House has been on for sale for nearly a year with no offers. Would love some feedback and advice!

[Veebie86]

We bought our 1850s 3 bed cottage in 2021 and although we absolutely love it, we got pregnant last year trying for our second and ended up having babies 2&3 in January! We have no family too close by (my parents are an hour away) so we sadly put our house on the market in early August last year to move closer to my family for support and to have more space than what we have currently for 3 under 3. In 9 months we’ve literally had just a handful of viewings with no offers. People constantly tell us how beautiful our home is (and we honestly love it, just wish it was bigger and closer to family)! We’ve tried two EAs who have both said it’s priced right for the area and the market and we can’t afford to drop any lower anyway to avoid making a loss (we’ve done work since moving including adding a downstairs toilet). We’re honestly getting so down about it now as our babies are just getting bigger so quickly and starting to feel like we’ll be stuck here forever. Link below and if anyone has any tips or feedback I won’t take anything personally and would just appreciate the help!
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/146014529#/?channel=RES_BUY

It’s quite a niche house and in the current market you are not going to get someone to pay £600k for a 3 bed with no parking, no drive and no front garden. I know the area well.
The lack of floor plan and video is something you should raise straight away, have you picked up on this?

you will not sell it unless you reduce the price , I would say to £560k which is much more palatable than£600k.
have a look at what else is available for that price locally too.
It’s 99% of the time the price (which you probably already know!) it’s hard to not make money when you sell but in the current market many are making a loss.
good luck

I like it, it's nice. But I can't see it being worth more than you paid in 2021. It's just the price imo, everything else is fine.

I like it, and much more than some of the alternatives posted by pp. I agree with all other comments regarding floorplans and I don't think the photographs do justice to 1500 sq feet. It's bigger than some of the other properties. I'll say:

1. Take it off the market for three months and put it back on with a top quality local agent - look and see which one achieves sales. You get what you pay for.

1. Jet wash the pavement and sort out some window boxes, a small decorative tree.

1. Have all windows professionally cleaned inside and out. The difference is astonishing.

1. Clear all clutter and the dried hops

1. Focus on the large hall as additional reception space.

1. Focus on proximity to station and journey times to: Manchester/Leeds, etc.

1. Focus on school catchments.

1. If funds allow it needs a patio/outside dining space.

Overall I think you overpaid and the price you need and what purchasers will pay in a very soft market are two completely different things. Therefore you will have to compromise.

At present you are doing the hard yards with the children and I think you have twins (3 under 3 - ouch!). I think you have to consider the payoff between taking a £75k cut or funding some childcare locally - or would your mum come a bit more if you put her in a local B&B once/twice a month?

This too will pass and fast forward two/three years with the dc in that excellent little school and as life calms you might look back and be glad you stayed.

I like it and think it has much future potential. There's room in the garden for a good sized home office/den/extra space.

It’s a lovely house. I watched the video from the previous listing, you need to add the floor plan and be more upfront about the mezzanine bedroom as it will put some buyers off, so better they just don’t come than be surprised by the layout. Also agree in just put the price you want. I hate it when I see something in budget then it says they are expecting higher than the advertised price. Good luck

Does the floor plan help?

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Have not RTFT so may well be repeating what others have said, but there is quite a lot you can do to help yourselves here:

1. Floorplan
2. Improve EPC rating if you can: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/tips-to-improve-the-epc-rating-of-your-home/
3. Clarify parking
4. Better photographs (and get them retaken now, in the sunnier weather)
5. Improve kerb appeal - pots around the door or whatever
6. If you are selling as a three bed, the mezzanine room needs to be dressed as a bedroom.

On (6) this was the most confusing thing to me, and until you find the floorpan from the prior listing it is not clear whether there is a third bedroom that just hasn't been photographed. It will be annoying to lose your office in the short term, but at the moment it looks like you are selling a two bed for the price of a three bed. You need to assume that buyers have no imagination and dress the room to show how it would be used. I would make it into the children's room by putting a child's bed on the mezzanine and making the lower floor into a playroom. I think that would be a lovely use and would appeal to lots of young families. Alternatively, put a double bed on the lower level (get a cheap one from IKEA) and make the mezzanine into a pretty dressing table space.

I don't know the area but was surprised at the price. I live in the SE in a prime commuter area where prices are sky high and think it would cost similar around here. Anywhere more than 30 mins to London and I would expect to be paying less than that, so I do think the price could be too optimistic I'm afraid. Even just dropping slightly so the price starts with a five could help.

Overall I think your main issue could be your estate agent! They have taken poor quality pictures and let you list without a floor plan. They may also be given bad advice on the price point. I would ditch them and revert to the one that sold to you.

Good luck OP. It's a beautiful house and there will definitely be buyers out there. You just need to get them through the door.

If you’re only getting a handful of viewings I’m afraid it’s the price. You say yo7 can’t drop any lower but that doesn’t make it worth 600k. If I click on similar houses there are bigger 4 bed detached houses in the area with bigger gardens, bigger rooms and not right on the street for 25k less than yours.

It is very expensive tbh.....for a 2 bedded house. For that price where I live you would get a 5 bedded mansion 😱

Needs a floor plan, I also don’t think the pictures are great quality. I would change agent and get them taken again with a floor plan.
Looks like it opens straight out on to the street too, that would put me off. What is the parking situation? A nice house like that I’d expect parking.

I understand you don’t want to make a loss but just because you put money into a house doesn’t mean you’ll get it back. The price is too high. That’s it.

The next most expensive 3 bed detached in the area is only 514k and that’s quite a bit bigger. I’d argue yours is nicer than the 514k one from a character pov but a lot of people will buy with their heads for a price difference of 86k and think they will redecorate the cheaper house/put a new kitchen in and still not have spent as much and have a bigger house.

To be fair it’s in a very desirable suburb of south Manchester and that area comes with a price tag. Even if the southerners can’t believe it 😂

No floor plan so I'd close the listing without looking any further as I hate not being able to see how the house flows

I'm not into cottages but things that would put me off this house are;

• no floor plan
• Parking
• it opens straight onto the street
• listing is £600k then the blurb says £600k to £635k. So how much is it? Make your mind up

In your shoes I'd take it off the market for a couple of months then relaunch with better listing & info

Ultimately if everything else is OK then it's the price that's wrong

Try to set up some viewings of properties on the market for similar prices (to avoid wasting other sellers’ time, ask about open houses that are going on over the next few weekends). Just by having a look at similar properties in the area on Rightmove, most of the ones in the same price bracket are 4 bed, 2 bath and some have substantial gardens. If you really can’t drop the price, you have to be able to see what these properties are doing that yours currently isn’t, and see if there is realistically anything you can do about it, otherwise you might have to consider a price drop.

Unfortunately this is the reality. No amount of cleaning, adding plants or waiting 3 months to relist will change the fact it's overpriced.

OP you say we love the house and the area. But yes, just wanted to get nearer family asap. It's been a year and the market has changed a lot in that time. If you really want to move then as difficult as it is you need to reduce the price.

Lovely property but if you’ve had no offers in a year, regardless of floor plan, it’s over priced.

Maybe so. But if it hasn’t sold within a year then clearly the price tag the OP has put on it is still higher than the price tag anyone is willing to pay.

Lovely property but if you’ve had no offers in a year, regardless of floor plan, it’s over priced.

The previous listing had a floorplan and better photos (and a higher price) but sounds like it still didn't get people through the door and interested enough to make a lower offer than asking.

Isn't every selling problem down to price really at the end of the day?

As I live less than 5 minutes walk
CH is an expensive area
People will be worried by what might happen with the Hesketh. (Large pub, closed 1 minute walk)
Those houses & on the other side always take a long time to sell (don't know why they just do) so it is a waiting game up to a point.
You purchased at peak & even though you have added WC in a stagnant market probably a bit overpriced
Traffic is horrendous there, due to 2x private schools & the high school (Laurus Group) plus primaries - might not have been as much of an issue when you purchased due to Covid. Whilst schools are outstanding this will be a concern.
The Scholar's Green development might but people off
CH is the last stop on the Greater Manchester zone for commuting, high light this
What was your feedback from S&W? (original EA) they have lived locally for years & know the area well

Yes I already said that in my previous posts. It’s overpriced. But it’s not shockingly so. They need to drop at least 50k

Agree with no floor plan.
also photos aren’t good eg the one of the downstairs loo is bizarre, only half the room. It’s difficult to get and idea of proportions or how the house flows
id get the photos redone, and change agents.

Plants 🪴 around the front door and in all the rooms will bring it to life.

Also, take more photos on a sunny day. We took our own pictures pics when the sun was in each room so they looked their best. Small touches, such as fruit on the table, flowers in the bedrooms etc sends a message that it’s a nice wholesome way of life. Wellies by the door says there are nice local walks. Little touches.

I know 🤷🏻‍♀️
We’re a bit further south from OP and house prices match good areas of Surrey.
Honestly how dare they 🙄 we’re barely North West at all….😉😂

Seriously though op, you’re in a nice area but nothing is shifting round here and there’s a few houses gone back on. If you really need to sell at the moment you really need to drop the price by 50K plus.