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?

As someone who doesn’t know London at all; this house would be about £170k where I am… and that’s probably top end so I’m gobsmacked at the price (not at you personally just the difference in price)

you asked for critical / harsh - please don’t take it personally

Pic 1 - green bush on table and green painting are bright in comparison and draws my attention to them (not in a good way)

Pic 2 - love it

Pic 3 - clean / replace the carpet…. Remove the rug or get a bigger rug, can you change curtains to ring tops instead?

Pic 4 love it but change rug to match colour scheme

pic 5- been done to death but freshen garden up.

pic 6 - really nice

pic 7 - good clean up and paint the tiles on the front .. we had them in that colour and painted them before we eventually removed them; all neighbours followed and painted theirs - dark grey/black would work… remove lamps in bay window - my 75 yr old aunty does that so to me screams older persons home.

pic 8 - sort the doors out on wardrobe makes it look unloved

Pic 9 - needs a headboard to show it’s a proper single bed, can it be turned to go longways with a set of drawers next to it.

pic 10; window needs dressing, rug under bed needs removing or a larger rug (looks like it’s dirty under bed at the moment) remove hubby and his space ship (mines the same I feel the pain) or a room divider that folds up for “everyday” and comes out for viewings to “section it off”

pic 11 - window/door needs dressing, banister looks like it’s peeling (bottom section) worth stripping it and repainting. Could probably get a cheap cap for the banister in the same colour as your floor to give it a modern edge.

Pic 15 - chairs need to match, rug needs to be bigger or chairs reduced (4 instead of 6) windows need dressing and a nice big piece of artwork on one of the walls would help.

Pic 16; remove computer chair for pics

pic 17- like this room however eyes are drawn to the cabinet that has doors not shut properly, first thing I thought was if they can’t be bothered fixing that what else couldn’t they be bothered fixing

The whole place feels a little clinical; a few splashes of colour could work nice; it does feel a bit of a traditional house with modern twists but just not fully executed throughout.

obviously my opinion, and hope you are not offended .

good luck

I don't think there is much you can do about the kitchen short of knocking down the wall and making it much bigger and open plan. You may have to resign yourself to telling buyers that you have reduced the price to leave buyers with funds to do any renovation according to their own taste.

I have to disagree about galley kitchens providing efficient workspaces. Having lived with one for a long time, I find it a pain in the neck. Sure, I've not always walking across a large room, but as soon as there is more than one person in there you cannot move without getting in each other's way. Also in a galley kitchen there is never enough worktop space.

Its always price.

The best piece of advice I got on pricing to sell was "work out who your buyer is & how they afford this house". Start by looking back at when you bought it yourself.

What size mortgage did you have, and what were your monthly repayments relative to salary? For a current buyer with todays salary for a similar job to the one you had then, with repayments at current interest rates, what mortgage can they afford?

Then what deposit might they have? What did you have as a multiple of your earnings at the time? Did any of your deposit come from a gain on an earlier buy? A current buyer likely won't have that gain.

We did this maths when we sold.

We had bought a 900k house.
A £600k mortgage for 25 years at 1.6% was affordable on combined income of £150k, even allowing for maternity leave in the future etc.

The same borrowing now would cost 40% more. Wages havent risen that much, and even where they have, tax thresholds have been frozen so more tax is paid, costs of fuel & household bills have all risen by more than inflation. Its less affordable.

We had a 300k deposit because our London flat pretty much doubled in value. A current buyer hasnt made those gains, and couldnt afford to save that while paying london rents.

We realised if our target buyer couldnt afford it, our house just wasnt worth it. We dropped the price down and sold

1 curb appeal at front of house is lacking, tidy up, maybe add some trees in pots?

2 its very white, so sorry to say it but a little boaring - can you in a tad of colour

3 back garden needs some attention i feel

Bluntly: the front looks unloved; advertising it as 3 bed 2 bath feels like deception when you see the sizes of the 3rd bed and 2nd bath, and the downstairs layout is bizarre. Knock through and make the back room fully open plan or price it so that someone else can. The back garden looks shabby. I disagree with other posters about your interior design, I think it looks lovely, clean and minimalist. But the front aspect and the back garden are a mess and it makes me wonder why someone interior house-proud doesn't care about the rest of the property.

Anyway, best of luck!

The kitchen ceiling looks dreadful and the sides of the cupboards near the cooker need a deep clean. Personally, I don't like the tiles in the kitchen or the gold lights. It looks like it needs replacing which is obviously expensive.

You could easily improve the bedrooms with a few cushions and changing bedside tables/lamps.

The garden needs to look appealing back and front. I can't imagine sitting in it but with a tidy up and borrowing a few nice pots from people it would be vastly improved. Seems a decent price to me but I know from bitter experience what a tricky market it is at the moment.

I wouldn't want to pay £650k for a galley kitchen. It's neutral some might think sterile as all white and lacks character. I'd add a few pops of colour in accessories. Cushions in sitting room, wall art, curtains etc. and a blind, vase or tea towels in kitchen. I wouldn't worry about upstairs carpets because most people would want to pick their own carpets after purchasing. Garden seems nice but again no colour in plants. I'd stick up a bright hanging basket and planter at front door.

For me it’s that’s 3rd bedroom. No real space there.
Also the market it self is saturated right now.
I have a friend trying to sell a property in the Croydon area. New south quarter flat estate. There are over 30 flats on sale. In that area alone. They are trying to sell in the cul-de-sac area of that estate. No buyers for them either. So it’s a very slow market.

I haven't read the thread as didn't want to be influenced but for me it's the kitchen. Unless I'm looking at it wrong the kitchen part is quite small and tucked away with no view then there is a massive dining area with sideboards where the view and the light is. I would want to completely reconfigure that area which would obviously cost quite a lot which would either mean I didn't offer or offered low.

I did the exact same thing over a month ago. Posted on here got lots of comments, reduced by 25k and sold within a week… only lost 15k. Get in touch with John Savage…. He really helped me understand what buyers are looking at.

No one falls for this. Its immediately clear you are using the living room as a bedroom.

This is priced too high for a 2 bed house and an office. I don’t think that can legally be classed as a third bedroom. The outside space isn’t inviting.

We discovered when selling that loads of people are serial property viewers who love going and having a nosy at houses they have no intention of buying. We had buyers feed back things that were 100% visible in the floor plan/listing, like:

• i wanted a 5th bed really
• i want parking for 6 cars & you can only fit 4 (the listing said "parking for 4 cars max")

The same couple second viewed our house AND 4 of our friends, at a range of price points and styles, and didnt buy any of them.

Absolutely disagree, her house now is much better, more modern, clean lines and matching interiors.

For me it’s the kitchen - I’d have to knock a wall down and open it up which would add a lot onto the initial cost and also tricky possibly of load bearing walls etc.

It's the kitchen. It would infuriate me, the wasted space of a third reception room and then a tiny dark galley kitchen tucked off. It. Seems like such a waste of that bright extension.
Also the third bedroom is exactly what these types of house have. It should not be advertised as 2 bathrooms.
And yeah the fences at the least need attention.

It’s nice inside. The front is not nice though. It looks run down and in a run down street. Can you paint the front and jet wash the step.
also three months in this market isn’t very long, houses are on for a year now where we are (similar not far from you area) and they keep dropping their prices. I think people are waiting it out if they see a house they like..: waiting to see if the seller drops.
also when we were looking for 3 beds we really wanted to see if bedroom three can be used as a bedroom so add a bed and make it into a bedroom. Get a free bedframe and cheap mattress on Facebook marketplace to dress the room

The block paving needs cleaning and the gate a clean or paint.

It’s in Charlton, but description says Blackheath!
I can see why people would be disappointed! It practically backs on to the Woolwich hospital but people are lead to believe it’s a stones throw from Greenwich park/blackheath etc from the description, which it isn’t really.
You are on the wrong side of the A2 to be considered Blackheath I’m afraid!

I grew up in Greenwich and moved away. Bit surprised this area would be described as Blackheath to be honest, it never used to be!
If people are going to be disappointed with where it is, it needs to be a stonker of a house- so:

garden needs sorting asap. (No one wants to move in and then start a garden renovation unless the price is LOW!) If it’s going to be only lawn, it needs to be a good lawn.
put some flower beds and large shrubs in to hide the mess of the fences.

clean up the front. Also add flowers/ pots.

The extension seems clumsy. Why was the kitchen left where it was? I would have turned that into a utility and moved the kitchen to make a large and light kitchen diner in the extension.
That kitchen is very off putting!

I think it could do with a decorate, with some colour splashes.

By ‘lived in’ your estate agent probably means ‘unloved’.
sorry to be harsh, but with a few changes it would sell more quickly.

I think you need to think about someone moving in.

would you want to replace carpets etc as you move into a house?! No. Neither would a buyer.

Some of the things you mention don’t add value- eg a washing machine???? You seem confused.

watch a few garden shows and some house shows to understand what might help in terms of the improvements it needs.

you might need to get the estate agent to change the description to be honest. If I was offered to view a house in Blackheath and then driven to Charlton, I would be a bit upset!🤣

Much better to be honest than keep getting the wrong viewers in.

It's listed as a 3 bed, 2 bath, but it doesn't have 2 bathrooms and the box room is well below the minimum size for a single bedroom in the UK. Viewers can see from the floorplan, but I think you need to be honest and list it as 2 bed + study, 1 bath, and move a desk into the box room.

As many others have said, the fences look shabby and mismatched. One side probably belongs to your neighbour but since you're the ones trying to sell, you might end up with the cost of replacing the whole lot. Don't bother spraying an old fence like that.

The deal breakers for buyers will be the things they can't change after they move in. So location plus the the small bedroom.

In boom years, an estate agents will smugly tell you that 'a house is worth whatever somebody else is prepared to pay'. But the same is true in subdued times like right now. Nobody is prepared to pay what you're asking, so you'll have to drop the price if you want to sell!

Have you thought about getting other agents out for advice with a view to potentially switching?

If you look at the right move page, towards the bottom, it suggest similar properties. I’ve just gone down a rabbit hole, but it showed me several very close to you that were better options (more curb appeal, larger bedrooms, better gardens/driveways, decent size kitchens) for £610k and £620k.

This is what you need to compare yours to!
You are competing with these others, yours needs to stand out!

Interestingly, the others don’t have ‘Blackheath’ on the description either! They say ‘Shooter’s Hill Road’ or similar.

Powerhose the grimy paving front and back (don’t let anyone splutter it all up the walls as that is more work) could you get som sort of narrow raised bed to cut the seating area from the lawn at the back and get a big tub or two for the front fill them with flowers and small trees from the garden centre - the outdoor seating area is sad, maybe table/ sun umbrella -possibly paint the garden fence a nice soft shade. Empty garden looks sad -I know people do t want a lot of garden to maintain but after all this hot weather they want a decent bbq area and things to look at.

And it’s a decent size.
All the above would cost ? £2000 max
i see someone suggested spraying the fence but be careful as it can spray into next door