Phil Spencer

Dan-Dan

saying that , search Bungalow in LU7 and its the one ending in `grove`

3 bed

olly300

Dan-Dan wrote: »

well yesterdays had to reduce by 15/20k

I think the week before they were told to put it on for 500K i.e. reduce the price by 35K and expect offers of around 470-475K.

The brother refused to this.

Dukesy

The problem really is that a lot of people are spectacularly unimaginative. I've known people who have disregarded houses on the basis of disliking the carpets, wallpaper and similar. To me this sounds just mad. In some cases, the decoration and furnishing is so dreadful that rooms do look smaller and darker than they are, but again I really can't understand how people can't see past this.

OH and I buy to renovate, so we base our choices upon functionality, inherent character (or at least the potential to restore character) and price, not whether the entire house is painted nicotine yellow, and whilst I appreciate that not everyone has the capability to carry out the kind of work we do, I really don't understand how anyone can be so fussy. So what if the bathroom is midnight purple? A tin of paint and a few hours and hey presto! As for not having the funds to change paint or carpets, why do they need to be done immediately, if the actual house itself is perfect for you? Too many people seem to expect the world these days.

Ivana_Tinkle

Dukesy wrote: »

The problem really is that a lot of people are spectacularly unimaginative. I've known people who have disregarded houses on the basis of disliking the carpets, wallpaper and similar. To me this sounds just mad. In some cases, the decoration and furnishing is so dreadful that rooms do look smaller and darker than they are, but again I really can't understand how people can't see past this.

OH and I buy to renovate, so we base our choices upon functionality, inherent character (or at least the potential to restore character) and price, not whether the entire house is painted nicotine yellow, and whilst I appreciate that not everyone has the capability to carry out the kind of work we do, I really don't understand how anyone can be so fussy. So what if the bathroom is midnight purple? A tin of paint and a few hours and hey presto! As for not having the funds to change paint or carpets, why do they need to be done immediately, if the actual house itself is perfect for you? Too many people seem to expect the world these days.

Yup, absolutely agree. But people are so unimaginative that they don't even know they're being fussy. They can't see that the only thing wrong with the bathroom is that it's painted midnight purple - they just go, "Horrible dingy bathroom" and discount the property. They can't see what they'd need to do to make the property nice, so it seems impossible or scary.

Fire_Fox

Dan-Dan wrote: »

Morning All

I was watching this guy last night , i do like his style and personality etc ,but i am confused about what message is supposed to be aimed at sellers (and buyers)

I was udner the impression , most people , looking to spend thousands of pounds , could , and would look past crappy furniture and awful paint colours etc...yes on yesterdays show , he advocates replastering , employing a painter and decorator to do one room , whihc needed 3 coats of gloss on the door frames etc so the cost was £300

New carperts - £550 ....etc etc

Where does it end , before it becomes a false economy to even sell the house?

What is the point in neutrally painting a room , when in all likelihood the new owers will peronalise it anyway?

I dont really understand why you would spend 2k upwards to asthetically tart up a house that any buyer is likely to start from scratch with anyway ?

- Many many people cannot see the potential
- Look how ga-ga women go over babies and men go over cars or gadgets, it's the same trick
- Optical illusions created by too much clutter or dark decor
- Blank canvas to imagine yourself living there, you have to imagine it as YOUR house
- Most people like 'move in' condition, they can decorate at their leisure, won't have to avoid the garish living room the first time they are hungover or have a migraine
- People are poor at estimating the time, hassle and cost of work
- Women need to 'fall in love'/ nest so too plain or cold or empty is unwise, it will be seen as a house not a home
- In some areas you are selling an aspirational lifestyle, look at how they do up show homes for new builds, they don't just sell magnolia boxes.

The ideal is to spend as little as possible whilst being realistic. If you can't see what the glaring faults are then get someone else to do it for you - post Rightmove links here on MSE. Always declutter, spring clean, finish half done niggly DIY tasks - these primarily cost time not money.

Replace any really tatty or dark flooring, paint over any dated or dark walls, the odd 'feature wall' in a not too personal colour or design is OK. Try to get the outside weather tight and looking well cared for.

Slinky

Dan-Dan wrote: »

saying that , search Bungalow in LU7 and its the one ending in `grove`

3 bed

What's below the carpet tiles? Can you lose them, they are very distracting.

However it's very obviously a do-er upper.

I know bungalows carry a premium, but I'm not sure I'd be prepared to pay £325 for something which obviously needs a lot of money spending on it, even if not immediately. We're not that far from you and a similar sized house in our road in very good nick sold for £306 earlier in the year, reduced from £325.

Dukesy wrote: »

The problem really is that a lot of people are spectacularly unimaginative. I've known people who have disregarded houses on the basis of disliking the carpets, wallpaper and similar. To me this sounds just mad. In some cases, the decoration and furnishing is so dreadful that rooms do look smaller and darker than they are, but again I really can't understand how people can't see past this.

OH and I buy to renovate, so we base our choices upon functionality, inherent character (or at least the potential to restore character) and price, not whether the entire house is painted nicotine yellow, and whilst I appreciate that not everyone has the capability to carry out the kind of work we do, I really don't understand how anyone can be so fussy. So what if the bathroom is midnight purple? A tin of paint and a few hours and hey presto! As for not having the funds to change paint or carpets, why do they need to be done immediately, if the actual house itself is perfect for you? Too many people seem to expect the world these days.

Many years ago I worked for a few months in an estate agents. I managed to sell a house to somebody who had dismissed it looking the details because the front door was blue....

Dan-Dan

Slinky wrote: »

What's below the carpet tiles? Can you lose them, they are very distracting.

However it's very obviously a do-er upper.

I know bungalows carry a premium, but I'm not sure I'd be prepared to pay £325 for something which obviously needs a lot of money spending on it, even if not immediately. We're not that far from you and a similar sized house in our road in very good nick sold for £306 earlier in the year, reduced from £325.

Thanks for your post

What does frustrate me , is that i kind of agree with this , but location is everything with this , and it only takes the `right` buyer to come along and we will get waht we `need` , which is £315 or as near to....we think....BUT , i am aware there is a real good chance we could sit on the market for weeks at 325....

We have had 9 viewers and 3 second viewers , all feedback so far ranges from `too much work` or `loved it but cant proceed` which is annoying , as we did specify proceedable people to view but then i guess people would just say yes , if asked that by the EA so not much we can do about that..

Its very habitable but you WOULD spend 8-10k on a good kitchen , open up the space , then concentrate on the bathroom and toilet being seperate

Structually and roof wise etc the bungalow is in very good nick really

Goldiegirl

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I cant stand the man nor his sidekick Ms Allsop.

They are both estuary English muttering priveledged southern gits who have done much to help the stoking of the housing bubble and profiting from it. aside from that,they are also responsible for contributing to the constant stream of low grade pap which the muggings Brits pay a licence for.


Ms Allsopp daughter of 6th Baron Hindlip

Phil..well at least he isnt a silver Spoon wallah and has paddled his own canoe in life..

Would you like them better if they were northern gits?

I have been reliably told that there are plenty of gits in the north, so being a git is not just a southern thing

taxiphil

Of course Phil Spencer is never going to say the house is perfectly fine and not to waste money doing it up, otherwise the show would be 5 minutes long. He's a showman whose primary concern is not about helping the housing market but making television. Same principle for Top Gear and all the cookery shows, they're just producing entertainment, it's television for television's sake and nothing else.

Personally I think far too many people have taken the Spencer/Allsopp stuff far too seriously and it's created a breed of superficial and paranoid househunters. I had a whole raft of them when I recently sold my house. You could always spot the armchair property experts by the kind of guff they came out with; one young woman asked "has the house been rewired yet?". The house was built in 2002. When I said "No, not yet", she said "oh, well that's something I'll have to get costed."

In my parents' day you just looked at the bricks and mortar of the house, and the quality of the area it was in. That was it. You didn't need a table and chairs laid out with a strategically positioned cafetiere to be able to understand that it's a dining room.

Norma_Desmond

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

We too have had 'doer-uppers', but surely the point of the Phil Spencer programme is to get the house to sell for the price the people want, not the price it would be if sold in its present state? Of course people will buy less than perfect houses, but not for top price!

If only we'd had bad wallpaper and swirly carpets to contend with!

This house barely had a bloomin' roof - but that's why we could afford it.

I just can't understand people who can't or won't 'see beyond'.