that much living space downstairs, would probably need more space upstairs. Also the downstairs layout is impractical - I think I'm right that you have to walk through all of the reception rooms to get to the kitchen.

It needs a lot of work, it's quite dated and a lot of it isn't great quality. Your buyer is likely somebody looking to do refurb/project so the price needs to be dropped to reflect that.

@TianasBayou I missed that.

Yes, the A404(M) will put off most people.
Houses on the other side of the street may be less affected, but having the the back garden 20m away from the motorway will put most people off.
Once more we come back to the price.

I'd be tearing the EA a new one about that dreadful floor plan.

However, the downstairs layout is weird regardless. It looks overextended in a hodge podge way and lacking in natural light. So, people will be pricing in making changes to that.

Plus the lack of a second bathroom upstairs, the fact the 5th bedroom is study sized and the dated ceilings, bathroom etc.

Astroturf is a big NO for me and a lot of people so removing that is another thing people will be pricing in. Given you back onto a motorway, you need to do everything you can to make that space full of screening plants and calming greenery. While cutting back the creeper heading across the roof at the front!

The main thing is you absolutely need to drop the price.

Well, I think your house is lovely. Do not paint the beams in the kitchen, I love them. And you have gorgeous furniture, I love your style.
Things that are not so great:

The bathroom, mainly the grouting which looks grubby and dated. Could you get one of those grout pens and go over it all?
The kitchen floor is very dated.
The garden. That fake grass is a big no.
I can't see a picture of the fifth bedroom with the cupboards? Could it actually fit a bed in it, even a single one?

I see it’s on with a different agent too:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151540712#/?channel=RES_BUY

At least the floor plan is better on this one.

Is there really no internal door into your kitchen?

I did what I always do and pretend I have that budget and want to buy in that area. I immediately found other houses that have a nicer finish for the same space or are 50-75k cheaper or do not back on to a very busy road
I would buy one if the other ones. It’s a family house and nobody wants roaring traffic in their back garden if they can help it.
I would say reduce to 725-750. It’s a buyers market. Might have sold in 2022 for max price but not now.

I had a look at houses for a similar price. Yes think there could be some improvements. The back garden hasn't got a single flower as far as I can see. It looks very unloved. That would put me off in a house of that price. But on the whole I don't think the price is that high compared to other houses in your area. But if the market is difficult then you need to reduce if you are keen to sell.

My observation.
The kitchen needs declutterred. The brown beams, artic ceilings with spotlights and the floor need addressing in the kitchen. Move the beds away from the corner/windows in the rooms where they are in the corner.
A shower room by the front door when no bedrooms are down stairs would put me off however that is the layout so cannot be changed.
There is a lot of space down stairs but doesn’t flow so I would assume anyone looking at it would think it needs a lot of work.
The house does have curb appeal.

• No picture of 5th bedroom
• Bathroom tiles/grout look dirty
• Looks like fake grass in the back garden? That would be very expensive to fix
• looks like textured walls and ceilings? Again expensive to change.
• kitchen looks quite dated.
• how do you get to the kitchen??

My observations (we are currently looking to upsize to a 5 bed and these are things that would put me off)

It’s not really a 5 bed, it’s a 4 bed with a dressing room/home office
Only one upstairs bathroom, no en suite
Downstairs layout is odd. There is no flow and it wouldn’t work for our family
Grouting mouldy in bathroom
Garden shabby and unloved

If it was significantly cheaper than similar sized properties nearby someone would overlook those things as it could be a ‘project’, but it’s not.

The alternative listing is far better on floorplan and kitchen photos. Is there a photo of the room labelled study on either listing? Is it what sits behind the doors marked ‘man cave’?! I think a photo of that if set up as a study would help given how many of us need decent space to work from home in. At the moment the desks in the bedroom give the impression that downstairs doesn’t offer that (and I realise people can use the space you have however they like but seeing an equipped office on a flick through of photos would be good).

Pictures are miles better with this one.

Also, you tried to sell it in Dec-20 and Sep-22 for £900k and £975k that doesn't look great to buyers, and would imply to me that the property is overpriced consistently

Too expensive for what it is worth. Drop the price.

MUCH better pics and floorplan

Price is still a problem

You could spend a little bit of money and make improvements that would make a big difference. For example, the kitchen looks like it’s had new units but the finish is very poor. It looks like the cupboards and worktops haven’t been sealed to the tiles. The tiles are bad. The worktop and floor are dated. You could tart it up by replacing the floor, worktop and tiles. It wouldn’t cost a fortune in the grand scheme but people wouldn’t find it off-putting as soon as they see it. Similarly, regrout the bathroom. Go round the house with a critical eye. It’s easy to overlook flaws when we see them every day.

Just looking at the listing for the one that sold for 750k six months ago. It’s a similar footage although clearly not a five bed really. They have photos of both bathrooms. My nervousness at the lack of photo of your downstairs shower room is that it’s a bit knackered and not very nice to use - and if that’s not the case it would be great to include a photo of it. (I have a lot of experience of horrible downstairs shower rooms!)