Why aren’t we getting more viewings? Honest feedback welcome

Diva78

We’re selling our four-bedroom townhouse in Bicester and have reached the point where we’d really value some completely impartial opinions.

We originally listed at £425k, have since changed estate agents, reduced the price to £400k, changed the lead photo and updated the kitchen cupboards to give them a more neutral look.

Despite all that, we’ve still had very few viewings and hardly any interest coming directly through Rightmove.

We know townhouses and three-storey living won’t appeal to everyone, and there are larger semis and detached houses available nearby. However, our house has good square footage, three bathrooms, flexible living and home-working space, a garage, driveway parking and a quieter position on the estate.

Would anyone be willing to look at the listing and give me some honest but constructive feedback? Is it the price, layout, photos, description or something else we’re just not seeing?

[Removed by Forum Team]

born_again

Pictures do not show driveway parking, That looks more like a area shared between houses in terrace with a block of garages @ the end.

As you said a 3 story house is not to everyone's taste & if plenty of semi/detatched with their own off street parking in same price range in area, then they will pick up the viewings.

RedFraggle

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?radius=1.0&minPrice=350000&maxPrice=450000&minBedrooms=4&index=0&sortType=2&channel=BUY&transactionType=BUY&locationIdentifier=POSTCODE%5E4529703&displayLocationIdentifier=undefined

There's a lot of competition and the market is slow.

Some of the competition has more kerb appeal than yours in terms of the design or the house itself.

To me, it doesn't look very homely or like a home people are enjoying living in.

I don't like the decor. Whilst that's personal taste, and you would likely hate mine, some buyers can't see past it if style and taste aren't a match.

Agree on the parking looking odd. Your garden is bare and doesn't give off "outside space to relax in " vibes. It's looks like an unused space which again doesn't sell a lifestyle.

The mods will delete your link so I've added one that's your general area which should hopefully be ok.

Brie

I agree about the parking (& garage!) not being shown off well. And because it's the middle house (possible noise on both sides?) I would assume the parking isn't "right there" so you can't look out the window to see your car/garage. You can't do anything about being the middle house but a diagram showing where the parking is would help. So would, perhaps, some more colour in the house, even if it's a few vases of flowers. I might worry too about that whole wall covered with a photo - not my style but how easy would it be for me to change it!?

Diva78

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82146168#Comment_82146168

Parking and garage are via a gate at the bottom of the garden, both can be seen from the first floor.

Cairnpapple

I think the presentation is generally good, although I agree with the garden looking a bit unloved. I like that you have 2 living spaces as townhouses often seem to have too little living space for the number of bedrooms.

If you were going to redo the photos anyway I have a couple of suggestions but I don't think it's essential to redo just for these things.

- Clear the top of the wardrobes in bedroom 2 and 3 for photographs, it makes it look like there isn't enough storage.

- If you could temporarily stage bedroom 1 as a more conventional double bedroom with access from both sides of the bed, it may appeal more to couples who want to sleep on the same floor as their children.

- The American style fridge freezer is quite dominant in the dining room, but that's a more difficult change unless you also have a built in fridge that you could live with temporarily.

Sadly I think it's likely price and the local market. If you don't want to reduce more just now maybe remove the offers over at least.

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82146182#Comment_82146182

That's not apparent from any of the photos in the listing though.

lincroft1710

Lacks kerb appeal, the external design is both bland and unwelcoming. The estate is cramped and looks as if there could be parking/access problems. The photos aren't brilliant. Looks as if the road and access road may privately maintained. Unfortunately these are aspects you cannot change

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82146194#Comment_82146194

This sums up my thoughts. The parking is inconvenient having three spaces (if you include the garage) all in a line, so I'd anticipate "Butterflies"-type swapping around of parking. The driveway looks quite anrrow so there's a risk of getting dinged by car doors on one side, and the neighbour's bins on the other. Their (presumed) right of access over part of the driveway to get to their back gate could also be offputting.

Accessing the parking by using the back door feels like it would be inconvenient/uncomfortable, and it is a fair walk 'round the block' to get to the front door. This seems to be evidenced by parking on the access road/verge at the front of the house - which I'd assume is probably not allowed, although others also seem to be parking on the access road. I could see this blowing up if someone feels their access is being impeded, in which case the owner/manager(?) of the road may start enforcing any restrictions.

The hedge/verge opposite the house could be nice to look at, but some of the streetviews suggest they can get unkept, and there's the issue of parking on the verge churning the mud up. Who is responsible for the hedge and verge, and what can be done if maintenance isn't kept up?

Returning to the parking, there doesn't seem to be any provision for visitors, so for a 2-car family (with the garage used for storage) any visitors would seemingly have to park on the access road. If this is allowed then I'd foresee potential obstruction of the access road getting worse over time. If this isn't allowed then where do visitors park? Especially as people viewing the property will be doing so as visitors.

All of us have different things they like/dislike, or worry/don't worry about. Parking and outdoor space are my top things (due to professional experience) though I know for many people these don't matter much.

So long as the potential buyer understands town house living is different the unusual layout shouldn't be an issue. But having rooms many people expect to be adjacent in fact on different floors is going to be odd for those who aren't familiar with the concept.

Albermarle

Considering some of the comments, I was expecting something worse.

Although it is called a town house on three floors, the floor plan is very similar to my own property, which is a 1920's semi with a loft room, although our house has a larger footprint, so more floor space. So I would say having the kitchen and lounge on the ground floor, and two floors of bedrooms is not an unusual layout.

The small size of the back garden limits what you can do with it, so not sure that could be improved much.

The white walls everywhere makes it look a bit clinical. One of the bedrooms looks like a room in a posh private hospital. However that could soon be changed by a buyer if they did not like it.

It seems an asking price drop of 5% seems to be quite common in the area. Is it Bicester where there are swathes of new housing estates going up in the outskirts ? If so that may be affecting demand.

poseidon1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82146254#Comment_82146254

I suspect that just in terms of kerb appeal alone, there is no real comparison between your 1920s built semi and the all too typical anonymous and soulless homes churned out by the average modern volume housebuilder.

@RedFraggle was kind enough to share a rightmove link of similar homes to the OP 's, on the market in Bicester at a similar price point. I have to say I was distinctly unimpressed across the board.

Seems to me if selling this type of identikit home, perhaps the trick is try and insert some sense of individuality and personality by way of colour scheme, artwork etc, which at least helps to catch a prospective buyer's attention whilst flipping through one after another barren landscape of featureless homes.

A friend of mine went to the expense of getting a staging firm to 'dress' the featureless flat he was selling. I suspect it helped get him a sale in what was and is a difficult market.