Adding Kerb appeal in February?

rach_k

It looks fine to me but you could consider some fake plants/flowers. I hate them really but if they were in first floor window boxes and you kept to plants that could possibly be alive at this time of year, nobody would notice that they!!!8217;re fake.

takman

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

Thank you. Yes, most sold prices have been higher than ours, but our house has been hard to value because every house in the area is different - even within our own terrace, so there's little yardstick to base anything on.

The last 4 houses to be sold on your street were all semi detached houses and they all sold for less than yours. Your next door neighbour was sold in 2015 for almost £95,000 less than your asking price.
Personally I would say your asking price is too high which is putting people off.

Thrugelmir

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

We put our house on the market last week but there's been much less interest in it than we hoped/expected.

Chill out. A week is no amount of time.

takman

Penitent wrote: »

I didn't notice before: are those double yellow lines in front of your house? Does your listing make the parking arrangements clear? Are those parking arrangements awkward in any way?

That's a good point. I've just looked at the OP's listing and it states parking permits are available from the council but it's a narrow street with double yellow lines all down it. The parking bays are abit far around the corner and their arn't many so It looks like parking is an issue.

Kittenonthekeys

takman wrote: »

The last 4 houses to be sold on your street were all semi detached houses and they all sold for less than yours. Your next door neighbour was sold in 2015 for almost £95,000 less than your asking price.
Personally I would say your asking price is too high which is putting people off.

I was going to ask how on earth you know where my house is (unless you are local) but I guess you may have done a picture search? :T
As mentioned above, every house here is different. The house next door that sold for £202K in 2015 may look the same outwardly but is/was totally different from ours, in layout, size, condition and even size/state of the garden. Plus that was 3 years ago, the town's faciliities have improved considerably and continue to do so as new business moves in, people are being priced out of Cambridge and are now looking in surrounding towns; obv prices have increased across the board since 2015. That house next door would now probably be valued at around £250K, not £202K.
The house next door on the other side of us is different yet again (the one with the window boxes) and was sold at the same time in 2015 within a week, for £230K - full asking. Neither of my neighbours are semis - they are both terraced.
Other houses in the surrounding streets have sold fairly recently (sorry I dont have the details to hand) at more than ours and they covered more or less the same footprint.
You may well be right about our price being too high but we got 3 separate valuations and settled on the middle amount. Time will tell - we will drop the price if we need to, once the market picks up in spring.

takman

Penitent wrote: »

I meant to say, it is very nice on the inside. The only thing (other than the parking issue) that would put me off is the garden. It doesn't feel useable for hanging washing or kicking a ball about or whatever. It looks like the plants have claimed it.

When they bought the house in 2009 it had a much better picture of the garden:

http://media.rightmove.co.uk/dir/6k/5368/27684827/5368_152040_IMG_07_0000_max_656x437.jpg

So I'm surprised the new picture isn't as good considering the rest of the house looks better.

takman

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

I was going to ask how on earth you know where my house is (unless you are local) but I guess you may have done a picture search? :T

Yes I did a picture search as I was curious if you had used the actual picture from the listing.

Kittenonthekeys wrote: »

As mentioned above, every house here is different. The house next door that sold for £202K in 2015 may look the same outwardly but is/was totally different from ours, in layout, size, condition and even size/state of the garden. Plus that was 3 years ago, the town's faciliities have improved considerably and continue to do so as new business moves in, people are being priced out of Cambridge and are now looking in surrounding towns; obv prices have increased across the board since 2015. That house next door would now probably be valued at around £250K, not £202K.
The house next door on the other side of us is different yet again (the one with the window boxes) was sold at the same time in 2015 within a week, for £230K - full asking. Neither of my neighbours are semis - they are both terraced.
Other houses in the surrounding streets have sold fairly recently (sorry I dont have the detsils to hand) at more than ours and they covered more or less the same footprint.
You may well be right about our price being too high but we got 3 separate valuations and settled on the middle amount. Time will tell - we will drop the price if we need to, once the market picks up in spring.

The price may be right for the area but it just seems abit high from what I've seen and when you considering finding a parking space seems extremely difficult.
But I agree you shouldn't reduce it if your in no rush to sell and had it valued recently.

Kittenonthekeys

Re the parking, we've never had a problem finding a space and we have 2 cars. There's a council car park around the corner and also on-street permits, although there's no enforcement here. Slightly more difficult parking is a trade-off for living in (any) town centre and for having excellent facilities all within short walking distance. Houses still sell here.
Re the garden, no, it isn't ideal for children - its a courtyard garden. This house generally is really more suitable for a couple and that's the type of buyer we're targeting really.

Kittenonthekeys

takman wrote: »

When they bought the house in 2009 it had a much better picture of the garden:

http://media.rightmove.co.uk/dir/6k/5368/27684827/5368_152040_IMG_07_0000_max_656x437.jpg

So I'm surprised the new picture isn't as good considering the rest of the house looks better.

The plants have grown a lot since it was done in 2009, but I will take better pictures. I don't like the wide-angled lens pic as it looks distorted and not true to life. (Thank you, I'm glad you think the rest of the house looks better

Kittenonthekeys

Penitent wrote: »

Then I would make that clear in the listing. Much more important than the Cromwell Museum and TK Maxx.

Ah, I guess Cambridge-ish is a very different market to where I live, then. Three beds here are typically considered a family home, so they're marketed toward families. They are sometimes bought by couples who both work from home, friends/siblings getting on the ladder together, etc., but they're generally more sought after by families.

It just seems high-maintenance for something that can't be used for practical purposes. I feel like I'd need to be a keen gardener if I bought your house.

Thank you - I will go and rewrite the listing (luckily I have full control over it), you're absolutely right and it's been so helpful for me to have the opportunity to see it from other people's perspectives. I guess as the parking has never been an issue for us, I didnt think to give it centre stage, but I realise of course it is important.
Actually, the garden is low maintenance and really easy / enjoyable to look after - it's mostly containers, there are no weeds, no grass to mow and only the big plants need cutting back every couple of weeks in the summer. It's also completely unoverlooked.