Yet another why isn't this house selling thread, comments please

Caveat_Mortgagor

I dont normally get involved in advising people on pictures and presentation, and I normally steer away from discussing properties in the south because I have no idea why people want to pay so much for a house, but I am going to make an exception......

The house looks stark and unloved. It could be a fabulous house. But the honest truth is that I lived in better presented student digs 20 years ago (and the digs really werent up to much!)

As others have said, Connells pics are better, but the other agents pics in particular conjure an image of a house that has no love in it. People buy a lifestyle as others have said. Who wants to buy a house in which it looks like the vendors have been miserable?

I imagine prision cells look more homely than bedroom 4, - in fact that applies to the main bedroom and the bathroom as well!

As others have said the dining room looks like the dining table got lost and the lounge looks tiny. Who the hell is going to pay the best part of half a million quid for a lounge that isnt much bigger than our rabbit hutch?

Looking at other prices on the street a lot of terraces have sold for £200k+ less than the asking for this. Looking at your lounge (the room people spend most of their waking hours in) I cant imagine that the other houses offer any less space.

And I reckon thats your stumbling block. Loose change from half a million quid to be squashed up in that tiny lounge - its not unreasonable to think that the family looking at 4 bedders in this price range may consist of 5 or 6 people - that lounge simply isnt big enough! The reception rooms really do need to be swapped back to the conventional set up!

PS - Someone said appeal to young families.... Really??? Can young families afford these prices down there?

pimento

The larger (front) room should be used as the sitting room and the back room should be the dining room. That dining table just looks plain odd. The fact that your parnts have their sofa hard up against the radiator in the back rooms just tells me there's no room.

It definitely needs a new kitchen. Why doe the washing machine and dishwasher protrude so much?

I agree about the knotty pine and the built-in wardrobes in the main bedroom are just amateur looking. They'd need new doors at the very least.

Nice south facing garden though and a conservatory or garden room extension would be great.

Would I pay four hundred and something thousand pounds though? Probably not.

shortchanged_2

Can I say though all these comments go to show how fickle people are about house buying. The bottom line is a house is a set of walls and a roof, and as long as it is structurally sound Bobs your uncle.

Why do people expect every house to be pristine inside? If there is an elderly couple in there who have been living in there for years it is hardly going to be state of the art, modern design.

Why can't people use their imagination and see the potential of a house? As long as you pay the appropriate price for a house, factoring in any renovation costs, what's wrong with that? Plus you can choose your own style anyway.

Many of these houses that have been 'neutralised' for a sale will probably still need some work to bring it to your own taste.

Yes I'll probably be shot down for these comments but I honestly don't see why people can't see the bigger picture most of the time as long as you pay the right price for a property, which OK in this example the house is probably overpriced considering the work that is needed.

MFW_10YRS_4

shortchanged wrote: »

Can I say though all these comments go to show how fickle people are about house buying. The bottom line is a house is a set of walls and a roof, and as long as it is structurally sound Bobs your uncle.

Why do people expect every house to be pristine inside? If there is an elderly couple in there who have been living in there for years it is hardly going to be state of the art, modern design.

Why can't people use their imagination and see the potential of a house? As long as you pay the appropriate price for a house, factoring in any renovation costs, what's wrong with that? Plus you can choose your own style anyway.

Many of these houses that have been 'neutralised' for a sale will probably still need some work to bring it to your own taste.

Yes I'll probably be shot down for these comments but I honestly don't see why people can't see the bigger picture most of the time as long as you pay the right price for a property, which OK in this example the house is probably overpriced considering the work that is needed.

It's exactly because most people are fickle and unimaginitive that you have to present the house at its best and display a lifestyle. You also have to remember that this is a family home and a lot of families will be broke after paying the +£13k stamp duty, let alone the hike in their mortages as they move up the ladder, so they won't have the money to sort out the boiler, decor and other interior items, they also might have small kids and have enough to do with taking care of them without doing it in a building site.

When you are paying top dollar for a house, you want one that you can move straight into and not one that needs work doing. You know that it'll be changed to your own taste but you prefer to do it at your leisure, not as a matter of urgency.

My parents house wasn't selling a year ago so my wife and I redecorated the entire place in a more modern style and sorted out a few problems that we felt might be an issue on any survey. The house sold within a month of us doing the work and the costs involved in updating it were surprisingly small.

pmlindyloo

shortchanged wrote: »

Can I say though all these comments go to show how fickle people are about house buying. The bottom line is a house is a set of walls and a roof, and as long as it is structurally sound Bobs your uncle.

Why do people expect every house to be pristine inside? If there is an elderly couple in there who have been living in there for years it is hardly going to be state of the art, modern design.

Why can't people use their imagination and see the potential of a house? As long as you pay the appropriate price for a house, factoring in any renovation costs, what's wrong with that? Plus you can choose your own style anyway.

Many of these houses that have been 'neutralised' for a sale will probably still need some work to bring it to your own taste.

Yes I'll probably be shot down for these comments but I honestly don't see why people can't see the bigger picture most of the time as long as you pay the right price for a property, which OK in this example the house is probably overpriced considering the work that is needed.

I totally agree with this.

I know you asked for people's opinions (and indeed you have got them!) but I think some people have gone totally overboard.

Just looking at the floor plan I think this house has got lots of potential.

I do think that you need to do a few things.

1. What does the estate agent say? - ie. feedback from viewers, price of house in today's market. You could do some research on house prices yourself. After a year I would have been thinking about lowering the price myself.

2. Do you need to change the EA? Do you think that they are not actively marketing the house because its been on the market for so long?

Of course I have no idea what position your parents are in. Do they want to move asap. Can they afford to take a drop in the price?

Certainly after a year something needs to be done.

shortchanged_2

MFW_10YRS wrote: »

When you are paying top dollar for a house, you want one that you can move straight into and not one that needs work doing. You know that it'll be changed to your own taste but you prefer to do it at your leisure, not as a matter of urgency.

But that's what I'm saying. It's up to the buyer and seller to agree a price that after factoring any renovation costs that the buyer is not paying over the odds and if that can't be agreed then there will be no sale.

Sellers need to realise that if their house is in need of work they need to be prepared to accept significantly lower offers, which is a real problem if the house is already overpriced in the first place.

Estate agents don't help either when they frequently describe properties as 'well looked after' even if it hasn't been touched for 30+ years, as most people would look at it and think 'that needs gutting.'

Tiddlywinks

shortchanged wrote: »

Why can't people use their imagination and see the potential of a house? As long as you pay the appropriate price for a house, factoring in any renovation costs, what's wrong with that? Plus you can choose your own style anyway.

Many of these houses that have been 'neutralised' for a sale will probably still need some work to bring it to your own taste.

In sales, you are selling a dream / lifestyle and need to present the object in a way that entices and cunjures up images that make the buyer feel that it will enhance their lives.

With a house, you want potential buyers to feel "wowed" by it - to get their blood pumping by thinking that it is so desirable that they need to put in an offer before anyone else sees how great it is and gets in first. Yes, that's a superficial way of seeing things but that's the way it is in a competitive market when you want to achieve top money.

It's like selling your car - you clean and polish it, clear out the years of crisp packets, sweetie wrappers and dust etc and try to cover the scratches and make sure all the bulbs work. That'll get you a higher price than just selling it "as is" - still the same car BUT the general tidy up makes it more saleable.

shortchanged_2

shortchanged wrote: »

Many of these houses that have been 'neutralised' for a sale will probably still need some work to bring it to your own taste.

Forgot to add in that many of these ^ renovations would have been done on the cheap anyway. More than likely DIY botch jobs.

shortchanged_2

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

In sales, you are selling a dream / lifestyle and need to present the object in a way that entices and cunjures up images that make the buyer feel that it will enhance their lives.

That just reiterates my point that most people just want everything on a plate. I just don't see why so many people can't see the potential of somewhere.
Personally I wouldn't mind buying a house that was a project as long as I carefully considered all the costs and it wouldn't result in me being out of pocket.

MFW_10YRS_4

shortchanged wrote: »

That just reiterates my point that most people just want everything on a plate. I just don't see why so many people can't see the potential of somewhere.
Personally I wouldn't mind buying a house that was a project as long as I carefully considered all the costs and it wouldn't result in me being out of pocket.

This is really the point that I was trying to make in my post. Fewer people will be able to see beyond poor decour and outdated bathrooms/kitchens to see the potential of a place and fewer still will have the desire or motivation to update it. When you are selling something you want to present it to as wide an audience as possible and if most people want a house they can just move into without hassle then you have to pitch your house sale accordingly.

As I said in my original post, a lot of 'dressing' of a house doesn't have to actually cost too much in time, effort or money. You are really just making sure that a prospective buyer sees more positives than negatives when they view the house.