Selling a 4 bed sandstone - advice needed!

I_have_spoken

No viewers means price is too high, 1st rule of selling.

Is the Manchester agent listing on http://www.gspc.co.uk/ ? A lot of buyers in Scotland use this as much as RM, Zoopla.

With the new tax from Apr 2015, it's going to cost more for properties above £325k, so that may spur on purchases of larger properties.

I don't know Airdrie, other than it is supposed to be red hot for the YeSNP.

Anyhow -

Pic 1- all that tarmac very unappealing, looks like a dentists or solicitors offices.
Pic 2 - tiny, awful garden beyond the picture windows
Pic 3 - too many pictures hanging
Pic 4 - pointless
Pic 5 and 6 - can't work out purpose of this room
Pic 14 - surprisingly small for a master bedroom
Pic 17 - what happened to the bed, leaving just the mattress?
Pic 18 - pointless
Pic 22 - reinforces how soulless the garden is
Pic 23 - awful

Even with original agent's floorplan, it's a difficult house to make sense of. Putting Dining Room/Bedroom 5 on the floorplan is always unconvincing, why not say Games Room/Bedrom 6?

The galley kitchen seems pinched for space, with the silly wee 'island' table made from an worktop offcut, and which appears to always be in the way as you go between cooker and sink. It would have been far better to take space from the huge 'sitting room' to the kitchen far more appealing.

I'd say it's been overdeveloped given the max price ever achieved in the area and the money spent won't be recouped, e.g. having no garage is bizarre thing, so the architect has done a very poor job. There seems to be a huge amount of space but with no clear purpose to it., ironically it could be turned into a good-sized dentists or solicitors offices.

NB The only property in the area which has seen £400k is this place -
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=42582091&sale=21230738&country=scotland which made £400k in Jan 2014, after going for £980k in 2006. Ouch!

Mardle

Beeches3 wrote: »

What do you mean? The first photo of the front of the house?

Yes, the house seems warmer and more inviting on the second listing.

aggypanthus

Fab house inside, lacking feeling of warmth and luxury, add a rug or 2, dress the dining room table.
Fountain is ok but out of place dumped on top of unnatractive surface, looks like a school playground out front. Even gravelled areas with pots of plants on it would improve it. Creat ! gravel path to the door maybe, lined with a few pots? Get along to B and Q at cumbernauld

Blackpool_Saver

My heart sank when I saw that dark and gloomy kitchen

AdrianC

I_have_spoken wrote: »

No viewers means price is too high, 1st rule of selling.

...based solely on what the EA is putting in front of potential viewers.

kidmugsy

Do people really spend that sort of money on a house in Airdrie?

franklee

I realise you aren't with Countrywide anymore but given they have the better details I'll comment on those.

Looking at Countrywide's floor plan I don't like that the dining room is a long way from the kitchen, through the sitting/TV room, into the hall and then into the dining room/bedroom 5. Why call that the dining room anyway when one of your dining tables is setup in what the floor plan has marked the sitting area of the sitting room/lounge.

Why does the floor plan have two sitting rooms and a lounge? Suggest you think what each room can be used for and call each one something different, dining room, snug, family room, playroom or something like that. Make sure the main dining room is next to the kitchen! You need something to distinguish each room at the moment they all blur into one cream/beige confusion.

Countrywide's floor plan doesn't show the windows and doors accurately, the kitchen door isn't shown, bedroom 4 has no window etc. Given the house is hard to understand you need the floor plan to be accurate. Do you have one from planning the extension and can you use that instead? At least use it to add accurate room measurements and all windows and doors.

Agree the tarmac at the front is too much. I've no idea how big the back garden is.

Agree that Countrywide's photos are better. Express focus on the ceiling too much and I don't think the view of the loft hatch is appealing.

Agree you need to write about the history of the building. What do you know about the history, say when the main house was built, what is was used for etc, that it retains original features. Does the lounge have high ceiling and stained glass windows. Draw attention to these features. Do you have the listing from when you purchased, does that have any wording that helps? Add blurb about skillfully extended by the current owners, newly fitted bathrooms, kitchen, oak doors (or whatever they are) etc.

impartialobserv

Do you need to sell the house - is staying there not an option?

Looking at the prices of other properties for sale/sold in the same general area, it definitely seems overpriced - around £325k would seem like a more realistic figure? I am not familiar with the Scottish market, however, so may be wrong about this.

I agree with the other comments re lack of floorplan and the stark aspect of the outside space, some turf in the back garden and plant pots in the front would cheer things up a bit.

You do sound very nice Op, so I hope things work out for you

Beeches3

impartialobserv wrote: »

Do you need to sell the house - is staying there not an option?

Looking at the prices of other properties for sale/sold in the same general area, it definitely seems overpriced - around £325k would seem like a more realistic figure? I am not familiar with the Scottish market, however, so may be wrong about this.

I agree with the other comments re lack of floorplan and the stark aspect of the outside space, some turf in the back garden and plant pots in the front would cheer things up a bit.

You do sound very nice Op, so I hope things work out for you

Thank you so much for your kind words.
Staying isn't an option so need to get things moving, I've had a lot of advice and pointers for kind people so there are things I can do re the plan and description, photos and plants. So it's all good.
On the price thing, we paid 300k for it and unfortunately have spent a fortune but we might just need to swallow this one!!:o
Thanks again

I_have_spoken

we paid 300k for it and unfortunately have spent a fortune

Yep, can see how much money has been sunk into it. Unfortunately, if you think it's a 'forever' home and make it nice, an unforeseen event can scupper plans and you need to take it on the chin.