Selling house - advice needed

[Trev 10]

We have had our house on the market for around 7 weeks now. I know this is relatively a short time and we have had 6 viewers to date, however, we have yet to receive an offer. In terms of feedback we have only managed to get a response from 2 of the viewers, which were: "slightly too small for their needs" and "too far from their children's school".

 

Any constructive opinions or suggestions on presenting the property better or making it more appealing? We have reduced the price significantly and its now £10k below the lowest of 3 valuations.

 

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35459316.html

[geared 317]

Take all the family pictures off the wall and any decorations or anything down, try and present it as 'neutral' as possible.

It helps people visualise how it might look if they lived there and makes the place look bigger.

 

If you want to go further you might have to consider taking all the bedrooms back to magnolia, again to present it totally neutral.

 

Chances are they're not going to want a bright pink bedroom anyway, so they might be put off by the thought of having to redecorate so much.

 

Externally it looks really nice, got tons of kerb appeal.

[slordy71 10]

looks quite nice, as the previous poster said might be an idea to neutralise the colours a bit, i always do white and magnolia in all my properties with one feature wall but not too bold, de -clutter everything and get your agent to arrange an open viewing, the area may put some off to an extent so expect to have to reduce a bit more to move it quick, if you are not desperate to sell yet leave it for a bit, 7 weeks is not a lot and this is the hardest time to sell running up to xmas.

i would change agents also.

[Chez2 10]

I have read what the previous two posters said but can't understand them! I was going to suggest the apart from the kids rooms it looks a bit bare. Don't get me wrong, I like my house fairly de-cluttered and coordinated but not too bare. I have always managed to sell my houses quickly in slow markets so I must have done something right.

 

I agree with painting over the two kids rooms. I sold my house quickly as I was in my 'cream phase' and everyone else was using strong colours. Perhaps put a plain throw over the kids bedding for viewings. Some people have no imagination so can't see through the decor.

 

I agree with the comments about replacing the family photos with pictures. Walls don't have to be completely bare though.

 

I would suggest adding a pot plant or two or a fresh bunch of flowers, a fresh bowl of fruit on the table. Get the agents to take new photos once you have done the changes. A tub of plants front and back of house gives it more kerb appeal.

 

I have just looked at house sale prices in the area for four bed detached and the current price looks a more realistic price.

Edited September 8, 2015 by Chez2
recent prices

[amazon123 17]

Agreed. Paint the walls neutrally - but not necessarily magnolia. One room light grey for example. And declutter! Looks good externally.

[Chez2 10]

Have you all looked at the photos? Apart from the kids rooms I don't see any clutter, no ornaments or anything. One bowl on bathroom windowsill and a few containers on kitchen work tops. What clutter can you all see that I can't?

 

I would use a pale cream paint not grey. Magnolia can be anything from a buttery yellow cream through to quite a warm pink. We used a well known brand of paint in magnolia and it looked almost like (pink) germoline when it was on. Didn't go well with oak floor and cool beige curtains.

[Trev 10]

Thanks for the feedback all, its greatly appreciated

 

We did think about de-personalising by removing family photos/pictures but the estate agent advised against this stating it would appear 'unlived in'. Given several of you have suggested this i think we will give it ago anyhow, got nothing to lose. We will also tame the kids bedrooms by re-painting them with a more neutral colour. Other than removing pictures i'm not sure how else we can de-cluster. We're pretty minimalistic and don't have many ornaments, chints, etc.

 

In regards to location I agree Woodhouse isn't quite on the same par as Ecclesall or Whirlow but at the same time your not going to get a 4 bed detached house for around £200k in those areas. We moved to Woodhouse 7 years ago and have never had any problems. The neighbours are friendly and everyone keeps their houses well maintained & tidy. The estate is also surrounded by Smelter woods and is fairly picturesque considering its an urban area.

 

We haven't had very long to give a fair opinion of Pinks but so far they pretty much seem like all other estate agents. The only difference is you are expected to do the viewings but this is understandable considering they only charged £600+vat fee (upfront). Blundell's on the other hand wanted upfront fees + completion fees totalling roughly £3k. I suppose you get what you pay for?

 

Also, given Christmas is now is less than 4 months away, I assume the property market will start slowing down now? Is September still a fairly busy time or have we seen the best of it already?

 

Thanks again to all

Edited September 9, 2015 by Trev

[Chez2 10]

You don't need bare walls. Replace the pictures with something inexpensive and fairly neutral style.

 

I have sold three houses in a slow market. All sold quickly due to plain clean decor and the right price. One even sold for £5k more than I was going to ask for it.

 

House prices - you can look on line and see how much houses in certain streets have sold for and at what date. Also give number of bedrooms etc.

[watchcoll 10]

Just my own personal opinion, but the only thing that puts me off seems to be the lack of carpets. Wooden floors in the living areas can feel cold. Maybe choose some cheap,neutral coloured, rugs to place in the lounge and beside the bed? Otherwise it is a very nice house.

[Hippogriff 10]

Whenever I see "reduced for quick sale" I assume that even lower offers will be considered. I hope you're prepared for that if others think along the same lines.

[psynuk 10]

Whenever I see "reduced for quick sale" I assume that even lower offers will be considered. I hope you're prepared for that if others think along the same lines.

 

yep, my first thought was along those lines- I wonder how far below 200k he'd go?

If you're going to hover at 200k you may as well (if possible) advertise at 199k

It's a cheep psychological trick but it does work.

 

As for decor, I agree with chez it's already clutter free,

I Personally think you should;

Ditch all the red stuff in the kitchen/ for glossy white if you can.

The bedroom with the arch window should be a nicer lighter colour/bit gloomy

The bathroom photos are a bit meh/photos of toilet-shower cubicle...

show a table chair, chiminea, bbq etc in the garden photos- as if they might be in use/ sell the idea to someone of what could have just been interrupted for the viewing iyswim.

 

It all looks a bit 'packed away' even though it's just in reality neat and tidy

 

There's nothing wrong with it.

There better and worse houses that have sold for less and more close to you so I think it's just a case of waiting, the person who wants it is not far away.

[Shiesh 13]

It's lovely and tidy inside and for a new house it appears to have decent bedroom sizes and a garden that isn't heavily overlooked. That's the positives from me...the negative is that it's a new build/modern house with those georgian bar windows that just spoil the view for me! I think these features limit the amount of interest you'll get as the 'hot' sellers are older homes with some character and big windows!

 

Good Luck