Critique required

madmish00

I have had my house on the market since July and so far we have had only one viewer. They put in an offer at 90k which we accepted but then on Friday they pulled out (apparently another they had been looking at was SSTC and it fell through so they put an offer in which was accepted)

Obviously we are now back to square one and would like some suggestions as to what if anything can be done to get more interest. As far as the price goes we paid 98k in 2006 and have gutted the place so we don't really want to drop the asking any lower as people still expect to offer less than asking and there is no way we can afford to take less than 90k

I have thought about redecorating two of the bedrooms to make them more neutral but the agent doesn't seem to agree.

Here is a link to the property on Rightmove:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32119340.html?premiumA=true

evoke

It looks fine to me. Maybe the kitchen shots could be better (taken more from the left) and one of the garden shots is taken from too high up. A couple of the shots are too focused on corners - the photographer should have used a wider angle to get more of the room into the shot. The bathroom shot needs a wider angle.

Other than that, the property looks nice and tidy and the rooms look decluttered.

scot88

I can't see anything wrong. I like your house and would be quite happy to move in just as it is. No doubt others will be along soon who are a bit more objective than me.

Doozergirl

I think it's lovely too. I wouldn't change anything at all. It looks like the kind of house that should sell very quickly.

Perhaps dropping the price to the £95k mark if you're prepared to take £90k. Or even bite the bullet and go for the £90k which is the next bracket down on Right Move and hold out for the asking price - it might bring the competition you need. I do wonder what people are thinking when they are asking more than they paid at the height of the market, but then I wouldn't really think that about yours, I'd just want to knock you down a bit

Ultimately, if a house that pretty isn't getting any viewings then it has to be the price. I though people were keen to view higher and make cheeky offers in this market, but I'm not actually sure they are! I think they're just looking for the most reasonably priced ones and picking them off.

evoke

It could be reverse psychology too. A pretty house that's priced too low will send alarm bells ringing in the minds of many buyers as they'll think that something must be wrong with it. Think about that for a second. If a house is so good then why on earth would the vendors want to move? So, make sure you have a valid reason for moving.

I'd kick the EA very hard to get him to pull his finger out. It sounds like he's not capable of marketing your property.

Consider going with multiple (i.e. two) EAs as winner takes all in terms of commission and each EA will work harder for you.

80schild

Its gorgeous-I am from the area so know what house prices are like round here and I think its realistically priced for the area! You should be able to get more than 90k for it easily!

madmish00

Thanks for all the positive comments! Must say I was expecting a bit more criticism! I think it is time I got a different EA round for an opinion. I did enquire about an open day but the agent that does them was reluctant as he didn't want to waste his time on something that had had no interest (paraphrased).

Bar walking round town wearing a sandwich board I don't know what else I can do. I have it online on a few of the sell your house for free sites like houseladder and privatehousemove

80schild - can't interest you in a viewing can I? lol!

Evoke - for some reason we really struggled getting a good shot of the kitchen and I agree with you I am still not happy with them. But the agent ONLY had a wide angle lense so said that it made it difficult to photograph because of it being longer than it is wide.

googler

I don't often say this on here, but - good job.

Well de-cluttered, well-presented, and the photos are all evenly lit. It looks clean, and makes a good first impression. MUCH better than most who ask for a critique here.

If I was to be really picky, I might suggest moving the white storage bin next to the steps in the garden, and take the clothes pegs off the line (or take the line down). Might have moved the guitars out of the shot, too.

casper_g

Same here, the house seems well presented, the photos are pretty good, there's a good floor plan (measurements in both imperial and metric, and it's big enough to see) and the description covers the key points. I don't know the area, but the price doesn't seem to be way out of line: there are three-bed places for less nearby but they don't look so nice as yours. There are others on for more, though some of them are semis rather than terraced so the price difference is to be expected. A semi nearby (21 Taylors Lane) sold for £114k just before yours went on the market, sugesting the sort of price you're asking is not unreasonable for the area.

It could be that a buyer will come along tomorrow, then again the fact you've only had one viewing must be discouraging. Much will depend on how urgently you need to sell. If you can afford to accept a little less and get on with your life, dropping a few thousand can only help the sale go more quickly....

Mallotum_X

House looks fine. Sadly it sounds like value in your market is closer to the 90k mark. I would drop the price by 5k as a start.

One thing i always think when i se the garden pictures of a place is when were they taken. Yours were clearly in the summer, so anyone looking knows your place has been up for sale for a long time. Maybe not everyone thinks that way, but it would make me think "whys it been up for sale for so long".

How does your asking price compare to recent sold prices or asking for similar places? You need to be competative, and if anything in a falling market you need to price slightly lower that similar ones.

madmish00

It is just frustrating as we lost our buyer because of the time it took messing around with the house that we wanted (they had it on at offers in excess of £169,950 but turns out they wouldn't accept less than 185k).

If we had got this sorted and started the ball rolling I don't think our buyers would have been as quick to drop out once they had spent money on survey etc.

The doom and gloom news stories about the market and interest rates really don't seem to be helping!