Can't sell our house..

lkmartin

doolallygal wrote: »

I keep asking the estate agent and all the feedback that we are getting is that the house is really nice but people aren't sure about the area - there is nothing we can do about that!!!!!!!

This really might be the problem. We have sold our house and obviously looked at other houses. I have lived in the same town all my life and there are certain parts - dues to the area which are £20 - £30k cheaper because people will not pay the going rate for a house in that area. Have you realistically priced it for the area you live in?:(

nattypants

Take heart Doolallygirl

After 14 months on the market I asked a (very honest, and trusted) work colleague to view my house through a "buyers" eyes.

Her feedback really opened MY eyes! The decor which I had preceived as neutral and blank canvas stylee was in fact bland and boring....I had absolutely no colour and buyers must have been walking away with little memory of the place:o
Anyway, that afternoon I purchased colourful (and tasteful!) cushions, vases etc. and over the next few days took lovely new photographs of my newly colour-injected rooms. I re-worded my schedule and with the new photographs viewers seemed to come thick and fast - just like "Field of Dreams":rotfl:

To cut a long story short, I received a fair bit of interest and accepted an offer a few weeks ago:T
I honestly think without a wee bit of creative thinking my house would still be on the market.

Stay positive, (feedback is a great tool!) and I wish you the very best of luck:D:D:D

NPX

geoffky

my wife's best friend is selling her house...it has been on the market for 2 years now with just 3 viewings..
She NEEDS to sell at about 20k more than houses are now selling for around here as she has failed to see the 20% drop in prices in these two years and its still priced at 2009 prices.
Can i hell explain what she is doing wrong as she just says but i need xxx to move...why does she expect other people to pay off her debts? Its MAD out there with delusional sellers thinking buyers are going to bail them out..

FATBALLZ

evoke wrote: »

Pictures are of very poor quality - were they taken by a professional photographer or the tea-boy at the Estate Agents?

The front elevation and rear elevation shout 'council house' so that's going to put a LOT of buyers off. Get corner shots done and avoid including the neighbouring house.

The rooms are FAR TOO CLUTTERED. Remove everything you can from the rooms before pictures are taken. Potential buyers like to visualise what the rooms could look like if they bought it and there's too much stuff in each room in the pictures.

Rule #1 of property pictures: REMOVE ALL PERSONAL EFFECTS.

But most importantly, get a proper photographer to do the photos.

Lol, pure comedy.

As always, the real issue is price.

satchmeister

geoffky wrote: »

my wife's best friend is selling her house...it has been on the market for 2 years now with just 3 viewings..
She NEEDS to sell at about 20k more than houses are now selling for around here as she has failed to see the 20% drop in prices in these two years and its still priced at 2009 prices.
Can i hell explain what she is doing wrong as she just says but i need xxx to move...why does she expect other people to pay off her debts? Its MAD out there with delusional sellers thinking buyers are going to bail them out..

It's not delusional sellers, the EA are just not finding the right buyers :rotfl: seen one property that changes EA every few months hoping that the new EA will have their very own set of buyers who will not have seen the property before. From this unique list of special buyers, one will offer the full asking price in cash and be very flexible with the exchange and completion date.

2 years, 3 viewings, £20,000 over priced = total delusion.

Fortunately for the sellers all of the buyers have never heard of rightmove, houseprices.co.uk, property bee etc so have no idea what the property was bought for, how long it has been on the market, price changes and what others locally have sold for.

shegar

I quite agree with the comments about your house , Im not being rude to you but I think you need to get rid of those horrible grey net curtains hanging in your sitting room doors blocking out so much natural light, once taken down your room will look so much cleaner brighter and bigger............definately get rid of orange walls and borders...............Bathroom needs total de clutter, the only items you need on display are some lovely clean towels , bath mat..hide toothbrushes etc and keep the bathroom window sill empty from toiletries...........Your hall looks clutter free and very light bright......can you hang your curtains a bit better in all the rooms.?........ Also too many shoes under the bed "says you havent got enough storage space" hide them .........Like you say you will be busy this weekend, but you wont have to spend much money to get it up to scratch, its just time really ......look forward to seeing your new photos when youve done.......:)

googler

fudgecat wrote: »

Immediate impressions are that the Estate Agent has takebn highly unproffessional pictures whihc do not show the house in its best light.

The EA has photographed what was there when the OP invited them in to take the photos. What's 'unprofessional' about the photography?

The shoes under the bed? Was the EA expected to move them for a 'professional' result? Or should the OP have done this?

The mismatched curtains in the bedroom? Was the EA expected to fix the tiebacks, or should the OP have done this before he arrived?

The clutter in the bathroom? Seriously, was the EA expected to move the wet flannel from the washbasin? Would you have moved it? Where to? Where do you put it down while you take the photo?

Preparation before the EA arrives is what's needed here. It's nothing to do with the EA's professionalism.

PinkKiwi

Some people need to see a completely blank canvas to see the potential in a house and some people can do that regardless of the decor. The ones that are unable to see what they could achieve they need you to do this for them. Even if it means painting every room magnolia.

Bathroom: I would invest in some brightly coloured towels (red works or hot pink/aqua) and matching bathroom accessories. This can be done very cheaply from shops such as wilkinsons, home bargains, b and m etc. Take down the shower curtain, move out your toiletries and place a bright towel folded over the bath, a few matching coloured candles along the back, some similar coloured toiletry bottles on the shelf over the sink, matching bath mat. Can the sun and moon tiles be covered or if transfers taken off?

Garden looks fine.

The back elevation looks stark. This could be brightened up with some bright hanging baskets and potted plants or garden accessories. The estate agents I worked at, some of our vendors borrowed bits and pieces from friends, families and neighbours just for the pictures.

The front picture is fine although I don't think it draws people in. Sometimes people have an inside photo of one of the best rooms to get people to look.

The hall is fine and quite warm looking.

Kitchen is fine but the right hand side spoils it. I would declutter and move the fridge over to take the picture then move it back.

Dining room table needs to be clear of coats, get a nice table runner and some table accessories, get your best crockery out and set the table. Declutter on the left hand side.

Living room is fine but I don't think the angle of the photo is great as I'm wondering where the door is, where the living room is in the house and whats at the other side of the room.

I would move the shoes and stuff from under the bed and try to play down the bright colours in the other bedroom.

Don't be afraid to spend a little money on accessories to emphasise the rooms, afterall if it helps to sell the house it could be money well spent.

I would also think about changing estate agents as they are obviously not working for you. 7 viewings since last november is very poor and I think they should be communicating with you better. They should be updating you on what they are doing to try and sell your house not asking you to reduce just because they find it difficult to find viewers.

Hope this helps.

Tiddlywinks

First impressions:

- looks messy, uncoordinated and unloved almost like a long term let to students
- it needs a total tidy up
- storage - the two airers out on show plus the shoes under the bed just scream that there is no proper storage
- two tone bright colours and mid height borders on the walls are very late 80s/early 90s
- living room needs to look more sophisticated - the cd racks are messy and the room needs rearranging

I suggest a tidy up, injection of neutral canvas walls with feature colours to bring the house up to date. Also, add some storage solutions.

claire16c

The main things that stand out to me were there is no floor plan. The carpet on the stairs is a horrible colour but the rest of the hallway is nice. The orange is not good - why would your husband want to keep a room painted orange when hes hopefully not even going to be living there soon? And I have a thing about shower curtains, Id be replacing it with a glass door. Photos make it look like there is not much storage in the bedrooms.