Selling house - Agent has sent no viewers

Doozergirl

googler wrote: »

This is brand new, and most of the rooms are empty, but look at the difference a little bit of colour and a couple of accessories makes in the bathrooms

http://www.eastlothianprimeproperty.com/property/12-Shillinghill-EH36-5PX-ap86sl0.aspx

It's beautiful. A wee bit more than the acessories talking to me there(!) but the example is right there in the way it's been presented by the EA.

you are buying a premium product in a new build and the whole thing has been put together by an agent that is clearly passionate about what they do and knows how to market a property! The descriptions are fabulous and the photographer has clearly thought about which angles suit the property to sell it best.

And it looks wonderfully light! And it has floorplans and a printable brohure...

And this is often available for the same price or indeed cheaper than a bog standard agent that clearly couldn't care less. Look for the agents that make houses look attractive - what appeals to you about what they do.

Doozergirl

fredmila wrote: »

Doozergirl: the combination of conventional house and minimalist has been carefully studied. It's like that on purpose. Conventional and homely outside because planning will not allow otherwise and because people are not going to "customise" the outside. Inside white walls etc, let people paint them purple if they want. I have had many people come and look at the house (friends, acquaintances, inspectors and contractors) and they all like it, Note that I am excluding relatives and EAs saying that they like it.

You might be right about house staging but I think that is more for cities (I did something like that in London) where you can organise an "open day" and bring a lot of people in a couple of days but that is not going to happen in the country. So I could have ended up hiring expensive furniture for 4-5 months only to get one browser coming to see it. I am saying that I am sure people will like it once they are there but I have to get them there first. I might agree with the home staging if I had had a lot of people coming and they had just told the agent later that it did not feel like a home.
It does have nice detailing (coving, skirting, textured tiling, door decoration) but you have to see it in person. I repeat, you have to leave the buyers to think that they are the designers in the end so you cannot do too much detailing for them. Yes the two bathrooms have showers, one with fancy thermostatic taps.

What are you asking us exactly then? I had a house which I put on the market four weeks before you put yours up. I researched my prices, I researched all the agents. I got my price right. The house was semi-rural, empty. It was under offer in four days - I respect the fact that you're quite sure about your methods but I completed on that house four months ago, bought and sold another and am well into the next big project now.

Yes people need to be able to decorate themselves but warmth and light is created with magnolias and white, not white with outdated dark wood windows and no light in the pictures. Your deliberate mis-matched look doesn't look very deliberate and your agent has done you no favours at all - but you've let them let it look like that for four months.

If they aren't drawn in by the photos then you won't convince anyone going around it.

fredmila

Blackpool_saver: yes it could be brighter: the EA could have increased two stops in the camera setting! Most of the walls are white, the floor tiling is light and there are enough spot lights it cannot get much lighter.
Please tell me know how you can sell the house in two weeks!

from the home staging page:
Towels, tied with ribbons
Scented soaps
Creamy lotions
Moisturizing & Facial jars

OMG no, this is not the American mid-west

fredmila

I am sorry to sound stubborn but, between spending $5000 (£5000 in the UK) on this excessive home staging I would much rather reduce the house price by £5000. People here respond to £££; in the American mid-west, yes they will respond to scented candles and flowery curtains.

Doozergirl

fredmila wrote: »

I am sorry to sound stubborn but, between spending $5000 (£5000 in the UK) on this excessive home staging I would much rather reduce the house price by £5000. People here respond to £££; in the American mid-west, yes they will respond to scented candles and flowery curtains.

I think you should tell us how to do it when you've actually sold.

googler

fredmila wrote: »

from the home staging page:
Towels, tied with ribbons
Scented soaps
Creamy lotions
Moisturizing & Facial jars

OMG no, this is not the American mid-west

Maybe not, but are you seriously telling us there's NOTHING you can learn from these people who, on the face of it, have made an industry (and apparently, a decent living) out of presenting other peoples' homes for sale........????

You don't have to use ALL the ideas, just pick those most appropriate for you.

googler

Look at the e-brochure here

http://www.homestagers.co.uk/index.html

These folks seem to do furniture hire, and all the associated services such as we're discussing.

Blackpool_Saver

I am going to be honest here and I mean this kindly, your house will not sell until you are open to what we are saying, it is dark, dark windows, dark front door and it looks unwelcoming.

I have refurbished and sold houses in days not weeks and in all economic climates.

You need to move with the times a bit and be more open minded, buyers are dumb and they need to be seduced because frankly, they, like you do not have they eye for it.

fredmila

googler wrote: »

This is brand new, and most of the rooms are empty, but look at the difference a little bit of colour and a couple of accessories makes in the bathrooms

http://www.eastlothianprimeproperty.com/property/12-Shillinghill-EH36-5PX-ap86sl0.aspx

Sorry Googler but I am going to have to catch you out on this: the kitchen in this house, with a bit of colour, has the same colour scheme as the outside of my house that you say does not look right: blue, dark brown and white.

Anyway, I agree with Doozergirl, the house looks brighter because the photos are brighter. I am looking here at a house that people like because -I think- of the very expensive kitchen furniture and other things in a house that is priced £600,000. If I went and spent as little as £20,000 on even fancier things than I have already installed and increased the asking price by the same, then I would NEVER be able to sell the house.

googler

fredmila wrote: »

I am sorry to sound stubborn but, between spending $5000 (£5000 in the UK) on this excessive home staging I would much rather reduce the house price by £5000. People here respond to £££; in the American mid-west, yes they will respond to scented candles and flowery curtains.

Only you know what you need to sell for in order to make a good profit, a modest profit, or no profit on your investment.

Would you consider, if you had spent £5,000 on staging it for more than a photo session, putting the price UP by £4,999? Would it be conceivable that you could acheive more for the house having done this? I don't know, but it's a possibility.......

I really think you should lose all trace of stubborn-ness, though. Are there others you know who have done similar projects in this area, and sold in less than 5 mths? Compare notes with them, and see what they did that you're not doing.