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?

Yeah, just pop a wall up OP, that's obviously why it's not selling 🙄🤣🤣

It’s the price. You have a lovely house and you are getting the viewings. There are houses in my area that over the last 18 months have consistently dropped their price every few months. And suddenly they sell.

I think it’s the kitchen / extension and the third bedroom that are the main issues . The extension is not being utilised properly and really looks like you’ve had a room stuck on the back but without bothering to take down the rest of the walls or integrate it properly - open plan without the planning . The third bedroom is just too small and if you want to sell it as a bedroom it needs dressing as one .

Lovely property, and I like the garden.
Decor is lovely and open, and it is very light.
Third bedroom is doing a great deal of heavy lifting though.

I will think about this seriously. The archeay between the kitchen and hallway can fit a pocket door - we actually looked at this option when planning the loft. I can see the kitchen is a deal breaker for lots of people and I’m genuinely gutted. I cook absolutely loads and I host a lot too, so I’ve loved having my appliances triangle nice and tight in the galley, and then a large open entertaining space in the dining room, but clearly I should have crowdsourced advice before we put in the kitchen. Would moving the sink to the dining room help at all? As we could swap the units over without buying new materials possibly

Yes.... perhaps this evening she could move the cooker and the sink!

As there’s a bus stop there I’d put that in sales info and times to the stations. That could be a plus point.

Honestly.... I think the biggest problem is the exterior.

The front looks very tired, bland and unloved. My first thought was "well that needs a fair chunk of money spending".

Same for the back garden.

It won’t bother everyone. It would not bother me.
The small box room would not bother me either. But I don’t have three children.
I always look at rooms as spaces, not what they are necessarily described as bar the kitchen and bathrooms.

The huge extension that may well overlook my garden space would put me off.

That's a lot of work. The kitchen is only a deal breaker for some posters on here. What have your viewers said?
I personally love the kitchen and the spacious open dining space looking out to the garden.
Bear in mind that some of this advice is very subjective indeed. I genuinely don't think that the bannister or the bathroom lights are an issue.
Do you want to spend a huge amount of money, or would it just be more practical to reduce the asking price?.

I think it’s fairly unanimous that the front is awful! The thing is I just don’t trust my taste/ skills will make a difference. I painted the fence green, which apparently everyone hates!! I’ll try the three simple actions (power wash, paint fence grey, reposition and replant pots) and then maybe post pictures again?

Just to give everyone an update, I’ve booked in for new photos as well, now to convince DH to part with his three monitor desk for a few months

Front and back do need sprucing. I'd probably turn that front room into a bedroom and make the box room an office for your husband's computer.

When the sprucing is done, get a proper photo of the downstairs bathroom and get a kitchen photo with the lights on. I wouldn't try to shift the galley kitchen around now, a good agent should be able to talk to viewers about how easy it would be to extend the kitchen into the dining area.

The backyard just isn't inviting at the moment, even though it's a decent space.

Has the picture of the 3rd bedroom changed since this morning or am I losing my mind?

Presuambly the viewers who come have gone back to the agent and given them some feedback as to why it is not for them ?

What has the feedback said ? You are getting viewings. But not the offer.

As I said before it’s a lovely lovely house. Just spruce up the garden for now. Make it a little more loved. The desk in the bedroom is fine and don’t change front room into a bedroom. Honestly someone will buy it soon.

I think I'd possibly look at getting a new fence - Charles and Ivy do some lovely modern composite fences. Jet wash and get some new pots and plants just to spruce it up, though that's not going to disguise the fact that the windows and doors could use upgrading

Also, is that his desk in the dining room?

The size of the little box-room is, I expect, limiting the field of potential buyers, as it can surely only be used as a bedroom for a baby or very young child?

If I were looking for a 3-bedroomed house, I would be very put off if one of the "bedrooms" was actually a box-room. Although, to be fair, most buyers eould have already looked at the floor plans in advance of viewing and would know what to expect.

It’s too white, all new carpets would be needed

Honestly I think your house looks lovely, I’m not from London so not sure if the price is right, but from the pictures alone I don’t see anything wrong ? Yes that 3rd bedroom is small and for me when I was looking it would have put me off but that’s because we needed the 3rd bedroom as a bedroom and not just a spare room for whatever. The garden does look tired, both front and back that’s probably my only criticism. I hope you sell soon op, it’s a nightmare isn’t it, we’ve moved 6 months ago and I’m so glad that whole process is over with !

I agree with others, the main things I would think that are causing the lack of offers is

• the front of the property, it unfortunately does look a little old, run down and unkept, think paintwork and rendering
• the rear garden does need some upkeep and potentially some decoration/plants for example
• the third bedroom doesn’t necessarily look like a possible bedroom the way it’s presented, and it is very small
• people may be put off by the fact there is all that open space where your dining table is, but instead of utilising it, you have a narrow galley kitchen

Now I know the last one really can’t be resolved pre sale as it carries a hefty price tag, but all of the above to me is what creates an issue with the price.
Obviously simple/affordable changes would be the best option, like a cheaper single bed in the smallest room, some maintenance to the front and rear etc

But all in all not a lot of people are going to willingly spend 650k+ (since it’s offers over) on a property which could potentially need 10k+ in work doing if we include likely kitchen changes, then when it comes to the tiny third room it rules out most 2 or more child families or people planning to become that, as they won’t want to spend just to sell, ultimately you may need to drop the price.

The kitchen was what jumped out at me too. There’s a big, much more suitable space right there but the kitchen is tucked into a corridor. I’d look at this and think - I really would want to change that - then think about how much that would cost.

in a different market this would be snapped up, it’s nice and light, but in today’s buyer’s market, people will be far more critical. Also they keep talking interest rate rises and I think the market is just very slow.

It’s always the price, OP!

The kitchen (cooker) looks like it’s in the hall whilst there are kitchen type units in the room with the dining table. I think that may be off putting.