Help me sell my home

PJMCKE · 01-06-2011 8:21pm #1

Hi I am trying in vain to sell my property for several months now

I am looking for anyone to give ideas or experience in selling with a view to getting viewers in to see my home and in terms of exposure and alternate ways to advertise it.

criticise my online pictures and information or indeed price. I'm not thick skinned but do need some input.

http://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/2-the-way-college-farm/407035

meercat · 01-06-2011 8:30pm

lovely house op
i dont think you are doing anything wrong
pics and description look fine
i just dont think there are buyers at the moment
best of luck with the sale though

Snakeblood · 01-06-2011 8:34pm

PJMCKE wrote: »

Hi I am trying in vain to sell my property for several months now

I am looking for anyone to give ideas or experience in selling with a view to getting viewers in to see my home and in terms of exposure and alternate ways to advertise it.

criticise my online pictures and information or indeed price. I'm not thick skinned but do need some input.

http://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/2-the-way-college-farm/407035

Is anything in the neighbourhood for sale? For how much?

It looks like a decent house mind, and the price isn't horrifying.

Slydice · 01-06-2011 8:44pm

1. Put "Newbridge, Co Kildare" into the address.
2. You are undercutting your neighbour by only 5%, reduce to 10% below their price so 10% of 185k is 18.5k so that is 185-18.5 = 166 so go for about 165k. Maybe think about dropping between 2k to 5k a month after that until you are really uncomfortable with the price.
3. Remove "REDUCED TO SELL**" as it's a trick that's getting pretty old and suggests you'd be awkward to approach with an offer.
4. Three bed house with pictures of only two of the rooms?
5. Sitting room picture only shows a corner of the room. Suggests room is small.
6. Is the home alarmed? No harm to include details.
7. No harm to include if internet and bin collections in the area are decent.

Hmmm... aside from that it looks like your EA has a lot of control with viewing by appointment (presumably with them) only. Maybe advertise a viewing once a month and put it in the ad.

Also ensure to ask your EA to pass on all offers to you regardless of how the EA feels about them.

lainey316 · 01-06-2011 8:51pm

The address should say where the house is - just having the estate is nonsense. Are you sure it's showing up on searches properly? e.g. for Newbridge, for Kildare etc

First photo should be interior, not a shed. Also photos aren't a great angle, looks like you are trying to make it look bigger than it is. Unless there is a fee on myhome, I would double the number of pictures. The childs bedroom might look better if it wasn't so obviously a child's, perhaps you could move out some of the clutter and make it look more like a 'full' bedroom than a child's box? The picture of the house itself makes it look very narrow - could you get a straight on pic? without the car.

The description isn't bad but could be better, but I tend to skim them anyway. that siad main bedroom should specifically mention the en-suite - much more important than a walk in wardrobe. 'very good internal and external' - very good implies needs work. if it doesn't, say excellent or walk-in.

Floor plans would be a useful addition.

I think the price is high, for a satellite town in a new estate (build quality?) but I don't know the area. take 3k off, maybe - 175k could be someone's magic number. But tbh the difficulties in getting mortgages are more than likely a huge part of your problem.

Duckjob · 01-06-2011 8:52pm

meercat wrote: »

lovely house op
i dont think you are doing anything wrong
pics and description look fine
i just dont think there are buyers at the moment
best of luck with the sale though

Nope. Plenty of buyers with cash in the pockets. Reduce the price and you'll find them.

PJMCKE · 01-06-2011 8:57pm

Excellent information from you all.
Some i didn't even recognise.

The living room is massive with 2 large couches but you are right , it doesnt look large. all the other stuff internet and alarm are not mentioned. I have been a little less sharp on this all right.

I have embarked on a drop and review situation in the last 3 months but really the dropping of 10s of percent will leave it impossible for me to sell.
I will remove the reduced to sell next week,

House is wider and only a few of them of that type in the estate. This also lends itself to a wider long back garden. So I will remove the car and also the angle.

Regarding the viewings once a month. I think that is an excellent idea and something i will be very strong to me EA. Yes my EA has alot of control and i was not not aware of exclusiveness untill recently.

Really appreciate the comments so far.

smelltheglove · 01-06-2011 9:01pm

Your hallway looks quit nice so I would recommend a good shot of the hallway as picture number 2, the sitting room picture isnt giving an idea of the size, the bathroom picture is making it look quite small and I think the kids bedroom looks much smaller than it is as does the main bedroom.

My advice is definitely better photos, you should be going for wide angle photos from the corner of the room rather than straight on from the doorway, you are giving the impression of the rooms being smaller than they are imo. The childs bedroom can be made to look bigger by simply rearranging furniture, i.e. bed not in centre of the room, put it in a corner and have a nice empty bit in the middle of the room to give the impression of space.

Here is an example of what I mean by taking pics from the corner of the room with wide angle, you need to make it look as appealing as possible to get the people in the door. http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=320576

smelltheglove · 01-06-2011 9:05pm

Also have you listed on Daft? Seems to be updated a lot more frequently than myhome with more properties so some people may not look at myhome at all.

PJMCKE · 01-06-2011 9:12pm

Duckjob wrote: »

Nope. Plenty of buyers with cash in the pockets. Reduce the price and you'll find them.

Hi Duckjob. I have my opinions on the cash buyers ( although not in any way an expert) on the rental market . It is currently very strong due to 5 mins walk to the station. We already have had viewings from dublin commuters So with that the return over 10 year would lend itself to a value of not greater than 10 percent less than its current value. I would have to rent it out if it fell to that value. Bear with me as i am asking myself these questions right now.
Maybe some could put some more concrete to my thoughts on the rental side as another ea recently added strength to my figures.

PJMCKE · 01-06-2011 9:16pm

smelltheglove wrote: »

Your hallway looks quit nice so I would recommend a good shot of the hallway as picture number 2, the sitting room picture isnt giving an idea of the size, the bathroom picture is making it look quite small and I think the kids bedroom looks much smaller than it is as does the main bedroom.

My advice is definitely better photos, you should be going for wide angle photos from the corner of the room rather than straight on from the doorway, you are giving the impression of the rooms being smaller than they are imo. The childs bedroom can be made to look bigger by simply rearranging furniture, i.e. bed not in centre of the room, put it in a corner and have a nice empty bit in the middle of the room to give the impression of space.

Here is an example of what I mean by taking pics from the corner of the room with wide angle, you need to make it look as appealing as possible to get the people in the door. http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=320576

Yip you are right on all points. Obvious when it is pointed at you. Thanks smelltheglove

PJMCKE · 01-06-2011 9:48pm

i just checked the pictures on daft.ie and they somehow look less cramped than the pictures on myhome.ie
http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=566002

whippet · 01-06-2011 10:18pm

In reality price is the only factor which will determine the number of viewings / offers etc.

shooting from the hip I would put a price of about 145k on the house .. but thats me. There are a few deluded buyers out there who think the market has bottomed out so maybe they will bite, but then they will have to get the mortgage.

Lyn256 · 02-06-2011 7:28am

I'd agree with what the other posters have said and would add-another two photos of the kitchen-its the first thing I look at and its difficult to see the detail from the angle taken.
Can you get a professional photographer in-when I was selling my house-one of the things that attracted me to the agent I used was that the agency used a professional photographer (wide angle lense and bright photos) at no extra charge. (Combined with a price lower than the estates in my vicinity helped me sell the house in 4 weeks-for about 40k more than I'd get now only 9 months later)
Another thing-can you put the room sizes in by foot size-I can never get my head around metre size and it makes it easier to figure out what size the rooms actually are when I can see the room size in X foot x X foot.

As a prospective buyer-I'd also agree with other posters about your price -you need to seem to be offering value - so cheaper than similar neighbours. If you price it right-it WILL sell.

Hope that helps

Dades · 02-06-2011 10:21am

If the sun comes out this weekend, OP, grab the camera and take some nice wide angle shots of the house and the garden with blue skies in the background. And more shots of that "feature" garden!

The house looks much bigger on Google Street View than your picture suggests. You've cut out half the driveway and front garden.

+ 1 on:

- Removing the excess from the kids room pic and retaking
- Showing the third bedroom
- Bigger living room shot
- Floorplan (also consider including the square footage).

Take the interior pics from about chest height rather than from head height so you are not looking down on the room.

Have at least one open view to see if people who are put off by appointments turn up.

Best of luck - nice house!

blah · 02-06-2011 11:31am

PJMCKE wrote: »

i just checked the pictures on daft.ie and they somehow look less cramped than the pictures on myhome.ie
http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=566002

I agree, it looks like myhome have narrowed the pictures, you can really notice it in the picture of the front house and the girl's bedroom.

solovely · 02-06-2011 1:50pm

I agree with everything everyone else has said re: town in title, the third bedroom, floor plan, width of pics, kid's bedroom, mentioning ensuite, etc.

A few added points:
You use the word feature a lot, maybe use it less frequently.
Use a few short paragraphs to describe it rather than block of text
Show total square footage/ metres (used to wreck my head when it wasn't sohwn)
Talk a bit more about the area and facilities.
Talk about any refurbishment that's been done

It looks like there is a lot of properties in your area, so that is probably hampering things, even though yours is the cheapest.

In reality price is the only factor which will determine the number of viewings / offers etc.

Definitely wouldn't agree with this. The house I ended up buying was the most expensive house I looked at, a good €50k above what I was looking at (didn't even show up in my search results), but I viewed it anyway, fell in love, and managed to scrape the money together, and haven't regretted it a day since. What caught my attention was the perceived size versus everything else I was viewing. I don't still have a copy of the ad. I think it also mentioned the unique features/ additions my house had that the neighbours didn't. It never said reduced to sell or anything though, even though it had been reduced to 60% of the original asking price.

Spiritofthekop · 02-06-2011 2:42pm

Here is an example of what I mean by taking pics from the corner of the room with wide angle, you need to make it look as appealing as possible to get the people in the door. http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=320576[/QUOTE]

Think im sold on this house!!!LOL..GOOD PRICE TOO..I THINK.

Just goes to show.:p

antiskeptic · 02-06-2011 7:08pm

PJMCKE wrote: »

Hi I am trying in vain to sell my property for several months now

I am looking for anyone to give ideas or experience in selling with a view to getting viewers in to see my home and in terms of exposure and alternate ways to advertise it.

criticise my online pictures and information or indeed price. I'm not thick skinned but do need some input.

http://www.myhome.ie/residential/brochure/2-the-way-college-farm/407035

Folk have mentioned photos but in my view they really are the first port of call for folk - since they tell what words cannot. If you can impress with well taken, well framed shots that amplify (rather then deceive) your homes good points you bring your house into consideration for a viewing. That's all your ad is trying to get people to do - just like a cv is only meant to get you an interview.

- consider borrowing a decent camera / getting someone you know whose a photography enthusiast to do the shooting

- utilise wider angle lens which bring more into the picture. Don't go overboard and produce distorted pictures though.

- take shots of each room when the sun is shining into it. Though avoid shooting at windows with full sun on the other side - it just whites out.

- declutter (especially the pink room

)

JuliusCaesar · 02-06-2011 8:38pm

total square footage/metres of the house. Use both! I don't understand feet and prefer metres.

If you have two bathrooms say so! People need to know this.

PJMCKE · 02-06-2011 10:37pm

First time i've looked at street view. I wonder would it be possible to include the link to street view in daft or myhome.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?layer=c&cbll=53.186596,-6.801653&panoid=qU0KLAwCf8LJG4ckbnCS9w&cbp=11,153.2,,0,0&source=embed&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=53.186858,-6.801954&spn=0.010235,0.0842&z=14

In the next week i hope to put all together for my ea to update.

thanks all for genuine honest replies.

Lyn256 · 02-06-2011 11:28pm

While out and about today-I was thinking about this a bit more and some other things occurred to me.
As antiskeptic says your listing/brochure is simply an invitation to view.
So firstly get the brochure looking amazing and then get the house looking amazing!
When you get them into the house you need to make it look like they want to live there-so know who your target market is.
Before we put our house on the market last year-we did a massive declutter (packed away everything that we didn't think we need in the next 6-12 months)-sent 10 large house to the parents to look after.
Part of the decluttering was also to make space to pack away everyday stuff for when the house was viewed.
At the time, my kids were 8 months and almost 2 1/2 years old and you'd barely know their were kids in the house when you viewed. I'd spent almost 2 hours cleaning tidying and hiding stuff (we're talking about hauling the high chair, playkitchen, box of toys and lots of other stuff down to the shed) before each viewing. Hard work-but worth it!
I'd clean and tidy like a fiend-clean the kitchens counters/oven-make the place look really clean tidy and appealing.
You got to think 'show house'-I got this advice from my friends sister who also sold her house in 4 weeks this time last year-so it works!
Hope it helps
Lyn

spockety · 03-06-2011 12:26pm

If you want really good photos and floorplans, get this guy in:

http://www.firstpointproperty.com

I used him and I reckon his photos were responsible for getting viewings. Nowhere near as expensive as you might expect, and puts standard EA photos to shame.

Aprilmay · 03-06-2011 4:44pm

spockety wrote: »

If you want really good photos and floorplans, get this guy in:

http://www.firstpointproperty.com

I used him and I reckon his photos were responsible for getting viewings. Nowhere near as expensive as you might expect, and puts standard EA photos to shame.

We used him too, we got the photo's, video,floorplans and the BER cert very reasonable for everything

antiskeptic · 03-06-2011 5:51pm

PJMCKE wrote: »

First time i've looked at street view. I wonder would it be possible to include the link to street view in daft or myhome.

The googlecamcar came down my street on bin collection day. It weren't pretty..

Aprilmay · 03-06-2011 5:55pm

antiskeptic wrote: »

The googlecamcar came down my street on bin collection day. It weren't pretty..

I think that was the case with half the country when you look at those maps;)

January · 03-06-2011 7:01pm

antiskeptic wrote: »

The googlecamcar came down my street on bin collection day. It weren't pretty..

Yup same here, there's some sights to see with bins overflowing outside houses...

Treehouse72 · 03-06-2011 10:04pm

meercat wrote: »

i just dont think there are buyers at the moment

There are plenty of buyers, just not at this price.

adee · 06-06-2011 2:18am

PJMCKE wrote: »

First time i've looked at street view. I wonder would it be possible to include the link to street view in daft or myhome.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?layer=c&cbll=53.186596,-6.801653&panoid=qU0KLAwCf8LJG4ckbnCS9w&cbp=11,153.2,,0,0&source=embed&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=53.186858,-6.801954&spn=0.010235,0.0842&z=14

In the next week i hope to put all together for my ea to update.

thanks all for genuine honest replies.

Both MyHome and Daft already do have links to street view. (go to main map and click on Street on the top right) In you case your MyHome has one, but the Daft listing doesn't. Have the EA correct that also.
Until I clicked the street view I didn't even realise you had a front garden at all!
I thought it was one of those awful 'open plan strips that span a block of houses. So, no photo or mention of the front garden, and all I know about the back garden is that it is "large" and has a sunny aspect. Put in the measurements. If the back is south facing that is a bonus (you can tell I like gardens !) Seriously this is a young family home and these things are big selling points. I agree with all the previous advice regarding a better set of photos
Also I always like to see is the total area of the house stated. If I see 90 sq m. or 120 sq m etc. immediately that helps the 'mental picture ' I am building up. You have a Master bed with en suite and walk in wardrobe, and no good photos of either. Also if the Utility mentioned is a dedicated Utility area that is worth a photo (I'm not sure from the ad). You have a lovely home there but you are making nothing of quite a few of it's best selling points. The very best of luck.

The Good Agent · 08-06-2011 11:57am

Plenty of good suggestions so far, great to see there are so many out there who realize just how important it is to get all the factors right in your ad. Here's just a couple of suggestions that might be of use to you.

Be positive throughout your brochure. Use language that makes the property sound attractive. The goal of the brochure is to make the reader take the next action; that action could be just getting them to call you for more information or it could be to make an offer.

Know your audience. If you are selling a property that will appeal more to families, keep this in mind. Tell them about quiet neighbours or near-by schools. Similarly, if your property is more likely to be bought by young professionals, list entertainment hot-spots like popular pubs.

Cover the essentials. Take photos of all of the rooms and the exterior, making sure to capture all of the important features of your property. Once you have the essentials covered (kitchen, living areas, bedrooms, bathrooms, and exterior) look for any interesting features that make your property unique or special.

No matter what time of day you are taking the photos, turn all of the lights on.

Tidy and clean each room

Remove anything personal. Viewers want to see the property as their own and removing photos, personal ornaments, fridge magnets, and anything else of this kind will help achieve this.

Take loads of photos of every room from lots of different angles and with different light set-ups making sure you have shot every part of the room. This will give you a much better selection when you are choosing which photos to upload. Also, the more photos you upload to property websites, the better.

Don’t take photos staring straight on to a flat wall. This will make the room look small.

Kaluza · 08-06-2011 1:26pm

I admire you proactive approach and wish you look.

Is your house double-fronted? If so you should mention it and retake the pic of the outside to show it face on. It'll distinguish your property from the other 3 bed semis.

Another thing would be the with the garden. It looks nice, but should have more pics at ground level and not distract from it with views of other ppl's garden. Also, it makes it look like it has no privacy

Also, I reiterate what others have said about the measurements in sq ft as well as m and give an overall square footage.

I sold a house last year in 4 weeks and I think the reason it sold was because we were able to distinguish it from other properties, which is vital in a big town.

It can be done so good luck

Help me sell my home

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