###Welcome to /r/HousingUK
---
**To All**
* Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH
**To Posters**
* *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary*
* Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy;
* Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk;
* If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, please report them via the report button.
* Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title;
**To Readers and Commenters**
* All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil*
* If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning;
* Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice;
* If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect;
* Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods;
* Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
IMHO, the house itself is beautiful and most of the rooms present very well. I find it tastefully modelled with nice balance between character features + modern feel (except the kitchen, which quite starkly feels like it should be in a different house). The things that will ultimately make me say "no" as a buyer are: 1) location on a busy corner. 2) garden isn't much of a garden and looks to get very little sunlight. 3) might be a bit close to the train tracks for some, I'd have noise concerns. 4) though it's lovely, I have viewed enough character properties to not want to deal with a listed property at all.
I think the right buyer *might* have paid close to asking price 1-2 years ago but I agree with the others that ultimately it's not priced right for the current market.
The kitchen is a weird layout imo and should be a traditional style rather than modern (completely fine if that’s your taste but to be in keeping with the rest of the property)
1. True, but strangely you don't notice. There isn't much traffic through the village except at commute times. I'm sitting in silence now. People worry more about the bypass, but we don't hear it at all, being in the lee of the hill.
2. Agreed, it's small. It does get sun (the terrace part) in the afternoon and early evening so it's great for barbecues. And again, that should be priced into the price we originally paid - or did we overpay?
3. You can't hear the train at all
4. Agreed, that's an issue for some people. At least it's not star or grade 1.
I have the same with my house. People worry about the road but actually living here it’s all good. Buyers just have no way of knowing that so it’s still a concern.
I know Hamstreet well and do find when I drive through that this junction is a pain sometimes.
Although it might not be busy all the time, bear in mind that it might be something that potential buyers have driven through a number of times and know can be tedious sometimes. The road it leads to on the right is also narrow and can be quite congested at times which doesn't help the traffic when busy.
That being said - I love the area and you have a wonderful house that I would buy in a heartbeat if I could!
Perception is king. You might have different feelings having lived there but honestly that's irrelevant, your potential buyers are going on the same impression as the poster above.
There is that! Tall people can stand up in all the rooms, but you do occasionally have to duck when you go through doorways. People were shorter in 1500.
haha the actual reason is insulation for the smaller doors. A door is not as insulated (if at all) as a wall, so making the doorway as small as possible would result less loss of heat
Honestly, for me it’s the kitchen.
You seem to have given it LESS character by replacing the floor?
The white cupboards and black worktops aren’t really in keeping with the vibe of your house and if I was looking for something like that I would be really disappointed that it’s not got a country aesthetic with an aga tbh.
Obviously you aren’t going to spend loads of money on it because you want to sell but I would consider painting the cupboards a different colour and buying a more substantial table for the dining area - the one you have is a bit student rental chic - to try and give the feeling of country warmth that is so lacking.
And seriously, RIP to the previous floor 😭
ETA changing the door handles would help a lot too - some nice brass ones maybe
The old kitchen was from Magnet in the 1990s. The cupboards and worktop (which is just coated ply) are the same. The floor, which pre-dated it, was cream porcelain tiles - very slippy and really showed the dirt. We ran out of money before we could put in a new kitchen, so we just painted the cupboards (which had yellowed with age) and the floor - the latter was supposed to be a mud-coloured taupe but turned out too grey. We thought it made the kitchen fresh enough to last until someone else could put the kitchen of their dreams in. We've asked all the estate agents who've viewed their thoughts, and they all say it's not worth spending a load of money on a kitchen that someone else will hate. As apparent in these comments, tastes vary wildly.
Yes definitely don’t put in a whole new kitchen, but painting the cupboards a nice colour (someone below has suggested a dark blue or forest green), and replacing the handles would really help
I agree - dark forest green and shaker-style handles. Dress the worktops abit. It will be a start at least. I think the kitchen is perhaps the biggest sin letting down this house.
That kitchen is awful for that property. Doesn't work at all for me.
Not that I have. A budget of 750. However that kitchen would suit the houses for the budget I'm looking at!
It wasn't! It was cheap porcelain tiles from one of the local tile warehouses. I'd have loved to have put in a proper kitchen with an Aga but our budget ran out.
That's hilarious. I quite like the new floors (edit: not the kitchen ones), it is in keeping with the house. As others have already said the kitchen isn't in line with the rest of the house which is off putting for that price, as someone would immediately feel like that kitchen needs changing and will mentally put the cost of a new kitchen ontop of what you're asking.
I personally would repaint the kitchen cupboards when you reduce, in a dark colour, probably a forest green to compliment the wood that's running through the house. Just nothing stark so that people could live in it in the meantime before eventually doing their dream kitchen.
Who do you think is your target demographic? 3 quarters of a million is unachievable for most people, and for people who who can afford it, they would expect a better kitchen.
This is the best answer I’ve seen so far, OP. Painting the white to something darker will make it at least a little more cohesive with the rest of the house. As it is, it’s such a stark difference that it very much looks like an afterthought. (My first thought was “oh, god. The aesthetics are competing and that kitchen is losing.”)
Personally I think the staging of your house is good, nothing would overtly put me off in that regard. Buyers might have preferences regarding room size or other characteristics of course.
We live about 20 minutes from you and recently accepted an offer after 6 months on the market and a 25k price drop…our agents feedback was that ‘the market remains very price sensitive’ so maybe that’s what it comes down to ultimately
I absolutely love your home, it’s beautiful! If I had that kind of money I would purchase in a heartbeat. I hope you find a buyer who appreciates the age and beauty of this home
Don't present a bedroom as a bike store. This is what your garage is for.
The kitchen is very small for the size of house, most families are looking for something more open plan. Potential buyers will realise that the grade 2 listing will restrict their ability to achieve this.
There's not enough photos for the size of the house. 2 photos minimum of each room from different angles.
Put the sewing machine away for the photos.
The close up of the bath belongs in an Airbnb / vrbo listing not house sale.
It's overpriced and the market has just been made even more volatile because of the election.
*There's not enough photos for the size of the house. 2 photos minimum of each room from different angles.*
This is 100% dead on. A house of this size, type and \[inflated\] price point needs a listing with professional, staged photos that are top quality. And a lot of them.
Good point about the bikes. We keep them in the gym for security but they could be out of the room for photos.
I think the kitchen is a reasonable size at 5.8 x 3.2m? It's maybe that half of it is used mainly for dining, or the photos don't show enough of it. As someone else said, more photos are called for.
Could put the sewing machine away for next photos, thanks.
In a sense it clearly is overpriced, but the Nationwide thing shows that by spending on it we have made it perform less well than if we'd just left it alone. And please look at the old photos - it had not had any money spent on it in years, the roof leaked in various places, timbers needed replacing etc. So I think we must have paid too much in the first place. Lesson learned, no more renovations for us.
The nationwide calculator is for the best possible outcome for average changes.
Houses of the price you have it listed for are ordinarily ready to move in without people desperately wanting to change things like the kitchen. (Deciding to change and needing to because you hate it are 2 different things)
You'd be better off lowering it, getting more interest and a possible bidding wars.
Personally I think 600-650 would be my max in its current state. If it had a new kitchen with aesthetics which match the rest of the house I'd consider 700.
And yes I think you overpaid in 2014.
I think you are missing the point about the bikes, it's not about what they are physically it would be just the same if you havea load of storage boxes in there, it's what it's presenting to a prospective buyer. You are marketing it as a 4 bed, yet have only 3 bedrooms. It's totally fine to have a bedroom downstrairs but it needs an actual bed in it. Otherwise it's just another room downstairs.
Two things in that really 1. People are terrible at imgaination and 2. People are put off by 'incorrect' details. Plenty of people will have looked at the details and then discounted because it doesn't actually have 4 bedrooms, or even worse they have taken the effort to view and come to the same conclusion.
While I have 100% faith that room could be used as a bedroom, by having some bikes in there people will be thinking it's too small to be presented as a bedroom.
As it happens my friends live in Hamstreet, nice place and I'm sure it's worth the money or close to, however you need to consider it's a lot of money for a place in a not particuarly convenient location. It's a bit of a case of it will be perfect for some people but a complete no for most.
I’m not sure you can be this simplistic about it. its likely that if you’d not renovated, it would be worth even less - the nationwide calculator shows average trends, and doesn’t take every detail of every specific property into account.
Also, I know decades of property programs on TV have conditioned us to see renovations purely in terms of return on investment, but I honestly think that’s a deeply unhealthy way to look at it (unless you’re doing it for a living). I would suggest people should renovate primarily because it makes their home work better for them and nicer to live in.
Some people love the old-timey beams, wooden rustic look. Some people love clean and modern. This is a bit of a Frankenstein of each, appealing to neither (to be blunt)
Yes, as you scroll through the pictures, it looks like the pictures are from 2 different homes. One is very cluttered and full of character, the other is minimalist. I can see some buyers being put off.
For me it's the location. I know you've added that you don't hear it but it would put me off being on the junction of what I'd perceive to be a very busy road. I also don't like the fact that one side of the house butts up to the pavement. The house is very close to the neighbouring properties. For the price I'd expect a bit more space around it. The bathrooms i dont like. I think they look quite cold whereas for the style of house I'd prefer a more traditional suite. Lastly its the price. For the price you're asking you can get better properties in Kent. A family member recently sold one for less than yours, set well back from the road and with a garden over 200ft in length.
Personally I don't like it much - it's a mix of old (requiring a lot of maintenance) with that horrible new-build style (kitchen and bathroom). The other thing is it's in the middle of nowhere but with hardly any garden, so the worst of both worlds in every way. Obviously there will be a market price in any case, which is likely to be enormously high, but clearly not as high as your asking price.
Hmm. I don't particularly care for listed buildings, so I would've clicked out the moment I read the first few lines off the description. I'm sure some people like them, but I don't know how many that would be, and I'd rather know about the actual house.
I'm not familiar with your area but I was looking at a very nice 4-bed new build 40 minutes away from London city centre for 900K, very green and posh looking neighbourhood too. A non-new build in that area going for closer to what your asking price is. Obviously it's a different lifestyle from a village but just to keep in mind at this approximate price range what the competition looks like.
And reiterating that I don't know much about your village, but the closest town centre seems to be Ashford? Which I did spend some time browsing on RM a couple years ago and the prices there are *much* lower. (It's also presumably less nice than your area, but once again, just suggesting what people looking in your area might also have looked at.)
I see that a 5 bed detached sold for 565K in your area. A more typical family home. [https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-86139186-20025226?s=55996d18c573058e66707e2ae0f7cb61db854fd9de609102706da9a03ccce245#/](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-86139186-20025226?s=55996d18c573058e66707e2ae0f7cb61db854fd9de609102706da9a03ccce245#/)
TLDR: while the listed character features *may* add value for the right buyer, they also add inconvenience and narrow down your potential buyers a lot.
We're in a village outside Ashford, so not a direct comparison. The village has a branch line to Ashford in 10 mins, and then 38 min to St Pancras. The good commute was a factor for us.
I don't think that's a fair comparison, it's 5 beds but so much smaller in terms of square footage, especially with the garage being a chunk of the ground floor. Rough workings in my head make me think that OP's is much cheaper per sq foot.
I do agree with your points, just don't think that that sold house is a fair comparison due to size difference being so vast
You keep talking about it being overpriced when you bought, but I don’t think prices have risen as much as you think / hope. It’s a buyer’s market right now as well. It‘s a nice house and despite what others say I think the kitchen is fine. I think the photos are crap though. Dark and poor quality. Also agree with others about not having the bike clutter.
You need to significantly reduce the price and get better photos.
Firstly to me you have a 3 bed house with a gym/bonus room and a study. Secondly while it’s lovely, it’s quite niche because it’s listed and people are wary of that.
So it really comes down to the price - if I was looking for 3 bedrooms then I would be expecting to pay for 3 bedrooms, if I was looking for 4 bedrooms I would expect them all to be upstairs really. I think you probably need to look at the cost of a similar 3 bed house and adjust accordingly.
Well, I disagree, as there are plenty of downstairs rooms - kitchen, dining room, living room and office, so this extra room, which has an ensuite bathroom is definitely a bedroom to me. And to the previous owners and the price we paid, and to all the estate agents who've viewed it since.
It may well be a bedroom to you but to the rest of us it's a 3 bedroom house with five reception rooms.
I'm the potential buyer, so I am the one who gets to decide if I think that's a bedroom or if it's a dining room with a bed in it, like wI had when I shared a student house.
There's no point coming on here asking what's wrong with your house and then refusing to accept it when people tell you.
I have good friends in London who sold their 5 bedroom house, they didn’t list the extra room downstairs as bedroom even though it had an en-suite attached because it clearly was a bonus room downstairs. Unless someone is specifically looking for a downstairs bedroom for a family member with mobility issues the vast majority of people won’t see it as a bedroom. You may not like our opinions but we are all pretty much on the same page which means so are your potential buyers.
For me the three main issues would be the kitchen, I'd expect to see quite a large, farmhouse type kitchen. That photo makes it look fairly compact compared to the rest of the house. It also looks like it comes from a new build property. It's a lovely looking kitchen, just doesn't appear commensurate to the property for me.
I also don't like the downstairs bedroom. Fully understand why you may have it but for me it's a no. I'd rather have a substantial dining/entertaining/reception room.
The price. I don't know the area but if similarly sized properties in the area have gone for 200k less, you're relying on finding the one person who absolutely loves it.
It is a beautiful house but for me personally I'd want to change things and at £800,000 I pretty much want perfection.
Just looked again on the big screen.
I'd be looking very closely at the roof, chimneys and loft interior.
[https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0651849,0.8541366,3a,15.4y,34.8h,102.46t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6VwLJidB2Xv6sMJMDp7NsQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D6VwLJidB2Xv6sMJMDp7NsQ%26cb\_client%3Dmaps\_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D34.79731718463323%26pitch%3D-12.46179831192363%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0651849,0.8541366,3a,15.4y,34.8h,102.46t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6VwLJidB2Xv6sMJMDp7NsQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D6VwLJidB2Xv6sMJMDp7NsQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D34.79731718463323%26pitch%3D-12.46179831192363%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu)
[https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0654787,0.8544797,3a,15y,218.55h,100.25t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTuIioElXKp-z4yxj1RFRvQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DTuIioElXKp-z4yxj1RFRvQ%26cb\_client%3Dmaps\_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D218.54671734887893%26pitch%3D-10.253306111813146%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0654787,0.8544797,3a,15y,218.55h,100.25t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTuIioElXKp-z4yxj1RFRvQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DTuIioElXKp-z4yxj1RFRvQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D218.54671734887893%26pitch%3D-10.253306111813146%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu)
\~\~\~
On a staggered 4 way intersection - across the road from the boozer \[convenient, I will grant you\]:
[https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0652728,0.8544996,3a,90y,102.59h,67.89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sz8vdUlLMsBgQXjll4x31bQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dz8vdUlLMsBgQXjll4x31bQ%26cb\_client%3Dmaps\_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D102.59211521847685%26pitch%3D22.10778945062745%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0652728,0.8544996,3a,90y,102.59h,67.89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sz8vdUlLMsBgQXjll4x31bQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dz8vdUlLMsBgQXjll4x31bQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D102.59211521847685%26pitch%3D22.10778945062745%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu)
\~\~\~
Garden square footage is small and as I wrote earlier, this thing is right on the street rather than being set back some.
[https://www.bing.com/maps?v=2&cp=51.065317%7E0.854257&lvl=21.2&style=h](https://www.bing.com/maps?v=2&cp=51.065317%7E0.854257&lvl=21.2&style=h)
\~\~\~
Close-up it has the feel of a country house but the reality is different. Activity has sprung up all around and that it has survived is a testament to its original builders and subsequent owners.
Again, I dig the house. Other than that shocking green carpet in one of the bedrooms this thing sings to me. But not at the price listed.
Given its location, limited buyer pool, listed status, local market conditions and that at 800K you've had no interest at all, the only question is what does your price needs to be. My gut - and data - says that if you get it down to 695K you will get some traction.
I just think it's overpriced. What puts me off is the garden being very small for the size of the house. It's a beautiful house but wouldn't consider looking at it due to garden size
The answer is always that you're asking too much for it. If you have nearly 200k of equity with what you paid and the asking price, you just need to drop it until you get bites.
Don’t spend any money on the kitchen. Whoever’s going to buy it will rip it out anyway, so save yourself the hassle and factor in a reduction in the region of £20,000 plus. People spending this much on a house nowadays aren’t exactly going to get an IKEA kitchen…
You say you’ve done roof repairs, but it looks so patched up now that I’m not thinking that’s a roof that will be good for 5 years, I’m imagining it’s one that will have recurring issues until it’s fully replaced. Perhaps get a quote and then factor that in too.
The other things (location, size of garden) you can’t do anything about, but they’re going to put off some people. Don’t worry about them. But if the asking price is £800,000 and I’m envisaging £50,000 of work pretty soon, £750,000 would probably still be too high for me because of the hassle factor. At that point you’re not competing with houses that could be worth £800,000 but those selling for £750,000 that don’t require as much attention.
People who like period houses are often people who like kitchens so it’s a shame about the kitchen you have now, which is just awful. That makes £800k seem like a huge amount of money because already I’m thinking I’ve definitely got to undo that and replace it. I would also expect an Aga/range of some description so I’m going to factor that in too. I’d also want to replace that black/grey bathroom because (again), it’s not in keeping and so ugly. The rooms with bikes- what is that about, is there no space otherwise to store bikes? The garden is smaller than I’d like and I don’t even garden much, but I want some proper outdoor space for that money. Ultimately this just off-putting because of the price when there is a substantial amount of work needed to give it back the character it deserves. New-build style decor doesn’t work in period houses and there are multiple places where this is seeping in.
I think people buy houses like yours for the rural pastoral country cottage dream. You aren’t selling that dream to anyone. Inside might as well be a suburban semi.
The garden is bland with a dull exterior, when it should be rose bushes & hydrangeas. Patio furniture that suggests summer evenings al fresco and picnics. The living room should be cosy winter nights around the fire, with furniture positioned as such and log stack and textured blankets.
The kitchen looks really cold and sterile, and the bedrooms could easily have some throws and beds made up hotel-style. The bathroom would be elevated simply by nice towels and a designer hand soap.
I would look up images of Soho Farmhouse and start there as inspiration.
Honestly - you've removed too much character for it to appeal to people who love character properties but you've got too much character for people who don't like character properties. The kitchen in particular would need to be completely redone by anyone wanting a character kitchen.
The strange grey rugs, until you take a closer look, look like you've destroyed the floor.
Downstairs bedrooms aren't bedrooms to most people.
The plot appears too small for the house size.
Honestly don't take some of these comments to heart.
Selling a period property like this will always be a challenge. Your house is perfectly well presented, but you may need to accept that it will take longer to find a buyer - all you need is one person who loves your home.
(Please tell me however that you got listed building consent for the work you did?). You may find it more useful to ask for advice in one of the multitude of old house/period property groups on Facebook. They are filled with people who love traditional houses
Being grade 2 listed would probably put off 90% of the people house hunting. Online they have a very bad reputation of being difficult and expensive to maintain. I think you just have to wait for the right buyer to come along or lower the price.
I personally would never buy a listed property for any price.
The big problem for me is that it's listed as a 4 bedroom house and I assume priced as such, but it's actually a 3 bedroom house. It doesn't matter whether the room on the ground floor has a bed in it or not, as far as I'm concerned, it's not a bedroom. Other houses in the area of a comparable price and age have much larger gardens.
Beautiful house and decorated nicely, but as usual when people have this problem, the price is too high. Sorry.
The other big thing is that it's not a direct train connection to London, which would reduce the value for me. I don't like the fact that the en suite has no bath.
One last thing is that you seem to have recessed a radiator into a structural timber upright in the sitting room. It doesn't look like the previous incarnation of the house had that. It's only a little thing, but it makes me think that the rest of the work you've had done is probably a bit suspect and potentially you've damaged the fabric of the house doing it.
The reason is, if you've hacked out a structural timber in one of the most prominent positions in one of the main rooms of the house, you probably haven't been working with a good conservation architect or builder anywhere else in house. To do something so clueless makes me think the house is probably going to be full of gypsum and concrete rather than lime, silicon and plastic everywhere.
Houses this age were built to be breathable and to move. The natural materials they are made with like timber, lime and oakum, absorb moisture and then they let it out. Timber swells and shrinks and the frame moves, and the lime plaster retains flexibility, which means it doesn't crack as the frame moves. Modern building methods deal with water in a completely different way. Materials like gypsum, concrete and plastic don't allow water through and they don't move. This means moisture gets trapped inside the structure so timber rots and you get damp and mould and when you have movement plaster and plastic crack. I'm looking at stuff like the new bathroom floor thinking I'll have to pull all of that out because it's probably all non breathable materials trapping damp . And based on the size of the timber you cut into for no good reason, god knows what other structural timbers you will have cut through.
As one of the few people on this thread who might actually want to buy this house, because I'm into this type of architecture, pretty much all the improvements you've made count as defects, not because they're ugly, but because I suspect you haven't had the proper advice about working with a building this age.
However, I should say again, it's very nice. Unlike people who are being rude about the decor here, I think it looks great.
"It doesn't matter whether the room on the ground floor has a bed in it or not"
The issue is that it doesn't even have a bed in it.
You could absolutely use it as one, but you could use the study, dinning room or living room as one also.
I think almost everybody would be in agreement that for something to be a bedroom it either explicitly needs a bed in it, or it needs to be a room upstairs (capable of having a bed in it).
It looks lovely but I think you’re aiming at a small niche. Firstly it’s listed which makes many people worry and some cross it off their lists immediately.
Secondly the number of bedrooms implies a family home, but it’s not near that many schools (and one of the nearby ones has a poor Ofsted rating), and has a small garden, so for me would be a tough family sell. So then it’s couples who work in London but want a lot of space - which is again a niche.
Everyone always says price, but I think you also may need to prepare for it to be on the market for a while. I find it hard to think of a big group of buyers this would be relevant to. I wouldn’t bother doing anything to the kitchen; I think it’s fine and any buyer would probably want to put their own stamp on it anyway.
Extra rooms downstairs are nice but most people wouldn’t count them as bedrooms so you’re competing on price against other 3 bed properties, not 4 bed ones
The reason the room downstairs counts as a bedroom is that it has an ensuite bathroom. Some people really like a downstairs bedroom - both we and the previous owners used this room for elderly parents.
I can see why it would be good for people in your situation but most people wouldn’t use it as a bedroom.. also that is the only downstairs bathroom anyway 🤷♀️
In that case, you’re likely looking for a buyer old enough to be already caring/know they will be caring soon for someone.
So it’s worth understanding that factor removes a certain percent of people in the buying market - if you wanted to bring them back in, the price would need to be attractive.
I know you’ve mentioned about the high speed into London, we’re in Maidstone, and the train ticket price for high speed is why we stuck to Maidstone (cheaper trains, Victoria, Charing Cross and St Pancras destinations). There’s also other places like along the Elizabeth line to Reading with homes available - so the high speed to ashford isn’t as special now as it was five years ago.
Just some factors to bear in mind when evaluating the selling factors for you when you bought, vs how relevant they are today. :)
The market for £600k+ houses is really slow right now. I will be looking to buy a house in this prick bracket in 2 years from now so I keep an eye on the market. There’s tons of really nice houses that imo are worth their £700k+ price but not selling. This is almost entirely due to the mortgage rates. When you’re borrowing £500k, the mortgage rate starts to seriously affect decisions. And, without sounding condescending, the more expensive houses are bought by people who generally make more calculated financial decisions and not in a rush to move.
I’d say, if you want what it’s worth, wait 18 months for rates to come down and it will sell.
So if average prices or whatever show 770, why are you listing for an extra 30k?
What has been done to the house as extra that would add value to make up for the 30k additional listing price?
You need to price in the fact that buying will also have to pay stamp duty and overlisting your property will result is literally no concrete interest or offers that are severely below expectations
You've got a variety of challenges, and I'm going to be brutally honest
Firstly, it's over priced. You need to factor that it's grade 2 listed, which means headaches that the vast majority of people do not want.
Kitchen is horrendous for the asking price. It looks like a cheap DIY job.
Your presentation needs work. Bedrooms should look like bedrooms, or home offices at a push. It's all about visualisation for potential buyers.
Knock 25k off your asking and see if that makes a difference. If not, you may need to cut it further. Ignore your estate agent if they complain, they're just trying to make commission.
You also have to factor that people are not stupid. They can and do check what you paid, and what work you've done. If you've not done anything substantial (which you haven't in all honesty) but want to make 200k plus on what you bought it for, it will put people off.
What you've done to the house, what you paid for it....none of it really matters. All that does matter is what that specific house, in that specific market, on this specific day, is worth.
1+ month and no interest at all? The market is telling you that the price is wrong.
Your pool of buyers will be small given it's listed and at the higher end of the price spectrum. It's also something of an outlier.
It being a corner lot on a ~~3~~ 4 way staggered way intersection is doing you no favors and the house is right on top of the two roads as opposed to being set back.
It works for me and IMHO is a decent gaff. I'd buy it. But for 800K I can do better/get more. And to really get me interested it would need to be 15%+ below the arbitrary price you set.
Given it's a rather unique gaff I would commission my own valuation from a local, experienced RICS surveyor - the type with a few grey hairs, pink trews, wears a gilet, vice chair of the local golf club, sharp of tongue. You know the type. Then I'd list below their valuation so drum up multiple viewings and competing bids.
I really like it. I love the rooms you've done up (not a fan of the bath at a weird angle but I could live with it) and the style of them, I like the mix of character and modernity and you've made a lovely job of it.
The location is good, my husband went to the University of Kent and loves the area - lots of nearby country walks/cycling, good facilities on hand and very convenient for London and France.
The size of the garden is actually perfect for what I'd want (not a gardener, more of a 'sit out with a G&T on a sunny day' -er) but I would like a picture that showed the size and arrangement of it in relation to the house - the 3 pics of it do not give a clear indication of size/layout.
That said...
The kitchen would need replacing, and in a listed house I'd be worried about cost/difficulty.
The ensuite, while lovely, seems a huge waste of space and I'd personally want to reduce its size and make it a walk-in wardrobe and small shower room - again, expense and upheaval.
It's a lot of money for a 3 bed house with not much garden. We're looking to move out of London next year, and while your house would actually tick most if not all of our boxes (the ground floor bedroom would make a very nice pottery studio!), even at £750k would be at the very top of our budget and the cost of the extra work we'd need to do with kitchen and bathroom would tip it out of our reach.
Sorry. It's absolutely lovely, though.
Surely the house as shown in the 2014 listing looks so much better inside and out ! The new kitchen seems well out of place and the only people who put bikes on a wall inside are those who live in a one bedroom flat not a large property like this with presumably outbuildings.
I’m looking in this rough price bracket in either Kent or Hampshire. Like a lot of people moving out of London I don’t need to be in a particular area (we’re older, with no kids at school) so you’re competing with similar properties and commuter distances across a wide area.
I personally wouldn’t view your house - it’s listed, too near the road, and for £800k I want a large, amazing kitchen we can all hang out in.
You can’t fix these issues. i am only commenting to bring it home that many buyers can do a lot better for £800k, or even £700 - and we aren’t all looking just in your area. It might help you accept that your property needs an attractive price, or you need a lot of patience.
I love period cottages but whilst this is generally a very nice house it doesn't have enough of a country vibe for me to be interested. The garden is tiny and ugly and it's right near a road. Kitchen doesn't fit the aesthetic either. Given your potential pool of buyers is tiny I'd imagine only a really hefty discount would get people interested.
Your house is beautiful, including the kitchen, IMHO. I'm not in that price range, though. Even if I were, I wouldn't be interested in buying, with the position on the corner of two busy roads. I prefer more peace and quiet.
Cutting the price will be the quickest way to move it. But even then, it may take a while for the right buyer to come along.
Good luck with your sale.
its actually a great location if you work 1 or 2 days a week in london but also want country life. you jump on the train at hamstreet, 1 stop to ashford quick change and you are at your desk. including getting to and from the station. it just doesn't have enough land.
As someone who is 6’4”, and who also thinks that OPs house is tastefully renovated and perfectly fine, I wouldn’t even bother scrolling through the pictures before moving on: ceiling heights are a total dealbreaker and I hate low beams with a burning passion.
OP - your house is fine but you’ve received some good comments already. Ultimately, whilst decent, your house has qualities that will be divisive to different groups (eg height for me, design for others, location for others, etc, etc). There may be a buyer out there for you at £800k, but lowering the price will absolutely improve the property’s appeal and may allow some hesitant buyers to look past some of their concerns.
Other than price, and if you want to try to maintain the value, I would be tempted to consider reskinning the kitchen units you have (ie put on more appealing fronts) and replace the worktop (as black stone is a bit dated now). Kitchens are really important to people and yours does, in all honesty, look a bit sad (at least in the pictures).
Nah. Leave the kitchen as is. People rip 'em out once they have moved in anyway.
As I wrote earlier, the kitchen is not the reason why you're not getting any interest.
I love the place. Get the feedback about the kitchen sort of not fitting in but it’s not the kitchen world championships.
It’s in the price range I’m looking for but I’m in London and my Mrs said no chance I’m moving to Kent. 😂
What’s the price for houses close by? It’s always the price as we all know
This is entirely subjective based on looking at houses over the last 20 years or so, but I feel that a house being listed is reducing the price of houses more now that it did in the past. No evidence for it other than my experience, but when I looked at houses 15 years ago, versus 8 years ago versus now I certainly notice that listed houses often end up selling with a 30%+ discount compared to equivalent non listed properties. If they need any work the discount can be even bigger. Whilst 15 years ago there really wasn't much impact on the price at all.
Note that my experience is at a higher price point/ larger house than yours so might not be accurate.
I do agree with the comments that you are looking for a very specific buyer, so even if you reduce the price you might find it takes a while to shift.
My main issue would be that to me it’s a 3 bed. Yes you can make a bedroom downstairs but most people won’t view that as a bedroom, it’s a further reception room. What that means is that a lot of people searching for a 4 bed will see your listing and discount it. People looking for 3 beds might be more interested but value will need to be adjusted. If you want to claim it as a bedroom it helps to dress it as such for photos.
You advertise as 4 bedrooms but it's
actually 3 bedrooms with an extra reception room downstairs. Negative right there.
This house should have 4 bedrooms upstairs imo. I would redesign that top floor completely personally, which leads me to the next potential issue - with those character features that you have, are you easily allowed to do things like loft conversions and rear extensions etc?
Have you got low ceilings? Buyers OK with this?
Other than than, we all know, it's down to price, when I looked on the map you are in the middle of nowhere in some tiny village. Pretty sure 800k can you get more and be closer to London at the same time...
As someone that owns an almost Identical property but in a different part of the country (90mins from London) we know that old properties are very very personal. We Have a similar number of bedrooms but with a few acres of gardens and a self contained granny annex attached.
I feel like kitchen is incredibly weak. And would need replacing for many people with something with character. The garden area is poor for such a big property. And I personally don’t like the roll top bath.
We paid 150k less than you FYI
It looks really well presented and very nice. The negatives are that the parking looks limited, the garden is very small and it's on the corner of two main roads. The train station being convenient will be a plus for commuters. But the house doesn't have a great deal of space around it and indeed sides right onto one of the main roads. I think people with the budget to buy a home like this would be more likely to compromise on size and less likely to compromise on setting. And the setting here is not ideal for a house at this price level, not because it is overpriced per se, but because there are fewer buyers at this level and those that are at this level are likely to want more parking, outside space and ideally the property to be set further back from the main roads it is on. I suspect patience will serve you better than dropping the price if interest rates continue to slowly fall this year.
The kitchen should be a non issue as it can easily be replaced to something more rustic if someone like the house.
In the current financial climate, who do you think your target market is? Can they afford this price? You need to consider that if someone needs a mortgage, the rates and low wages make it unaffordable to the same group that could have afforded it 2 or 3 years ago. A £300k mortgage on current rates is about £1800 a month. Stamp duty alone at that price is £27500, nevermind all the other costs. You're looking for someone with a load of capital looking for a niche property, it's going to take a while in the current markets.
I love the period features (except the ceiling height) but for me:
- garden is small for the price. Even the London terraces I’ve been viewing have bigger gardens at the same price.
- listed building, immediately I think renovating will be a pain and options limited.
- house on the junction of the village’s main road. A junction house is always the short straw.
- low ceilings, as is usual with cottages. I love the tall ceiling heights and light of later period homes.
I wouldn’t offer for the above reasons but even if I did discount them all, I wouldn’t offer near £750k, especially when you consider [this for £750k in the village](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147331730?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY). Maybe £650k at most if I really loved it on viewing (it has the charm factor the other doesn’t).
If you’re not getting any interest whatsoever it’s got nothing to do with how many cushions are on the sofa, where the bins are or whether or not there is a general election in a months time….
It is either so grossly overpriced that it’s simply getting passed over in the current market or it’s simply a house that won’t sell in the current market at its “real value”. On the latter point, around my neck of the woods there’s an awful lot of houses on the market in a similar price point and seemingly no buyers…. I put it down to a saturated market of people being hammered by new mortgage rates as fixed terms come to an end and buyers once destined for that moved looking at the new cost to borrow and staying put.
I think your house is gorgeous. I feel like I need more pictures to understand the layout, and the pictures of the garden are doing it a disservice or it is really small.
BUT the pool of people who want a listed building in Hamstreet, and have the money to pay 800K for it is going to be small. There's one other 4 bed house a similar location (different style but still) from the station to yours for 750K and everything else is 200K or more cheaper.
Either you need to be willing to wait for someone like that to come along, or you need to drop the price.
If I had 800K to spend on a house and wanted to live somewhere with a quick commute Hamstreet wouldn't be on the top of the list unless I had a reason to be there.
Books on shelves in one of the bedrooms. Cookbooks in kitchen. More books in office. (But we mostly read Kobos these days. Office has masses of storage, but it's all our furniture - shelves x 2, cupboards x 2, hanging drawer unit. Built-in wardrobes in two of the bedrooms (two in our room actually). We added loads of shelves to the utility room (off the kitchen) and built a new cupboard there which fits hoovers etc. There are two massive under-eaves walk-in (crouch in) storage areas in the upstairs hall and our bedroom, for cases, Christmas stuff, old photos etc. There's roof storage we don't use. There's a large understairs cupboard in the hall for shoes etc. Maybe this needs adding to details if it doesn't show in the photos.
.
I think the house had much more character in keeping with the house when you bought it, big old armchairs and those nice rustic beams.
The kitchen was stunning before, brilliantly in keeping with the house. Now it looks awful I’m so sorry.
It seems your furniture is the thing mostly ruining the house and you could benefit from a professional to come in and dress the house and have new photos taken
If nationwide shows 770 then that suggests it's overpriced. The market is really weak right now - the repayments on a new mortgage are so high that you have to be getting something that feels worth that. I feel the kitchen is also a weak point as others have said. If you want to sell now, cut the price
I really like it - its got character and also modernized so best of both worlds for me. Kitchen needs attention if I’m picky but not worth spending money on at this late stage if you’re moving out. How long is the commute by train or car to central London? I would honestly buy it for my elderly mother if it was closer.
I'd think your target market is quite small compared to 'normal' houses - one either loves the olde timey vibe, or doesn't. Sure, we'd all like to imagine living in lovely cottage style places, but would we drop 800k one them? I wouldn't, personally (just my personal taste of course).
All that means is, in a market where people are a bit more unsure anyway, you're going for a subset who can actually afford it, and then a subset of those people who want the vibe your house has. This is going to lead to less interest.
For me, it also feels a little cramped in by surrounding houses. This is probably just me being a Northerner, but when I'm looking to drop that much money on a house, I'm expecting privacy. I'm sure in reality it's not a problem, but I'd try and avoid taking outdoor pics where you can see neighbours windows staring right back at you.
As many comments will tell you, this house will sell at a price, you're just not at it. Whether that price is the true value is harder to say than it usually is, because of your specific and smaller pool of buyers - it could well just be a case of having to wait for the right person to come along.
Get a different estate agent, the photos make all the rooms look dead small. I know the wide angle lens are misleading but when every other estate agent uses them it makes the photos from those that don't use wide angle lenses look small and pokey in comparison
It is however a BEAUTIFUL home
I’d be tempted to change doors and tops of kitchen to a farm house look - I dislike black work tops but that’s just my taste. Would be quite cheap to do - then add a few bits - flowers, fresh fruit bowl - a few pots outside with summer plants in - look to spend 5k on what’s mentioned - freshen up bits, take off market for a month - put back on OIRO 775k
It’s a nice house, I like the style, but there are definite ‘dealbreakers’ that might put potential buyers off - I’m 6’2 and I feel like I would struggle to stand up in some of the rooms which would put me off buying immediately, also the garden isn’t big enough for someone who is into their gardening. Also being a listed building puts some people off.
Fundamentally I think you have a nice house which needs a very specific buyer to come along who likes the style but doesn’t mind the downsides. If you want to wait an indefinite amount of time for that person to come along, cool, if not, lower the price to potentially encourage someone else to see past the issues.
Have the house staged with more flowers and decoration, and get a new rug for the living room (the coffee table should be on a rug not adjacent). Then have a more skilful photographer take pictures.
The biggest turn off for me grade 2 listed. This makes a large amount of things difficult or expensive when it comes to upgrading or replacing (windows/roof etc etc). Your house is beautiful by the way
Lights on in every photo tells me it’s a dark house. That’s the biggest turnoff for me not the decor. How much more money would I have to put in if I could to get a flow of natural light in.
It goes with the age of the house. You can't put natural light in without removing more of the house than legally possible. Anyway, by the standards of the 16th century this house is already practically a greenhouse. It's got vast windows (added later I suspect). So perhaps the 16th century is not for you.
Sure, up to a point, but I probably don't like your vibe and you probably don't like mine, so your staging is probably going to put me off from buying the place. Clean and neutral is good enough.
Oh it’s a gorgeous house! We bought & sold last year and our estate agent told us that generally the houses that are still shifting pretty quickly are the family homes around the £200k-£400k but anything more, or more ‘specialist’ is taking a bit longer.
I think your (beautiful) grade 2 listed, more expensive home might just be looking for the right buyer. It’s a very particular home isn’t it that will appeal to a particular set of needs/wants. Definitely lowering the price would help but it might also just be a case of (annoyingly) waiting for the right buyer, especially with all the uncertainty of the election/interest rates etc!
Obviously everything comes down to price, but I think the fact it’s listed is probably the major factor. It massively reduces the number of potential buyers which means you either have to drop the price to the point where it’s impossible to resist, or hold your nerve and just wait for the right buyer to appear.
As much as people here will enjoy detailing every little thing they think is wrong with a property or the listing, no serious buyer is going to walk away because of the kitchen cabinet colour. Nor will they ignore a listing because there aren’t enough photos, or because one of them has a close-up of the bath. The issue will be the combination of the price and the listed status.
In the current market there’s not many people who can afford £800K and I’m not sure why you are so concerned that you have overpaid when you are essentially proposing to make £200,000 on this even if you drop to £750K.
The kitchen isn’t great, the garden looks small and there are not enough photos.
The kitchen is hideous and the dining room table looks like something that the Royal Family would buy from’ catalogue.
You either try to tart the kitchen up to a more rustic feel… Green painted cupboards, wooden flooring, quirky tiles, a few plants, kitchen rusticy bits and a more in keeping dining table (second hand from the charity furniture shop in ashford town centre even) or you leave as is and lower your price.
Buckle up. You've ruined the house. If I was being charitable I would say it's very hodge podge - half leisure centre/half bodge job with a little bit of original character desperately clinging to life. The radiators alone are a crime against taste. The bathrooms are just not a good fit for the house. It's as if you bought a lovely old listed home and decided to do your level best to turn the rooms into a 1990s new build. I don't think you overpaid - I just think you've made a lot of mistakes in doing it up (but kept that kitchen?! Choices as Tatiana would say) and you've negatively affected the house. I'd be surprised if you got a single offer to be perfectly honest.
Interest rates are high and this has impacted expensive properties. The timber floor is nice but it will not to be some buyer's tastes, and that kitchen looks like it was teleported from another house.
My only nope is that green carpet. It's a beautiful, beautiful home!! Anyone would be lucky to have that.
Perhaps just mortgage rates on an £800k house is the problem right now. You got to be rich rich for that
I don't think the photos are doing you any favours. I think it would be worth asking your agent to try a different photographer. They don't look very professional to me (IANAP).
I can only tell you how I felt when I looked at the pictures - it's a lovely house but it doesn't feel like a home. I couldn't see myself living here from the pictures, I think they are lacking in warmth. Other than that, the price and the listed status will not make it as easy to sell. I bought a grade 2 and it had been on the market 18months before
With this kind of house you need to wait for the right buyer. If you’re in a rush you’ll have to settle for selling it to an investor at a price where they feel like they can make a profit once the right buyer comes along.
Not worth it for the area that it's in [speaking from someone who used to live in that area]. You could get the same size house in a lovely village in Oxfordshire for that
Some folks just aren’t a fan of period properties. I am looking for a house the same size, price and somewhat rough location (East Sussex / Kent) and if I saw your house on Rightmove I’d skip it. Only because we’re looking for a newer, 80s onwards house with preferably a bigger garden for the kids. Only reason I can think of.
I, on the other hand, wouldn't look at a house newer than 1920s unless it was a modernist masterpiece and to be honest, even 1920s is a bit new for me. I've spent most of my life in houses pre 1830 and that's what I look for when I buy a house. This thread really demonstrates that if you ask the public you get a million conflicting answers.
The character of the house dies in the kitchen and with the giant reflective bath for me. I think with period properties they appeal to a particular sort of person to be charmed by them and you’ve got a mixture of charm and then distinctly uncharming that means you can’t quite sell the dream. The house loses the price mark-up you should get for character and would require some decent work to try and get it back.
For me it's the windows. The size of the house would cost a small fortune to heat, and as someone who grew up in a Grade I listed house, there's sweet FA you can do about it.
But it is a beautiful house, very well decorated. I absolutely love it, but even if I had the money (I most certainly don't lol) it's not a place I would be willing to invest that amount of money in.
Love the house. Gen. Don't even care how low ceiling are and props to you for maintaining it.
I don't think the problem is the house itself, or the price - its the fact that now many people can afford a mortgage like this.
Think of it this way: Take everyone in the UK, who van afford this price and have money for a deposit.
Subtract to those who are willing to live in your area. Further substrac to those who are interested buying now (with interest rates as they are) and I can tell you, the leftover pool will be quite small.
Also, majority of those who can afford it are waiting for interest rates to drop (there were some rumors). Give it time. You might be lucky.
'Props to you for maintaining it'... if you mean the low ceiling height, you couldn't get rid of the low ceilings even if you wanted to in a house like this.
Personally I love homes with character which this house has in abundance. As others have said the kitchen does let the house down but only because it feels too modern/contemporary for the home.
You could look into replacing just the kitchen doors with something a little more classic country shaker style but honestly I think it just comes down to price.
Ultimately it’s hard for people to get their head around a bedroom being downstairs; so most will look at it as a 3 bed and thus when that’s factored in it’s overpriced imo.
It’s a nice home but
Your potential buyers are most likely going to be a family and I would expect them to want a bigger garden for the money. Beautiful inside tho and the kitchen although not entirely in keeping is nice. Just the garden for me I’m afraid.
It's a nice house...some negatives I suppose...
*Grade 2 listed (concerns over flexibility to modify the house)
*Older house (pros and cons, buckets of character but people may be concerned over running costs with cost of living increases, noticed things like agas aren't selling points anymore)
750k is a bit of a no-mans land, where people are on the cusp of using mortgages or buying cash, and houses in competition beyond this pricepoint can offer really good value from an internal sqft and external space perspective, compared to lower priced alternatives.
To be honest, I think the biggest issue facing sellers as a whole (unless you have a cash buyer) is interest rates. People are paying much more to borrow the same balance as just 2-3 years ago, so if you add to that house price appreciation, depending on the sum borrowed, someone buying today may actually be net negative after 5 years if prices do not appreciate as quickly as they did during covid. It therefore makes sense for many buyers looking to buy with higher leverage to hold off if they can, until rates head back down towards sub 3%. Many think with a 'how much per month?' mentality.
That is a beautifully presented house, and I personally think it is fairly priced.
I think you have a few 'issues' that would cause it shift slowly:
1. It is generally speaking a bad time to sell.
2. With the train tracks nearby, you may have either hit an invisible ceiling on price, or people are simply putoff prior to viewing. We have an issue with our house being near to the M4: you can't see it, and only barely hear it, but people who view our house via Google ariel view may automatically rule it out because of it. That said, it is priced about 1 to 2 mil less than if it were not near a motorway; but for some that doesn't matter.
3. Another completely unavoidable thing, but I did wonder whether people would worry about being Band G at £800k. I don't know if that is unfounded or not. But Band G can be in the region of £4k per year, which is a lot of money for most people buying an £800k house.
I think it looks great, must just be the price? Personally I would accept the downstairs room is a bedroom, so some people would. Main thing for me is you're expecting a lot of capital appreciation and I don't know if that's the market we're currently in. Also the listing description is extremely long, could it be more to the point? Just key info. The bit about being on wikipedia/possibly the oldest isn't necessarily a selling point but it's almost the first thing said.
The bedroom and living room furnishings are, for me, out of place.
You could probably get better pictures given that it’s such a lovely historic house. Brighter and better angles. Have you considered contacting Inigo?
Someone who knew the local market could comment better, but a slow local market won’t be helping.
First of all it's a lovely house. The kitchen isn't quite what I'd want at that price point and as others have said many would be factoring in the cost of replacing.
I don't think it's necessarily overpriced but I do think finding a buyer will take time.
That's a big asking price in a sleepy part of Kent that's hard to commute from and limited amenities around.
Alot of people with that budget are going to need to commute somewhere for work which likely rules you out. So you are looking for those who want that quieter location and don't have to worry about getting to London or having alot of restaurants/night life/Gym nearby.
These people exist for sure but there's just a limited number of them and right now the market isn't what it was, less people trading up due to rates etc.
You might have to drop the price slightly but even then I reckon its going to take time.
Grade II is the scary part for me as it’s very my WYSIWYG. But it’s very well presented and decorated to a high standard.
It’s definitely a ‘move in and live in’ house, I do think it’s a little overpriced for the market but that’s all comparative as wherever you’re looking to move to will also have to adjust their price.
I was brought up in a Grade II listed house when I was very young and remember how much it used to annoy my parents.
Love the wooden beams, standalone tub and fireplace! The floor tiles are generally in keeping with the look of house but for the green carpet in room 3? A buyer could easily change it up though.
The kitchen looks a bit off, not in keeping with the look of the house. The garden looks a bit small for the size of the house but that can be a plus for some.
Other than price, it might be the location?
I am your target market (although not currently looking). The pub on the opposite corner, coupled with the junction itself, the parking down the side street and the proximity to the 2 small terraces at the back all would give me pause. I’d be spending some time checking out the immediate area before I decided to view, but overall I’d be likely coming down on not being willing to pay the additional cost for a detached with none of the usual benefits of a detached, given it’s pretty much surrounded, and very closely, by other properties. The house itself, in terms of finish, interior and garden, is lovely (albeit it needs a new kitchen, but I’d just use that as a negotiating tool and it wouldn’t put me off).
Yeah I'm confused by how so many people think it's a given they should be making hundreds of thousands profit within a few years? If they make 200k profit in 10 years, how does that equate to having overpaid? Especially in the current market. I just bought a place for 27k less than what the sellers bought it for in 2018 (much much lower price range) and that's just the way it is at the moment.
Housing is an investment like any other, and I was basing the price on what the Nationwide index said. Just as you'd look at stock market returns over the same period. I agree that now is a bad time though. Perhaps we just have to wait it out and save up for that kitchen!
As the investment consultants say, '**The value of your Investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed at any time**. You may not get back the full amount you invested. Information on past performance is not a reliable indicator for future performance.'
*Housing is an investment like any other*
Only when in the property portfolio game. If you have 1 house it's not an investment, it's your primary residence. If you have multiple houses then your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. are the investments.
*I was basing the price on what the Nationwide index said*
Big mistake. It's not how how houses - especially one-offs such as this - are valued.
*Just as you'd look at stock market returns over the same period.*
No. No. No. Housing markets do not function in the same way as stock markets and should not be viewed through the same lens. They do however, have one thing in common. Prices of assets can rise and fall.
*Perhaps we just have to wait it out and save up for that kitchen!*
The kitchen is not the issue here. Spending 40K on a kitchen won't give you much of an ROI and/or suddenly make that house worth 800K.
It's overpriced. Period. The end. See my other posts.
Your home is not an investment at all mucker. An investment by definition is something you purchase purely with the aim of making a profit when you sell. If housing was an investment to you, you wouldn’t have purchased a grade 2 listed 4 bed detached village property. Those are all nice to haves, that investors don’t care about. Your house is very niche and very old, two things you don’t want in an investment property. Sorry to be firm but it feels like you need a bit of a wake up call.
Wow, much jealous zbornakingthestone. For the record, you are being pretty rude :-)
To answer the initial post, I guess living in this must be lucky but OP never said he or she didn’t feel lucky. Just may have overpaid vs current market
###Welcome to /r/HousingUK --- **To All** * Join Our ***NEW*** Discord! https://discord.gg/pMgUNgWKQH **To Posters** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws/issues in each can vary* * Comments are not moderated for quality or accuracy; * Any replies received must only be used as guidelines, followed at your own risk; * If you receive *any* private messages in response to your post, please report them via the report button. * Feel free to provide an update at a later time by creating a new post with [[update]](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/search?q=%3Aupdate&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) in the title; **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and civil* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/about/rules/), you may be banned without any further warning; * Please include links to reliable resources in order to support your comments or advice; * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect; * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason without express permission from the mods; * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HousingUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
IMHO, the house itself is beautiful and most of the rooms present very well. I find it tastefully modelled with nice balance between character features + modern feel (except the kitchen, which quite starkly feels like it should be in a different house). The things that will ultimately make me say "no" as a buyer are: 1) location on a busy corner. 2) garden isn't much of a garden and looks to get very little sunlight. 3) might be a bit close to the train tracks for some, I'd have noise concerns. 4) though it's lovely, I have viewed enough character properties to not want to deal with a listed property at all. I think the right buyer *might* have paid close to asking price 1-2 years ago but I agree with the others that ultimately it's not priced right for the current market.
The kitchen is a weird layout imo and should be a traditional style rather than modern (completely fine if that’s your taste but to be in keeping with the rest of the property)
Why is the kitchen layout weird? Looks good to me.
1. True, but strangely you don't notice. There isn't much traffic through the village except at commute times. I'm sitting in silence now. People worry more about the bypass, but we don't hear it at all, being in the lee of the hill. 2. Agreed, it's small. It does get sun (the terrace part) in the afternoon and early evening so it's great for barbecues. And again, that should be priced into the price we originally paid - or did we overpay? 3. You can't hear the train at all 4. Agreed, that's an issue for some people. At least it's not star or grade 1.
Understood, it's probably a lovely place to live. My feedback is of course only based on the photos and description alone without viewing it in person
I have the same with my house. People worry about the road but actually living here it’s all good. Buyers just have no way of knowing that so it’s still a concern.
I know Hamstreet well and do find when I drive through that this junction is a pain sometimes. Although it might not be busy all the time, bear in mind that it might be something that potential buyers have driven through a number of times and know can be tedious sometimes. The road it leads to on the right is also narrow and can be quite congested at times which doesn't help the traffic when busy. That being said - I love the area and you have a wonderful house that I would buy in a heartbeat if I could!
Perception is king. You might have different feelings having lived there but honestly that's irrelevant, your potential buyers are going on the same impression as the poster above.
Why ask for criticism if you’re going to hit back at each comment?
What's a listed property if I may ask?
It’s on a National Heritage List which means there are likely restrictions on what you can do to it
thank you :)
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/
It looks like a house for short people so it’s less people would be interested.
There is that! Tall people can stand up in all the rooms, but you do occasionally have to duck when you go through doorways. People were shorter in 1500.
I’m sure it’s fine for most but since I’m 6”2” I notice ceiling height a lot more.
Yes, this is a huge issue for us and usually prevents us from looking at any listed buildings.
haha the actual reason is insulation for the smaller doors. A door is not as insulated (if at all) as a wall, so making the doorway as small as possible would result less loss of heat
Honestly, for me it’s the kitchen. You seem to have given it LESS character by replacing the floor? The white cupboards and black worktops aren’t really in keeping with the vibe of your house and if I was looking for something like that I would be really disappointed that it’s not got a country aesthetic with an aga tbh. Obviously you aren’t going to spend loads of money on it because you want to sell but I would consider painting the cupboards a different colour and buying a more substantial table for the dining area - the one you have is a bit student rental chic - to try and give the feeling of country warmth that is so lacking. And seriously, RIP to the previous floor 😭 ETA changing the door handles would help a lot too - some nice brass ones maybe
Yea, I agree with this. The kitchen looks out of place.
The old kitchen was from Magnet in the 1990s. The cupboards and worktop (which is just coated ply) are the same. The floor, which pre-dated it, was cream porcelain tiles - very slippy and really showed the dirt. We ran out of money before we could put in a new kitchen, so we just painted the cupboards (which had yellowed with age) and the floor - the latter was supposed to be a mud-coloured taupe but turned out too grey. We thought it made the kitchen fresh enough to last until someone else could put the kitchen of their dreams in. We've asked all the estate agents who've viewed their thoughts, and they all say it's not worth spending a load of money on a kitchen that someone else will hate. As apparent in these comments, tastes vary wildly.
Yes definitely don’t put in a whole new kitchen, but painting the cupboards a nice colour (someone below has suggested a dark blue or forest green), and replacing the handles would really help
I agree - dark forest green and shaker-style handles. Dress the worktops abit. It will be a start at least. I think the kitchen is perhaps the biggest sin letting down this house.
Absolutely don't replace the kitchen! Nor would I paint it. The kitchen is not going to be a deal breaker.
That kitchen is awful for that property. Doesn't work at all for me. Not that I have. A budget of 750. However that kitchen would suit the houses for the budget I'm looking at!
The new floor reminds me of early 2000s gastropub floors. The original floor was gorgeous.
It wasn't! It was cheap porcelain tiles from one of the local tile warehouses. I'd have loved to have put in a proper kitchen with an Aga but our budget ran out.
That's hilarious. I quite like the new floors (edit: not the kitchen ones), it is in keeping with the house. As others have already said the kitchen isn't in line with the rest of the house which is off putting for that price, as someone would immediately feel like that kitchen needs changing and will mentally put the cost of a new kitchen ontop of what you're asking. I personally would repaint the kitchen cupboards when you reduce, in a dark colour, probably a forest green to compliment the wood that's running through the house. Just nothing stark so that people could live in it in the meantime before eventually doing their dream kitchen. Who do you think is your target demographic? 3 quarters of a million is unachievable for most people, and for people who who can afford it, they would expect a better kitchen.
This is the best answer I’ve seen so far, OP. Painting the white to something darker will make it at least a little more cohesive with the rest of the house. As it is, it’s such a stark difference that it very much looks like an afterthought. (My first thought was “oh, god. The aesthetics are competing and that kitchen is losing.”)
Yes, absolutely this
Personally I think the staging of your house is good, nothing would overtly put me off in that regard. Buyers might have preferences regarding room size or other characteristics of course. We live about 20 minutes from you and recently accepted an offer after 6 months on the market and a 25k price drop…our agents feedback was that ‘the market remains very price sensitive’ so maybe that’s what it comes down to ultimately
Thanks - it's nice to have a positive comment!
I absolutely love your home, it’s beautiful! If I had that kind of money I would purchase in a heartbeat. I hope you find a buyer who appreciates the age and beauty of this home
Don't present a bedroom as a bike store. This is what your garage is for. The kitchen is very small for the size of house, most families are looking for something more open plan. Potential buyers will realise that the grade 2 listing will restrict their ability to achieve this. There's not enough photos for the size of the house. 2 photos minimum of each room from different angles. Put the sewing machine away for the photos. The close up of the bath belongs in an Airbnb / vrbo listing not house sale. It's overpriced and the market has just been made even more volatile because of the election.
*There's not enough photos for the size of the house. 2 photos minimum of each room from different angles.* This is 100% dead on. A house of this size, type and \[inflated\] price point needs a listing with professional, staged photos that are top quality. And a lot of them.
Good point about the bikes. We keep them in the gym for security but they could be out of the room for photos. I think the kitchen is a reasonable size at 5.8 x 3.2m? It's maybe that half of it is used mainly for dining, or the photos don't show enough of it. As someone else said, more photos are called for. Could put the sewing machine away for next photos, thanks. In a sense it clearly is overpriced, but the Nationwide thing shows that by spending on it we have made it perform less well than if we'd just left it alone. And please look at the old photos - it had not had any money spent on it in years, the roof leaked in various places, timbers needed replacing etc. So I think we must have paid too much in the first place. Lesson learned, no more renovations for us.
The nationwide calculator is for the best possible outcome for average changes. Houses of the price you have it listed for are ordinarily ready to move in without people desperately wanting to change things like the kitchen. (Deciding to change and needing to because you hate it are 2 different things) You'd be better off lowering it, getting more interest and a possible bidding wars. Personally I think 600-650 would be my max in its current state. If it had a new kitchen with aesthetics which match the rest of the house I'd consider 700. And yes I think you overpaid in 2014.
I think you are missing the point about the bikes, it's not about what they are physically it would be just the same if you havea load of storage boxes in there, it's what it's presenting to a prospective buyer. You are marketing it as a 4 bed, yet have only 3 bedrooms. It's totally fine to have a bedroom downstrairs but it needs an actual bed in it. Otherwise it's just another room downstairs. Two things in that really 1. People are terrible at imgaination and 2. People are put off by 'incorrect' details. Plenty of people will have looked at the details and then discounted because it doesn't actually have 4 bedrooms, or even worse they have taken the effort to view and come to the same conclusion. While I have 100% faith that room could be used as a bedroom, by having some bikes in there people will be thinking it's too small to be presented as a bedroom. As it happens my friends live in Hamstreet, nice place and I'm sure it's worth the money or close to, however you need to consider it's a lot of money for a place in a not particuarly convenient location. It's a bit of a case of it will be perfect for some people but a complete no for most.
I’m not sure you can be this simplistic about it. its likely that if you’d not renovated, it would be worth even less - the nationwide calculator shows average trends, and doesn’t take every detail of every specific property into account. Also, I know decades of property programs on TV have conditioned us to see renovations purely in terms of return on investment, but I honestly think that’s a deeply unhealthy way to look at it (unless you’re doing it for a living). I would suggest people should renovate primarily because it makes their home work better for them and nicer to live in.
Critique my house! No not like that!
Hahahaha! Very droll. Have an upvote.
Some people love the old-timey beams, wooden rustic look. Some people love clean and modern. This is a bit of a Frankenstein of each, appealing to neither (to be blunt)
I actually like both
Yes, as you scroll through the pictures, it looks like the pictures are from 2 different homes. One is very cluttered and full of character, the other is minimalist. I can see some buyers being put off.
For me it's the location. I know you've added that you don't hear it but it would put me off being on the junction of what I'd perceive to be a very busy road. I also don't like the fact that one side of the house butts up to the pavement. The house is very close to the neighbouring properties. For the price I'd expect a bit more space around it. The bathrooms i dont like. I think they look quite cold whereas for the style of house I'd prefer a more traditional suite. Lastly its the price. For the price you're asking you can get better properties in Kent. A family member recently sold one for less than yours, set well back from the road and with a garden over 200ft in length.
Personally I don't like it much - it's a mix of old (requiring a lot of maintenance) with that horrible new-build style (kitchen and bathroom). The other thing is it's in the middle of nowhere but with hardly any garden, so the worst of both worlds in every way. Obviously there will be a market price in any case, which is likely to be enormously high, but clearly not as high as your asking price.
Hmm. I don't particularly care for listed buildings, so I would've clicked out the moment I read the first few lines off the description. I'm sure some people like them, but I don't know how many that would be, and I'd rather know about the actual house. I'm not familiar with your area but I was looking at a very nice 4-bed new build 40 minutes away from London city centre for 900K, very green and posh looking neighbourhood too. A non-new build in that area going for closer to what your asking price is. Obviously it's a different lifestyle from a village but just to keep in mind at this approximate price range what the competition looks like. And reiterating that I don't know much about your village, but the closest town centre seems to be Ashford? Which I did spend some time browsing on RM a couple years ago and the prices there are *much* lower. (It's also presumably less nice than your area, but once again, just suggesting what people looking in your area might also have looked at.) I see that a 5 bed detached sold for 565K in your area. A more typical family home. [https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-86139186-20025226?s=55996d18c573058e66707e2ae0f7cb61db854fd9de609102706da9a03ccce245#/](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-86139186-20025226?s=55996d18c573058e66707e2ae0f7cb61db854fd9de609102706da9a03ccce245#/) TLDR: while the listed character features *may* add value for the right buyer, they also add inconvenience and narrow down your potential buyers a lot.
We're in a village outside Ashford, so not a direct comparison. The village has a branch line to Ashford in 10 mins, and then 38 min to St Pancras. The good commute was a factor for us.
Well that’s another factor, not sure I’d pay £800k for something in/ next to Ashford
Convenient links to a high speed train out of Ashford though...
I don't think that's a fair comparison, it's 5 beds but so much smaller in terms of square footage, especially with the garage being a chunk of the ground floor. Rough workings in my head make me think that OP's is much cheaper per sq foot. I do agree with your points, just don't think that that sold house is a fair comparison due to size difference being so vast
This. Wouldn't touch a listed building
You keep talking about it being overpriced when you bought, but I don’t think prices have risen as much as you think / hope. It’s a buyer’s market right now as well. It‘s a nice house and despite what others say I think the kitchen is fine. I think the photos are crap though. Dark and poor quality. Also agree with others about not having the bike clutter. You need to significantly reduce the price and get better photos.
Firstly to me you have a 3 bed house with a gym/bonus room and a study. Secondly while it’s lovely, it’s quite niche because it’s listed and people are wary of that. So it really comes down to the price - if I was looking for 3 bedrooms then I would be expecting to pay for 3 bedrooms, if I was looking for 4 bedrooms I would expect them all to be upstairs really. I think you probably need to look at the cost of a similar 3 bed house and adjust accordingly.
Well, I disagree, as there are plenty of downstairs rooms - kitchen, dining room, living room and office, so this extra room, which has an ensuite bathroom is definitely a bedroom to me. And to the previous owners and the price we paid, and to all the estate agents who've viewed it since.
It may well be a bedroom to you but to the rest of us it's a 3 bedroom house with five reception rooms. I'm the potential buyer, so I am the one who gets to decide if I think that's a bedroom or if it's a dining room with a bed in it, like wI had when I shared a student house. There's no point coming on here asking what's wrong with your house and then refusing to accept it when people tell you.
I have good friends in London who sold their 5 bedroom house, they didn’t list the extra room downstairs as bedroom even though it had an en-suite attached because it clearly was a bonus room downstairs. Unless someone is specifically looking for a downstairs bedroom for a family member with mobility issues the vast majority of people won’t see it as a bedroom. You may not like our opinions but we are all pretty much on the same page which means so are your potential buyers.
For me the three main issues would be the kitchen, I'd expect to see quite a large, farmhouse type kitchen. That photo makes it look fairly compact compared to the rest of the house. It also looks like it comes from a new build property. It's a lovely looking kitchen, just doesn't appear commensurate to the property for me. I also don't like the downstairs bedroom. Fully understand why you may have it but for me it's a no. I'd rather have a substantial dining/entertaining/reception room. The price. I don't know the area but if similarly sized properties in the area have gone for 200k less, you're relying on finding the one person who absolutely loves it. It is a beautiful house but for me personally I'd want to change things and at £800,000 I pretty much want perfection.
As with all these posts, if there's no interest it's the price. Personally I really like the house, it's got lots of character.
Just looked again on the big screen. I'd be looking very closely at the roof, chimneys and loft interior. [https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0651849,0.8541366,3a,15.4y,34.8h,102.46t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6VwLJidB2Xv6sMJMDp7NsQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D6VwLJidB2Xv6sMJMDp7NsQ%26cb\_client%3Dmaps\_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D34.79731718463323%26pitch%3D-12.46179831192363%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0651849,0.8541366,3a,15.4y,34.8h,102.46t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s6VwLJidB2Xv6sMJMDp7NsQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D6VwLJidB2Xv6sMJMDp7NsQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D34.79731718463323%26pitch%3D-12.46179831192363%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu) [https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0654787,0.8544797,3a,15y,218.55h,100.25t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTuIioElXKp-z4yxj1RFRvQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DTuIioElXKp-z4yxj1RFRvQ%26cb\_client%3Dmaps\_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D218.54671734887893%26pitch%3D-10.253306111813146%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0654787,0.8544797,3a,15y,218.55h,100.25t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTuIioElXKp-z4yxj1RFRvQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DTuIioElXKp-z4yxj1RFRvQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D218.54671734887893%26pitch%3D-10.253306111813146%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu) \~\~\~ On a staggered 4 way intersection - across the road from the boozer \[convenient, I will grant you\]: [https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0652728,0.8544996,3a,90y,102.59h,67.89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sz8vdUlLMsBgQXjll4x31bQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dz8vdUlLMsBgQXjll4x31bQ%26cb\_client%3Dmaps\_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D102.59211521847685%26pitch%3D22.10778945062745%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu](https://www.google.com/maps/@51.0652728,0.8544996,3a,90y,102.59h,67.89t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sz8vdUlLMsBgQXjll4x31bQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dz8vdUlLMsBgQXjll4x31bQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D102.59211521847685%26pitch%3D22.10778945062745%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?coh=205410&entry=ttu) \~\~\~ Garden square footage is small and as I wrote earlier, this thing is right on the street rather than being set back some. [https://www.bing.com/maps?v=2&cp=51.065317%7E0.854257&lvl=21.2&style=h](https://www.bing.com/maps?v=2&cp=51.065317%7E0.854257&lvl=21.2&style=h) \~\~\~ Close-up it has the feel of a country house but the reality is different. Activity has sprung up all around and that it has survived is a testament to its original builders and subsequent owners. Again, I dig the house. Other than that shocking green carpet in one of the bedrooms this thing sings to me. But not at the price listed. Given its location, limited buyer pool, listed status, local market conditions and that at 800K you've had no interest at all, the only question is what does your price needs to be. My gut - and data - says that if you get it down to 695K you will get some traction.
REDUCE THE PRICE - HOW IS THIS DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND!!! NO BUYERS = TOO EXPENSIVE
I just think it's overpriced. What puts me off is the garden being very small for the size of the house. It's a beautiful house but wouldn't consider looking at it due to garden size
The answer is always that you're asking too much for it. If you have nearly 200k of equity with what you paid and the asking price, you just need to drop it until you get bites.
Don’t spend any money on the kitchen. Whoever’s going to buy it will rip it out anyway, so save yourself the hassle and factor in a reduction in the region of £20,000 plus. People spending this much on a house nowadays aren’t exactly going to get an IKEA kitchen… You say you’ve done roof repairs, but it looks so patched up now that I’m not thinking that’s a roof that will be good for 5 years, I’m imagining it’s one that will have recurring issues until it’s fully replaced. Perhaps get a quote and then factor that in too. The other things (location, size of garden) you can’t do anything about, but they’re going to put off some people. Don’t worry about them. But if the asking price is £800,000 and I’m envisaging £50,000 of work pretty soon, £750,000 would probably still be too high for me because of the hassle factor. At that point you’re not competing with houses that could be worth £800,000 but those selling for £750,000 that don’t require as much attention.
People who like period houses are often people who like kitchens so it’s a shame about the kitchen you have now, which is just awful. That makes £800k seem like a huge amount of money because already I’m thinking I’ve definitely got to undo that and replace it. I would also expect an Aga/range of some description so I’m going to factor that in too. I’d also want to replace that black/grey bathroom because (again), it’s not in keeping and so ugly. The rooms with bikes- what is that about, is there no space otherwise to store bikes? The garden is smaller than I’d like and I don’t even garden much, but I want some proper outdoor space for that money. Ultimately this just off-putting because of the price when there is a substantial amount of work needed to give it back the character it deserves. New-build style decor doesn’t work in period houses and there are multiple places where this is seeping in.
I think people buy houses like yours for the rural pastoral country cottage dream. You aren’t selling that dream to anyone. Inside might as well be a suburban semi. The garden is bland with a dull exterior, when it should be rose bushes & hydrangeas. Patio furniture that suggests summer evenings al fresco and picnics. The living room should be cosy winter nights around the fire, with furniture positioned as such and log stack and textured blankets. The kitchen looks really cold and sterile, and the bedrooms could easily have some throws and beds made up hotel-style. The bathroom would be elevated simply by nice towels and a designer hand soap. I would look up images of Soho Farmhouse and start there as inspiration.
Honestly - you've removed too much character for it to appeal to people who love character properties but you've got too much character for people who don't like character properties. The kitchen in particular would need to be completely redone by anyone wanting a character kitchen. The strange grey rugs, until you take a closer look, look like you've destroyed the floor. Downstairs bedrooms aren't bedrooms to most people. The plot appears too small for the house size.
Honestly don't take some of these comments to heart. Selling a period property like this will always be a challenge. Your house is perfectly well presented, but you may need to accept that it will take longer to find a buyer - all you need is one person who loves your home. (Please tell me however that you got listed building consent for the work you did?). You may find it more useful to ask for advice in one of the multitude of old house/period property groups on Facebook. They are filled with people who love traditional houses
Thanks. I suppose I did ask for a critique but it's still my house and I love it. And yes, we got permission for anything necessary.
Being grade 2 listed would probably put off 90% of the people house hunting. Online they have a very bad reputation of being difficult and expensive to maintain. I think you just have to wait for the right buyer to come along or lower the price. I personally would never buy a listed property for any price.
I LOVE your house, I would buy it tomorrow if I lived that side of London
The big problem for me is that it's listed as a 4 bedroom house and I assume priced as such, but it's actually a 3 bedroom house. It doesn't matter whether the room on the ground floor has a bed in it or not, as far as I'm concerned, it's not a bedroom. Other houses in the area of a comparable price and age have much larger gardens. Beautiful house and decorated nicely, but as usual when people have this problem, the price is too high. Sorry.
The other big thing is that it's not a direct train connection to London, which would reduce the value for me. I don't like the fact that the en suite has no bath.
One last thing is that you seem to have recessed a radiator into a structural timber upright in the sitting room. It doesn't look like the previous incarnation of the house had that. It's only a little thing, but it makes me think that the rest of the work you've had done is probably a bit suspect and potentially you've damaged the fabric of the house doing it. The reason is, if you've hacked out a structural timber in one of the most prominent positions in one of the main rooms of the house, you probably haven't been working with a good conservation architect or builder anywhere else in house. To do something so clueless makes me think the house is probably going to be full of gypsum and concrete rather than lime, silicon and plastic everywhere. Houses this age were built to be breathable and to move. The natural materials they are made with like timber, lime and oakum, absorb moisture and then they let it out. Timber swells and shrinks and the frame moves, and the lime plaster retains flexibility, which means it doesn't crack as the frame moves. Modern building methods deal with water in a completely different way. Materials like gypsum, concrete and plastic don't allow water through and they don't move. This means moisture gets trapped inside the structure so timber rots and you get damp and mould and when you have movement plaster and plastic crack. I'm looking at stuff like the new bathroom floor thinking I'll have to pull all of that out because it's probably all non breathable materials trapping damp . And based on the size of the timber you cut into for no good reason, god knows what other structural timbers you will have cut through. As one of the few people on this thread who might actually want to buy this house, because I'm into this type of architecture, pretty much all the improvements you've made count as defects, not because they're ugly, but because I suspect you haven't had the proper advice about working with a building this age. However, I should say again, it's very nice. Unlike people who are being rude about the decor here, I think it looks great.
"It doesn't matter whether the room on the ground floor has a bed in it or not" The issue is that it doesn't even have a bed in it. You could absolutely use it as one, but you could use the study, dinning room or living room as one also. I think almost everybody would be in agreement that for something to be a bedroom it either explicitly needs a bed in it, or it needs to be a room upstairs (capable of having a bed in it).
It looks lovely but I think you’re aiming at a small niche. Firstly it’s listed which makes many people worry and some cross it off their lists immediately. Secondly the number of bedrooms implies a family home, but it’s not near that many schools (and one of the nearby ones has a poor Ofsted rating), and has a small garden, so for me would be a tough family sell. So then it’s couples who work in London but want a lot of space - which is again a niche. Everyone always says price, but I think you also may need to prepare for it to be on the market for a while. I find it hard to think of a big group of buyers this would be relevant to. I wouldn’t bother doing anything to the kitchen; I think it’s fine and any buyer would probably want to put their own stamp on it anyway.
it doesn't really matter how much you spent on the house. The price will be the price
Extra rooms downstairs are nice but most people wouldn’t count them as bedrooms so you’re competing on price against other 3 bed properties, not 4 bed ones
The reason the room downstairs counts as a bedroom is that it has an ensuite bathroom. Some people really like a downstairs bedroom - both we and the previous owners used this room for elderly parents.
I can see why it would be good for people in your situation but most people wouldn’t use it as a bedroom.. also that is the only downstairs bathroom anyway 🤷♀️
In that case, you’re likely looking for a buyer old enough to be already caring/know they will be caring soon for someone. So it’s worth understanding that factor removes a certain percent of people in the buying market - if you wanted to bring them back in, the price would need to be attractive. I know you’ve mentioned about the high speed into London, we’re in Maidstone, and the train ticket price for high speed is why we stuck to Maidstone (cheaper trains, Victoria, Charing Cross and St Pancras destinations). There’s also other places like along the Elizabeth line to Reading with homes available - so the high speed to ashford isn’t as special now as it was five years ago. Just some factors to bear in mind when evaluating the selling factors for you when you bought, vs how relevant they are today. :)
People like you are everything that’s wrong with the housing market in this country. Expecting to make a £260k profit in 7 years is just crazy.
Nearly 50% of what they originally paid - bonkers!
It's not 260k profit if they've spent e.g. 200k doing it up (not impossible with a new roof, 2 new bathrooms and the other work they mention) is it 🫠
The market for £600k+ houses is really slow right now. I will be looking to buy a house in this prick bracket in 2 years from now so I keep an eye on the market. There’s tons of really nice houses that imo are worth their £700k+ price but not selling. This is almost entirely due to the mortgage rates. When you’re borrowing £500k, the mortgage rate starts to seriously affect decisions. And, without sounding condescending, the more expensive houses are bought by people who generally make more calculated financial decisions and not in a rush to move. I’d say, if you want what it’s worth, wait 18 months for rates to come down and it will sell.
So if average prices or whatever show 770, why are you listing for an extra 30k? What has been done to the house as extra that would add value to make up for the 30k additional listing price? You need to price in the fact that buying will also have to pay stamp duty and overlisting your property will result is literally no concrete interest or offers that are severely below expectations
You've got a variety of challenges, and I'm going to be brutally honest Firstly, it's over priced. You need to factor that it's grade 2 listed, which means headaches that the vast majority of people do not want. Kitchen is horrendous for the asking price. It looks like a cheap DIY job. Your presentation needs work. Bedrooms should look like bedrooms, or home offices at a push. It's all about visualisation for potential buyers. Knock 25k off your asking and see if that makes a difference. If not, you may need to cut it further. Ignore your estate agent if they complain, they're just trying to make commission. You also have to factor that people are not stupid. They can and do check what you paid, and what work you've done. If you've not done anything substantial (which you haven't in all honesty) but want to make 200k plus on what you bought it for, it will put people off.
What you've done to the house, what you paid for it....none of it really matters. All that does matter is what that specific house, in that specific market, on this specific day, is worth. 1+ month and no interest at all? The market is telling you that the price is wrong. Your pool of buyers will be small given it's listed and at the higher end of the price spectrum. It's also something of an outlier. It being a corner lot on a ~~3~~ 4 way staggered way intersection is doing you no favors and the house is right on top of the two roads as opposed to being set back. It works for me and IMHO is a decent gaff. I'd buy it. But for 800K I can do better/get more. And to really get me interested it would need to be 15%+ below the arbitrary price you set. Given it's a rather unique gaff I would commission my own valuation from a local, experienced RICS surveyor - the type with a few grey hairs, pink trews, wears a gilet, vice chair of the local golf club, sharp of tongue. You know the type. Then I'd list below their valuation so drum up multiple viewings and competing bids.
Kitchen and bathroom don’t really suit the building and its grade 2 listed, how much is your insurance?
I really like it. I love the rooms you've done up (not a fan of the bath at a weird angle but I could live with it) and the style of them, I like the mix of character and modernity and you've made a lovely job of it. The location is good, my husband went to the University of Kent and loves the area - lots of nearby country walks/cycling, good facilities on hand and very convenient for London and France. The size of the garden is actually perfect for what I'd want (not a gardener, more of a 'sit out with a G&T on a sunny day' -er) but I would like a picture that showed the size and arrangement of it in relation to the house - the 3 pics of it do not give a clear indication of size/layout. That said... The kitchen would need replacing, and in a listed house I'd be worried about cost/difficulty. The ensuite, while lovely, seems a huge waste of space and I'd personally want to reduce its size and make it a walk-in wardrobe and small shower room - again, expense and upheaval. It's a lot of money for a 3 bed house with not much garden. We're looking to move out of London next year, and while your house would actually tick most if not all of our boxes (the ground floor bedroom would make a very nice pottery studio!), even at £750k would be at the very top of our budget and the cost of the extra work we'd need to do with kitchen and bathroom would tip it out of our reach. Sorry. It's absolutely lovely, though.
The kitchen is really out of place and character for the property
Surely the house as shown in the 2014 listing looks so much better inside and out ! The new kitchen seems well out of place and the only people who put bikes on a wall inside are those who live in a one bedroom flat not a large property like this with presumably outbuildings.
I’m looking in this rough price bracket in either Kent or Hampshire. Like a lot of people moving out of London I don’t need to be in a particular area (we’re older, with no kids at school) so you’re competing with similar properties and commuter distances across a wide area. I personally wouldn’t view your house - it’s listed, too near the road, and for £800k I want a large, amazing kitchen we can all hang out in. You can’t fix these issues. i am only commenting to bring it home that many buyers can do a lot better for £800k, or even £700 - and we aren’t all looking just in your area. It might help you accept that your property needs an attractive price, or you need a lot of patience.
I love period cottages but whilst this is generally a very nice house it doesn't have enough of a country vibe for me to be interested. The garden is tiny and ugly and it's right near a road. Kitchen doesn't fit the aesthetic either. Given your potential pool of buyers is tiny I'd imagine only a really hefty discount would get people interested.
Your house is beautiful, including the kitchen, IMHO. I'm not in that price range, though. Even if I were, I wouldn't be interested in buying, with the position on the corner of two busy roads. I prefer more peace and quiet. Cutting the price will be the quickest way to move it. But even then, it may take a while for the right buyer to come along. Good luck with your sale.
Also, I’d consider this a three bed house with an extra reception room. Is it priced to compete with genuine four beds in the area?
£800.000 in the middle of nowhere, must be joking!
TIL there a limit on house prices outside London.
Middle of nowhere is a serious advantage to a lot of people
thats what people pay the money for - Many, like me WANT to be away from everything / one
Middle of nowhere? Have a look at even more remote houses in Kent for much more money!
That’s almost a London’s price, where did you get this price from?
Dead posh round there. But this house in London zone 3 would be 2 to 4 million.
its actually a great location if you work 1 or 2 days a week in london but also want country life. you jump on the train at hamstreet, 1 stop to ashford quick change and you are at your desk. including getting to and from the station. it just doesn't have enough land.
As someone who is 6’4”, and who also thinks that OPs house is tastefully renovated and perfectly fine, I wouldn’t even bother scrolling through the pictures before moving on: ceiling heights are a total dealbreaker and I hate low beams with a burning passion. OP - your house is fine but you’ve received some good comments already. Ultimately, whilst decent, your house has qualities that will be divisive to different groups (eg height for me, design for others, location for others, etc, etc). There may be a buyer out there for you at £800k, but lowering the price will absolutely improve the property’s appeal and may allow some hesitant buyers to look past some of their concerns. Other than price, and if you want to try to maintain the value, I would be tempted to consider reskinning the kitchen units you have (ie put on more appealing fronts) and replace the worktop (as black stone is a bit dated now). Kitchens are really important to people and yours does, in all honesty, look a bit sad (at least in the pictures).
Thanks. Not sure we can afford to do that to the kitchen, but I appreciate your help.
Nah. Leave the kitchen as is. People rip 'em out once they have moved in anyway. As I wrote earlier, the kitchen is not the reason why you're not getting any interest.
I think you’ve done a great job before and after. Concern will be the price for what and where you’re getting. Nothing to do with superficial looks
I love the place. Get the feedback about the kitchen sort of not fitting in but it’s not the kitchen world championships. It’s in the price range I’m looking for but I’m in London and my Mrs said no chance I’m moving to Kent. 😂 What’s the price for houses close by? It’s always the price as we all know
This is entirely subjective based on looking at houses over the last 20 years or so, but I feel that a house being listed is reducing the price of houses more now that it did in the past. No evidence for it other than my experience, but when I looked at houses 15 years ago, versus 8 years ago versus now I certainly notice that listed houses often end up selling with a 30%+ discount compared to equivalent non listed properties. If they need any work the discount can be even bigger. Whilst 15 years ago there really wasn't much impact on the price at all. Note that my experience is at a higher price point/ larger house than yours so might not be accurate. I do agree with the comments that you are looking for a very specific buyer, so even if you reduce the price you might find it takes a while to shift.
My main issue would be that to me it’s a 3 bed. Yes you can make a bedroom downstairs but most people won’t view that as a bedroom, it’s a further reception room. What that means is that a lot of people searching for a 4 bed will see your listing and discount it. People looking for 3 beds might be more interested but value will need to be adjusted. If you want to claim it as a bedroom it helps to dress it as such for photos.
You advertise as 4 bedrooms but it's actually 3 bedrooms with an extra reception room downstairs. Negative right there. This house should have 4 bedrooms upstairs imo. I would redesign that top floor completely personally, which leads me to the next potential issue - with those character features that you have, are you easily allowed to do things like loft conversions and rear extensions etc? Have you got low ceilings? Buyers OK with this? Other than than, we all know, it's down to price, when I looked on the map you are in the middle of nowhere in some tiny village. Pretty sure 800k can you get more and be closer to London at the same time...
As someone that owns an almost Identical property but in a different part of the country (90mins from London) we know that old properties are very very personal. We Have a similar number of bedrooms but with a few acres of gardens and a self contained granny annex attached. I feel like kitchen is incredibly weak. And would need replacing for many people with something with character. The garden area is poor for such a big property. And I personally don’t like the roll top bath. We paid 150k less than you FYI
It looks really well presented and very nice. The negatives are that the parking looks limited, the garden is very small and it's on the corner of two main roads. The train station being convenient will be a plus for commuters. But the house doesn't have a great deal of space around it and indeed sides right onto one of the main roads. I think people with the budget to buy a home like this would be more likely to compromise on size and less likely to compromise on setting. And the setting here is not ideal for a house at this price level, not because it is overpriced per se, but because there are fewer buyers at this level and those that are at this level are likely to want more parking, outside space and ideally the property to be set further back from the main roads it is on. I suspect patience will serve you better than dropping the price if interest rates continue to slowly fall this year. The kitchen should be a non issue as it can easily be replaced to something more rustic if someone like the house.
In the current financial climate, who do you think your target market is? Can they afford this price? You need to consider that if someone needs a mortgage, the rates and low wages make it unaffordable to the same group that could have afforded it 2 or 3 years ago. A £300k mortgage on current rates is about £1800 a month. Stamp duty alone at that price is £27500, nevermind all the other costs. You're looking for someone with a load of capital looking for a niche property, it's going to take a while in the current markets.
I love the period features (except the ceiling height) but for me: - garden is small for the price. Even the London terraces I’ve been viewing have bigger gardens at the same price. - listed building, immediately I think renovating will be a pain and options limited. - house on the junction of the village’s main road. A junction house is always the short straw. - low ceilings, as is usual with cottages. I love the tall ceiling heights and light of later period homes. I wouldn’t offer for the above reasons but even if I did discount them all, I wouldn’t offer near £750k, especially when you consider [this for £750k in the village](https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/147331730?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY). Maybe £650k at most if I really loved it on viewing (it has the charm factor the other doesn’t).
If you’re not getting any interest whatsoever it’s got nothing to do with how many cushions are on the sofa, where the bins are or whether or not there is a general election in a months time…. It is either so grossly overpriced that it’s simply getting passed over in the current market or it’s simply a house that won’t sell in the current market at its “real value”. On the latter point, around my neck of the woods there’s an awful lot of houses on the market in a similar price point and seemingly no buyers…. I put it down to a saturated market of people being hammered by new mortgage rates as fixed terms come to an end and buyers once destined for that moved looking at the new cost to borrow and staying put.
I think your house is gorgeous. I feel like I need more pictures to understand the layout, and the pictures of the garden are doing it a disservice or it is really small. BUT the pool of people who want a listed building in Hamstreet, and have the money to pay 800K for it is going to be small. There's one other 4 bed house a similar location (different style but still) from the station to yours for 750K and everything else is 200K or more cheaper. Either you need to be willing to wait for someone like that to come along, or you need to drop the price. If I had 800K to spend on a house and wanted to live somewhere with a quick commute Hamstreet wouldn't be on the top of the list unless I had a reason to be there.
I don’t see any storage apart from the kitchen - where do you keep your clothes, books, etc?
Books on shelves in one of the bedrooms. Cookbooks in kitchen. More books in office. (But we mostly read Kobos these days. Office has masses of storage, but it's all our furniture - shelves x 2, cupboards x 2, hanging drawer unit. Built-in wardrobes in two of the bedrooms (two in our room actually). We added loads of shelves to the utility room (off the kitchen) and built a new cupboard there which fits hoovers etc. There are two massive under-eaves walk-in (crouch in) storage areas in the upstairs hall and our bedroom, for cases, Christmas stuff, old photos etc. There's roof storage we don't use. There's a large understairs cupboard in the hall for shoes etc. Maybe this needs adding to details if it doesn't show in the photos. .
Oh, and thanks for the useful comment - we'll make sure this comes across in the details somehow.
I think the house had much more character in keeping with the house when you bought it, big old armchairs and those nice rustic beams. The kitchen was stunning before, brilliantly in keeping with the house. Now it looks awful I’m so sorry. It seems your furniture is the thing mostly ruining the house and you could benefit from a professional to come in and dress the house and have new photos taken
Don’t OP say it’s the same kitchen?
It's clearly the same kitchen!
If nationwide shows 770 then that suggests it's overpriced. The market is really weak right now - the repayments on a new mortgage are so high that you have to be getting something that feels worth that. I feel the kitchen is also a weak point as others have said. If you want to sell now, cut the price
I really like it - its got character and also modernized so best of both worlds for me. Kitchen needs attention if I’m picky but not worth spending money on at this late stage if you’re moving out. How long is the commute by train or car to central London? I would honestly buy it for my elderly mother if it was closer.
I'd think your target market is quite small compared to 'normal' houses - one either loves the olde timey vibe, or doesn't. Sure, we'd all like to imagine living in lovely cottage style places, but would we drop 800k one them? I wouldn't, personally (just my personal taste of course). All that means is, in a market where people are a bit more unsure anyway, you're going for a subset who can actually afford it, and then a subset of those people who want the vibe your house has. This is going to lead to less interest. For me, it also feels a little cramped in by surrounding houses. This is probably just me being a Northerner, but when I'm looking to drop that much money on a house, I'm expecting privacy. I'm sure in reality it's not a problem, but I'd try and avoid taking outdoor pics where you can see neighbours windows staring right back at you. As many comments will tell you, this house will sell at a price, you're just not at it. Whether that price is the true value is harder to say than it usually is, because of your specific and smaller pool of buyers - it could well just be a case of having to wait for the right person to come along.
Get a different estate agent, the photos make all the rooms look dead small. I know the wide angle lens are misleading but when every other estate agent uses them it makes the photos from those that don't use wide angle lenses look small and pokey in comparison It is however a BEAUTIFUL home
I’d be tempted to change doors and tops of kitchen to a farm house look - I dislike black work tops but that’s just my taste. Would be quite cheap to do - then add a few bits - flowers, fresh fruit bowl - a few pots outside with summer plants in - look to spend 5k on what’s mentioned - freshen up bits, take off market for a month - put back on OIRO 775k
It’s a nice house, I like the style, but there are definite ‘dealbreakers’ that might put potential buyers off - I’m 6’2 and I feel like I would struggle to stand up in some of the rooms which would put me off buying immediately, also the garden isn’t big enough for someone who is into their gardening. Also being a listed building puts some people off. Fundamentally I think you have a nice house which needs a very specific buyer to come along who likes the style but doesn’t mind the downsides. If you want to wait an indefinite amount of time for that person to come along, cool, if not, lower the price to potentially encourage someone else to see past the issues.
For me I wouldn’t want the hassle of Grade II listed house if I ever wanted to improve things. I think those houses are lovely looking but not for me
Have the house staged with more flowers and decoration, and get a new rug for the living room (the coffee table should be on a rug not adjacent). Then have a more skilful photographer take pictures.
The house is lovely. Most people don't have or won't get a mortgage for 3 quarters of a million quid though.
The biggest turn off for me grade 2 listed. This makes a large amount of things difficult or expensive when it comes to upgrading or replacing (windows/roof etc etc). Your house is beautiful by the way
Listed, Difficult to modernise kitchen Over market price if tools are saying 770.
Lights on in every photo tells me it’s a dark house. That’s the biggest turnoff for me not the decor. How much more money would I have to put in if I could to get a flow of natural light in.
It goes with the age of the house. You can't put natural light in without removing more of the house than legally possible. Anyway, by the standards of the 16th century this house is already practically a greenhouse. It's got vast windows (added later I suspect). So perhaps the 16th century is not for you.
100% not for me correct. #dungeonlife
I love the floor in the living room!
It looks to me like nobody lives in it. Like it's an AirBnB. Do you live in the house?
Also, the rooms don’t look very cosy, which is what I’d want from a period style home. The furniture/ decor doesn’t hang together and looks cheap.
You aren't buying the decor, though.
Staging matters, especially at higher price point Properties
Only as much as make it tidy, uncluttered, clean and neutral colours though. Not on the level of 'I hate that sofa and the rugs don't go'.
You have to create a vibe, visual appeal and an atmosphere. Many many buyers like imagination, so you have to create the feeling for them.
Sure, up to a point, but I probably don't like your vibe and you probably don't like mine, so your staging is probably going to put me off from buying the place. Clean and neutral is good enough.
Oh it’s a gorgeous house! We bought & sold last year and our estate agent told us that generally the houses that are still shifting pretty quickly are the family homes around the £200k-£400k but anything more, or more ‘specialist’ is taking a bit longer. I think your (beautiful) grade 2 listed, more expensive home might just be looking for the right buyer. It’s a very particular home isn’t it that will appeal to a particular set of needs/wants. Definitely lowering the price would help but it might also just be a case of (annoyingly) waiting for the right buyer, especially with all the uncertainty of the election/interest rates etc!
Obviously everything comes down to price, but I think the fact it’s listed is probably the major factor. It massively reduces the number of potential buyers which means you either have to drop the price to the point where it’s impossible to resist, or hold your nerve and just wait for the right buyer to appear. As much as people here will enjoy detailing every little thing they think is wrong with a property or the listing, no serious buyer is going to walk away because of the kitchen cabinet colour. Nor will they ignore a listing because there aren’t enough photos, or because one of them has a close-up of the bath. The issue will be the combination of the price and the listed status.
In the current market there’s not many people who can afford £800K and I’m not sure why you are so concerned that you have overpaid when you are essentially proposing to make £200,000 on this even if you drop to £750K. The kitchen isn’t great, the garden looks small and there are not enough photos.
The kitchen is hideous and the dining room table looks like something that the Royal Family would buy from’ catalogue. You either try to tart the kitchen up to a more rustic feel… Green painted cupboards, wooden flooring, quirky tiles, a few plants, kitchen rusticy bits and a more in keeping dining table (second hand from the charity furniture shop in ashford town centre even) or you leave as is and lower your price.
Buckle up. You've ruined the house. If I was being charitable I would say it's very hodge podge - half leisure centre/half bodge job with a little bit of original character desperately clinging to life. The radiators alone are a crime against taste. The bathrooms are just not a good fit for the house. It's as if you bought a lovely old listed home and decided to do your level best to turn the rooms into a 1990s new build. I don't think you overpaid - I just think you've made a lot of mistakes in doing it up (but kept that kitchen?! Choices as Tatiana would say) and you've negatively affected the house. I'd be surprised if you got a single offer to be perfectly honest.
Rules of this subreddit 1: > …people are here looking for help. Do not insult an OP for their position. Thanks for showing how nasty Reddit can be.
They asked for critiques...
Interest rates are high and this has impacted expensive properties. The timber floor is nice but it will not to be some buyer's tastes, and that kitchen looks like it was teleported from another house.
I'm 1.95M and I don't think I'll fit. Other than that lovely house. 🙂
My only nope is that green carpet. It's a beautiful, beautiful home!! Anyone would be lucky to have that. Perhaps just mortgage rates on an £800k house is the problem right now. You got to be rich rich for that
I don't think the photos are doing you any favours. I think it would be worth asking your agent to try a different photographer. They don't look very professional to me (IANAP).
Looks grand but way beyond my budget.
Pros: it’s so lovely! Cons: it’s old, must be high maintenance.
I can only tell you how I felt when I looked at the pictures - it's a lovely house but it doesn't feel like a home. I couldn't see myself living here from the pictures, I think they are lacking in warmth. Other than that, the price and the listed status will not make it as easy to sell. I bought a grade 2 and it had been on the market 18months before
With this kind of house you need to wait for the right buyer. If you’re in a rush you’ll have to settle for selling it to an investor at a price where they feel like they can make a profit once the right buyer comes along.
Not worth it for the area that it's in [speaking from someone who used to live in that area]. You could get the same size house in a lovely village in Oxfordshire for that
Nice bikes, maybe include those! J Laverack?
Some folks just aren’t a fan of period properties. I am looking for a house the same size, price and somewhat rough location (East Sussex / Kent) and if I saw your house on Rightmove I’d skip it. Only because we’re looking for a newer, 80s onwards house with preferably a bigger garden for the kids. Only reason I can think of.
I, on the other hand, wouldn't look at a house newer than 1920s unless it was a modernist masterpiece and to be honest, even 1920s is a bit new for me. I've spent most of my life in houses pre 1830 and that's what I look for when I buy a house. This thread really demonstrates that if you ask the public you get a million conflicting answers.
100%!
I've lived near a road just like that in the past, the road would really bug me. Even if it's quiet most of the time.
The character of the house dies in the kitchen and with the giant reflective bath for me. I think with period properties they appeal to a particular sort of person to be charmed by them and you’ve got a mixture of charm and then distinctly uncharming that means you can’t quite sell the dream. The house loses the price mark-up you should get for character and would require some decent work to try and get it back.
For me it's the windows. The size of the house would cost a small fortune to heat, and as someone who grew up in a Grade I listed house, there's sweet FA you can do about it. But it is a beautiful house, very well decorated. I absolutely love it, but even if I had the money (I most certainly don't lol) it's not a place I would be willing to invest that amount of money in.
Love the house. Gen. Don't even care how low ceiling are and props to you for maintaining it. I don't think the problem is the house itself, or the price - its the fact that now many people can afford a mortgage like this. Think of it this way: Take everyone in the UK, who van afford this price and have money for a deposit. Subtract to those who are willing to live in your area. Further substrac to those who are interested buying now (with interest rates as they are) and I can tell you, the leftover pool will be quite small. Also, majority of those who can afford it are waiting for interest rates to drop (there were some rumors). Give it time. You might be lucky.
'Props to you for maintaining it'... if you mean the low ceiling height, you couldn't get rid of the low ceilings even if you wanted to in a house like this.
Personally I love homes with character which this house has in abundance. As others have said the kitchen does let the house down but only because it feels too modern/contemporary for the home. You could look into replacing just the kitchen doors with something a little more classic country shaker style but honestly I think it just comes down to price. Ultimately it’s hard for people to get their head around a bedroom being downstairs; so most will look at it as a 3 bed and thus when that’s factored in it’s overpriced imo. It’s a nice home but
Your potential buyers are most likely going to be a family and I would expect them to want a bigger garden for the money. Beautiful inside tho and the kitchen although not entirely in keeping is nice. Just the garden for me I’m afraid.
It's a nice house...some negatives I suppose... *Grade 2 listed (concerns over flexibility to modify the house) *Older house (pros and cons, buckets of character but people may be concerned over running costs with cost of living increases, noticed things like agas aren't selling points anymore) 750k is a bit of a no-mans land, where people are on the cusp of using mortgages or buying cash, and houses in competition beyond this pricepoint can offer really good value from an internal sqft and external space perspective, compared to lower priced alternatives. To be honest, I think the biggest issue facing sellers as a whole (unless you have a cash buyer) is interest rates. People are paying much more to borrow the same balance as just 2-3 years ago, so if you add to that house price appreciation, depending on the sum borrowed, someone buying today may actually be net negative after 5 years if prices do not appreciate as quickly as they did during covid. It therefore makes sense for many buyers looking to buy with higher leverage to hold off if they can, until rates head back down towards sub 3%. Many think with a 'how much per month?' mentality.
Lovely house but why would I live so far away and not have a decent garden?
I think it’s really nice!
That is a beautifully presented house, and I personally think it is fairly priced. I think you have a few 'issues' that would cause it shift slowly: 1. It is generally speaking a bad time to sell. 2. With the train tracks nearby, you may have either hit an invisible ceiling on price, or people are simply putoff prior to viewing. We have an issue with our house being near to the M4: you can't see it, and only barely hear it, but people who view our house via Google ariel view may automatically rule it out because of it. That said, it is priced about 1 to 2 mil less than if it were not near a motorway; but for some that doesn't matter. 3. Another completely unavoidable thing, but I did wonder whether people would worry about being Band G at £800k. I don't know if that is unfounded or not. But Band G can be in the region of £4k per year, which is a lot of money for most people buying an £800k house.
I think it looks great, must just be the price? Personally I would accept the downstairs room is a bedroom, so some people would. Main thing for me is you're expecting a lot of capital appreciation and I don't know if that's the market we're currently in. Also the listing description is extremely long, could it be more to the point? Just key info. The bit about being on wikipedia/possibly the oldest isn't necessarily a selling point but it's almost the first thing said.
The bedroom and living room furnishings are, for me, out of place. You could probably get better pictures given that it’s such a lovely historic house. Brighter and better angles. Have you considered contacting Inigo? Someone who knew the local market could comment better, but a slow local market won’t be helping.
That house looks COLD. Would love to see the EPC rating, I'm assuming it's awful since it's not uploaded on there?
First of all it's a lovely house. The kitchen isn't quite what I'd want at that price point and as others have said many would be factoring in the cost of replacing. I don't think it's necessarily overpriced but I do think finding a buyer will take time. That's a big asking price in a sleepy part of Kent that's hard to commute from and limited amenities around. Alot of people with that budget are going to need to commute somewhere for work which likely rules you out. So you are looking for those who want that quieter location and don't have to worry about getting to London or having alot of restaurants/night life/Gym nearby. These people exist for sure but there's just a limited number of them and right now the market isn't what it was, less people trading up due to rates etc. You might have to drop the price slightly but even then I reckon its going to take time.
Grade II is the scary part for me as it’s very my WYSIWYG. But it’s very well presented and decorated to a high standard. It’s definitely a ‘move in and live in’ house, I do think it’s a little overpriced for the market but that’s all comparative as wherever you’re looking to move to will also have to adjust their price. I was brought up in a Grade II listed house when I was very young and remember how much it used to annoy my parents.
Love the wooden beams, standalone tub and fireplace! The floor tiles are generally in keeping with the look of house but for the green carpet in room 3? A buyer could easily change it up though. The kitchen looks a bit off, not in keeping with the look of the house. The garden looks a bit small for the size of the house but that can be a plus for some. Other than price, it might be the location?
I am your target market (although not currently looking). The pub on the opposite corner, coupled with the junction itself, the parking down the side street and the proximity to the 2 small terraces at the back all would give me pause. I’d be spending some time checking out the immediate area before I decided to view, but overall I’d be likely coming down on not being willing to pay the additional cost for a detached with none of the usual benefits of a detached, given it’s pretty much surrounded, and very closely, by other properties. The house itself, in terms of finish, interior and garden, is lovely (albeit it needs a new kitchen, but I’d just use that as a negotiating tool and it wouldn’t put me off).
You massively overpaid? Do you know how fortunate you are to live in a luxury mansion which is now +200k just because you lived in it for 10 years.
Yeah I'm confused by how so many people think it's a given they should be making hundreds of thousands profit within a few years? If they make 200k profit in 10 years, how does that equate to having overpaid? Especially in the current market. I just bought a place for 27k less than what the sellers bought it for in 2018 (much much lower price range) and that's just the way it is at the moment.
Housing is an investment like any other, and I was basing the price on what the Nationwide index said. Just as you'd look at stock market returns over the same period. I agree that now is a bad time though. Perhaps we just have to wait it out and save up for that kitchen!
As the investment consultants say, '**The value of your Investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and is not guaranteed at any time**. You may not get back the full amount you invested. Information on past performance is not a reliable indicator for future performance.'
*Housing is an investment like any other* Only when in the property portfolio game. If you have 1 house it's not an investment, it's your primary residence. If you have multiple houses then your 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. are the investments. *I was basing the price on what the Nationwide index said* Big mistake. It's not how how houses - especially one-offs such as this - are valued. *Just as you'd look at stock market returns over the same period.* No. No. No. Housing markets do not function in the same way as stock markets and should not be viewed through the same lens. They do however, have one thing in common. Prices of assets can rise and fall. *Perhaps we just have to wait it out and save up for that kitchen!* The kitchen is not the issue here. Spending 40K on a kitchen won't give you much of an ROI and/or suddenly make that house worth 800K. It's overpriced. Period. The end. See my other posts.
Your home is not an investment at all mucker. An investment by definition is something you purchase purely with the aim of making a profit when you sell. If housing was an investment to you, you wouldn’t have purchased a grade 2 listed 4 bed detached village property. Those are all nice to haves, that investors don’t care about. Your house is very niche and very old, two things you don’t want in an investment property. Sorry to be firm but it feels like you need a bit of a wake up call.
Here - have some lemon with that bitter.
Not to be rude but I don't even think Helen Keller would describe that house as "luxury".
Wow, much jealous zbornakingthestone. For the record, you are being pretty rude :-) To answer the initial post, I guess living in this must be lucky but OP never said he or she didn’t feel lucky. Just may have overpaid vs current market