redecorate or not??

helen81_2

hi, we have a 3 bedroom terraced house up for sale..had no viewings over the easter weekend..things have picked up abit since..had someone view the house saturday and he seemed very impressed with it..went away happy..we were hopeful an offer was gonna come our way...EA rung tiday to say he won't be putting any offer in as he thought the upstairs of the house needs too much redecorating!!

All I can think this is is my little boys room and my daughters room...as childrens decor isnt to everyones taste!

Should we be redoing these rooms with something neutral like magnolia?

Thanks x

ioscorpio

On all the refurb programmes they de-clutter the kids' bedrooms and some re-paint with neutral colours, but in the real world how are kids supposed to exist in a minimal bedroom and where do they put all the stuff they have cleared out?

dander

It depends how far you've gone with the redecorating. If they've got enormous murals all over the walls, then maybe toning it down would help, but if they are just normal kids bedrooms I wouldn't bother.

I don't think anyone will ever not buy a house that is otherwise perfect for them purely because of the decor in a couple of bedrooms. There are probably other reasons why the house wasn't right for that buyer, but the decor was the easiest one to use for a reason to estate agents.

It's always tricky when estate agents push you for feedback on properties when there isn't anything actually wrong with the house, but it's just not the one for you

nomoneytoday

Maybe the buyer just didn't like the place and wanted to let you down easily?

helen81_2

He really did like the house though, we could tell he was being genuine..u can tell the difference from a fake smile to a real smile..he was really enthusiastic, even said the kitchen was immaculate!

When he viewed upstairs he didn't express any sort of dissapointment..infact, he said he was pleasantly suprised how large the attic bedroom is...and that it doesnt take much to redecorate..just a lick of fresh paint were his exact words!

Anyway, his loss..weve got a FTB coming to view 2m night...sure theyl like it, we did back when we were FTBs..and the house was a complete state when we bought it!

dander

The trouble is you can walk around a house and think it's lovely and know it would make a gorgeous house for someone - just not you!

JennyW_2

helen81 wrote:

He really did like the house though, we could tell he was being genuine..u can tell the difference from a fake smile to a real smile..he was really enthusiastic, even said the kitchen was immaculate!

When he viewed upstairs he didn't express any sort of dissapointment..infact, he said he was pleasantly suprised how large the attic bedroom is...and that it doesnt take much to redecorate..just a lick of fresh paint were his exact words!

Anyway, his loss..weve got a FTB coming to view 2m night...sure theyl like it, we did back when we were FTBs..and the house was a complete state when we bought it!

you'll get loads of people like him. I had quite a few come round who I thought were very genuine and loved the house then I heard nothing! It's always the quite ones that don't say anything you'll get the offer from.

bylromarha

As a buyer, I saw lots of houses that were okay, but just weren't really us. The feedback I gave the agents was always honest but vague..."Didn't think there was anything wrong with the house and it met all our requirements, but we have a few more to see" EA didn't ring me back to chase + put buyers mind at ease that they could do no more or worry that they needed to do something else.

We knew the people who were going to offer on our house as they were very quiet looking round, asking some sensible questions...then we saw the huge beams slide onto their faces as soon as they reached their car.

silvercar

The house we put in an offer for: the room I've earmarked for my 15 year old son has bright pink walls, the one I intend giving to my other son has a massive football emblem painted onto the wall- unfortunately for the wrong team. The main bedroom has a dark purple feature wall including matching painted radiator which just has to go. Downstairs they have all really dark stained wood varnish when all our furniture is light wood. The front door has long glass panels which I think are a security risk, the kitchen has solid (dark) wood cupboard doors (I would prefer white but these are too expensive to throw out) and mock granite worktops - either do granite or don't!

But we still made an offer, and probably viewed the house with really grumpy faces talking about everything that would have to be changed!

I always thank the householder for showing us round and tell them they have a lovely house - just to be polite, not because I'm going to make an offer.

Heth_2

We've just bought our first house, and the two kids bedrooms upstairs were rather interestingly decorated. One was lime green and purple, including purple ceiling, with swirls all over the walls, the other was bright pink and orange (with orange ceiling) with swirls and stuck on gold dots. We still bought the house, and spent our first weekend using alot of dulux once paint.

Debras_Angel

Hi Helen81,

We decluttered every room and put all our personal bits and pieces into boxs and up in the loft out of the way.

We don't have any children but we did repaint all the bedrooms and bathrooms magnolia and it worked.

It doesn't have to be expensive i think we spent around £100 for all the paint and some curtain poles and curtains to freshen up.

When I was going into houses where there were childrens decor in the bedroom it did put me off... rightly or wrongly.

Some people don't want the hassle or have the money to redecorate especially FTBs, so every little helps.

I would wait and see how many come through the door without any offers first and then reconsider the paint bit but I would defo declutter as some people can't see the potential.

Cheers

Debs