Just tell me if there is something wrong...

ka7e

Apart from the jumbly photos, I would just like to say you have a lovely contemporary family home! Just about the only thing that would put me off is having the double bed so close to the pitched roof, it looks rather cramped. I would expect it to be fairly central in such a large room.

phoebe1989seb

sacha28 wrote: »

One thing that really would put me off is having the master bedroom on a different floor to the other 2 bedrooms. I moved in June because we had a house set out like this and it was VERY difficult with our lo at night. If he woke up at 3am I found traipsing up and down stairs awful. I know there is nothing you can do about the layout but perhaps this is putting young families off?

Re: this point, when we were selling a six bed (Victorian) house six years ago we had a viewer that was of this opinion - our master bedroom was on the first floor with one other bedroom (a biggie at 20') that was used by our teenage son as a sitting room, whilst we had a further two beds on the mezzanine floor and the final two on the second floor. This viewer - who had seen the details and floor plan before viewing - was put off by the fact that her three/four kids under ten would have to sleep on different floor to their parents.......but if that's the layout, there's little that can be done

Decoration-wise, our houses (6) have all been quirky and colourful - we have never really *toned them down* or neutralised them prior to selling - with the exception of our last-but-one where our EA advised painting our Laura Ashley *raspberry* bathroom beige, which we did only for our buyers to state that they'd have preferred it as it was - and we've (fingers crossed) always sold quickly (last one went under offer in two weeks - in an extremely slow moving area, where two years later some more *run of the mill* houses are still languishing on the market), despite the niche-market effect......

IMHO, too much has been said in TV programmes etc regarding presenting older homes (and the OP's is fairly new.....I mean really old ones too!) in *show home condition*, assuming buyers don't have the ability to see beyond someone else's colour-schemes/furniture/knick knacks, when in actual fact most people can.....and will not only be buying an empty house, but will change the colour schemes anyway Not only that, but in this thread some posters have said the OP's house looks *too much like a show home*!

Whilst the OP's house is not to my personal taste (old houses with Art Nouveau, William Morris etc ), it is surely easy to visualise it with calmer walls in the living room and kid's bedroom?

Oh, my DH did point out that there appears to be no shower curtain or similar over the bath.......minor detail, lol!

pmlindyloo

Just got in and look at the number of viewings on your thread! This forum certainly loves commenting on houses!

So, having read them all here's my twopenny worth.

Lovely house not being shown to full potential by the pictures so, in no particular order, this is the bare minimum as to what I would do:

1. The street map can't be changed but the EA can take a picture showing the cul de sac aspect.

2. Definitely change the wallpaper in the lounge. No one minds painting/decorating but for anyone moving this is (IMO) the last room you want to paint to begin with. I agree that people will immediately not be able to reconcile their furniture with your wallpaper unless their settees are black leather!

3. Definitely show the dining area - hopefully with a table and chairs - no where shown where you can eat.

4. Definitely grass the garden - this is a family house, add a few tubs/colour.

5. Ditch the photo of the dressing area.

Nothing else that I would put as equal in importance to the above suggestions but obviously you can go on and on and on changing things as you wish and have the enthusiasm for.

Good luck with it all.

agrinnall

I would be pretty disappointed at any EA who doesn't do a floorplan to go with the property particulars, which should in this day be available to go online. If they are insisting you will have to pay extra to get one, and you're considering a change anyway, then perhaps you should just bite the bullet and spend your money with a new EA.

scotnan

Other people's choice of decor wouldn't necessarily put me off a house as I know I can always redecorate. I would like to have seen more of the garden in the photos.

However having (eventually) found the street view - what would put me off is the severe lack of parking outside the house. I'm assuming those spaces across the road belong to the apartments in that block. Where would my family and friends park when they come to visit? The double yellow lines don't help and I'd always worry what could be built in that empty plot just beside your row of houses.

Your house is lovely and there's nothing about it that would put me off coming for a viewing, except something that unfortunately you can't do anything about and is outwith your control.

Also I had a look around the surrounding area and am just wondering is it a bit overpriced?

cattie

Although your furnishing style isn't to my taste, the only things that would really put me off of your house are the very busy wallpaper & dark floor in the living room. I'd definitely do something about the wall to make the room look more appealing to the majority.

I agree with some others that have commented that it looks a bit cold & like a show home, but then I don't like really modern interiors, much preferring something a bit more cosy looking. However, there are many, many people who would love to be able to buy a modern style house such as you have & not have to do a single thing to it. Just move in & unpack.

The lack of a floor plan has never put me off of wanting to view a property. I tend to go by room sizes when deciding whether a place is worth viewing or not & for a modern house, you have really good sized rooms, so can honestly be described as a spacious family house.

One negative for potential viewers could be the house being over 3 levels & this doesn't appeal to a lot of people. The house I sold last year was over 3 levels & it did put some people off when they came to look around. And with you having sloping ceilings in the top floor rooms will be a no no with some people.

The other negative, which would put me off & probably other people, is that you appear to be facing/surrounded by local authority housing?

That all said, goodness knows why your house hasn't been snapped up or even had an offer on, for as mentioned elsewhere, if it were in or close to London it would be gone by now and at practically double your asking price.

Perhaps because the schools are all back now, not so many families are looking to move. There was a lot of activity at the end of spring/beginning of summer with people wanting to move to be close to a good school before new term started in September. You've probably missed out on any opportunities there & the market does tend to slow down as we get close to the festive season.

go_cat

If you bought it in 2010 then you paid between £132,500 and £145,000. I don't know the area but has it seen an £11k rise (minimum ) in 3 years when most areas are only just seeing a slight increase?

Upsidedown_Bear

cattie wrote: »

That all said, goodness knows why your house hasn't been snapped up or even had an offer on, for as mentioned elsewhere, if it were in or close to London it would be gone by now and at practically double your asking price.

But it isn't in London is it?

Move the flat I live in central London and it would be worth 3 times as much.
Move it to Sunderland and it would be worth a third of it's current value.

As I can't move it anywhere that doesn't really help :cool:

StumpyPumpy

Sorry to be the one to break it to you, but, despite what you have said, there are 3 very obvious reasons why you are not getting viewings. They are: price, price and price. I know technically, that only counts as one reason, but it is such a big one it needs to be emphasised.

If I were looking to buy a house in your area, perhaps the first question I would ask is what has happened to your house in the last three years of recession to make it worth £24,000 more than the price you paid for it. Because the pictures don't show where that money might have gone. And the housing market in the area over the last 3 years has shown around a 3.5% increase not the 18% mark-up you are looking for, never mind the 20% you were looking for originally. Also, the fact that the builder had to rent them out at the beginning, makes me suspect that he did so because he couldn't sell them either. Most builders don't build to rent unless they are housing association/social housing type landlords.

I just don't think tweaking the listing, changing the photos or getting rid of *that* wallpaper in the living room is going to help if you don't address the core issue.

SP

Pont

If I was selling a three double bedroomed house - I would show it as such for the photographs.

Even if you have to remove the bunks for a day and 'borrow' double beds for the pics, it could be worth the effort. I think this style of house could appeal more to house sharers (rather than the family market) who want to see they they each have a double room.

I too would get rid of the 'corrridor' looking photograph.

I think you most certainly show a dining area.

I personally would soften the look of the living room. Again you could 'borrow' a rug, inject some warmth with different cushions and a throw over the side of the sofas could be an idea. I would also either remove, or paint over for a quick fix, the wallpaper.

The garden isn't being shown to it's best. Yet again, if need be, borrow a small patio chairs/table set and a few planters with some cheap pansies would help.

I think your bathrooms look lovely, but a little cold. A few nice looking bottles and perhaps a few brightly coloured towels could make them look move 'lived in'.

Like other posters have suggested a floor plan is a must.

I can't comment on the price as I have no idea of the area.