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?

Aw my, it's a mirror isn't it! I thought it was a photoshop fail. It's been a long day!

If it were me buying it, I'd reinstate the wall between the dining area and the lounge so you had a cosy living room.

Then I'd open up the small wall to the left where you have the galley kitchen so the kitchen and dining area flows as one room. And reinstate a door between the front door and kitchen. If possible I'd move the cooker to the wall where you have the microwave.

And you must make the 3rd bedroom look like a bedroom either for a child or a spare room for a guest.

The garden is big enough for a garden office and this could be mentioned in the EA details. As well as a loft conversion.

Street view offers two different views- in one there is a small box tree on the front step, in another it's a pair of bay trees.
Were they there when you bought?

I think the external photos look better in the 2018 listing for the property. Can you try and recreate these photos (particularly the back garden ones).

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/45d6a533-6e12-4c84-b21b-c8775c19dd9b?v=media&id=media14&ref=photoCollage

Why would he want to lay across the narrowest width?

Not RTFT as only 4 pages in so forgive me if already said, but you talk about the LAB catchment. We're local. Yes people want to be in it, but to then get the sibling in to that school as well with the sibling priority. There's no room for siblings to have decent size bedroom each in this house so I just think families with 2+ kids would discount it, sorry

Kitchen layout is odd and looks cramped. It’s not in Blackheath. No kerb appeal. I live in the area and I wouldn’t pay £650k for what is in reality a 2 bed house in Kidbrooke not close to transport

It’ll be the market and leading on from that the price.I mean if you were to reduce by something ridiculous like 150k it would sell immediately but obviously you’re not going to do that! I like it . One bedroom is small but it’s still a private space for a child or teenager or a good office room. I think I’d definitely power wash outside ,pretty it up as much as you can repaint what’s possible without spending a fortune.
inside I’d perhaps repaint the bannister and freshen up anything that can be cheaply done. It’s a nice family home it’s just the market. Good luck op

Are you around when the agent visits? How are they presenting it? Would it be worth trying to sell it yourself?

Paint your fence £40 would transform it
bannister not the best
kitchen narrow not for everyone but it’ll be common in that style of house

My brother( a rugby player) had a box room like that til he went to uni and he was very happy in his space

The market is generally rubbish for selling at the moment. It took us 7 months to sell ours, under asking price too!

I also should have said, thank you for coming back and responding to people’s questions and suggestions! So many posts I read never have the OP respond. Also great that you’re so open to the feedback. It’s refreshing to see on MN nowadays.

The house is lovely and nothing that people have commented on is un-fixable, either by you or a new owner. I hope you find a buyer soon!

Just as long it doesn’t say price!

Who has been viewing it so far? It’s really unclear who the target market is

The condition is great so it’s the price (too high) and location description (its’s Kidbrooke, not Blackheath). The lack of nearby public transport for those working in Canary Wharf or the city doesn’t help, so you can only really change the price.

I think you had to sell up pre Covid to make money on property in that area.

I thought the OP had created that kitchen and dining area, I didn't realise it was like that when they bought it.

I'd be considering the following:

• kick the office stuff out of the bedroom and into one of the reception rooms
• if you can beg, steal or borrow a cot, stage the smallest room as a nursery instead
• is the box room built out over the stairs? We got quoted about 1.2k to built out a cupboard over the stairs, increasing the space.
• knocking 50k off the price and taking the hit

To a certain extent, the slow market will actually help you here with making choices, because people want to feel like they're getting a bargain, and they aren't so suspicious of houses hanging around a while. And whilst you can tinker around the edges, it's hard to get around the layout issues.

It’s the layout . You have a lovely extension and eating space but you’ve tucked the kitchen into this tiny little space and the person in the kitchen can socialize with the people in the open living space. That would put a lot of people off. Also you have 2 large doubles and one box room. So if you are a family with 2 kids one gets the nice big room and one gets the box room. In my house that would cause a lot of tension .

also kerb appeal. It looks abit council housey with huge price tag. Obviously not a lot you can do about that but try and tidy it up and may make it prettier. At end of the day people want something they can move into that either ticks all their boxes as they have no money at all to change things or they want a project. When you bought it it was probably a project but the bits you have done look nice but maybe everyone’s cup off tea and the bits you have done nicely are not enough to combat the bits that still need work.

You can paint the outside yourself ☺️ it would even take that long.

The extension was like that when they bought it.

I would add a little splash of colour with a throw and cushions and then some fresh flowers. Put a couple of tubs with a nice shrub in the garden, maybe add a garden umbrella with some lovely colour on. . Good 🤞 uck!

Why would she put a cot in the smallest bedroom? There's a bed in there.

The kitchen/dining room layout is such a massive waste of space

I totally agree. The angles are much better in these photos.

OP: Ask your EA to take new photos with these exact angles, and take some inspiration from the colours and layout of the rooms. This initially hooked you into buying the place and should do the same for other potential buyers.

Because it might capture the imagination of someone childless who's planning a family and isn't thinking ahead. Currently, as many posters have stated, it looks too small for a bedroom.