House sellers -Have you done a HOUSE DOCTOR makeover

I'd spent £2000 updating a small 2 bed property in burton on trent and got offers £5k more than previously. I paid someone to paint the entire house magnolia and touch up the white wood work and I replaced the kitchen (which was utterly disgusting following tenant misuse). £1k of that was for the painter decorator, do that yourself and the cost goes down a lot of course. Other things I did was add some simple furniture (it was an empty property), replace the curtains, tidy the garden up a bit, replace lino in bathroom. It doesn't make sense but people can't see past the superficial untidiness and put offers far lower than they should be.

That said from the pics it looks pretty good. Maybe the price is just too high for the area? You could add a few simple pieces of furniture to make it look more homely.

A neighbours house sold in 2015 for £110000.

Their garden is much nicer as it had been stepped and it has a utility room extension on the back, apart form that everything else is very similar. They were liviing in the property so it was dressed to sell and that is why I wondered if it is better to put some personality back in to it.

Thanks for all the ideas and experiences you are posting. It's great to know

We had no issues selling an empty house recently, that won't be preventing people from making offers.

Have you had many viewings?

It's been on the market about a month now right??

It's been on the market 3 months

A neighbours house sold in 2015 for £110000.

Their garden is much nicer as it had been stepped and it has a utility room extension on the back, apart form that everything else is very similar. They were liviing in the property so it was dressed to sell and that is why I wondered if it is better to put some personality back in to it.

 

Thanks for all the ideas and experiences you are posting. It's great to know

You house is priced too high. Its 2 bed, has no extension.

Quick bit of research. this property an End of terrace 3 bed went for 110000 last year. ITs got a far nicer garden an has an entire extra floor in the roof. It also looks like its wider so will be bigger overall (hard to tell though)

And this property which is the one you're talking about I think is also an end of terrace and has a nicer garden and a small extension.

End of terrace is basically semi detached so puts the price up. You need to be realistic (or the estate agents do). Don't forget estate agents will put their prices deliberately high to persuade you to sign up with them.

Personally given the above two properties I'd offer between 90 and 100000 for your property.

The general area does have a good selection of 3 bed properties in the 90,000-120,000 region, which makes selling a smaller 2 bed at the same level abit tricky.

Timmy R, both houses are the same size exactly and two bedrooms, apart from the utility extension and the stepped terrace in garden. It may not fetch the same as the end terrace because of the garden etc

Having said that, I was asking about a house doctor make over and putting some furniture inside to make it more attractive.

Timmy R, both houses are the same size exactly and two bedrooms, apart from the utility extension and the stepped terrace in garden. It may not fetch the same as the end terrace because of the garden etc

 

Having said that, I was asking about a house doctor make over and putting some furniture inside to make it more attractive.

Its unlikely a bit of furniture dressing will make a massive difference in price. A clean, well decorated neutral house does make a sale more likely. If you aren't getting any viewings it would suggest the price is too high or VERY poor marketing. I don't know the area but posts above make valid points on prices.

Timmy R, both houses are the same size exactly and two bedrooms, apart from the utility extension and the stepped terrace in garden. It may not fetch the same as the end terrace because of the garden etc

 

Having said that, I was asking about a house doctor make over and putting some furniture inside to make it more attractive.

But the other property I linked was 110000 and 3 bedroom which sold last year. This property is easy to view on right move so people will be unlikely to offer your asking price.

And like a lot of people are saying the house looks about as good as its going to get so the issue must be elsewhere - its being marketed ok so it must be the price.

Just my initial thoughts, from having looked at the advert...

Buyers look for things they need to do... so the lack of a proper shower will be a turn-off, I think. If you were willing to spend some money, I would get an over-bath shower installed and there could be a little mess with those tiles, but they look pretty generic and replaceable.

Washing machine in the bathroom? That seems a bit weird... not in the kitchen or cellar? Obviously not, that's where it is, but it stood out a little for me.

In the view over rolling countryside, are those council houses you see to the left? Could put some off.

Other than that, it's quite nicely turned-out, so it will be price. Some buyers will set their filters to up to £100,000, so it may not be appearing on some searches where you would actually be happy to settle at.

Wooden bath panel needs painting, as has been said... get on it.

Considering all the above.

Bathroom has a shower mixer. Washing machine is downstairs, having lived there I thought it was fine, take off your dirty clothes and put straight in when you have a shower. Bathroom has been painted yesterday....looks better already

It has a great view from the kitchen window and no they are not council houses.

Timmy R, sorry, I was looking at the wrong house. Yes the house has three floors like mine but the cellar was made into a room and another wall knocked down upstairs.

Here a great house doctor make over in Derbyshire. If you dont want to watch it all, see the begining and the last 10 mins

https://www.my5.tv/house-doctor/season-8/episode-9

And like a lot of people are saying the house looks about as good as its going to get so the issue must be elsewhere - its being marketed ok so it must be the price.

Just being on Rightmove isn't really all that needs doing.

Our last agents had a long list of people looking for our type of house, so when we put it on the market they were notified and we had an initial rush of viewings because of that.