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!

Your photos aren't great but the house looks clean and light, I think as others have said, it is just a terrible market. Job security is at rock bottom, people are expecting taxes and interest rates to go up.

Would I buy it, no, I couldn't live there, there is literally not a tree in sight. 🙁 But plenty of people prefer that.

You’ve already changed the lead photo? Why is it not the front of the house?

The photo showing the end terrace is confusing because it’s difficult to notice the red line on your house.

The double photos are confusing. It makes it look like the hallway is L shaped.

The garden photo is depressing.

Parking looks difficult - are those designated spaces as it looks like the black car is just parked at random?

Council tax is high for a mid terrace.

I think too many are slow to recognise the impact of current prices and interest rates.

300k mortgage on a 2% interest rate would cost £500 extra a month on 5%. That’s a considerable increase particularly when you factor in all the other increases eg food, utilities. And it’s just servicing debt!
Wages haven’t kept up for many, plus fiscal drag and many potential buyers don’t have the equity gains that people built up in the past.

Looks like a perfectly normal new build to me. Not in any way a wow house but not awful either.

Not really much kerb appeal.

Price doesn't look terrible compared with what has sold recently in the area.

It says it was reduced on 17/9 so how much interest have you had since and before then and how long has it been on for ?

At the moment we are in an environment where interest rates are going up and so affordability is going down.

I think at the moment there is a danger of chasing the market down.

I doubt very much whether switching the curtains for blue ones is going to magic up a buyer.

Did you ask your EA, what price do I need to list at in order to sell in X months ?

Apart from getting rid of OIEO all you can do is drop the price. The photos are fine, the house is what it is.

The photos make it look cold and sterile and AI altered, it's like everything looks flat and one dimensional. Just something a bit off about them.

I have no idea about the price because I don’t know the area, but the thing that stands out most to me is that the outside looks so bare and stark. I don’t think there is much you can do at the front, but I would be very put off by the lack of a back garden with grass and plants.

The inside looks fine to me (not to my taste, but nothing that would put me off) and I’d have thought it would be spacious enough for most people looking for a 4 bed house.

I would also be put off by the fact that it looks like it’s in the middle of a massive housing estate, but there’s obviously nothing you can do about that!

I have to admit I don't find it particularly appealing. But honestly that's irrelevant - as a rule, I think that townhouses are the type of places you can make your own. But, if it's less appealing AND expensive, it is going to be viewed last at a time when ther are plenty of other properties on the market.

You'd expect a 4 bedroom house to be marketed towards a family but the garden is just paved and that would put me off. There looks to be little storage and the photos are dull. The front of the house doesn't look inviting to be honest.

I think you need to inject some life into the property - I know everyone says it needs to be a blank canvas to sell but the house looks lifeless and boring and not one I would pay 400k for.

What is the unique selling point of the house if there are loads of houses up for sale in the area? Is it near to good schools etc.?

I agree that it looks a bit bland and sterile, although some may just say it looks neat, (which it does,) but I agree with the posters saying the weirdo split photo/2 photo shots seem to be giving the impression that the room is smaller and they're trying to make the room(s) look bigger. 2 of the bedrooms are very small even so....

Also, it does look like a block of flats from the outside, there's no driveway, and the kerb appeal is poor. I assume new build too. The house is not appealing from the outside, and the whole estate looks very cramped and very 'new-buildy.' And the paved back garden is quite ugly. The whole estate is giving 1960s/1970s-built council estate.

I wouldn't buy it sorry @Diva78 Everyone sells up eventually though, so someone will want it/will buy it sooner or later. (I mean, you bought it after all!) You may need to drop the price though...

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Bicester has lots of new builds so it’s not unusual in anyway.

It’s look like there is no storage space (lots of things shoved in every space) but at the same time clinical and not very homely.

This inside looks quite nice but the photos don’t do it justice.
the front and back outside photos are just horrible, to be blunt. They have made it look a bit like a prison. It needs much better photos and a lot more dressing on the front and back and possible a better sunny day.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate the honest feedback.

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!

The house is around 1,300 sq ft and feels spacious, warm and lived-in when you’re inside it. However, if several people are getting the opposite impression from the listing, that tells me the photos aren’t representing the house particularly well, which is probably one of the most useful things learnt from posting here.

We completely accept that price will always play a part. We originally listed at £425k and have now reduced to £400k, so we have already responded to the market. That said, we also want to understand whether the listing itself is stopping people from arranging a viewing before we assume the only answer is another reduction.

Its the price....it is always the price.

If you reduce it to 50 quid, it will obviously sell immediately.

There is a price, hopefully more than 50 quid, that will enable you to start getting some interest. But it is clearly not £400k.

IMO it’s a cold bland box. It doesn’t feel like a home.
the floor plan is always going to put some off, so you need to ensure it looks amazing and homely in the photos.

the garden and outside, get planters, furniture, something to make to feel alive and not redundant.

rugs, pictures, plants inside. You need to get people through the door and there is nothing from the photos to make this happen just now.

Also there might be a smaller market for 4 beds because families are smaller but still want decent living space.

The photos are not great, especially the ones which are small portrait style. Lots of big photos ti show all the room.

Something to identify the front of your house would help asmit does look like one large block. A nice house number on the wall, some good planting in pots - something colourful. You could probably pick up a few geraniums quite cheap and they will most likely stay in bloom well into October. The paved back garden really would put me off.

Too many rooms have furniture crammed up
to the wall - have some key pieces that say “welcome, come in”. A vase of natural flowers in kitchen and maybe bowl of fruit. Try unfastening curtains in 1/2 rooms. Put some big potted plants to break up the concrete from and back. Some people have no imagination so you have to give clues!

I love townhouses but I'd be put off tht there is no obvious master bedroom. Two people and their clothes squeezed into 13x 9 ft as the biggest bedroom? Family room only 8ft wide feels like a corridor. The dimensions are very narrow.

Also the kerb appeal is not strong. The exterior looks sterile. I'd at least grow some plants up the front of the house, or put big flowering shrubs in big pots and a pretty light above the front door.

FTB are being priced out, so therefore hardly any interest in the next step up. Market has stalled and difficult to see when it will get going again.

Most of the rooms look soulless without any warmth. It doesn't look homely and inviting. The children's bedrooms are better as they show personality.

The house generally is clean and tidy but the rooms are far too sterile.

It's mid terrace and for the same price range there are townhouses which are end terrace or semis sold nearby - albeit some are 3 beds and yours is 4.

The garden feels enclosed as it's narrow and lacking greenery. If also be thinking about parking especially in such a high density estate.

I hope you take this as it's meant constructively but whilst inside is clean and neutral it's a a little bit 2008 with all the magnolia and kitchen and bathroom styles so whilst it's a blank canvas and purely cosmetic there are others for sale which have updated kitchen or bathrooms. Yours will need to be priced accordingly and may feel like more effort to some buyers.

There seems lots of new build estate property locally so think there may just be a lot of competition. If you really want to sell in this market you may have to take a hit on price, although I appreciate it hasn't really risen in value since you bought it so that may not be easy for you

Agree with pp - rooms look soulless.
4 bed house and no garden?
It looks like a student house to me.

You need a floor plan in the listing, especially given its a townhouse.

I'd have the photos redone, and put away any clutter on top of cupboards, windows and kitchen cabinets. It screams the house doesn't have enough storage. I'd swap out the red curtains too and try shuffle your furniture about so its not sitting side by side with other furniture, its making your rooms look cramped.