Why aren’t we getting more viewings? Honest feedback welcome

[Diva78]

We’re selling our four-bedroom townhouse in Bicester and have reached the point where we’d really value some completely impartial opinions.

We originally listed at £425k, have since changed estate agents, reduced the price to £400k, changed the lead photo and updated the kitchen cupboards to give them a more neutral look.

Despite all that, we’ve still had very few viewings and hardly any interest coming directly through Rightmove.

We know townhouses and three-storey living won’t appeal to everyone, and there are larger semis and detached houses available nearby. However, our house has good square footage, three bathrooms, flexible living and home-working space, a garage, driveway parking and a quieter position on the estate.

Would anyone be willing to look at the listing and give me some honest but constructive feedback? Is it the price, layout, photos, description or something else we’re just not seeing?

50, Fontwell Road, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX26 1BP - Estate Agents in Bicester, Oxfordshire | Barton Fleming

Thank you!

It is definitely price. This house looks similar but a bit better presented and sold for £405 in 2024.
share.google/0uiKUvBDOz4wH8Jc2

The market has been flat to slightly down since then. I think by putting 'offers over' on your listing you will cut out a lot of interest. I would relist with a guide price somewhere between £375k and £395k and be prepared to take a good offer. Then look to negotiate a discount on your new house.

You need to make the drop to 375k quickly though before the market takes another leg down.

Look at furniture placement
You need enough to give the room layout space and items for it's functional purpose but not overly cramped.. I read an article about 'floated sofas.' I didn't know what this was o I googled it. It means pulling the sofa away from the wall ( leaning at least enough space to walk behind), grounding the space in front of sofa with a rug tucked under the front sofa feet, to give the illusion that the walls are further away. It does seem to work

How brave of you to do this.
i think it looks nice, but I know that houses just arent selling well generally at the moment for some reason…..my immediate reaction was - oh, there’s no garage or parking….it took me some time to find out there is, in fact , a garage….perhaps that could be shown up more ?
as someone else said, sadly it is all down to price at the end of the day, in this challenging market…..
good luck

The "professional" photographer has a dreadful eye. I could take better ones and have a shaky hand! Fancy taking pictures of rooms with the worst outlook, which is a brick wall, a lovely picture of dirty paving, stuff under the beds etc?

We sold a house almost identical to this (probably the same builders). I must say it was really difficult to photograph.

These houses have a huge amount of space and especially storage space for the money. They have 2 reception rooms plus a kitchen diner plus 4 bedrooms all with fitted wardrobes. It is actually very difficult to find all of that in one house. But to demonstrate that in pictures is incredibly difficult with this house design.

The houses are tall and thin and that is really difficult when rightmove typically has landscape pictures. Plus the kitchen and lounge are L shaped which is again very difficult.

I would agree with others though, it would be best to have the front of the house as the main photo, and maybe take out the photo showing the side on angle. I would also consider putting a trellis up next to the door like your neighbours have.

Other than that it is a really well presented house and I really like the panelling in the kitchen.

The photographers are paid to photograph the rooms and aren’t professional stagers. They also only have so much time in the booked slot in order to take the shots. It’s up to the sellers to decide how they want to dress/present the house.

Photographers are not stagers, but they should be able to pick decent angles and framing. This one didn't.

"Staging" is just over IMO, if you did get someone to view they will just be pissed off if they find that the staging/photos were designed to hide a less desirable house, price for size and location sells a house, people can stage it themselves if they buy it.

Any update @Diva78 ?

It’s price. Pure and simple. Faffing around with patio plants and moving furniture around won’t make any difference at all

Yep, people are expecting mortgage rates to keep going up and want to minimise the initial amount of mortgage debt they take on, or they are just stepping away from buying all together.

Duly noted the comments around the price, OIEO wording, the number and style of photos, the choice of lead image and the garden looking a little bare. These are all useful points that we can take back to the agent!

Squat all has changed through! And I’m guessing another prime weekend of zero viewings @Diva78 ?

Listing refreshed this morning, and nope, no new interest over the weekend....

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/92266752#/?channel=RES_BUY&utm_campaign=property-details&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard

You need to lower the price
It is that simple
How long has it been on the market?

It doesn’t look any different. Still cluttered doesn’t feel homely.

And “offers in excess of” for a property that has languished on right move with minimal interest seems a touch optimistic

“Bedroom” number 4 is less than 6 m2. For a (very small) study, nursery or a walk-in closet? Sure. But a bedroom?

This is a 3 bedroom house in my personal opinion.
I therefore wouldn’t consider your house if I was a buyer looking for a 4 bedroom house…

And I would compare your house (and especially the asking price) to 3 bedroom properties (not 4).

edit: you are absolutely stretching the definition of a bedroom with “bedroom” number 4 (IMO).

This thread is going to have a part 2 and 3 judging by that listing.

Yes, 400k isn"t remotely sensible.

@Diva78but the listing is stil OIEO and there’s no garden pictures.

Ofc it’s a bedroom! A single bed and furniture will fit easily.

Do you actually want to sell your property @Diva78 ? Because if you did, you’d listen to the market basically screaming at you that it’s overpriced.

Apart from swapping the first pic and losing the garden ones, it looks exactly the same @Diva78. Perhaps you took advantage of the good weather at the weekend and cleaned the garden paving? Hopefully some improved garden pics will be added soon, because now it looks as if there's definitely something wrong with it - which is what I automatically think if there's no pic(s)!

And still OIEO!

I don't mean to be horrible OP, but I think you may have chosen the worst Estate Agent!
The lead photo is awful - swap it for the one that faced the house straight on. Take away the pic with 2 cars in a garage door in the distance - you're not selling cars.
You do need one photo of the garden.

In your opinion.
Below 6 m2 / 70 sq feet is simply too small imo.

A bedroom should be at least 70 sq feet according to the housing act of ‘85 afaik. This “bedroom” is about 63 feet, however. So certainly appropriate for a nursery or a small study, but I personally simply wouldn’t consider this a fully sized bedroom…