Advertise your house for sale yourself??

[natalie]

Our house has been on the market now, nearly 1 year. We have had various viewings, but no offers. We feel our estate agents are not very good, we think it is all down to the photos they took, not very flattering etc. We asked them to use our photos.

Anyway, out of desperation nowI have now decided to make a little website and try selling it that way, it cannot do any harm. We have even dropped the price considerably from what it went on the market for too.

If you care to look at the ad, visit my homepage in my profile.

[googler]

I'm afraid I don't find your photos to be particularly special, either. They have a 'stand in the doorway and click' feel to them, with doorframes and other extraneous detail creeping in at the edge of frame, especially the sun room - where half the photo is the wall to the right, not the room itself.

If the outside toilet is no longer used as such, and it's just a lean-to storage shed, then stop calling it an outside toilet. That isn't a selling point in this day and age.

I take it the 'Front Room' doubles as a lounge and dining room? If so, I'd be tempted to remove the dining table and chairs, possibly to the Sun Room, and tag the front room as a Lounge.

Put the sizes in metric up as well as imperial.

The photo of the front room is WAY too busy (as is the Hallway looking up), and I really can't believe that you or the EA have photographed it with someone's shirt over one of the dining chairs, and with some paperwork lying beside one of the place settings..... Take down most, if not all of the pictures, clear most, if not all of the ornaments, and consider trading in the bold green stripe wallpaper......

De-clutter the place. One of the 'feature fireplace' photos tells me that you have something by Polaroid on the shelf next to it, and the other has what appears to be a basket of washing to the right. The photo looking down the stairs has some plastic boxes at the right. See what I mean about extraneous detail at the edges of photos?

The garden pics show off your wheelie bins very nicely. I know everyone has a wheelie bin, but would it really be too much effort to move it out of the way for the photo, then move it back?

Do you REALLY think the pots and pans on top of your cooker will attract people to your home?

[googler]

Oh, and right in the middle of the front photo, between the wall of the house and the pavement - is that weeds?

If so, do we REALLY need to spell out what needs to be done here?

[drhouse]

Googler was 'direct' but I'm afraid he was right. Your property isn't huge but the amount you have in the photos makes it look even smaller. You really need to pack up a lot of stuff and perhaps put it in one of your storage sheds. Try adding bits to your descriptions, use to your advantage the traditional feel to the property. Don't say that it has no central heating only panel heaters - it makes it stand out as a disadvantage. Just don't mention heating one way or the other. I also wouldn't say the boiler was in the bathroom. You need to encourage viewers, they will see these things when they come and then you can counter their objections. Make more of the extensions - sun lounge and utility - this is extra space. Re the outside toilet - why not just say an outhouse with plumbing and washing facilities.
You say you had viewings - do you know what the feedback was? Did your agent say why they didn't want to buy. It can be hard sometimes for an agent to tell you what they have said if it is uncomplimentary but it is better for you to know so you can change things.
Hope this helps.

[natalie]

Thanks for all your feedback, though not what we wanted to hear. Anyway, the house is now vacant now, we have moved, but the house is still on the market. We have one of our neighbours keeping an eye on it and keeping on top of the garden etc.

We decorated and had the house how we liked it. We are not minimalistic people, we like family photos and all that.We do not like beige or cream or whatever it is your advised to paint your house. We decorated the house how we want it, not how we think other people would like it. If that is a problem, so be it, when we have moved into any house, it was always known that we would have to redecorate to our own taste,carpets etc we were buying the property, not the decor.

Thanks for your feedback though.Oh, the outside toilet is a working one, we always thought it was handy and bit of a bonus, we did not have to wait around inside bursting, just go outside if need be.

[drhouse]

Originally Posted by natalie

Thanks for all your feedback, though not what we wanted to hear. Anyway, the house is now vacant now, we have moved, but the house is still on the market. We have one of our neighbours keeping an eye on it and keeping on top of the garden etc.

We decorated and had the house how we liked it. We are not minimalistic people, we like family photos and all that.We do not like beige or cream or whatever it is your advised to paint your house. We decorated the house how we want it, not how we think other people would like it. If that is a problem, so be it, when we have moved into any house, it was always known that we would have to redecorate to our own taste,carpets etc we were buying the property, not the decor.

Thanks for your feedback though.Oh, the outside toilet is a working one, we always thought it was handy and bit of a bonus, we did not have to wait around inside bursting, just go outside if need be.

I didn't mean to offend and I totally agree that you should live any way you want minimalistic or ornate it is your choice. In my house I have one bedroom as a sitting/sewing/dressing room, but if I was selling I know that the additional bedroom would make it more saleable so I would dress it as a bedroom for that purpose. You are buying the property not the decor but when people walk into a house that is the first thing they see and that can overshadow everything. The idea of light colours is not necessarily because people like them it is because it makes the rooms look bigger. In my experience the majority of viewers don't have the imagination to visualise what they can do if the decor, etc is too bold.

As an aside I never recommend that a client should totally depersonalise. Declutter yes but no photos/pictures/personal stuff at all can make a property very sterile.

[drhouse]

I have given some thought to my last post and in retrospect I think I was wrong to apologise for offending you. You stated in your first post that you had viewers but no offers and blamed your agent for photos, etc. However, when you get constructive criticism you go on the defensive and say that people can like it or lump it - what they have done is chosen not to buy. The bottom line is if you want to sell and more importantly want the best price your property must be in top condition and shown to its best advantage. One area where your agents were remiss was in not telling you this initially - or perhaps you did but you thought you knew best.

[brian]

You indeed live in a home that is decorated to suit your tastes - but when you are selling your home, you are asking for people to take consideration and invite them to imagine them to live in it.

That means you have to allow for compromise - people are not looking to buy your family life, but a property to develop their own personal space in.

You must give consideration to that, and if you can't, you are making it all the more difficult for people to consider such a property favourably.

Unless you're planning to to live in the same property after you sell - which you obviously will not - then there's every reason to make an effort to tidy up and decorate into neutral colours to help encourage a positive viewing of the property.

And if you cannot make the effort, least of all in a buyers market, you can't really complain that that people who could hand over thousands of pounds to you aren't making the effort either!!

[brian]

Btw, Natalie, the effort you made with the website and video are certainly commendable. Please remove that organic music on the gallery page, though!!

[googler]

Originally Posted by natalie

Thanks for all your feedback, though not what we wanted to hear. Anyway, the house is now vacant now, we have moved, but the house is still on the market. We have one of our neighbours keeping an eye on it and keeping on top of the garden etc.

We decorated and had the house how we liked it. We are not minimalistic people, we like family photos and all that.We do not like beige or cream or whatever it is your advised to paint your house. We decorated the house how we want it, not how we think other people would like it. If that is a problem, so be it, when we have moved into any house, it was always known that we would have to redecorate to our own taste,carpets etc we were buying the property, not the decor.

You've lost sight of the fact that whilst you decorated to suit yourself, you're not there anymore.

It's not your house anymore, it's a PRODUCT to be compared to all the other PRODUCT on the market in your area. If your product isn't better than the others, or priced below the others, it won't sell.

It's no use saying that the public should look past your decor, when others in your marketplace have already made it easier for viewers/buyers so that they don't have to do this.

As drhouse says, you asked for feedback, and when you got it, basically took the 'like it or lump it' attitude..... I fear you may have two houses for some time.