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!

I think your house is quite nice on the inside, OP! To me it looks spacious, and I think townhouses work well for families with teens.

However, I think there's room for improvement on the outside. As others have said, it's a bit concrete jungle and lacks greenery. I wouldn't buy it because I like a garden rather than a yard, and there's not much you can do about that - but I think power-washing the pavers would help brighten it up. Could you look in the garden centre for a climbing plant with the longest stems you can find, and arrange them artistically on your back wall, Blutacking them into position? How about borrowing a few potted shrubs from family or friends and placing them in groups at the front and back of the house, and having the EA redo the exterior pics to include the plants? I think that would make it a bit more inviting.

True, but the bond market doesn"t care about house prices, a smart move at 4.85% would be a ten year fix IMO.

I do one day a week in an agency, houses that would have sold for around 800k about 4 years ago are now being marketed around 630k or slightly lower. The only thing we are selling now are cheap flats, not the new builds as no interest in those at present, but purpose built with gardens. interest rates are only going up and will for several years.

Whilst it looks...acceptable...it doesn't exactly have any interesting features that would make me want to take a second look. There are some things that some people will find off putting which you can't do anything about (it's on an estate, it's a new build, it's narrow, the layout is tricky etc); but also the photos make every single room look small and narrow (except the living room). That would be enough to put me off. So if the rooms are actually spacious, as you say, then try getting some alternative photos taken. (Agree with others, ditch the red curtains and multi-coloured cushions.)

I have nothing useful to say, but that was our wedding song too!

Good luck with your house, OP - it looks like you've got some great advice here.

That's a really good sum up of all the good advice OP.

As you say the house is warm and lovely IRL you definitely need to redo the photos, that is NOT how it feels from the listing.

Less but better photos, and yes, lead with the front of the house - if someone is OK with buying a townhouse they are not going to be put off by a picture of....the front of a townhouse!!

And no stupid "split" photos - I genuinely thought the stairs had a large white newel post at their front corner!

And I'd invest a good few hundred pounds in instant greenary for the garden - it's positively prison yard like in the photos - tall evergreens in pots round the fence line at least to soften and give it some life.

The photos are really poor. There’s no kerb appeal, the garden needs some greenery in it, the decor looks like it’s from 80/90’s which doesn’t help either.

The rooms either look small or are small. Hard to tell based on these photos. I would find the lack of a floorplan annoying…

The garden isn’t great but the cost of doing it up probably won’t be worth it unless OP managed to precisely match the preferences and needs of their buyer (which is quite unlikely tbh).

The kitchen table gives the impression the room is too small for the number of people in the house as it's against the wall.

Can you pull it out and dress it?

The family room looks sterile. In fact a lot of the rooms do with ad hoc cupboards and storage, nothing built in, a bit studenty looking tbh. Like there's no room to put things in the house so you've bought an IKEA unit.

The garden is really bare looking. I don't know what you would do about that as it doesn't look nice to sit in at all. But garden centres are full of autumn bedding plants now so I would perhaps think about getting some pots to brighten it up.

Some house plants, potted plants outside and a bit more decluttering would help.The kitchen looks very serviceable which is great.
The red curtains and cushions are a bit jarring so I'd get rid of them.

It’s ugly from the outside - there is no kerb appeal, it’s just a slab of bricks, and the paved garden has nothing to recommend it either. There are cheaper, more attractive houses available.

I think the issue with a new build style is no matter where you are in the country they look the same. It’s quite plain, could be a bit more homely, if you could make it a bit more inviting maybe it would stand out from other new builds in the area.

Total lack of green in the back garden. At least get a few large pots out there and make the outside seating/dining area look nice for the photos.

All looks very bland and cold - absolutely no coziness to it - some soft lighting and pictures or shelves on the bare expanses of walls would improve this.

Some cluttered areas - things on top of the kitchen cupboards make it appear there is not enough storage space. Same with the open shelving in the child’s room.

Also price is too high which is the key issue.

ETA I’d swap the red curtains and cushions for a softer colour like a sage green.

Your house looks nice, a bit plain, but people like a blank canvas to personalise. The only thing that jumped out is the underwhelming garden. Jet wash the patio and plant a few evergreen shrubs in the gravel border by the kitchen door. Also fill the tubs and position further down the garden. Lose the photo looking out the kitchen door at the storage box.

Note there are over 50 houses in your area for £375-400k So there’s a lot of competition. But most of these are 3-bed not 4-bed which makes yours look good value. Of the 4-bed houses there are only two cheaper than yours. So I think your price is ok. Just give it time.

I don’t know if anyone else has mentioned this minor point but all the stuff on the top of kitchen cupboards needs clearing away. It makes it look as though there is insufficient storage space.

The lack of garden would mean I wouldn't view it.

To me the yard looks a real nightmare. Completely paved over and overlooked.
I'd try to furnish it with a lot of potted plants and garden furniture with maybe a water feature to make it look inviting and less run down.
If you're in the 400k price bracket you don't want a prison yard behind your house.

The photos aren't great. Your first photo should be the outside of the house, not the living room.

The two way pictures of the bathrooms and hallways, make them look really small.

The kitchen looks small because everything is pushed to the walls, try moving the table away from the wall to show that you can sit all the way around it.

Oieo will put people off, put up the price you want for it.

The parking of the cars looks off putting for me, is it part of the property?

The garden isn't inviting, it doesn't look like it matches with a 4 bedroomed home, it needs more greenery and to be styled to have more appeal.

I also dont want to have to open a brochure to look for the floor plan, it needs to be more obvious.

Some people have no imagination, so you need to style the furniture more to show how it could look. Even if you put it back again after the photos

The photos are poor they seem to be focused on the furniture
they don’t demonstrate the size of the rooms

can you dress the sitting room, garden, bathrooms and kitchen a bit ?

Before fresh photos, add a rug and some new cushions to sitting room, put some fresh flowers on the dining table, spend a bit of time on arranging red curtains, take all bottles out of shower, hide the toilet roll, get some pots for garden, jet wash the patio

you have a great house though - really think the photos let you down

Yep, a lot of people can"t quite seem to process that reality though?

that’s pretty drastic

Why would purpose built be doing okay but new build not? I mean, what’s the difference? Although I suppose purpose-built could be from the 1930s I don’t know.

No amount of "staging" will make a new-build stand out or compensate for being 100k overpriced, people are buying size, location and price, not curtains etc. You need to look at what monthly mortgage costs your asking price would attract, and ask yourself seriously if anyone would pay that for your house, if no the price needs to be adjusted down until the monthly mortgage costs make sense.

I don’t like downstairs bedroom for a family house which must main market. Agree with the garden isn’t well presented for a family. I also find the floor plan from estate agents link v confusing. It better labelled on the Rightmove link.

Is it not because they are mostly marketed as freeholds but in reality "fleeceholds" where you are forced into paying endless estate fee's ?