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!

In my town, the 3-story townhouses don’t tend to be as sought after as the 2-story properties. What stands out to me is:

• fridge in the dining room - some buyers might be prepared to make changes
• paved garden - some buyers might be prepared to make changes
• back-to-back parking - cannot be changed and would be a deal breaker for me personally

It’s the price, OP. People aren’t prepared to pay what you’re asking, for that particular property.

This was me spending a couple of minutes with ChatGPT. Fences/hedges might not be plausible for you, but just an idea of increasing kerb appeal. I'm out of free credit, but you could try doing similar with the back garden/soem of the interior rooms.

I did a quick Google search on your homes value and it looks like you have it overpriced by quite a lot, see attached screenshot. The range suggests 350 to 370 is where you need to be on asking.

It's a Foo Fighters song 😊

It’s nice. Maybe change estate agents? The market is slow. Drop the price if you want to sell quicker. It’s a tough game!

I’d definitely change the opening photo. The red curtains and cushions are really jarring with the grey. I know it’s just cosmetic, but it immediately puts me off and makes me think very 90s.

The outdoor space is bleak. No greenery at all. Doesn’t look an inviting space to sit in. The front needs pots wth flowers to soften it.

Kids’ rooms need decluttering before taking photos. They look messy.

Completely different location, but where I live there are loads of houses like yours at the same price point and all seem to sit on the market for ages. Those that do sell come back on - I assume because chains break. I’d love to move but the market is so slow I don’t think my house would sell easily.

I disagree with the soulless and sterile comments - as someone who’s only ever bought brand-new new build houses, I want a house to look a bit sterile so that I can imagine my own things in it and put my own spin on it! I do agree however that the red accents in the living room could do with being changed - maybe some softer green or teal colours.
I’ll also disagree with the majority about the back garden - wouldn’t put me off at all - again, I could add my own bits of greenery to it. Currently trying to improve my own back garden grass right now so it’s all a bit of a faff 😆

It’s usually price, OP. It all looks fine, but the woodwork and bathrooms seem to be the original builder installed? They look basic and pretty dated. So I’d be factoring in the cost of replacing them, and possibly the kitchen as well. As others have said. It doesn’t have great kerb appeal.

someone asked about a very similar house not selling on our local reddit sub yesterday and I honestly thing it's the layout. Mid terrace townhouse has little to no scope for expansion and the rooms are quite pokey. lots of families don't want the kids to be sleeping on a different floor to the master bedroom and I can see the upstairs living room becoming dead space. The garden is terrible, you have to park round the back, and the photos aren't great. Realistically though, it's always the price.

I lived in a house like this, I absolutely loved it!

It's the price. But also the room with the red curtains is a bit garish and looks cramped, garden looks a bit miserable and the parking looks a nightmare! All a bit concrete jungle; it needs 'softening' quite a bit.

TIL people in Bicester don't like gardens.

Also agent might want to tone down red on pics. On every pic, every bit of red really pops. I am assuming your curtains are not as bright as pics suggest

I'm afraid so - if it was for sale for 100k you'd have a stampede. The trick is to try and bring the asking price down to a level that it seems attractive, and I'm immediately put off by OIEO. The housing market isn't buoyant enough for this sort of thing.

I haven’t read other comments but is there no floor plan? The photos are weird and make the rooms seem very narrow. Can you brighten up the front of the house, add some kerb appeal with colourful hanging baskets and pots in the garden? Could you get rid of the lounge mural and change curtains to soften and neutralise? The bedrooms seem cluttered, can you hide away things? It gives the impression of not having enough storage in the house.

Why is everyone saying there's no floor plan? There's one on the estate agents link and on the rightmove one

Its the Foo Fighters! Our wedding song

Interest rates are not high! The talk today on financial media though is that they need to go higher. 375k would be a smart move as would using price tracking apps like PropertyLog to see what other sellers are doing.

OP I never comment on these posts and have not RTFT but my thoughts

1. The living room feels all wrong, a huge corner sofa with window behind feels like bad fung shui. Any opportunity to rearrange the furniture? The red curtains and naff New York pictures aren't doing you any favours either.
2. No one needs those photos of the WC.
3. All the rooms feel somehow empty and cluttered. The kids rooms need to be seriously decluttered not just tidied. Take furniture out of the rooms if necessary. We already have a photo of an office so make the family room just that, get rid of the desk.
4. Outside space exactly as others have said. Buy some big plants in pots and stage them for the front and back gardens (just move them on the day if necessary.) Get the phots retaken on a sunny day before it gets much further into autumn.

I reckon you should try swapping the corner sofa into the “family room”. The people townhouses appeal to are people who need lots of bedrooms
and don’t mind compromising on room size.

Sorry OP but it's absolutely soulless. Your decor is somehow managing to combine the very worst of bland-and-boring with naff-and-try-hard. The red and grey/black lounge is 80s in the worst way, the kitchen needs replacing pronto and that wall mural is criminal.

I’m sorry OP, I’m definitely not your target market. A mid terrace three storey property with hardly any frontage and a small garden actively puts me off. You can’t change any of that though so think about what you can change. Better photography, a lick of paint so the bathroom doesn’t look so “builder grade”. Plants in pots in the garden for colour, make it look like usable space. And change oieo to a flat £400k and expect to negotiate. Good luck.

It's very lacking in character I feel? I know one can't really win because either it's like 'Oh it's characterless' or it's 'It needs to be more neutral'

The property @EnglishRain linked to manages the balance, it's a bit bland for my taste but it has a warmth and unifying 'feel' to it. Your place is a bit low on kerb appeal and combined with the interior that feels a bit more like a rented place than an owned home with a cohesive look to it, I agree people might find it looks a bit 'cold' from the photos.

https://thecritic.co.uk/the-property-crash-is-coming/