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!

The picture are poor. They make it look very cramped. The packed shelves also make it feel very small with poor storage. The house feels very sterile almost more like a holiday house or a student house.

I would be put off by the outside pictures, it looks like a big housing estate with not much green and the garden is all paved so not much you can do about that. If you look away from the block is there anything nice to see or an aerial view that shows parks or fields or local amenities?

Mortgage rates are rising, take it down another 25k quickly IMO or risk chasing the market down for much lower offers in future.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/mortgage-rates-high-house-value-37685428

The rooms do look quite small on the photos. And I know clutterfree is the in thing now but it just doesn't look cosy or homely at all. And the garden would put me off. But it's quite a difficult market at the moment.

The hall and one of the bedrooms with a single bed look lovely but a lot of people will see magnolia paint in other rooms and it will remind them of generic paint colour that you see in every rental house they've ever been in. The things that stuck out that I don't like are - sitting room doesn't look personal enough - tall potted plant etc could make it look more lived in. I don't like the red curtains - can't explain why but I don't. The more natural blind in one of the bedrooms looks nice though. Some angles taken of e.g. kitchen makes it look dark. If I were going to spend money, I'd repaint the magnolia rooms in off white colours, similar to the bedroom. I'd remove the large panorama picture/ from the wall of the sitting room/replace curtains and make it look more lived in.

If that doesn't work, then I'd reduce the price.

Try moving some furniture away from the walls and a lot of the furniture and accessories look a bit cheap and basic. Chat GPT could give you some ideas on he to dress the rooms.

I agree with others that it gives the feeling of being quite small but as you say it’s not I would look at getting better photos. I would personally add in quite a few houseplants to make it seem more homely and less plain. I would also remove all the stuff from the top of the kitchen cabinets (and from the wardrobe in one of the bedrooms) as that immediately says to me it’s short on space. I would also get rid of the cityscape on the wall and just paint it as if it’s not to people’s liking it puts a negative thought into the viewers head.

I haven’t RTFT, so I don’t know if it’s already been mentioned, but there’s definitely not enough storage in the kitchen. All those pots/pans/stuff on top of cupboards looks awful.

Maybe hide them somewhere when you have viewings?

Back ‘garden’ is in need of a good scrub. Green paving is an indication of a damp, sunless area, which can also be offputting for buyers. Maybe get some pots of bright plants which you can take with you when you move.

If you would like me to be brutally honest, there is nothing about the listing that would captivate me as a potential buyer. The building, the living room interiors, the outdoor space and decor in some of the rooms screams office space from 2007 or the sort of furniture a landlord would provide for a flat share for young professionals in their twenties- in 2007. All it is missing is some astro turf. It looks as though nothing has been updated since its construction and it doesn't have masses of character. The photo of the block from outside is terrible, it makes it resemble a gloomy prison.

I would not consider spending 400k on your property in its current condition let alone 425. I would update everything, make it homelier and sort out the outdoor area - a few plants wouldn't go amiss. It also looks as though there is no parking-apologies I've missed this! Take pictures on a lovely sunny day, that makes a lot of difference.

No, the “bond market doesn’t care,” but the knock on effect of 5% mortgage rates + houses at 7x earnings mean that people who don’t have really sought after properties in really sought after areas have to either hold onto their properties in the hope of riding it out, or drop their prices.

I wish I could afford to buy, I don't have much in the way of experience with buying and selling houses, but the decor is a little sterile and the cityscape mural is definitely not my taste!

Quite frankly though, most buyers would redecorate anyway. I would suggest taking the mural down or painting that wall white. It really dates the space.

Look at your price and see if its comparable.

I am not a big AI fan but you can see how much more homely this space looks with natural colours and a bit of warmth.

Here is the image

Plants and lighting and a rug would make the kitchen less sterile looking.

This website is bonkers. Just had a nose at my house. They value it £150k less than a house a few doors down that’s smaller, in worse condition and arguably in a worse position (right on a roundabout). I wouldn’t pay any more attention to this than I would the zoopla valuations.

The market is really slow right now OP. I think the garden could look better but apart from that I think the house looks good.

The order of the photos is off putting it doesn’t make sense

Fridge location is weird.

I think the reason people are saying that it looks cold and “soulless” is partly because the furniture completely clashes with the paint and flooring. The rooms themselves are a nice warm neutral that will be largely appealing to buyers, but the furniture is cold/cool-toned and grey. There’s a cold dark grey couch with clashing red cushions that sucks all the light out of the room, a drab grey rug in another room, a bland grey bed. I’d try to get a cover for the couch that complements the warm cream instead of fighting it, get rid of the rug, and try to get a larger duvet or something that overhangs and covers the grey bed.

If the listings themselves aren’t getting any interest I think that will help as it does rather look like the furnishings (and wall mural!) were cobbled together by a group of young people moving in together. Nothing wrong with that, but not homey or appealing for a listing and when looking at pictures buyers can be put off by all sorts. Ultimately the garden and price are likely also going to have to be addressed but the above is a faster/cheaper fix than either of those.

The main things for me are that the first photo isn’t of the front of the house, and the offers in excess of. It would put me off trying to offer slightly under the asking price

It a small garden with no grass and it's over 3 floors. These are not good for people with children
I much prefer Hexham road which is a little bit smaller and on at £380k

In terms of the listing the photos are pretty crap
Remove photo 6 which looks awful and shows the same as photo 5 but from a worse angle
Take off OIEO. You are not getting over £400k so there is no point asking.

This.
Its barren front and back.

The kitchen units are white but they have wood effect doors - it looks like a bad upgrade and it makes the kitchen look disjointed and like it needs sorting out. Replace the doors with matching white doors.

There's a lot of brick / paving / concrete in the photos and nothing green or alive. You look out of your living room balcony onto a big plain brick wall - plant a tree at the end of the garden to break up that massive brick wall. Add some plants and shrubs to the garden. Improve the front garden - kerb appeal.

Get rid of the split / twin photos - it's too much.

Stuff piled on top of kitchen wall units and wardrobes make it look messy and like there isn't enough storage space.

The outside front has zero curb appeal, but it may be the angle. The back garden needs upgrading. Clean the patio slabs. Put some pot plants around. Make it look appealing. I don't think the inside is that bad to be honest. If there's no curb appeal, no one will want to view the property.

The front needs some curb appeal - this alone would make me overlook the property. Agree with other posters that all the rooms look cramped and cold. You need them to look warm and inviting. It doesn’t look like there’s much storage (stuff on top of kitchen cupboards). Bathrooms look small and dated. Most of the above could be the fact that the pictures are so bad.