What’s wrong with my house?

[Blueysothermother]

House been on the market since Easter, it’s in the catchment for the much sought after local grammar, well priced, was valued originally at £595,000. We had an offer for £575,750 which we accepted during the summer hols but then fell though due to reasons unrelated to the house. We need to relocate, so dropped the price, even though much larger than most houses in the surrounding streets and better parking. Estate agents can offer no constructive feedback that I can act upon. I get that it’s not all grey etc but it’s a period house and has a wealth of features intact. Any ideas?
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/91344150

I'm interested in the fact you have asked for opinions & you've had genuine & honest replies. It feels like your not accepting the negative issues which could be affecting a prospective sale especially if its more than price related. Its obvious you have loved your home although its worth considering people generally want to buy a house that would easily become their home which means making it less personal before it is listed for sale 🤔

In my house of the examples? I have no white floor tiles!

Yours isn't better than this though? I'm baffled that you think it is?

The HMO is a proper 4 bed with 2 full bathrooms and the kitchen is better, much easier to renovate as its a blank canvas, and it has a much bigger garden.

Do you think yours is better because yours has got "zany" paint instead of magnolia?

In the link of the house someone else posted. Your house is lovely

I think it’s a classic case of someone loving their house and not seeing it through fresh eyes. Also not accepting after six months that nobody thinks it’s worth what is being asked.

Not at all, no paint is zany it’s all someone’s personal choice, I know because I’ve been in next door and it was in such a state from being an HMO the new owners had to gut the entire house and it took months before they could move in. It wasn’t as it was in the photos and the price reflected the amount of work it needed.

Your home is overpriced. You think you're selling a lovely family home - when the objective reality is that you're selling a renovation project with no garden to speak of. One the same size but with a garden sold for £520k so you won't get more than that - and most likely less. It's all very well trying to insist that you've got some lovely period features - but any buyer is going to need to strip it back to brick to make it liveable. It's obvious you don't wish to take any critiques on board because you aren't seeing the house for what it is now.

Yes I understand that but we did have an offer in August when we changed to the new agent. So only a couple of months ago but that fell through for reasons not due to the house and I’ve reduced the price but a further 20k when I put it back on. So I’m not not reading the market.

Because how long would it take to get all the black paint off the fireplace. You say you’re decorated several times but the walls still look like they haven’t been plastered in the bedroom and there are 1990s radiators in the living room. This makes me think you’d need to do a complete refit of electrics and plastering it moving in because you’ve just painted everything.

It’s the overall impression of slightly wonky radiator, scuffed floor and skirting and the holes around the pipes. You can get little collars to cover them, plain wood or, because I think you might like a bit of whimsy , you can get cute fancy ones (you’re selling just get plain ones!)

https://www.qualitycarpettrims.co.uk/buy/solis-radiator-pipe-cover/?attribute_pa_solis=brass-radiator-pipe-covers&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22589327422&gbraid=0AAAAA-O17EZ3E19iy9L6YVi6FF0NvPXOt&gclid=CjwKCAjw0fbWBhBkEiwAwJuQ8YHrdrIb6f90gdzdYYdTcwHjZcDHdugjjTx7XsqBFR3JHABAMeFGWxoCFmgQAvD_BwE

I think the house looks lovely but to me it’s definitely a (spacious) 3 bed (+ study) - I find ground floor “bedrooms” in these sorts of floor plans disingenuous - I for one would find it really weird (unless as a mixed use + guest room) and not what I’m looking for, but appreciate for you it’s actually your bedroom!

It's not the market you're not reading - it's your house. The pictures show a renovation project. You have blown plaster, cheap laminate floors with beading, wiring running along skirting boards, holes in the ceiling, paint peeling, damp issues, a cheap kitchen that's on its last legs, a lean to that needs to be demolished... But you think it's not a back to brick renovation? Ask yourself this - why aren't you staying?

Next door has the same size garden. Also I have taken on board all the advice about removing pictures and personal things, clearing the furniture from the front room and painting more neutral colours. Plus the points on the kitchen units and pipes. I have thanked everyone for their useful feedback so I’m not sure why you think I’m not taking it on hoarding. Did you expect me to to it all in the last yheee hours and post pics to prove it- ta-da! ??

You are "not reading the market". You haven't sold. If people looked & thought "thats a decent house at the price" they'd be buying it.

I'd want to completely redecorate it which these days could cost an absolute fortune. You could spend 6 figures to get it nice, easily.

Thank you. Will sort this.

I say this with respect - but removing your art work, rearranging the furniture and repainting the more garish walls won't make a blind bit of difference. All it will do is cost you money and you'll be in the same situation.

Thanks for your feedback. But luckily there’s no damp or holes in the ceiling so at least I’m ok on that front. All other feedback taken on board and added to my list though.

I agree that the kitchen is odd - the mix of cabinet styles coupled with the two different colours and the visible appliances particularly. Then there's no sign of your oven/hob! (And I'm saying that as someone who had two different colour cabinets in the kitchen at our previous house - but a) they were the same style and b) the wall cupboards were the lighter colour - darker on top always looks wrong, imo).

Add in your exposed boiler/strangely painted pipework and it certainly doesn't resemble a recently redone kitchen. Unfortunately to many people that equates to loads of work/expense. As a cheap fix @Blueysothermother I'd probably repaint the wall cupboards to match the base cabinets and add a fabric 'skirt' over the kitchen appliances. I'd also add a photo of the oven/hob.

The downstairs loo photo isn't doing you any favours (apart from the lack of basin, that boxing needs fixing!), so I'd lose that one.

The bathroom is period style, appropriate to the age of the house and lovely - I don't get the hate on here for that room. These posters have obviously never seen a Drummonds/Thomas Crapper bathroom!

I love deep, saturated period colours, but yours are a bit 'marmite' - but it's refreshing to see a house that isn't drowning in grey, white or greige! I agree that there is too much busy artwork and the front room furniture makes the space look cramped - I'd lose the leather sofa which is sucking the light out of the room.

We always buy projects so none of this would deter me from viewing as it's a really lovely, unspoilt house with a cute, characterful garden. However, the price needs to reflect the proximity of the stadium and the fact the house only has three true bedrooms.

Agree with others those blue walls are ghastly! Paint neutral colours to sell it . Are there really four bedrooms and it’s not clear to me where the parking is .

Then you might wish to remove the pictures showing the clear signs of damp and the hole in the ceiling, to avoid people thinking there's clear signs of damp or holes in the ceilings. While you're at it - get Google to remove the football stadium and the large car repair garage and the block of flats behind overlooking your house - if you're going to just pretend issues don't exist.

I really don’t want this to sound unkind, but the kitchen, toilet and bathroom all look like they’ve been badly fitted by you, not done by a professional. That would make me think that the house was full of dodgy hidden diy and it would cost a fortune to fix.

The bright blue dining room is really
out of character with every other room in the house. I would not be at all put off by the furniture and the paintings on the wall etc, but I would be going in thinking I’d need to spend minimum £50k on a kitchen and bathroom.

If they have been done recently, why were they not finished to a decent standard? The kitchen is mismatched, and the shoddy boxing in and uncovered pipes don’t look great.

I say this having just bought a doer upper. I think the kitchen in my house which is 40+ years old looks better than your kitchen. It’s got great potential, but I do think it needs a lot of work.

Not pretending nothing I can do about the location and everyone will see that clearly on Google maps before they decide not to view so not wasting anyone’s time. Please show the ‘damp’ and ‘ceiling hole ‘ pics and I’ll get them redone. It’s really useful that someone is seeing this with fresh eyes because believe it or not I was pleased because last agents photos were awful 😂😂

It seems expensive for that part of Watford. No parking, the traffic on match days is heavily disrupted. You mention the stations but Watford Junction is a fair walk from you which is the fast train in.
Decoration wise it looks like it needs a refresh. You’d need to be quite creative to see past it. And the lounge has a lot of large furniture.

This, plus a floorplan never lies, 126 sqm is small for a 4 bed. And 6 sqm of that is a lean to that needs demolishing. An average 4 bed will be 20sq m bigger, its a huge difference. I'd advertise it as 3 bed for that reason.

I can't believe the price of that second one, it's just awful. That's one of the worst kitchens I've seen and the rooms have strange proportions.
£750k and there's only two bedrooms! They'll be lucky.