Interesting programme this week. There was nothing wrong with the house - the decor was not to my taste but it was beautifully kept, incredibly tidy and looked in perfect order. I'm glad they were able to move on once they got their offer - they were a nice family.
But most amazing was that Andrew mot only let the baby stay - HE LIKED THE NURSERY. He's going soft......
Notwithstanding the usual vast improvement on what they started off with, shouldn't Andrew have advised the seller when marketing her newly refreshed house NOT to answer the door to prospective buyers wearing what can only be described as a jerkin crafted from dead guinea pigs?
Missed much of the dialogue here because of partner harumphing about the 'gillet'. Did you notice Susie that one of the viewers had one on too?
One thing that annoyed me is Andrew not referring to the garden, drive and what looked to be double detached garage when making the coimparison to the new build. It bugs me when he doesn't consider these things as in a house of this size they must certainly add value.
Again, Andrew presented the ea - vendor relationship as though it's a cosy one to one akin to a psychiatrist and his patient. In my experience getting any sort of tailored response from an ea on your property is akin to asking Mr Tesco whether a dented pack of Cornflakes has sold in a south London Metro branch. What was so very difficult about the ea in this programme saying something like 'your home is in excellent decorative order but I have found that buyers in the market for houses of this type prefer a more contemporary or plain style? For example plain colours rather than striped wallpaper?'??.
Once more, I'm not sure the numbers add up for the cost of this. I think the deal must be that labour is free - lordy only know how many coats of paint it took to cover that hideous wallpaper.
They were obviously aiming for the Sienna Miller look but ended up looking like extras from The Flintstones instead. The house was the usual festival of lurid wallpaper and fussy co-ordinated borders, but it was quite well proportioned and it continues to amaze me that buyers cannot walk into a house and say "hideous wallpaper, but wow look at all this space!". Thought the kitchen was a particulary effective transformation, however. Makes me think I should be overhauling mine...
Loved that remote control fire - what a selling point that was! Though I did wonder why they bought a 4 bedroom in the first place if they were planning on a family and knew that the wife might have to give up work.
Me thinks the 1.5k was her salary so it was kind of a notional debt? Or perhaps they have missed payments?
I'd have felt very sorry for them if the house hadn't been so big - i hope they got something nice for their next place even though it is a bit silly to buy something so big if your financial situation is about to change. They seemed an ok couple.
Last nights program ran very parallel to what we are undertaking with my Daughters house right now in terms of updating, painting, kitchens etc. which is hard to believe on a house that is only 5 years old! Still, if you have a Rose Pink bathroom suite with an Indian Ivory WC what other option is there to do!!!!!! These people could have benefited from some Professional Advice from Andrew Winter (or even me!) before dropping 40k on the asking price! I normally support EA's but the EA dealing with this house was a Grade A Plonker and he was a Man in his mid 30's as well, not wet-behind-the ears Youngster with red braces. We are putting in a Whirlpool Bath to add a small bit of luxury and few other extra's. The Builder fitted kitchen is quite awful in terms of quality and style and will be coming out next Month. I take the point mentioned above about additions, this particular house has an enormous double garage with multi lighting and multi power points and windows and it is the only one in a development of 8 houses in a cul-de-sac and did it feature well on the EA's selling details--did it heck! A major selling point in my opinion especially for us Blokes (Yes, there was a new shed as well in the back garden! ) Back to work or I will be sacking myself. I am actually waiting on a delivery and Ladies! I have a very bad attack of Man Flue at tne moment but I am still Soldiering on against all odds!
Originally posted by susiecam: They were obviously aiming for the Sienna Miller look but ended up looking like extras from The Flintstones instead. The house was the usual festival of lurid wallpaper and fussy co-ordinated borders, but it was quite well proportioned and it continues to amaze me that buyers cannot walk into a house and say "hideous wallpaper, but wow look at all this space!". Thought the kitchen was a particulary effective transformation, however. Makes me think I should be overhauling mine...
I think the point was that there was no reason why a buyer should bother themselves with recarpeting, redecorating and overhauling the kitchen, because for the same price they could buy a new house down the road with it all done for them. If the house had been priced to take account of the work to be done, that might have been different (or might not). It was not (IMO) an startlingly attractive house (those diamond paned windows, not my taste, and a nightmare to clean) so it wasn't a "must have". Recarpeting a house that size costs a lot of money - from what I saw, Andrew's team did not renew the 20 year old underlay which would have reduced the costs, but is not something a buyer would ever do.
Re the point about Andrew liking the nursery - that was just because the buyers would almost certainly have children, so presenting that room as a nursery was no problem. To be fair, in other houses the 'nursery' has usually been crammed in somewhere too small and has been a cluttered nightmare.
Originally posted by susiecam: it continues to amaze me that buyers cannot walk into a house and say "hideous wallpaper, but wow look at all this space!"
I don't think that's strictly the problem. If hers was the only one on the market then yes, you would be happy to go ahead and buy it and remove the wallpaper. But the fact is there are usually plenty of properties similar to yours on the market, so why should a buyer go for the one with the awful wallpaper if there are others at the same price without it?
Must say it was a pleasure to see a house which was clean, tidy, looked cared for, and not littered with rubbish. What a change from the usual disgusting dump shown.
The only real fault with the house was that it was OVER-decorated, with stripes, dado rails, pelmets, swags, tails, etc. They still have to learn, "less is more". But basically it was a nice house.
I don't think it was so much a case of 'still having to learn' - more a case of not having re-decorated since 1985. In the Decade that Taste Forgot those swags and stripes were 'the thing', the ground floor was a homage to Jimmy Corkhill's living room on Brookside. How they continued to live with it I have no idea, eucch.
Do what I do---visit Showhouses and see the latest offerings on ideas and designs,fashions etc. and I normally 'pinch' them and use the ideas to put into any house I may be selling on. The house last night needed to be sold and to achieve that it was necessary to change a few things around to attract a buyer and it obviously succeeded. No complaints from me and it is the first time I have ever watched the Show.
I really liked the house they were trying to sell and the couple seemed like nice people. I think I would have put in an offer even before the renovations.
I bet the EA was hoping that "some plonker" not au fait with the local market would have come along and offer the full £350k.
I am tired, I am weary. I could sleep for a thousand years.
Melboy - would recommend caution on imitating show houses. I saw one once that closely resembled a brothel!
quote:
Originally posted by MELBOY: Do what I do---visit Showhouses and see the latest offerings on ideas and designs,fashions etc. and I normally 'pinch' them and use the ideas to put into any house I may be selling on. The house last night needed to be sold and to achieve that it was necessary to change a few things around to attract a buyer and it obviously succeeded. No complaints from me and it is the first time I have ever watched the Show.
**Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days you are the statue.**
The house was the usual festival of lurid wallpaper and fussy co-ordinated borders, but it was quite well proportioned and it continues to amaze me that buyers cannot walk into a house and say "hideous wallpaper, but wow look at all this space!". Thought the kitchen was a particulary effective transformation, however. Makes me think I should be overhauling mine...
(Yes, there was a new shed as well in the back garden! 
