House situation - Advice needed

Aelo

19lottie82 wrote: »

It's not a "stupid" price if it sells, it's a realistic one.
Just because you need £ for a deposit, doesn't make your house worth anymore I'm afraid.

Again, if I were in your position, I would throw everything you can at the mortgage and re assess the situation in 2 years or so.

Maybe I wasn't clear, when I said "stupid" I meant well undervalued so it'll shift quickly. But I think i'm starting to agree with you about paying off as much as possible, leave it a few years.

But really, it's my partners decision, as it's technically her house.

Thanks again.

19lottie82

It doesn't matter what an estate agent values it at.
It's real value is what it will sell for, no more, no less.

Good luck OP.

cattie

Why has the ea included a close up shot of the staircase instead of a decent picture of the living room?

All the rooms look pretty soulless, and it would be nice to see some pictures that make you feel it could be a nice cosy home, somewhere where you would enjoy inviting friends etc round.

Ask the ea to take some better pictures & before you do, make sure you make the place look an appealing place to live with some homely touches.

Obviously it must be overpriced as you've had no offer to date or very much interest. Reduce the price & ditch the offers over pitch, not many people are keen on that. I like a house to have a proper asking price.

Cheeky_Monkey

The photos ....... my particular favourite is the one with the idiot photographer clearly visible in the mirrored wardrobes :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

[Deleted User]

It looks to me like you've made a fairly usual mistake of getting a large sofa and it is awkward to place in a small room. I'd advise putting that one into storage and going on freecycle or ebay.., or buying a smaller sofa (one with a depth of less than 1m and not so wide, its what I did). Move the smaller sofa to the end walls by the staircase (there should be room looking at the floor plan). Then u can move the TV and avoid making the staircase look like a feature. All this only emphasises the smallness of the lounge. Put storage where the TV is now.

Reiterate the comments about the garden. If u decide to stay for a couple of years I'd buy some hedging plants to make the garden more enclosed as they grow.., but investigate growing times. I'm not sure what exactly the lease means by 'leaving it as it is' .., investigate if you can add hedging plants in between their shrubbery. If not, at least cut back the shrubbery each year so it doesn't look like its in a neglected scrubland.., watering it will help as well as weeding and leaf clearing.., take pictures now when its at its best.., not when its at its almost worst (autumn) lol.

And yes, make the house look more cosy with soft furnishings and pictures. It looks very unloved. If you don't make it look loved how can you expect anyone else to love it?

Plus if u do have to stay for an extra year or two, making it look more loved will make it easier to live in. It looks as if you decided you had made a major mistake as soon as you moved in! You may have to work on making the best of what you have.., and this is possible.

If you can manage a 25% deposit I am sure u can afford a couple of thousand to make this place more liveable while u save up more or pay off more of the mortgage.

Hope this helps.

go_cat

Sorry the first thing I noticed was how dirty the carpet was. Can you either replace with a cheap one or maybe a rug or runner near the door . Another option to hire a carpet cleaner which can be done quite cheaply

cte1111

I was going to post the same as go cat, the photos would put me off viewing the house.

The dirty carpet in the first interior photo sounds alarms and you are then looking for problems in the other photos. There's something odd above the skirting in the kitchen, the skirting itself looks like it's bare unvarnished wood, maybe paint this to make it all blend in. Then add some life and personality with a small number of accessories.

The spiral, creaky looking staircase is a bit of a problem for some, showing it off with an extra photo is madness! The final photo of the garden would clinch it for me, it looks horrible, sorry. It needs tidying up, possibly re-turfing, a few bedding plants and a table and chairs to make it look usable.

There is grass growing out of the gutter in the exterior photo and moss on the porch roof at the front. I would get these sorted (if you can borrow some ladders these are minor fixes) then add some nice pots of plants at the front, this would get it more immediate appeal.

In general, sort out the fairly minor problems that are obvious from the photos, lower your price and move on.

holgate79

If it helps... I would get rid of photos 4 and 6 - they do not show positive features of the house. I agree with what has been said about
Rearranging the living room. Your guttering has got weeds growing out of it and your outdoor space looks unloved/ un inviting.

I think you have to ' dress' it for it to catch someone's eye .

DRP

This house needs a lot of tlc to make it give a positive first impression.

Dirty carpets, strange furniture/placing, bare walls, the 'garden', the inadvertent hanging basket in the gutter ... plus the photography is pretty average (get rid of the pic of the photographer and of the spiral staircase).

If it was me and I was desperate to move , I would be tarting the place up to sell and taking the hit by dropping the price.

After all , if you can afford the aforementioned 25% deposit, you can afford to drop the price.