Why is my in-laws' gorgeous house not selling?!

[irisetta]

What is wrong with this listing? Some back story - my in-laws have been desperate to sell up for a while to be nearer to us. They live near Portsmouth, we are in St Albans. They have a beautiful house! It's 5 minutes walk from the beach in Lee-on-Solent, it's right next to the High Street but super quiet. Huge back garden. Beautifully renovated home, when they bought it it hasn't been touched in at least 30 years. It looks immaculate. No it doesn't have the open plan kitchen diner, but what there is, is perfect.

For the first 7 months while they were listing the house, the estate agent was effing up the RightMove listing quite badly - they were only appearing for people looking for bungalows, when it is not a bungalow 🤦 I noticed this recently. 🙄 After pointing it out, it's since been amended to appear to anyone looking for a 3 bedroom detached property in Lee-on-Solent.

Anyway, now that it's appearing to everyone who might want it, AND they've reduced the price (too much, IMO), my mum-in-law is somehow still convinced that the lovely estate agent is now doing his level best for them - still no viewings after a couple of weeks. And they've only EVER had 3 viewings, ever since it was first listed those 7 months ago - none of which were even proceedable. Thoughts, lovely ladies of Mumsnet?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/173477669

I know, however looking on street view there is a lot of on street parking. My concern would be people may park opposite the drive potentially making awkward to get in and out.

This. It's a bungalow with an attic. My father has one. They're essentially for older people, not a family home. Needs to be marketed as such and price dropped.

I also like a floor layout plan

It's very pleasant, yes, but it's a bungalow with some updating needed. It seems expensive to me.

Absolutely correct. One of my friends bought a dormer bungalow with 2 bedrooms upstairs as that was the biggest thing they could afford in an expensive town. She has ended up with a right old mess because she then had a boy and a girl and she wanted them both on the same floor as the main bedroom, so they ended up spending 10s of K to change the whole layout, take out the upstairs bathroom and make it a 4 bed with two box rooms.

For me the issue would be that the first bedroom is ground floor looking onto the road, so for me it is a 2 bed house with 2 bedrooms with sloping walls.
Its too expensive by a long way.
Its need modernisation- why didn't they update the bathroom when changing the sink and toilet?
We moved into a house where they previous owners only updated odd things in the bathroom so it means we still need to fully update everything. We did get it for a very good price though which reflected this.

We have had a very frustrating time selling my late dad's bungalow in the SE and took a big hit on price (some agents valued it laughably highly to start with) and ended up using a very engaged independent agent.

The bedrooms upstairs mean no real scope for easy development. There's only one smallish bedroom downstairs so not ideal for older less mobile buyers. Dad's house also had a large garden - too much for many less mobile people to cope with.

It's a very confused property. I'm sure it's lovely for your in laws but it's incredibly individual taste. The asking price plus the big chunk of money needed to update doesn't make it worth it to people looking to downsize. Massively more than we sold dad's for with less space.

I think it’s lovely! No idea what the going rate is on that area but some of the comments here tell you about how frightened people are when they see a colour other than beige…. Maybe people are put off by the decoration showing a bit of personality?

I think also if people wanted the downstairs for themselves & upstairs for visitors the downstairs bedroom is small.

Going through the utility to the sun room will put people off & it looks a bit of a faff to get from the kitchen to the dining area.

Thanks all! This has been HUGELY helpful. 😊

Declutter a bit. Rephoto.

Remove van from driveway when taking photos of front.

So a bungalow does not mean a 1 storey property, it means a house without a loft? I did not know that, thanks

It's a lovely house.

Like others i think the tiny table does the kitchen no favours.

But it's a beautiful home. The colours are not neutral which might give some people pause. Maybe a coat of paint over the blue.

It felt quite hard to love from the front. Would a sage green front door with a green wreath and beautiful hanging baskets/window boxes make it feel less urban?

I posted because you said the artex WOULD contain asbestos.
My property was built in 1985. The surveyor said it was ‘unlikely’ that the artexed ceilings were affected, as they were done after mid-70’s. I had it tested to check, and it was fine. A local plasterer skimmed all the ceilings, as I don’t like the textured look. It didn’t cost a fortune either.

I don't find the colour "frightening" but its not my taste. I agree a repaint is not a huge deal but its not the only problematic aspect of the house, its not so much that the house has one issue, but it has many!

Sorry but how many 3 bedroom houses have a bedroom downstairs? Bone I have ever seen - that puts it in the bungalow with a dormer for me

Why did they opt for that estate agent over others? Did others say a similar price or was this agent higher?

the photos aren’t great, looks cluttered, too much furniture and the wide angle distorts the furniture and makes the rooms look small .

the garden looks nice and there’s barely any photos.

my first impression is I would need to spend quite a bit money just aesthetically and I wouldn’t want a downstairs bedroom.

given the layout I think this would either appeal to older people, who then may think the garden is too big, or want an actual bungalow all on one floor. Or a family might want to extend for make it more of a family house layout which this doesn’t offer that much potential.

We would have viewed it, as an early retired couple coming from Surrey. The photos show more of the furniture than the rooms thoughand the 2nd house photo looks too imposing. But my main issue would not being able to situp in bed in main bedroom, can the bed be somewhere else?

I'd be wary of that because St Albans is more expensive, they'll get less for their money and OP has also said they don't want a flat which means they're not looking at the cheapest stock there. If they have an idea that they need to get X amount to buy their preferred property in a dearer area, that potentially makes them less willing to entertain a substantial price drop or realistic offer here.

The sunroom is beautiful. Perhaps that should be near the front of the gallery. And perhaps lead with a shot of the house from behind.

I have nothing useful to say, OP, but just wanted to say I love the character of that home. 🥰 Hope they sell soon 🌞

I don’t think parents would like the downstairs bedroom being away from kids bedrooms. I also don’t like the sun room. They often cold in winter and depending on age are prone to leaking. I also think the colours are very bright which puts people off from imagining themselves there. It does also seem a lot for a bungalow.

It’s generally accepted that a bungalow is a single storey building that might have rooms in the roof space, and if it does then it’s a chalet bungalow :)

I can't tell if you're being sarky, but enough people have explained it now so you don't need to keep questioning it. Or you can but it won't help you sell the place (which is a bungalow).

No, I am well aware it is a frickin bungalow, and have said so multiple times on this thread.

It is still detached. That was my point.