What is wrong?

TheRoders

Apparently, it's the EA's policy to remove all towels etc before taking photos so the fluffy ones I had all set out neatly on the bathroom were removed when the photographer went round!

I'll tell them to leave them in the next time.

This is all great feedback. thank you so much.

TheRoders

Thanks Walcott

The garden was just a pile of dirt up to the beginning of January. It looked awful so we paid artifical grass and the EA's moved all of the toys to take the photos. There is a slide and sand pit and loads of things out there normally. I will definitely buy some plants this weekend for the front and back I think.

Better_Days

The click through to the agents brochure didn't work for me in Firefox although it did in Chrome.

However, the agents brochure doesn't add much - lazy so and so's. Still no proper description of the property. Agent really needs to up their game and to get a move on ready for spring.

cte1111

It looks like you've outgrown this house, which makes me think that I will too. The main culprits are the kitchen and the conservatory.

Kitchen - You really need to put away (pack away into the attic / friend's garage) everything that is currently out on the surfaces, remove the shelves on the left, or remove all the tat and just have a small number of more ornamental items, take the picture off the boiler. It should then look much better.

Conservatory - not sure how much you can do, but if you've taken the shelves away, then definitely take a new picture.

Garden - maybe put some nice pots with cheap colourful bedding plants in, to show a touch of life, both at the front and back.

At the minute, the back garden looks a bit dead, the conservatory is unusable, the bedrooms are overcrowded, the kitchen is very cluttered and the bathroom needs replacing. I quite like the lounge!

Davesnave

My impressions from a quick look are:

• the frontage looks OK for the time of year. Woodwork could be freshened and bin/bits of wood shouldn't be in shot

• narrow lounge with child-unfriendly staircase

• apparently nowhere to eat comfortably

• conservatory set up for business use instead of looking aspirational with seating area, table, plants etc.

• bathroom from the 80s

• garden devoid of life, but seems well maintained

As you're aware, it's a small house, but some of the pictures emphasise this when they should be disguising it.

TBagpuss

The house comes over as looking very small. Some of the things which jump out at me:

Description There is no real description at all. Why not? I would normally expect more information

Kitchen
I like the style, but it looks very cluttered. The crockery stacked up on top of the cupboard on the left (pic 2) and the round thing on the surface immediately to the left of the cooker suggests you are very short of storage space. Could you remove those, at least for the photos and any viewings?
I would also remove the ?calendar? stuck up on the boiler, and the ornament on top of the end cupboards.
Are the shelves on the left really at an angle, or is that just the photo? Can you fix either the shelves or the photo. Would it be possible to declutter those shelves and use them for the crockery to free up surfaces?

Back Garden
I appreciate it isn't the best time of year, but this looks very unloved. Some flowers (maybe in planters on the gravel / paving) might brighten it up.
Is that artificial turf?

Living Room

I don't think the picture is doing you any favours - it makes the room look very long and thin, and very poky. I'm not sure how you could improve that, perhaps taking another photo looking the other way?

I am personally not a fan of staircases out of the living room and I would be put off by yours as it is not only in the living room, but also the style and design make it seem very obtrusive and awkward. Having spiral staircase and open treads both seem problematic in what appears to be a starter home, where your potential buyers may have, or be planning to have, small children. I appreciate that that is unlikely to be something you can change, however I do think that pic 4 is very offputting - maybe one looking that way but without showing the staircase, and one looking the other way so it can be clearly seen, would work better?

Conservatory
Declutter as much as you can. In terms of presentation, if it is not practical for you to re-dress it as a conservatory / dining area rather than an office (is there any chance you could rent office space elsewhere on a temporary basis?) then I would suggest that you try to make it a bit more homely - could you have baskets or crates on the (lower) shelving so it has a uniform appearance, for instance (or make curtains to cover the front of the shelves)

Clear the surface for photos and viewings and put a runner or table cloth on the surface, with a vase of flowers of bowl of fresh fruit.

For photos and viewings, close your laptop, put the printer under the desk, and have the other things covered if you can.

Consider whether a rug would brighten it up and make it look more welcoming.

Bathroom

The coloured suite is dated, which you probably can't change at this point. However, the room also looks very cold and unwelcoming. How about some nice fluffy towels? Could you replace the shower curtain with a glass screen? The description lets you down - I am assuming there is a shower because of the curtain, but I don't actually know.

Bed one looks OK, although the photo is very dark. I would get rid of the soft toys for all photos and viewings. Is thee a crack, or peeling wallpaper, above the right hand end of the radiator? If so, can you fix that?
I would also look at opening the curtains fully (with ties if necessary) do the room looks lighter
Bed 2
The photo is terrible. Makes the room look tiny. Could they not take a photo which showed the whole room? Is the white surface part of the bed? If not, I'd suggest taking it out and replacing it with a more standard sized nightstand, so the room looks bigger.

Finally - have you had any feedback from the viewings? If not, ask your agents to follow that up.

Good luck. I think if you can improve the presentation it will help a lot - it loks a little bit tired and unloved at the moment.

TheRoders

Do you think painting the kitchen cabinets a different colour from the green would help?

I have just weeded out the front and will add new plants over the weekend.

No there is no where to eat but the conservatory could be a very large dining area. It's my biggest issue because I can not move my business out of the house so can not show it to it's full potential

Artificial grass is recently laid but yes, plants are a must I think.

I will certainly give the EA a kick for the description. That's all they do for all of their properties on the market and they are the biggest EA around here.

fairy_lights

The description says it's and end of terrace, but in the photo it looks like a mid terrace, so which is it?
I actually quite like the green bathroom suite but know I'm probably in the minority. The way the bathroom has been stripped of all towels and bottles though makes it look strange and clinical, same with the garden.

AdrianC

TheRoders wrote: »

Yes, we were thinking of taking the shelves down on the left and removing that cupboard with the dishes on and putting up a breakfast bar (matching).

I don't have a problem with the shelves. It's the cupboard that visually blocks the washer/dryer, and intrudes on the floor. A breakfast bar will make it worse, not better.

It's an 80's build so single glazed.

Full EPC :- https://www.epcregister.com/reportSearchAddressDownloadReport.html?id=9b9e44fd7406445feda49eb90bca7ca332d9ec013eafa3aaab140dd8a34870ef

<blink> Wow. I'd be seriously thinking about changing that. Big investment, I know, but any buyer will want to factor the guesstimated worst-case price into the purchase price. IF they bother come round at all.

Get more loft insulation in there, too - quick and easy job, not expensive. You've currently got 75mm, the current recommended minimum is 270mm...

It's also a no-brainer to go round the light bulbs. Those three jobs will take you from band D to high C, maybe even low B.

TheRoders

I really have NO spare cash... Hence why we are moving to try and clear our debts so changing windows etc is an absolute no go and the price already reflects this!

I can not move my business temporarily. It's light industrial I would need and I'd be looking at a minimum of £800 a month to do this... I can not move the business equipment.

It is an end terrace but there is a detached house next to us.