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

There's only one reason why a house would receive no offers - the price is too high.

It's down to price OP. And whenever you have a quirky location and potentially layout plus small garden, then your market is already limited.

The photos aren't great and the house lacks kerb appeal - even a photo taken when it's not raining would be an improvement. Showing next door's garage when your house has none is a schoolboy error.

You can't even see up the street on Streetview and there's no explanation it's a mews location, unless I missed it.

Having seen what else is for sale in a similar price bracket, they are all family homes. The market for yours is likely to be downsizers or first time buyers and it's bloody expensive for either group.

Didn’t bother to read anymore after “we” got pregnant. Bloody miracle

I think I must have got this wrong but it looks from the street view as if access is via a walkway rather than being on a road iyswim

I know Im repeating what others have said - but you definitely overpaid in 2021, and probably it will be difficult to sell again for the same amount. It is nice though, just too expensive for what it is.

It's a single vehicle width cobbled lane. I missed it at first.

It's also round the corner from a pub which is currently boarded up and the road under the railway bridge floods iirc as we used to live nearby.

I'm wondering how OP conceived DCs 2 and 3 without either her or DH getting concussion.

It's not "priced right" if it hasn't sold yet. Not dropping the price because you don't want to lose money makes no sense as you are wasting money with having it listed and not selling. Having the space you need for your family is more important than a few thousand pounds more for your house. You have to live in a property every single day. Think of the little stresses that the lack of space are causing every day of your lives.

The market is terrible at the moment and hardly any properties are selling for the asking price. This means the valuations are too high for what the market is doing. That's estate agents being shit at their jobs - advising sellers that their house is worth more than it is. Things are only worth what people are prepared to pay for them. If the feedback has been that people love the house yet you haven't had any offers then it means it is overpriced, no other conclusion to be drawn.

Please watch this for an explanation of the market as it is right now https://youtube.be/4fVwBRxKH7k?si=_dyhs8yp1Y09oaH0

I just cannot put my finger on it at all but the photos just don't make it look appealing. My first house was on the market for a year and I changed EA to one that did spectacular photos and sold it within a week.
I think the addition of a downstairs loo was a fantastic idea.

Sorry, link didn't work. Follow this guy on YouTube for the realities of UK property market right now

I know nothing about CHHS/the area, but when we sold our house (the one I grew up in), the people who bought it openly said that they bought it because it put their daughter into the catchment area of our local high school. In fact, we discovered that they sold it about four years later (when she was done at the school). My own parents had bought the house about 30 years before that because of the local schools (though primary schools at that point as we were very young). In both cases (when my parents bought and sold), the listing highlighted that it was in XXX school catchment area.

Just had a proper look at the listing on rightmove. The price is absolutely insane for that size of property. No one in their right mind would pay that!

It’s a beautiful property & so characterful. I won’t repeat what everyone else has said as you’ve had so much advice already. I personally don’t understand why people are saying the garden is small? It looks quite a sizeable garden to me. Certainly more than I would be expecting for that style of house.

I love your wooden beams, don't paint them.

There's a hallway where you've painted it darker, I'd lighten that.

I'm going to be the millionth poster who says "floor plan and room measurements".

Also, make sure that your photos clearly show that the master bedroom isn't actually open plan and has proper doors. I don't have £600k nor a need to live near Stockport, but if I did, I'd put the bed in the lower part of the room and use the part with the skylights for an office, and I'd want to know that I could do that.

I can't see it on street view- is it off the map?

The outside photo definitely out me off. I do agree that it's worth jet washing the green off and photographing it on a sunny day (good luck with that part!). Adding some tall plants by the door will make it look more attractive.

Agree with what @Solgrass said regarding kerb appeal - the first thing I saw was the wires and it put me off.

For all the house you get 600k seems reasonable to me, but others know the area so perhaps heed that.

No floor plan, looks like the garage is yours from pictures but it isn’t.

Kitchen/conservatory is a dream.

Master disaster - I wouldn’t pay £600k to sleep on a mezzanine with the bulk of space below used as a corridor…. Where is the storage?? Is could easily be dressed as a dressing area with storage or as a relaxing area to read or watch tv.

Also, a problem faced by selling when you have children is that the cot/kids stuff immediately marks it as a family space so young professionals or dinks discount it as unsuitable, and people who want to have a family see the cot and think ahh they’re moving it can’t be big enough or isn’t suitable for a family (as they don’t know your personal circumstances with twins/distance from family).

Wishing you all the best of luck, it really is a beautiful house, hopefully you will get a buyer soon with a few tweaks/change of agent.

I also looked for it - it's down a small lane that's not on Street View. You can sort of see it with the 3d view on Google Earth but there is a tree in the way.

These photos are also much better than current listing.

I'd take it off the market, find a new estate agent, significantly drop the price and get a 360/walkthrough video done and put it back on the market.

I think the mezzanine is a great use of space but the lower part needs to be dressed differently, if only for the photos.

It's really a 2-bed.

I don't think you can count the first 'bedroom' with the mezzanine floor.

Most people would use that as a study or office.

I’ve not read the reply’s.

where is the measurements for each room?
where is the floor plan?
where is the picture of the estate agents sign written mini or Porsche in your parking space?

Looking at the photos, it doesn’t look like a family home, it looks more like a downsizers, a couple with no children, certain age single person home.

Would you be better off converting it back to two properties?

Hi, I have owned an estate agents for 10 years. Firstly you need to change agent. The agent you are using is a national one. They are AWFUL. Swap to an independent local agent. Stay away from large firms or national ones. They really do not care about selling your home. When you have picked your agent make sure they have a floorplan and ask them to be honest about your price. Ask for comps of similar homes that have actually sold. Hope that helps.

i’d guess most people who want a 3 bed home have kids and a mezzanine room is not suitable for privacy families need when kids develop to teens. It’s also high price compared to what you paid and other comparable properties. Yes property appreciates in value but there is a ceiling for what a property is worth…even if you did work.

This. Prices are now lower sadly.