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 does look a lot better now! Am I missing the photo?

The garden photo I meant…

It’s not really any different other than removal of a couple of bad photos. Things I think are the most important quick fixes to do, then take new photos:

-remove clutter from top of kitchen cupboards, it screams that there is not enough space in the kitchen

-take the kitchen table out of the corner, more into the centre and dress it properly.

-swap the red cushions and curtains for a less harsh, more cosy colour- something like a forest green or sage green.

Also still think the price is too high (yes you’ve already reduced it).

Hello, I’ve looked at the revised listing you’ve added and noted the following:

The staging of the house, photo angles taken and listing description needs to be changed:

Picture 1 of the front of the house gives the impression that the house is end terraced, but the previous pictures used showed a mid terrace house? If the house is mid terrace, the photos should reflect that, as should the price.

I think the rooms need to be better defined for their uses and photos taken from better angles.

Is the family room the one with the large bookcase with the tv on top? It looks more like an office or study and bookcase takes over the photo - could it be taken from another angle to show the full room? Could the printer etc be moved to the other room that looks like a study?

Which room is main bedroom? Not clear from the floorplan. Is it bedroom 2 or bedroom 1?

I don’t think the split photos of the tiny shower room are needed, they don’t add much to the listing.

The 1st floor living room looks as if all the furniture is pushed to the edge of the room, as does the kitchen. Can you rearrange the living room furniture? I don’t know if three photos of this room are necessary. Also move the dining table away from the wall and turn it round to make a better use of the space.

Also , the outside shot isn’t of your house. Yours is a mid terrace, this shows an end terrace.

Exactly this. Why have a photo of an end of terrace house when yours is a different house! Very odd. I know there is a little red line showing which is your house but it’s hard to see and looks silly.

The EA description says -

'Outside
Front garden - refer to photograph
Rear garden - refer to photographs'

But now there aren't any!

The photos are truly some of the worst I've ever seen...and I spend way too much time browsing RM!

Your house needs to stand out from the competition for the right reasons, not the wrong ones as it does now. Not saying it would be worth 400k if you make these changes, but it can't make it any worse to take the advice of so many posters re -

Moving the table away from the corner of the room - currently it makes the space look smaller.

Ditto the family room appearing more like an office - lose the printer etc and/or photograph from a different angle.

Lose stuff on top of kitchen wall cabinets - you don't want buyers thinking there's insufficient cupboard space.

Lose the red cushions (swap for some that are less harsh!) and also remove the photo showing the mural.

Lose the 'split' photo, put back the one showing it's a mid terrace and one - preferably cleaned up - photo of the garden.

Oh...and lose the OIEO!

Right?? My son’s bedroom is 2x3m (not a box room) and easily fits a single bed, a chest of drawers and a bookcase. There’s still plenty of floor space too 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s a single bedroom, not a double but that doesn’t disqualify it from being a bedroom.

I'd buy some house plants OP (I didn't really have any and our final female agent said I needed them). Also define your house with some bay trees in pots by the front door.
The house needs a general theme and it doesn't have one. You've used green in a few rooms I'd go with that. It's smart and subtle.
We have a three storey house and they are tricky to sell. Mine took nearly a year to sell.
Definitely ditch the red. Buy some curtains from Dunelm, eBay or market place.
We had to do a deep clean, major declutter and sell for a very low price as the market has been dire.
Set yourself a budget £100-200 if possible and glam up. Bicester is a fantastic location. You've got a train station and the very smart shopping village plus not too far to the universities.

To add I bought my bay trees from Bamboo Kings on eBay. Fabulous value.

I have to agree that the photos are very unflattering - the angles seem all wrong and the overall impression is just not good.

Unfortunately I’m not clever enough to know how you’d fix that but do have a look at the link a couple of posts back, compare the angles and scale of the photo of that house - it makes that house so much more appealing.

Your house and everything in it are very nice - just rethink the photos.

Still looks cluttered.

I know you have to put things somewhere but please for the love of God move them for the photos

• tops of wardrobes should be clear
• tops of kitchen cupboards should be clear
• storage should have some clearly defined purpose that isn't odds and ends
• the unit in the family room is ugly and the desk dominates the photo, please get rid of the printer. Is it functional or cosy? At the moment it's neither.
• the kitchen table needs pulling out away from the wall and laid for dinner because at the minute it looks like there's not enough room for the people in a 4 bed to eat together
• the photo of the mural needs to go
• the bathroom pics are confusing
• wheres the garden?
• what is the photo of the cars for?

Reducing from a ridiculous price to a still not in reality price is basically just pointless TBH.

I do think it's a bit better but I just wouldn't be able to get past the concrete jungle feel of the whole estate. It's so sad that no-one planned any trees into the space.

That's not much of a refresh. Still the dull as ditchwater description. Still offers over. Still the same pictures, I think - just fewer of them.

Read your 'key features' list. Do you really think those are the key features? Is a buyer going to look at that and think 'Ooh - the first floor has a landing! I must view it at once.'?

Please get rid of the OIEO.

What price is your house?

If I went in a shop and a jumper said OIEO of £10, how much is it?

And why on earth is someone else’s house the first photo?

Sorry OP but it's still too much money. You haven't reduced it by 25k, the estate agent over priced it to get your business. It was never worth 425, they've over priced it by 50k to start with and that's a hard pill to swallow. They're absolute bastards.

I had all the same issues actually with a 3 story extended house so not a town house but loft converted, detached and 4 double bedrooms. We didn't have the downstairs space to match the upstairs so it was a hard sell. EA valued us at 575k, we eventually sold at 500k after about 4 months and multiple reductions. It was very stressful. We had 70 plus viewings as the house was nice but it wasn't your conventional looking house and the driveway was at the rear. Can you imagine cleaning for 70 odd viewings? It was an awful time. It was very difficult to accept but had they valued it realistically in the first place we'd have been fine with it. When they lie to you and you have to reduce you feel like you've lost money when in reality you haven't. You just have to rethink what you can afford to purchase.

Hit the nail on the head!

i thought it was the corner house so when i realised it wasn’t, made yours look small and like compared to the end one.

Living room red curtains stand out in a bad way, swap for blinds or voiles until it sells.

It’s all just OK, but no wow factors at all - which isn’t great in a quiet market.

"You just have to rethink what you can afford to purchase."

Or ask your next house to re-think their asking price if they have little other interest.

It’s very much not my taste, but objectively would say it looks very bland and without character. Outside unappealing. Sorry.

I'm a bit confused after everyone flagged that the garden needed some colour you've just removed the photo rather than buying some plants and power washing the slabs. The supermarkets are full of violas, pansies etc ready for winter, it wouldn't be expensive. I wouldn't view a house with no photo of the garden, I'd be assuming the worst.

The price needs to start with a 3 not a 4, supermarket plants will make zero difference to that, most people know anyway that the garden will just be some slabs out back, it won"t be a high ranking concern IMO.

Cheap fixes; only one photo of the outside towards the end. Change the red curtains or hang them differently. Concentrate on the nice light areas with light coloured walls. Best if luck and 395 sounds better than 400.

First click through your photos, I wondered if they were AI. It's possible s/he's too good a photographer?! The depth of field is so perfect, everything's in sharp focus. Which is great. And very unusual - we're more used to wrangling our brains round fish-eye warp and blurry things at the edges.

I'm not sure if that's it, but I definitely got an uncanny valley feel from the photos.
Other factors re the listing

• Downstairs is too clean & tidy. Needs signs of life.
• Front and back need plants. Just waste some money on leafy plant pots! Put a bistro set or something out the back, to suggest relaxation.
• Split photos are confusing; not needed.
• Floor plan in the gallery is unreadable, can't expand it on a PC screen. Take it out and put it in the listing.

Your house is bigger and better appointed than the one a PP rightly pointed out as more appealing. It's got a fantastic energy rating. You have parking provisions. It's quite a good deal, and I'm unconvinced you need to reduce the price at this stage.

What you do need is a listing that makes people feel they can imagine their family relaxed and comfortable in the house. As well as rejigging your presentation and photos, try adding a sentence or two about perfect for family life.

Buy plants! Add cushions!