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! This! ⬆️
Power washing the front area so that it’s gleaming and a lick of paint to the exterior fence walls to add brightness might help.
Also, the chairs in the back garden are laid out in that way draw attention to the garden being long and thin. I might get rid of the chairs as they draw the eye and while I’m sure they are comfortable they look a little well used. The back garden is a little bleak looking and do with warming up with some plants. With relatively little money you could could revitalise the exterior back and front. Kerb appeal is very important.

The problem here then is you dont have the luxury of holding out for a better price in a slow /falling market.

You have to understand, having bought in 2017, the value of the property likely rose from 2017 - 2021, but will have probably dropped back again since then as things have really dropped. This means the reality is its probably not worth much more than you paid for it. The 'improvements' you described i wouldnt consider as adding any value to the property really, white good etc.

What you really need to get to the bottom of, is how much you need to sell this house for to finance your onward move. It may be that sadly you will have to accept less for this and will thus have less for your onward purchase - you need to be looking with a conservative budget that allows for not selling this for as much as you'd hoped.

@Goldengamer The buyers are out there, like me, but the housing market has become so overpriced that I think that you might be more likely these days, in numbers, to get a large corporation, local council, buy-to-let landlords or investors buying your house than a regular buyer.

Houses that are priced correctly sell within a month, even within the same week. That's even the case with my rural area where the population density is much lower. Your estate agent has probably lied to you, or you might yourself have overpaid when you bought it.

Go on Rightmove and Gov.uk on the sold houses section. Look at what's sold in the last 6 months, stretching to a year maybe. Ignore prices that seem very very low are they're likely auction properties, or anything that is on the higher end. You are looking for that middle bracket.

My friend told me their estate agent valued their house at 275k. I knew that was bonkers when I heard it, and that it would likely go for 225k, maybe 250k if they were lucky. The result? They had to wait at least a year to sell, and only ended up doing so at 225k in the end.

You’re giving me hope! I really agree my husbands insane desk set up makes a lovely bedroom feel cramped - he’s very unwilling to move but maybe I set him up in the reception room?

Or would a smaller less overbearing desk in the bedroom work?

@Dandelionkiller how are you priced in comparison to your closest competitors - are there better (size/location/garden etc) houses for a similar price, or cheaper houses similar to yours? What about LR sold prices for similar properties fot 2026?

Just move it all out of the way for a new photo. Nobody wants to see an office in the bedroom.
Also move all the soft toys from the bed in the boxroom. And dress the bed nicely. Just for a new photo.

Honestly OP i dont think any of that cosmetic stuff will make any difference at all. The room dimensions are there, people can clearly see the size of the room. Loads of people have desks in bedrooms these days with wfh, this is not going to be the reason your house isnt selling. Not are things like planters at the front door.
Its always the price, fundamentally

Some people ignore floorplan, or hope the room will be bigger than it looks on the plan.

I havent read all of the thread but my thoughts are

are the carpets dirty or is it lighting? If so I would replace.

get the desk out of the bedroom, can you set up the small bedroom as an office? not sure how many children you have but it makes the house looks too small for a family where one wfh. I would not want to work in my bedroom.

your garden looks barely used. Can you get a table & chairs from somewhere and set it up for viewings this is what the estate agent means by selling a lifestyle. The grass needs a mow and it looks like there may be a piece of rubbish on the floor?

As others have said the outside and gardens look unloved - paint fences, shrubs in pots.

get a better photo of the front taken at ground level. Why is the pic so high? Is it hiding something?

overall I think it’s a nice house and even better if you have permission to extend. But if I was looking to buy I’d be thinking about how much it would cost to redo the kitchen. I’d be wanting that wall down to get rid of the galley kitchen bit.

This, effectively.

Not everyone is a gardener. Buyers can see the space, change it as and when. I wouldn't do anything to it.

It's too expensive and you only have one bathroom.
Buyers don't shit money anymore. The seller's party is over.

I looked through the photos, internal photos - there was nothing that made me think "oh issue, awful.to change". Then I saw the external photo of the front and thought "oh". The tired fence /gates, the drive... it looks unattractive.

Absolutely! My son was in a bedroom that size when he was a teenager. He managed. Plenty do. Plus the suggestion of marketing it as a 2 bedroom house isn't wise!

I think your living space to bedroom space ratio is off. You’ve not got much bedroom space but you’ve got masses of reception space. I’d possibly set up the front reception as an office / spare room (just by rejigging existing furniture.

then your extension feels like a waste of space as you’re only using half of it ? So I’d make the right hand side of that more comfy (furniture from front reception?).

abd your back patio furniture is only using half the patio. (Due to the plant?). I’d change that layout.

chatgpt is very good at suggesting layouts. Do think you should have moved the gas pipe and put the kitchen fully in the extension. I think most buyers are probably put off by the tiny kitchen space. You’ve don’t want to have to do that now, but neither do prospective buyers - so that’s limiting you.

but it’s a beautiful house. Bit unloved outside , but that wouldn’t bother me as a buyer as easily fixed.

My dad has had his lovely house on the market for months with no viewings. Cheaper than was recommended. I think the market is just pretty brutal right now.

I think the inside of the house looks lovely, bright and spacious. The outside maybe a bit tired.

SE3 market has been in orange and red for quite a while now https://houseprices.io/se3

You will have to reduce the asking price.

Not read the comments but...you think you deserve to make 100k because you got some new appliances???

Not sure if this is helpful to you but im currently viewing houses and i am checking the last sold prices and not viewing anything with gross uptick

Oh I think it’s a nice house. I like your choices in the kitchen and bathroom and your living room is nice. I find your kitchen layout a bit perplexing with no appliances in the dining area but lots of cupboard and work top. I feel like it would have made more sense to have the galley kitchen but as a utility area and put your main kitchen in the large dining space, particularly as you also have that nice family room area.

What are the poles about in the back garden?

It simply must be price. There’s nothing that makes it unsalable apart from you must be able to get more for the same money in a different house.

I haven't read all the comments, but personally I'd be put off by the following....

The bus stop directly outside - we owned a detached Victorian house like this years ago and I absolutely hated the fact that we had people standing against the wall of our front garden, able to look into our property. Sadly there's nothing you can do about this - but we definitely had a smaller pool of buyers and had to price to reflect the situation.

The ugly frontage/gardens with no redeeming features - the drive can be improved by power washing, adding a couple of bay trees etc to the planters and placing either side of front door. The rear garden looks just as unloved - I never understand why people buy houses, do some work but ignore the garden - we always buy renovation projects and tackle the garden straight away so it matures as the renovation proceeds. It creates an oasis to escape to whilst the work is ongoing. Painting the fence a dark colour and adding large pots with colourful planting/dressing the patio space better would sell a lifestyle imo. Otherwise I guess at least it's a blank canvas!

The kitchen set up is a wasted opportunity and the main thing (other than that bus stop!) that would stop me from viewing. Why didn't you move the kitchen into that lovely open plan space? We've relocated the kitchen in several houses but not everyone is prepared to do so - or would even think of it - so many will immediately rule it out/would consider the house overpriced as it currently stands.

@Dandelionkiller, style wise, your house is quite bland and a bit 'older person' - we're in our fifties but extremely arty/design conscious. I'd need to change every room of yours to make it more interesting/characterful - some of those changes will be too expensive/off putting for many buyers. And speaking of which, there's nothing about yours to make it stand out from the competition, whereas the one @Choux linked has some interesting features that a scrolling potential buyer will remember...the blue kitchen, red cloakroom tiles etc. Perhaps you could bring back some colour in the form of art/textiles to make it more memorable?

Good luck, but I think you'll need to lower your price to reflect the work needed.

Why do you want to move, OP?

Bingo!

This would undoubtedly have been a massive factor for any potential buyer, the area was in full time gridlock, was awful.
Scheduled summer works details are here:
https://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/news/2026/disruption-due-sgn-works-shooters-hill-summer

Your agent should work with you on timing viewings around these, it will certainly hinder your progress!

Based on the listing;

Pros; Nice interior, looks clean, good size garden with lots of potential. I think the price seems right.

Cons: The front of the house looks tired; is quite a contrast to the interior. Third bedroom is small - this could be a factor.

I don’t know this particular road - could it be something in the local area (i.e messy neighbours? Proximity to something - we once rejected a beautiful house that ticked all the boxes because it was right next to a busy leisure centre) that is putting buyers off, or distance to tube? I realise you can’t do much about either of these things but could be the reason…

Yes this! 👆