what do you think of my house, only been on for 3 weeks no offers several views...

robwend

also just to remind you guys about turning threads into wars remember the new policy, even if yourve been on here scince the day this forum opened, 1 strike and your off, so please be nice:D for your own good:p

stolt

robwend wrote:

once your have finished your contract with eastwood try hunt roche, <if they cover you im not sure>there super duper, i know they cover eastwood<i think>i found eastwood not a very pushy agent.

thanks Essex countryside seem another that have grabbed my attention, I agree about ERL, your not the only person to tell me that, a guy down the pub said his wife popped in ERL and found the manager to be a little over bearing and forceful and it she grabbed some details and walked out, apparently he was trying to tell her what she was looking for rather than listening to her.

stolt

robwend wrote:

also just to remind you guys about turning threads into wars remember the new policy, even if yourve been on here scince the day this forum opened, 1 strike and your off, so please be nice:D for your own good:p

thanks I wasnt aware of it, but then again I don't really want a war, I know I cant stop ABN posting on this thread, I've asked they no longer if they have nothing constructive to say..


I've since pm'd a mod to ask for the thread to be closed, shame because up until ABN posted we got alot of useful advice.

there you go ABN you have one, well done....

MKDave

Beate wrote:

It's just a minor thing but it's a bugbear of mine - tell that estate agent of yours to check their spelling!!! Last time I looked accommodation hat 2 "m" and disappointment had 2 "p"! It does of course in no way reflect on your beautiful house, but I hate having to read bad spelling in property descriptions. No offence to anyone out there please just a personal thing!
*rantover*

...and the word has is usually spelt with an S not a T at the end of it. Ha ha

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

full-time-mum

stolt wrote:

the house was dressed for the photos and it is dressed for visitors like that, as I say we have three kids and they cant wreck a room in 5 minutes as i'm sure most of you can relate to, we assumed that people would like to see the house spacious and airy so they can see a smart lifestyle rather than a hectic lifestyle and a house which maybe needs more room.

I'm not disagreeing with you entirely and I know that all the tv programmes go on and on about a lifestyle - your house looks absolutely fantastic - but if your target market is families then you have to find a balance between smart and homely. I couldn't see my family living in such an environment - its silly because it is just how you have it and we would have it differently but thats the feeling I would get when I walked in. Personally, it is just too immaculate - it says trying too hard to me.

Please don't think I am criticising you, I think I am probably from one of your target markets so I am trying to imagine I was viewing your house as a potential buyer and give you an insight into how I would be feeling.

I'd like to relate a story to you, my friend was selling her small 4 bed family home and it was always immaculatly presented (maybe not as 'show home' as yours but certainly very tidy and all signs of toys and living well hidden she had quite a few viewings but no offers. One day the estate agent rang and said he had a client and they were sitting outside the house having visited one further down the street and could they come in. She was in the middle of ironing, the washing machine was going full tilt and the children had toys all over the floor. She had a panicy moment and nearly said no but thought better of it and said, give me a minute or two to make myself decent. She shoved her smalls to the bottom of the ironing basket and made a quick tour of the bathrooms and moved enough toys to be able to move through the room and that was all she had time for. She opened the door and said, excuse the mess, you've caught me on the hop.
The moral of the story is that they were the people who brought the house, they saw through the mess and found a house that was homely, the estate agent said the clients felt they could see their family working in the space and that the house still worked with a mess!

full-time-mum

stolt wrote:

ok I've took on your very constructive opinion, however not that i feel I have to explain myself to you (but i do) but the astro turf was laid by a professional company (you haven't even seen a picture of it!!, trust me it beats the kiddies playing outside on grass in this weather when its muddy etc (it makes the difference that they can actually play out there) and also when your sitting out in your garden and i were lucky to have another summer like last years then no doubt another hose pipe ban will be in force and my garden will look like a garden unlike a desert.

I think that astro turf is probably a little unusual and it would put me off too, it would say hassle and money. Maybe, find out how much it would cost to have it returned to the natural stuff. Perhaps the cost to just get the turf and the cost to have it done professionally then, if when showing potential buyers around, you get the feeling that they are iffy on the astro, you can say
"I know that the astro turf is unusual but we have really found it a godsend with the children, not to mention the hosepipe bans (titter). Of course, if you really don't like it, it isn't actually that difficult or expensive to revert back to grass"
obviously, you can't say that if it will cost an absolute arm and a leg to change but you get the gist.
Its in the same vein as saying, we've only a single bed in this room but if you move the wardrobe over there, you can get a double in like this. Its about fitting your property to your buyers needs and sometimes, you have to show how a problem could be overcome.

full-time-mum

If you have concerns about your estate agent, can you get a friend to pose as a buyer and give you some feedback.
Are they being too pushy or maybe pushing another house over yours etc?

Do some unofficial mystery shopping!

RHemmings

stolt wrote:

Hi just another thread about another MSE member that just wanted some advice on her apartment, and I was wondering if i could get some feedback on the house we are selling. only been on the market for 3 weeks I appreciate that its a short time, but for some silly reason I thought people would be jumping at buying it, we have had five viewings, three were a waste of time because they were really looking for a four bedroom house, another coupe said that we could get a similar sized house for a lot less money in a slightly less better area, the last couple loved the house but wanted to move to the other side of town to be near family, they said they would have house if only it was up the road 20 minutes.

Why were thes
e people viewing houses that they considered unsuitable? It is plausible that they were lied to by the agents. It is plausible that they were put off by what the house looked like and "made excuses". But it's also plausible that these comments were intended to be the opening salvo in a price negotiation. Certainly that's what the "similar house for a lot less money" comment sounds like to me.

Lizzieanne

I've read through this thread, including the link to Right Move, but didn't really take in the address...I looked again and did a double take. I think I can see your house from my bedroom window! :eek:

I know the area very well (obviously) and I would agree that dropping the price to just under the £300k mark would make a lot of difference. I have a 4 bed house close to you and it's recently been valued at £325K so I don't think you are far off. It's a lovely road and quite attractive to lots of people.

As for the question of the astro turf, is it something you could offer to replace should anyone want to make an offer? i don't know how much that would cost, not knowing anything about it, but I suppose it's a thought.

I've sent you a PM.

divadee

please can we keep this on topic and nice and polite guys. I have had a request from the op for it it be possibly locked, but feel that the thread hasnt veered off topic to much.

PLEASE BE NICE TO ALL MONEYSAVERS THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A STUPID QUESTION.


now back on topic, i would love astro turf!! no mowing to do no watering, wont get trashed when the kids play football, and if you put a swing up no muddy non grass patches etc... only downside to the astro turf is the burns from it when you fall over :eek: