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?

Ita unbalanced. There is way more reception space than is needed for the bedrooms. Obviously not something you can fix but it might affect price.

I think it’s a steal at that price for the area. Might be transport/schools etc. But I think it’s just really tough out there. And yes I hate ‘offers over’ if you want £675,000 or whatever it is, put that. But it’s a nice house. Tough market. Good luck.

I think it looks nice and neutral - nothing hugely off putting. I do agree the galley kitchen looks quite tight - it would put me off buying if there were other properties with a wider layout. It is a beautiful kitchen though and just my style. And I wouldn’t describe it as 2 bath - I think that is misleading.

Definitely clean up the front drive and add some greenery. The lawn just needs a good mow.

Honestly though it’s decent. If you are needing to move quickly you will have to drop the price. We sold last year for less than we thought the house is worth but we needed to move and managed to get a bit more off our onward purchase so that helped. Have you seen somewhere to move?

I agree that the stats dont seem to match the reality. Wouldn't class a downstairs wc as a bathroom (not sure of the official definition but I would expect a bathroom to have a bath or a shower), and the third bedroom is teensy, I wouldn't class it as a bedroom, more like a boxroom/office.

If you went to view expecting a 3 bed, 2 bath property, thats not what it is

so I wonder if the agent was hinting at more colour, he said it looks ‘lived in’ but also to stage it in a way a family would like? I guess we have fruit/ flowers/ art, I have some coloured cushions etc in storage I could try, but I’m worried I’ll make it cluttered. In terms of tired, I have cleaned the walls (washable paint) but I could repaint banisters/ skirting, just struggling to get my head around that being the difference

I don't know what the viewer meant when they said it was too traditional. But perhaps it shows my preference. I like the way you've styled it. I realise you can't do much about it but perhaps the dimensions of the kitchen, long and thin, could put some people off. Wonder if there are better ways to photograph such a kitchen.

The garden is nice as well. I wouldn't say it was cluttered..My only other thought is perhaps a bit more colour would suggest warmth and personality downstairs, although I know people like to say neutrals are. A blank canvas..

I think you should hang in there..Unless there is some real dire need for speed. Good luck OP 😊

this is fair - I’m good at insides but I don’t have a clue about maintenance outside - I painted the fence green and added planters, not sure what else to do?

Thank you, that’s the sort of feedback that really helps. I’ll add power washing to the list. Imagine bannister replacement is expensive?

I too would get the front drive and back patio jet washed to tidy them up. It's good you're getting the garden tidied because that looks a bit unappealing. I think I'd be put off by how small the third bedroom is if it's marketed as a 3 bed. Other than that, it looks ok inside, if a bit neutral - no colour.

Knowing the area, you're also not far from the incredibly busy Shooters Hill Road and Sun In The Sands roundabout. Is your street used as a rat run to avoid the main road and cut off the roundabout?

The green fence colour is awful OP. I know gray is dated but a dark gray would have been a better choice IMO.

Also the planters are very dead. I'd paint them dark gray, put some living trees in them and place either side of the newly powerwashed doorway!

I think the inside is well presented and there isn’t much more you could do there. I really like the decor and style. The 3rd bedroom size and galley kitchen may put some people off but obviously nothing you can do about those.

I agree that the front and back need some work. The front of the house looks a bit tired and doesn’t match the finish inside -,paint job? Maybe get some big potted flowers to brighten it up and clean the drive. Same for the garden maybe - more colour.

It’s interesting that isn’t clear from the pictures, it is a single bed but my daughter decorates in like a divan, we could easily style like a single bed

Ah I’m gutted, I really never knew galley kitchens were deal breakers - this was the layout the previous owners had, we kept it as the gas connection is into the galley not the extension. Maybe I’ve shot myself in the foot.

I think most people viewing this house would want to knock down that kitchen wall and turn it into a open plan kitchen/diner ... that galley kitchen is a problem. Strange design really.

It is clear to me - I was wondering if I was missing a different room (without a bed).

Oh no I’m the opposite, I hate all the dark gray but I appreciate my taste might just be a bit dated, I’ll repaint dark gray, that’s easy enough to do and not too expensive

The only “flaw” I can see is the tiny box room and the galley kitchen, but obviously that’s something a lot of people are willing to put up with. Everything else looks good. Those two things would be deal breakers for me though unfortunately, so perhaps you’re just getting a lot of viewers like me.

Our house (not in London) struggled to sell as it was in an expensive area but not too far away from areas that were still nice. Those areas were less convenient for amenities/commuting etc but people found it a worthwhile trade off for the larger house you got for your money. So your house isn’t unreasonably priced for what/where it is, but the buyers just aren’t there. Could something like that be impacting your house?

I would say, the front needs to look smarter, good clean of block paving, cover that gate with reeding or something similar.

Usually it’s a good idea to present neutrally, but in this case too white, just a feature wall in a soft shade would look nicer.

I would replace the very worn dirty looking carpet. And have photo re taken.

make the rear garden look more usuable, this is a great feature for a home in London, maximise it with nice furniture, colourful plants in pots you can take it with you etc.

it is a difficult market, do you need to sell now?

Internally, it’s very well presented in terms of decoration etc, I actually really like it. But the layout of the downstairs is unusual and I can see how it would put a lot of people off. Agree with comments from previous posters about the third bedroom being small but, and I don’t know the area to comment on pricing, as long as the pricing takes into account that this is not three good size double bedrooms, then that shouldn’t be an issue.

Externally - and I’m sorry to say this but you said be blunt - there is nothing appealing at all about it from the street, and the back garden is not too bad but it’s boring. Things that could easily be improved by a buyer with vision, but they’re things that cost money.

I am not familiar with the area but this house on the other side of the A2 so closer to Blackheath went on the market last week for £600k. Granted it’s a terrace rather than a semi but is there anything else that makes your worth £50k more?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90968544

I really like the inside. Some of the bedrooms are a little small. The garden is not great and needs some work. I don't like the front of the house the paint work looks tired.

The kitchen layout would put me off massively so as a buyer I’d be thinking about replacing and resigning that whole kitchen diner space which would be expensive. Ultimately I think drop the price.

Having looked at Streetview, the thing that would put me off more than anything - and sorry this isn't something you can do anything about any more than the distance from a station - is the bus stop dead in front of your house. I would worry about noise from the buses themselves and noise and ASB from people waiting there.

If it isn't like that, perhaps it's worth having the agent reassure viewers or do it yourself if you're there when they come.

Other than that the house looks good to me. I think for London you have a massive garden although it's a bit bare. Yes, the 3rd bedroom is tiny but that's pretty normal for that era of terraced 30s property,

The listing says there are 2 bathrooms. I can only see one on the floor plan @Dandelionkiller

Did they take any photographs of the front from the ground? The angle is quite strange from above and shows those wires you could get some big tree planters and suggested and even paint your UPVC front door with specialist paint to brighten up the front.

I think that the inside looks nice, although people do not tend to like a galley kitchen nowadays but there is not much you can do about that. It will suit somebody.

The small bedroom looks absolutely fine, I think. I have put a smaller bed in a child's bedroom when I was selling a house with a small third bedroom. It was smaller than yours though.