having difficulty getting viewers - help required

hamblettamaud

I'm having problems getting people in through the door to view this property: #link deleted#
I can't think why. It's actually nicer inside than the photos show.

Any advice on improvements, tips or whatever I could do to encourage people to view would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks, Hamble

henpecked1

Hamble.
I love these threads as they are so subjective.

The first picture indicates you are on a cross roads, therefore likley to be busy. normally you would have a face on picture.

Your estate agent has a bit of a, how can I put this, kinky side for picturing doors and windows. As a viewer, i need to see space, not your net curtains.

The danger of two many pics (especially of the same thing) is i have viewed your home and I am not grabbed by it. A nice shot of the bathroom, kitchen, garden? and living room looking decluttered and spacious (light behind the camera and not in front) and you should grab someone willing to want to have a look.

another thing is your agent using rightmove? and the larger portals, is the price about right?

hamblettamaud

Thanks, Hen.

In fact, I took the pictures myself because I was unsatisfied with the ones the EA had taken. I definitely take the point about light behind camera not in front. There's no garden, only a small yard.

The price is fair, I should think, but then it's hard to be objective, isn't it.

Thanks again! Hamble

beccad

The photos aren't great to be honest. Get rid of the first and last photos, the one that shows the road sign (looks like it's on a busy road) and the shot of the road. The sea view photo could be lovely if it didn't have the wheelie bins in the bottom left of the shot - could you cross over the road and take that one, so you get rid of the wheelie bins and the street light and telephone post, and the grassy bit that looks a bit derelict if I'm honest, and take a photo of the beach bit instead.

The photo of the kitchen with the open cupboard door doesn't really add anything useful. And yes, you have taken lots of photos of windows - could you get up a bit higher (stand on a stool or something) and take a photo lookign down a bit into the room so you see more of it, rather than the small amount the camera picks up.

Make sure all the lights are on when you take the photos, and if they already are in the current photos, then get some lamps on whilst you take the photos. It looks a touch on the gloomy side.

Also to add, you don't appear to have a proper eating area. I can see you've got a table in the room that leads into the kitchen, but it just looks like one chair and a small table.

Put some lampshades up - you appear to have bare bulbs hanging from the ceilings?

Are those empty rooms bedrooms? Could you put some bedroom furniture in?

Jaybee5

I agree with the other posters. The over-riding issue for me is that the rooms appear darker than they probably are. Anything you can do to brighten up the images would help so new pictures rather than re-decorate!

Not sure if this is good or bad news but we had our house on the market for 11 months and only 6 viewings in that time. Sold it in April but the market is still not great so don't give up hope!

ognum

I dont know your area but what you say would suggest that you are trying to sell a family house that has no garden.
I wonder then if you need to market your house to a different group maybe students or buy to leters.
In a busy market everything sells, in a difficult market more quirky properties will hang around.

googler

henpecked1 wrote: »

another thing is your agent using rightmove?

Does Rightmove cover outside Englandshire and Wales (and parts of Scotland)?

Getting back to the photos;

Lose the street sign in photo 1 - shoot from the front of the house, not the side. I'm not sure what the final photo, the street scene tells us - why's it there?

You seem to have a lack of lampshades - either frame the photos to exclude what appear to be bare bulbs, or buy some shades.

Try to find angles that don't point the camera toward the windows, or learn the meaning of 'exposure compensation' and 'fill-in flash'

Re-frame the beach shot to exclude the wheelie bins, and ideally the lamp-post and utility pole.

Kitchen - do you think the towels draped over the handles with the dishwasher door held open by one of them, make it look more attractive? If not, take them away and retake the photo. I'd declutter the worktops even more. Take the picture, the old-fashioned kettle, cafetiere, etc away. Not convinced leaving the cupboard door open is a good plan.

Can you find better angles for the bathroom, as it looks as though you're just standing in the doorway (as do some of the other shots - the door handle creeping in at the edge of the frame is the giveaway). There's no need to photograph the WC, find an angle where you can photograph either the basin or the bath.

If these are better than the EAs .......

pinkshoes

1. Get rid of the corner angle, and take the main photo from the front. Could you not put a couple of plant tubs outside the front door, as it looks so concretey!?

2. What's the photo with the top of the sofa (photo 3)? It implies VERY small living room with impractical space! Ditto for photo 6.

Could you get a wide angle camera to take the photos?

This property is the same price in the same town but looks nicer:

http://www.propertynews.com/brochure.php?r=1&c=9&s=76675971&i=1&p=ARFARF1489&fp=1&sort=h2l

pimento

Where do you park?

Doozergirl

Again, I'm looking at a road sign instead of what looks like a very pretty double fronted house.

And the house needs painting on the outside. Cream. It looks so drab with just finished render. Painting the outside will really brighten it up and transform the front.

The pictures are really dark - it's important to turn lights on! I think there might be too many pics as well.

The kitchen is really lovely but the curtains hang really limp in the other rooms - they look quite old fahioned in style and it almost makes it look like it needs work - querying the carpets too?

hamblettamaud

Thanks to everyone.

The two reception rooms are both quite large, so if anyone thinks they look small means that I've taken bad photos and I think new ones are in order. And brighter photos would also help I think.

I'd love to paint the outside walls but that would take money I don't have at the minute. I would also love to be able to buy some more furniture, eg beds, dining table, but again it's a question of limited finance.

How could I market it as a holiday home? It's in a quiet village by the sea with plenty of great walks and beaches quite nearby.

Parking is just outside the front door - it is owned by the property and could easily be cordoned off by a future buyer (wherever they are!).

But if anyone can tell me what is putting people off even coming to view I'd be grateful. There hasn't been a single one and the house has been on the market since March.

Thanks, Hamble