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?

Yes, sorry, the galley kitchen would put me off and I would only buy it if it was really priced to sell.

It's too late for you, but might help others, but it would have been better just to get an induction hob and have the main part of the kitchen around the dining table and use the corridor as a utility room.

The agents have used this phrase ‘selling a lifestyle’ as well, but I don’t really understand it - like dress the dining table etc? There are excellent sports facilities within 5 mins walk (lido, badminton courts, cricket grounds, football club) which was part of the attraction for us but not sure how to highlight that other than the agent mentioning it?

@Dandelionkiller defo ask the estate agent about different pics. Their commission is relying on it selling so they will listen . All the best.

nice to ‘meet’ you on here :)

Yes and we’ve given the plans to the agent - about 50% of the houses on the street have lofts so shouldn’t be difficult but we never saved up the full amount for it

Something like this - with a nice large evergreen - attractive grasses or bay trees that will look good into autumn. Or depending on how much sun the house gets - I have a pair of hydrangeas that are flowering and look good. Just keep watering regularly but hopefully you sell quickly and you can take them with you!

I think fences front & rear need to be either a uniform style and colour. Maybe painted?
The front definitely needs her washing and some planters either side of the door, maybe a nice door number plaque with uplighters would smarten things and give kerb appeal?
The back garden looks like it’s been neglected, fences definitely, but perhaps some hanging baskets, planters on patio.
You could maybe stage the garden furniture (they look like they have just been shoved to the side)& get new pics? Like a small table with a tea tray or wine glasses or something?
B&Q at Eltham or Home Bargsins garden centre will have planters etc reasonably cheaply available?

Brace yourself, years since I lived in London but the price doesn’t seem horrific

there is little initial curb appeal, it looks tired and as though the render may need some work, smarten up the outside - think fresh gravel and new fences, bay trees etc

Paint or replace the fences at the front and in the back garden

your garden is so neglected, why do you not have a table to eat at especially in the current weather

move the awful and overbearing space ship enterprise in the main bedroom and turn it back into a relaxing bedroom. Create a workspace elsewhere.

find some colour, did you use white to increase the feel of space as it is cold repaint in a light cream

loose the awful kitchen door handles they look naff and dated the same for the tap

do you have other chairs for the kitchen table they give off Ikea ie cheap vibes

colour is badly needed throughout and some books, pictures on the wall, throws etc

What?? Any house would sell for £1 so that’s a very silly way to look at it 😵‍💫😵‍💫

Plants dont need much just water them!

Small hydrangeas shouldn't cost more than maybe a tenner each. Get some cheap bedding for around the edges. Maybe trailing lobelia, petunia, pansy, ivy

Home Bargains or B&M for cheap but cheerful pots and plants

You can always take them with you when you move, so get something you like.

Theres plenty of free advice on the RHS website and millions of insta profiles that can help

That was my instinct, I know I could take potted plants with me but I just kill them. I haven’t really put plants on the front garden as most of the time our car is parked on the drive but appreciate that’s not the case when viewers come over

I'm not sure having the photos redone would make a difference as you say you've had loads of viewings, just no offers. This would suggest it's something people are seeing in person that is putting them off offering. If it's the size of the kitchen/bedroom, then even if you have the pictures done to make them look bigger they will just be more disappointed at viewings.

I live in the north so all your southern prices are crazy to me. However I think you’ve beautifully neutrally decorated, inside is lovely outside as others have said outside could have abit of a make over. The galley kitchen may put some off but it does look beautiful!

the bottom line for me and why I wouldn’t view-is the bus stop outside. I wouldn’t want people loitering outside my home, leaning on my fence, rubbish, buses stopping all times of the day, inconvenience of parking 2nd car (if there is one else where) as you can’t park on the kerb as the other neighbours have-I think it would be a struggle to park two cars on the drive the way it is currently set up and easily get out.

in that respect I would be more open to offers.

Hey OP,

I too think you need to focus on outside:

• Powerwash - can do it yourself, I did my deck last week & thoroughly enjoyed it.

• Plants in pots front & back- you can take them with you.

• Back garden needs 'staging': get an outdoor table & chairs from FB marketplace (so many on at the minute, some free if you want to paint the table or just chuck a cloth on) & get cheap cushion covers/ throws/lantern/ lights- it's amazing what you can do & it makes a huge difference. Throw & cushions on your seating too & maybe an outdoor rug (cheap everywhere).

Case in point is my own decking- it's falling apart after almost 20 years & we had storm damage to the side fence & we're extending in the spring so no point replacing- DH said it was unusable this year, but I proved him wrong. I power washed & got the oudoor cushions/throws/rug/table settings/ lights out, bought a new wipeable cover (£10 Dunelm) & threw the fake trailing greenery I use when setting up the gazebo for parties to cover the holes in the fence, & it looks bloody marvellous for use this summer.

• One step further is a seat at the front (again FB Marketplace) with a few nice cushions for a morning cuppa.

• Hanging basket at front/ lovely wreath?

• If you're really not selling, get tge front elevation painted? Not sure how much that'll cost in London.

Your house is lovely, I hope you sell.

If a house doesn’t sell it’s usually because the price is too high.

I think this will sell OP, make some minor additions, clean-up externally, get the fact you’re close to The Standard, Kidbrooke Park primary & Leigh Academy, also a bus ride to John Roan & BHS schools would be helpful.

Definitely get pics of kitchen , external areas and box room redone too. That room will only be an office, so swap the desk and make it look workable for that purpose.

It's sweet. Looks easily able to be changed to allow for more kitchen space. Set up a bbq and eating outside.. more plants. It is the price or market most likely.

Thank you!

The kitchen is small - wonder why you didn’t open up that space into the extension? That will put people off.
Garden needs TLC.
Third bedroom is tiny.
Weyman Rd is a nice family area with an SE3 postcode but is a walk to a bus stop and there are no train stations close by.
Local shopping parade is not nice.
There are do-er uppers that come up in the surrounding area (like on Broad Walk for example) for £550K. The Standard has better shopping and connections for a similar price.
Houses on your Rd and the surrounding area used to fly off the shelves. I think you will get an offer but it’s a waiting game and you might have to reduce by £25K +.

So isn't this Kidbrooke, not Blackheath? I think it is partially the price. If you look on Rightmove and Zoopla, it's not a very liquid market round there, and if you look at the UK HPI from the ONS the rises have been modest, and in real terms, a loss: https://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ukhpi/browse?from=2017-01-01&location=http%3A%2F%2Flandregistry.data.gov.uk%2Fid%2Fregion%2Fgreenwich&to=2026-06-01&lang=en

The market sucks right now. Maybe come off for a couple of months and go again with a different estate agent?

It's nice but the layout doesn't work for me. The kitchen looks like it's been cramped into a corridor and having that door into the hall would drive me mad if people were coming and going while I was cooking. I can see it's useful for bringing shopping in but personally I would have use that space as a downstairs loo/utility room/hall cupboard for coats etc. and moved the kitchen area into the extension space. It's quite a bottom heavy house now given how small the third bedroom is.

I think the house looks really nice inside and I'm not sure there's anything more you could do in terms of decoration to make it look more appealing inside.

The outside looks really unloved at the front. There's a real mismatch between the deck or if the inside and the pebbled dashing and red with the outside but there's probably not much you can do about that so I would get the driveway cleaned and put some pots out as other people have suggested to give it more kerb appeal.

The back garden seems as if it is not overlooked which is a real plus so although you haven't done much with it I think it is fine as it will appeal to people who are not gardeners as it is and if people do like gardening it is a blank slate for people to do what they want to do with it so I wouldn't worry about the back garden.

I think the bigger problems of things that you can't do anything about at this stage. It is a long way from the nearest train station which would be an issue for anyone wanting to commute.

It is also really only a two bedroom. I had a house with a spare room the size of your third bedroom and it is pretty much unusable as a bedroom.

I also understand why you kept the kitchen as a galley but while galley kitchens are acceptable to lots of people as soon as I saw that you had a huge amount of space behind that kitchen wall I wondered why on earth you hadn't made the kitchen bigger and I think anyone moving in is going to want to do that at some point.

It makes no sense to have so much reception space in a house the size of yours. I would have completely redesigned the downstairs but I appreciate that is not something you can do now.

Overall though I think it is a really nice house and I was surprised at how cheap it is compared to where I live where it would cost you a considerable amount more.

I think you should just tidy up the front as much as you can and maybe get some better pictures of the kitchen and off the storage. I personally never read the descriptions I look at the pictures and I look at the floor plan and then I look at a map so I would make sure that your pictures tell the story of the storage and do not rely on there being cupboards in the bedroom because that is not where I would want to keep things like that vacuums. You need to make it really obvious where the storage is downstairs including on the floor plan.

@Dandelionkiller The inside looks nice. The 3rd bedroom could be the only major issue as its not really anything more than a box room.

To me the outside lets it down. It looks tired and unloved, which is the opposite of the inside. I would pressure wash the drive and patio. Cut the grass, clear the garden...fences don't look great to be honest and also declutter the back patio. Paint the side gate / tidy it up and if you feel up paint the outside of the house. You should be able to do all that for an under £5k and it would improve the overall look of the exterior.

Believe me, not everyone wants a grey box with shiny surfaces. Don't change anything in the house, it will sell.
The point is, a family could move in, and not have to spend a load of money. It's perfectly livable. We all change houses as we live in them, but if people don't have the budget to, a nice neutral house is fine.
What will sell is very simple; the location, and a reasonable price for the location.

The kitchen size and space looks terribly tight.
Shame it didnt face towards the backyard.
Backyard looks very bland, the front and back tiles need a waterblast.