Best way to add value when selling a house

Crashy_Time

GDB2222 said:

I agree that it does look okay in the listing. You could powerwash the drive, I guess.

Which begs the question why it hasn't sold. It was on at £300k in October, and reduced by £10k in January. Is the person resident in the house putting off potential buyers when they come round, perhaps? Or are there no viewings, anyway? It is significantly more expensive than any other houses in have sold for in that particular road. Could that be a problem?

2 basic problems could simply be that it is overpriced for the street/area, and the 10k drop isn`t enough to entice people?

TBagpuss

If viewings are being done by an agent, talk to them. Ask them how it looks and smells, and get them to confirm in writing any concerns they have, and any feedback they have from viewers. 

That way, if you need to, you can talk to your solicitor about getting your ex to commit to cleaning and hoovering before each viewing, keeping the grass mown etc. 

In a worst case scenario if you think he is actually sabotaging the sale you could apply for an order to have him move out so you can return and manage the sale

NinjaTune

The box room is very small and whilst that should be obvious from the floorplan sometimes it only becomes plain when viewing. e.g. no or very little room for storage.

Back garden looks a mess and the driveway/wall looks horrible. Apart from that, however, the place looks a good size and the kitchen/diner is a lovely space.

As TBagpuss says, get some feedback from the EA - ask them to be 100% truthful, even brutal, about it.  If it's smell/mess putting people off then there's something you can do about it.  If it's the small 4th bedroom then nothing much you can do other than think about reducing the price.

purplebutterfly

Is the estate agent not asking for feedback after viewings?   Perhaps get them to ask for specific details, if possible.   

When we sold my grandad's house it was really helpful to hear "the garden was too small" or "the bathroom needed too much upgrading".  I always try to give specific feedback after our house viewings so the vendor knows why we're not offering. 

OldMusicGuy

If you're getting viewings but no offers, it's price compared to the competition, simple as that. We found that when we sold, we had a lot of competition from new builds in the area and had to be realistic on price to get a reasonably quick sale.