No offers after months on the market, are we house blind?

[Dandelionkiller]

Been on the market for a few months now, loads of viewings but no offers! I honestly can’t see the problem and I’m worried I’m house blind at this point.

this is the listing: https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88856211

i honestly don’t think it’s the price. There are unextended, unrenovated houses on for £20k less the next road over.

it’s also a fair price - we paid 550k in 2017, based on inflation it would be 750k now but that just isn’t supported by the area.

weve done lots to maintain it in that time - new boiler, washing machine, dishwasher, fridge. We replaced the laminate floors downstairs with wood. We changed the purple vinyl bathrooms to nice tile. It was meant to be our forever home so none of this was to make a profit.

bits I know are of; we’re a bus ride away from a train station, but I think this is reflected in the price. The carpets upstairs need to be replaced - this was the case when we moved in but we kept putting it off as we were planning a loft conversion.

tbe feedback has been perplexing - one viewer said we’d made the house too traditional and they would have to redo the kitchen / bathrooms to modernise, but I think they are pretty neutral?

what can I do? Is the market just a bit rubbish at the moment?

I haven't read all the responses, but when I saw your house was in Blackheath and looks in good overall condition I couldn't believe how cheap it is. From someone who has lived nearby their whole lives.

Yes, this is the problem exactly. It's being advertised as having three bedrooms and two bathrooms, when in fact it only has two bedrooms and one bathroom.

So people are coming to view and are finding that it's not as described. The description should reflect the reality.

No, it has 3 bedrooms. It's all on the floorplan, together with measurements. There is a downstairs loo.

2017 was the peak of the market. We bought our flat then and sold 2024 for £75k less also in London (Zone 2).

Your house is lovely inside but ugly outside and has no kerb appeal. And not being walkable to a train or tube station is a massive massive issue. There’s nothing you can do except wait for the right buyer or drop the price.

The market is down. People always think ( and estate agents want it too), their houses are worth more when the market drops.
The point of the advert and price is to get people through the door, then to get an offer.
One of the bedroom carpets looks a bit grubby. This may just be pictures fault. The second reception room barely gets a look in the pictures.
The dining area I would try to really make the most out of. Even changing the table and chairs possibly ? Something warmer. A lovely bigger table. Lose the plastic chairs. A plant of two as well.

Aside that, who is showing them round ? The pictures clearly are getting viewers. Are they time wasters or in a position to buy ? Are the agents just sending anybody round ? And if they show them round are they any good at doing so? I had this, loads of viewings then decided to listen in to how the agent was selling the property. It made me cringe. I took doing that over. It sold. I could do it better than they !

I haven't read all the comments.
However, i know Blackheath, it is a much sought after area. Therefore, the price would seem not too far out.

Here's the picky bits: the drive looks grubby. Get it jet washed. Put some tubs of flowers or something on the front drive. It will make it look more welcoming.

The rear garden looks a bit bleah. I suppose the grass is brown atm. Again, I would get some flower tubs in to brighten things up. The fence is worn, I would paint it rather than replace it, possibly a nice colour instead of brown.

Upstairs carpets look worn.

Kitchen, bathroom and other rooms look ok. What exactly do people want from a new house? I want to put my own individual stamp on a house. A worn carpet wouldn't put me off. Id just buy a new carpet.

I'm sorry to say that the housing market is sluggish. There's a lot of job uncertainty, interest rates and inflation are expected to rise. The cost of living is out of control. A financial crash is widely expected. Welcome to the 1970s/ 2020s.

The estate agents should be able to advise if you need to drop the price and by how much.

£650k for a 3 bed semi with a galley kitchen! I don't doubt that it's priced "fairly" in comparison to the rest of London but what percentage of buyers can afford anything like that?

A downstairs loo is not a bathroom and the third room upstairs is a box room, not a bedroom. It's too small to be a bedroom.

Beautiful inside but the front of the house would put me off. The first photo isn't the front of the house which speaks volumes!

I think it’s a lovely house, but the photos don’t do it justice at all. The kitchen shot is awful it makes it look more narrow than it actually is.

i think you could have better photos, amd dress the house a bit, I would lay a pale rug with Horizontal stripes on the kitchen floor before new photos to make it look wider between the cabinets it looks terrribky cramped in one photo but loving the photo of the kitchen from the dining area
stick cushions and potted pants by outside seating
see if I could make the other rooms a bit more cosy - a mirror on the wall neutral cushions etc

but you have a lovely house

Have just noticed something is going on two or three houses to the right. And to the left in one picture. A very large amount of scaffolding.
It looks rather massive. And depending on what it is may well be putting people off. You get the viewings as they haven’t spotted it. Come round and can see it.

I agree, they should say "downstairs toilet" rather than second bathroom.
The 3rd bedroom is a small room, but it has a window and you can get a bed in it, it's a bedroom. Fairly common in this sort of house.

They forgot to take a picture of the downstairs loo, I wonder if that’s disappointing viewers as you can’t easily tell it’s a bathroom and a loo

This would be the problem for me. I think you have the price wrong and houses don't seem to be selling at the moment.
I did a little checking and on the nationwide hpi for your postcode a house sold for 550 in 2017 should be about £622,193 in today's prices, it might well be worth dropping your asking price by 5000 in the first instance and if there still isn't much progress reducing every month. People are under the impression that houses are flying off the market, but I'm the last 3 or 4 years that price range has flat lined.
I'm looking to move next year to a specific area in Kent and have been watching the market for a while and houses in the 500 to 700 range are either not selling or are coming back on the market 6 months after being sold subject to contract.
And definitely don't trust there estate agents estimate, they lie for a living!

The 3rd "bedroom" is barely more than a cupboard. If it was a council house, it wouldn't even meet the minimum requirements for a child's bedroom.

£15K to slot some new fence panels in the existing concrete posts,,? It's a diy job for a couple of strong people. Panels are likely to be about 40 quid each

I suspect it is the scaffolding a house or two away.

The details do say 2 bathrooms, I would get them to change it as it is misleading.

In the US they call a second loo a “half bath” 😂

Sorry I’ve seen a couple of questions about the poles - we don’t know and neither do our neighbours who bought 40ish years ago - they guessed flagpoles? But a lot of the gardens around here seem to have them. We use ours for a retractable laundry line :)

For me the two major downsides are the size of the 3rd bedroom which essentially makes it a 2-bedroom and the downstairs layout, after our current house I would never buy anything open plan again. People talking about tired gardens - that's never been much of a factor for us, it's a bonus if the garden is tidy and fences are painted etc but most people if should be able to look past it. Neutral decor is also fine for me as we like strong colours so would paint over it asap.
Appreciate that most of that is specific to me and not necessarily for everyone, I hope you get some proper interest soon. If it helps at all we had this with a previous property - had it on the market for months, nearly 2 dozen viewings and no offers and no real reason for it other than "it's not quite what we're looking for". Fast forward 18 months and it sold (twice after losing our first buyer to a dodgy chain) within 24 hours for more than asking so things do change.

Good luck!

Have you seen this, @Dandelionkiller? You're keeping your daughter in a cupboard!
No room under the stairs?

Great point, thank you, I’ll add that to the list of pictures to ask to be redone

I think it looks lovely! I recently sold my house in Devon. It took nearly a year to actually be out of it. Months of it to sell and then months and months to move!! Ours was in a way worse state than yours (no carpets as didn’t want to buy before moving). Think it’s just a rough market to sell at the moment.

It’s not too small. It’s a standard size. Any modern regulations on bedroom sizes don’t affect old houses.

Knock at least 50k off, as I'd want to move the kitchen into the extension and make that galley bit a utility area/pantry.