No viewings on our house - would these things put you off?

[Wallawallawallaby1]

We've had no interest at all...is it the market or is our house just priced too high? We're in the South West (Salisbury), and I'm told by the EA the house is a tricky one to value. It's a 5 bed detached Edwardian house over 3 floors. We bought it for £675k just over three years ago, and it's on for £720k. Interestingly next door is on for £750k, and they've had little interest as well. Identical houses in build, but they have an added bathroom and a much larger garden (although their house does require a fair bit of modernisation).

I'll list a couple of the negatives - could you tell me if the following would put you off viewing?

1. 5 beds but only one bathroom (and a downstairs cloakroom). The rooms are large so there's plenty of space for an ensuite (or two), but my DH doesn't want to do it. I was hoping though that potential buyers would realise this opportunity. Would the 1 main bathroom put you off?

1. Very small garden. Large-ish patio that extends round the house, but grass space quite small. We have a sofa set and a small climbing frame on the grass, with a massive trampoline on the patio, so it's perfectly functional...just small.

1. No garage, and on-street parking (but very quiet road, so no issues with parking)

The positives though: very grand house, massive amounts of curb-appeal, large rooms with high ceilings, close to good schools, 10 minute walk into town.

I desperately want to move as I need more downstairs living space. I could also really do with another bathroom (DH just hates the idea of any work being done in the house).

Please help!

Thank you

Firmly agree

I meant to add that the garden wouldn't be a deal breaker for everyone, as long as there is somewhere to sit out many people don't want the upkeep.

Small gardens don't always put people off. It's a lot of work to keep a large garden looking nice and for the majority of the year, it's not really warm and dry enough to sit outside. Some people would rather have more interior space.

Near me, someone sold half of their large back garden to developers who built a detached five-bedroom house on it. I'm not sure whether the new house's garden is best described as "small" or "tiny", but it was definitely very small for a property of that size. Last year, the developers put the property on the market. It sold for about £20,000 less than the asking price, but we're still talking about a sale price that's well over £500,000.

I'd need to see the house and the location but a single bathroom for a house that size and price point would put me off, on paper anyway.

I'd bite the bullet and cough up for at least a shower room

Having looked at the listing, I'd add that although the neighbour's is described as "elegant period architecture" in the listing, they are actually quite ordinary looking houses - no wow-factor. And the inside is very modernised so there's no sense at all of it being a period house from the inside. I think that's a problem because for people who like that sort of look, they have no reason to make concessions for the fact it's a period house (ie. no parking, one bathroom). To attract the people who will compromise on "modern comforts" you need to offer them something really characterful inside and out, which you haven't got. So in this case I think you need to try and add parking at front (if you are allowed) and add bathrooms, possibly at the expense of a bedroom. I'd say if you don't want to do that work yourself, you need to knock the price down a lot to give the buyers the budget to do it.

Well it’s always price isn’t it? Anything can be overcome if the price is right. I’ve got five beds (still got YAs toing and froing from Uni) and there’s no way one bathroom would work for us. It’s not just a simple case of putting one in either as the most logical places for them are not where the plumbing currently is. IE much bigger, more expensive job. If the price reflected that though, I may consider it. Also the garden is too small for the size of house for a family but if it was a family like mine with older children, I wouldn’t mind as much - but along with that comes the fact they are all driving so there would have to be sufficient parking on the road. Might work if you’re a one car family but two, three (which isn’t unreasonable for a five bed), would that still work. And sorry I have to agree re the Astro turf. The problem would be that I’d be suspicious it was there because it was difficult to grow real grass maybe because of a concrete base or some other debris (looks like the garden is in much smaller because at some point the back was sold off and another house built on it). Lack of outside storage would also be an issue with no garage or space for large shed. These are all things that mismatch with the fact that it is a large five bed. To combat all of the mismatch, the price has to be competitive. Gorgeous house though, and if you’re not selling at 720 then next door won’t be selling at 750.

I've taken the liberty of googling @Wallawallawallaby1. It's beautifully presented and the garden doesn't put me off. I think it's nicer than the more expensive one for more money in the road.

What would put me off is the stonking great tree in the front garden which must have a huge impact on light. I'd have that cut down and stumped out.

I think you need to big up its centrality to Salisbury. That's a massive plus.

Yes to all three. The main bathroom looks small and none of the bedrooms are large enough to lose enough space to create an ensuite. The lack of space downstairs would also be an issue for me. Overall, the house just feels far too small for a functional family 5 bed.

Although in many ways it sounds lovely, all of those things would put me off. Especially the bathroom situation. I would think that the people looking at a five bedroom home would have a few children and a mum to 5, there is not way we could have survived with one bathroom. Previous poster is right - drop the price and see if that helps. Good luck,

The obvious thing is to extend the side return to create a wider kitchen - which will enable you to get a dining table there; then knock the sitting room into the dining room to create a larger sitting room.

There’s plenty of room for an en suite in bedroom 1. And then you need a shower room on the top floor.

Highly unlikely that that wouldn’t be cheaper than moving.

If your husband doesn’t like building work done, how does he feel about moving? That’s even more stressful. And very unlikely to find a house that needs no work at the other end.

Honestly - been on Rightmove- lovely house - I’d be tempted to forget the en suite idea and pop a shower room /toilet in one of the rooms at the top. Doesn’t need to be expensive. Then you have a 4 bedder with two bathrooms-just an idea

Yes, all three of those would put me off. And the combination together with the fact that two bedrooms are up in the loft means I wouldn’t really consider it a house suitable for a large family. Too many bedrooms, not enough living or outdoor space. I’d be tempted to turn bedroom 1 into a nice big living room and market as a 4 bed.

I've seen this house @Wallawallawallaby1. I follow the Salisbury area as I know it quite well. From following the market there, I would say that it has held up pretty well, much better than some other areas I follow. But, it appears to have turned downwards in the last couple of months. There are a lot more reductions appearing than previously so it's not a good time for you to have gone to market.

I can say pretty much definitely that the price is the problem here. What made you market it at 10% more than the 2022 price, when 2022 was market peak in many areas? Your reduction is only 2% which is much too small to generate interest. It's a lovely house but you are aware of the downsides. The one bathroom is the most obvious one.

Do you really need to move? If you do, take the price down 10% and hope that this generates some interest. This is much better than doing 2% reductions every few weeks which looks as if you are not serious, unrealistic and then rather desperate.

TBH, I’d probably avoid selling a house now if you possibly can, that was bought at the peak 3-4 years ago. It’s not a good time and IMO you’ll lose money. We bought ours then but have no intention of moving in the next 20 years as it’s spot on for us, plus our last house was a complete lemon with a serious flaw that would usually have taken years to offload, but because it was rural, everyone was desperate for it post pandemic and it got snapped up overnight.

Honestly, if there’s anyway you can sit it out until the housing market improves, I’d probably suggest that. Put in the bathrooms yourself and enjoy them for a couple of years and then it’ll be more sellable anyway.

Yours is nicer than next door’s. But theirs having a second bathroom and utility room would appeal to me more. No garage or outside storage would be a deal breaker for me. Your garden looks like it could feel claustrophobic to me. Does it get any sunlight at all?

But the biggest part for me would be the lack of parking, being so close to the school etc. I’ll bet it gets busy at pick up and drop off!

People searching for a 5 bed house, will also expect off street parking and a good sized garden at a minimum.
I wouldn't be put off by the bathroom situation as I would be happy to put another 2 in given the space- but the price of the property would have to reflect that fact.

It’s not that hard to find good builders and you’re assuming that they can find a house to move that needs no work.

Like this.

GluttonousHag · Today 14:59

You say you’re desperate to move because you want more downstairs living space, but isn’t anyone viewing your house, presumably with a family if they’re considering five bedrooms, likely to think the same thing?

This is my thought.

I accepted an offer on my house about 4/5 weeks ago in the Salisbury area for £700k and mine has only 2 upstairs bedrooms and one bedroom/office downstairs but admittedly it’s in a very sought-after village. I have kept a close eye on Rightmove in case my purchase falls through and have noticed that not much is moving at the moment and almost everything has started to be reduced in price. Nothing about your house would put me off, if it was the sort of property I was looking for. I think it’s just a bad time to sell.

One simple thing you should do is change the summary text on right move. The bit you can see before you click says “the accommodation includes two double bedrooms, a kitchen diner …”. It implies either the 5 bed bit is wrong (not unknown on right move” or that the other three bedrooms are singles. That would put some people off even clicking through to the main listing , especially as the cover photo with that huge tree blocking the house makes the house look really small.

Living in Salisbury, the location of the house isn’t very appealing for the price. It’s right next to one of the busiest roundabouts where to A roads meet and next to a school so the road is difficult for parking.

OP i would put an ensuite in bedroom 1 (pipework can be hidden under the bedroom floor if it needs to come out on the other side) and i think you could put a small shower room with loo between the top floor rooms.

alternatively sell as a 4 bed house using one of the top bedrooms as another bathroom.

its a lovely house but garden is small. Could you pave the front garden to make one parking space? I see a neighbour has off-street parking.

Looking at your floor plan only, it looks very much like a late Edwardian house I used to own. That was in London and all the houses were terraced with small gardens, no drive and only osp. If the area is desirable and all the houses are like that, I don’t think that’s an issue as people who want driveways etc will self select out to other estates or locations.

It’s then about the house itself. The one I owned, your bed 4 was a bathroom. It made the top floor feel very luxurious as it was a space with a large bedroom and bathroom. But the bathroom being separate meant it was also accessible for all.

we didn’t have an en-suite, the first floor was identical to yours and it worked fine. Bedroom 1 was gorgeous as large and light filled. You could get plenty of wardrobe space but also make room for a seating area. I would not put an en-suite in there as it will make the room feel very small and chopped up.

downstairs - is your kitchen eat-in? Most people in our area went for the extension into the side return and then what’s labelled Dining Room in your plan became either a separate snug or knocked through to make a big living room, or you put folding or pocket doors in between so you can increase or decrease size. As long as you have decent dining space in your kitchen, you don’t need a separate dining room.

the main thing we had that your plan doesn’t show was a cellar / basement, which we had lined and tanked. It served as a utility room and storage space. In theory it could have been further developed into a useable living space but this worked really well for us on a smaller budget, sorted all the storage issues created from losing the loft and moved the utility space away from the kitchen.

If you love the house, the location is good and are not needing to move for location purposes I’d stay put, and look at how to maximise your current space.

Also the housing market is depressed ATM. I have several friends selling <what would be desirable> houses, but the prospect of WW3, uncertainty generally about the way the housing market is going to go is depressing the market. People are improving houses rather than selling. Where I live houses generally sell quickly & for near their asking price (talking near major city in SW) detached bungalows with garages (which usually sell fast) are hanging around for 2+ years.