Any suggestions to improve our Rightmove listing after 12 weeks?

[nonwonderwoman]

Feeling brave and hope fellow mumsnetters may be able to give some thoughts about my house listing on Rightmove. It went on end of Feb, right before the Iran war started and since then had about 18 viewings but only 1 offer that fell through within two weeks. We are now at week 12 and feeling a bit stuck...

Photos were taken on a sunny day in Feb, but I've asked if we can update for some sunny May photos.

Anything else that stands out that I could update / tidy / clean / remove? I know you will all say the issue is price, and we could drop it some, but I thought it was a pretty decent price to start with.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/172706036#/?channel=RES_BUY

The bus stop might put some people off a bit. The steps too. I would add a bit of warmth to the bathrooms. They on a photo may seem a bit ‘chilly’.
Do you have a dishwasher, I assume you do but it isn’t mentioned. People can dismiss for small details.
I do think the description is a bit over flowery. Estate agents are awful for doing this. Instead of being sensible they over glow.
Estate agents are also poor at sifting clients. You will always get a lot of lookers early on. We realised for some people it was almost a hobby that they did at weekends. The estate agent was to show people round but after listening to them I cringed. I told them I would do it instead and sold it. What we did do was have a short term on the contract with them, and made it clear we were thinking of going elsewhere.
Look at your everything, from price, estate agents behaviour, photos.

i wouldn't say the state school that this is in catchment for is amazing but it's not bad at all - this is walking distance too to be honest. there are two privates up the road from here (one of which i went to!) which are definitely popular.

although... keir starmer did go to one of them :D controversial lol

It looks lovely inside but the from the front it looks very narrow

No bathroom top floor and the stairs means you are selling to a specific group, definitely not young families with prams or older folks. I would consider trying to get a bathroom in on the top floor which might open the market up more to people with teens. It’s absolutely often about price though too.

Agree that your photo of the front is much better. I'd add some colour too. Pots and hanging baskets of bright geraniums on the steps could give it that French feel. Id lose picture 2 too, which looks darker and more cramped than the other photos.

Good luck.

I'm not in the market for a £1m+ house but have looked at similar houses in my (thankfully) much cheaper area.

Whilst I think I would love your house and want to find ways to make it work, the things that would stop be buying it are;

A very big house for one parking space - teens' cars now or in the near future?

All those steps outside with shopping, suitcases, prams etc.

Two bedrooms with no acess to a bathroom without going downstairs.

Small living space for the number of people/bedrooms.

I'd love looking round, think it was beautiful, probably give quite a bit of thought to how we could reconfigure to overcome those things, but ultimately the price would need to reflect those fairly big compromises, compared to other things on the market locally. Does it?

@wifty that’s my point though, if you are wanting to pay for Reigate grammar or similar those costs have increased too. I had friends who made 200/300k on their flats in London in 2-3 yrs who then moved to Reigate for a house. The landscape had completely changed & think it hasn’t even played out yet.

It’s a lovely house, the pics are fine, it’s just the market OP. The London market is currently 80% down due to the Iran effect. Until that’s resolved definitively it will stay sluggish.

The only aspect I could comment on is that you’re with a smaller local agent, albeit with a good reputation. A more bigger agent like Savills or Hamptons might yield more non-local buyers and visibility.

I think the tree and bushes out the front don't give a great first impression, and that's the first picture you see. The inside of the house is much nicer. You need more of a wow factor for the first picture. The second picture with the blossom is sooooo much better.

Just agreeing with others that the photo of the front of the house that you took @nonwonderwomanis SO much better. The previous photo seems to emphasise the house being hemmed in, which it isn’t particularly. The drive also looks better for a sunnier day. I’m not sure the aerial photos are that helpful, I don’t need to see a photo of the bungalow opposite as part of my initial impression, I’d rather see more photos of your house. Though the far reaching views are good. It’s good to cut the bus stop out of the photo too. It may put someone off but better not to be distracted by that in the initial view of a pretty house. I also would like a clear view of the garden and patio without the parasol in the way but that is being fussy.

It’s a lovely house. I have no idea if it’s fairly priced for the area but it’s just a sign of the times if it’s stuck. I know quite a few people who need to move, have plenty of interest but people can’t proceed. Very tricky if you actually need to move for work/financial reasons.

What I really want to know is how other people have such beautiful homes in such pristine order? I’ve never mastered it.

Agree.
Think you've presented it well and decorated tastefully. Hope it sells

This is a much nicer photo of the front 🙂

Things that put me off instantly:

Curb appeal - lack of in your EA listing photos. The one you took looks much better. Looks like a terraced house?
The steps to the front door. Not attractive to young families with babies or toddlers or lots of gear to carry up the steps.
The bus stop.
For that price, where's the garage?
On the first floor, the bathroom is bigger than the 'bedroom'. I presume this is the one you have as an office? I'd label it office/bedroom on the plan.
Pretentious photo with the wine bottle and glasses, remove it and photo 17.
With 5 bedrooms, it is perhaps a bit top heavy.
It does look like you may have maxed out the potential of the house so not much scope for further development. If there is potential to improve the basement I'd like to see photos of it.

Lovely decorating and well presented though.

Why are you moving?

It's stunning. I just think houses in this price bracket take longer to sell.

Don't do this. You won't recoup it, and it'll be disruption for nothing. People can surely walk up or down a flight of stairs to a bathroom, and if no-one in the family can, they wouldn't buy your house because of the front steps.

I can walk up and down stairs. I don't want to in the night for a wee. If I was spending £1.3m on a house, that's one thing I wouldn't compromise on.

As pp have said, it's a nice house and - thankfully - isn't decorated throughout in that horrific grey!
Most people could just walk in and live there.
I'm going to agree that it's the market, and so might take a bit longer to sell.
Would you be prepared to drop the price slightly?

@Pinribbons Oh dear! Better buy a bungalow then. Often old houses are not on the same level and I guess my .£2.5 million house would be on the scrap heap! I think most people would look beyond a bathroom up a couple of steps and appreciate everything else.

I was just thinking (dangerous ha ha!), if I owned it I think I would try and make the basement window into a door. You could dump all your stuff there and bring it up bit by bit, and maybe the internal staircase to the ground floor is not as steep or "steppy" as those near the main hall door.

Couldn't you sleep in one of the bedrooms on the first floor where there are two bathrooms?!

I agree. Spending ££ on this house to try and make it sell is setting money on fire.

It's a very well presented property but you cannot fix the logistical issue of 5 bedrooms and 1 parking space so it's upper value is somewhat capped.

Exactly 😊

Exactly this.

The front of the house photo looks small! If I was scrolling on right move I wouldn’t even click on it (I think they say “lack of curb appeal”). It doesn’t have much wow factor from the front BUT the inside is lovely 😻 Maybe you could change the first photo to one of inside instead?