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 is a three bed - the mezzanine is within the master bedroom and then there are two more. But I think it is confusing from the listing and you are not the first person to have thought that.

I agree.

I don't think it's the price because a quick look at other houses shows they are all around £600K - £650K for traditional semis or more modern detached houses.

Is the parking and no garage?

Why does the fact that one of the three bedrooms has a mezzanine make it a problem for people wanting 3 bedrooms? There are still 3 bedrooms, all private.

Parking.
Mezzanine would annoy me, those stairs take up a lot of room in an otherwise perfectly nice sized room. I'd rather have just an ordinary bedroom as the bed looks very cramped up on that mezzanine and it would be a nightmare to get up in the night for a wee. It would suit a teenager well but how long are they teens for?

Someone may already have said this, but if the house is down a delightful, quiet, cobbled mews then this should also be emphasised

This listing and photos (and floor plan!) is a million times better. Did you swop agents? If so you should go back. Can't you see those photos are so much better than your current ones?

I've just seen the old photos. They're way more inviting.

USE A DECENT AGENT!!! So many make this mistake and scrimp on agents fees using a respected local agent will more than make your money back on their fee.

Unfortunately it's a buyers market at the moment. Whole Cheadle is a lovely area, there are many Mabyn houses for sale. Yours is a stunning house, but period properties are not very popular at the moment as mortgages are higher, its harder to heat etc. Also your house has no parking. Two years ago none of that would have mattered but now buyers can pick. If you really want to sell you need to accept you will need to drop by at least 50 (looking at the other houses for sale) or stay in the house until the market picks up.

Overpriced. I know house prices vary massively throughout the country but we’ve just bought a 4 bed for 400k which is much bigger.
Also the parking situation and being straight onto the road would be massively off putting for me. The inside is beautiful and I like how quirky it is but there isn’t really much space.

And I agree about get a decent agent. We used a local agent and our house was sold in a week because she plastered it everywhere

I'd strongly echo @RosesAndHellebores, esp buying time by finding a way to bring family to you more often.

The listing is poor but from the previous listings and your comments you have a three double bedroom, two bathroom house with a large kitchen/diner, two additional receptions and a reception sized hall. Honestly when I had 4 under 5 I would have killed for it in a good school area so I'm guessing the family issue is key for you?

Take it off the market, address the points (but please don't remove period features as per some PP), have a bit of a declutter and rethink the strategy. . A year down the line your world will be very different and more manageable, shipping family to you once a month or so may be more cost effective and achievable in the long run.

It is a lovely house, but to be honest the photos with your previous agents are far better, and really show the house to be a much brighter sizeable space for potential viewers. The newer agents has the house looking quite dull and as if the rooms are smaller. I would give serious consideration of going back to your previous agent.

I also agree the floor plan is vital for people to imagine the space and layout better before viewing.

What others have said about interest rates (and also house prices are coming down since they peaked around spring/summer 2021 when they were artificially inflated by the post-Covid housing boom with buyers offering more than they were on the market for due to bidding wars) also needs to be considered. I saw on Rightmove that the house was last sold around that time and the value put on is even higher when there’s no private parking which is a big thing particularly if locals park there for other amenities such as shops or schools being nearby. There is a lot of uncertainty now in comparison and with cost of living buyers will be a lot more cautious than a few years ago.

Agree the previous listing SO much better.

master is the issue

Speaking as someone who is currently spending a LOT of time on RightMove...

The lack of floorplan is annoying. It's the first thing I look at. From the pictures, it looks quite spacious, but the lack of floorplan suggests either that the layout is very strange and something the sellers want to hide, or a lazy estate agent.

No complete kitchen view. I want to see it from all angles - all sides. Plus, it's a bit of a hodge-podge. Black fridge, with white cupboards/counters, and the none-matching floor.

Parking - it needs to be really clear from the photos alone what the situation is. I assume that lean-to garage on the right is yours. Everything needs to be really clear from the pictures alone. They are what attract people in. If the pictures aren't right, no one will even get as far as reading the particulars. For 600K I'd want at least a private driveway.

Street appeal - it does look like a lovely house, but some pots out the front, or some hanging baskets would really do it some favours. The picture of the front is the first picture that comes up. It needs to really grab people... I got my house because the picture of the front was awful! The estate agent seemed to think that crouching on the driveway, with the sun behind the house - making it look really, really dark, was the way to go. And acres of driveway dominates the picture.

It does seem very expensive though... I've no idea what the housing market on the Manchester outskirts is like generally - but I thought up North was supposed to be cheap! I'm in a midlands town, with great commuter links, and a house like that down here would be around the £450-500k mark. I'd personally expect a lot more "house and land" up North for well over half a mill.

@SoupDragon

Mezzanine, from my experience, is a guest space you use for guests you don’t like that much, when other guests are taking the spare room….

It’s like being put in the loft, noisy, cold, no headspace etc

The description says it has off road parking which to me means guaranteed spaces, but if you're visiting a neighbouring house you could park outside your house. It’s a beautiful house though. And agree with others re floor plan.

Appart from price ( for that money i would want more outside space ), i would also scrol past it because it looks like its straight onto a road with no parking. If you don't know the area it could be in middle of a very busy place with no parking. Defo more pictures of street and parking area.
So maybe say quiet mews / shared cobbles / away from busy road. I wouldn't have the front as the first picture.

If it’s not sold in a year then it must definitely is the price.

Maybe the parking and lack of garage isn’t ideal, but if it was priced to reflect that then It would still sell. The house is priced too high considering what it offers.

Your house is beautiful. Not nrt but Why no floor plan? decorations on fridge makes the listing look like it’s been on since pre Christmas. Add some pop of colour throws in the bedroom, they look a bit cold and flat

It is beautifully presented internally but would appear overpriced.
Guide price - why?
Hanging around on the market for nine months - overpriced, greedy vendor or structural problems?
No dedicated parking or garage - when you get back home could a commuter or visitor have parked outside the house?
Curb appeal could be improved by a power was and some bay trees in pots or hanging baskets.
Is the mezzanine over the stairwell - safety issue?
When people view, does it look like the photos or is it full of baby paraphernalia?

Wow, you overpaid when you brought this place. You could probably spent even more money trying to change things up or you could drop the price and see how much more interest it generates. To be brutally honest, you'll probably be lucky to get what you paid for.

I'd worry about EPC of E. That means it will be very expensive to heat. Is there any chance of getting that up to an EPC of D? Loft lagging is inexpensive and easy to lay. It needs to be 250 to get maximum points. Are all light bulbs energy efficient ones? If not change them. How old is boiler and radiators? Do radiators have separate valves so you can turn heating down in some rooms whilst leaving it on in others? These are all really cheap things to do. It's a lovely house. It doesn't look small but you have very large furniture which probably makes it look less spacious. Eg the coffee table is enormous. I'd change for a much smaller one meaning more ground space. Also you have a conservatory but again full of furniture so not space to move about much. I'd free that space up because not everyone is good at just looking at dimensions and ignoring your furniture.

Agreed, it's the price and what you get for that - sorry OP. Your home is really lovely and it's clear how well loved it is, but I wouldn't be prepared to pay that money for no parking, even if it is Cheadle Hulme.

We don't have kids and aren't first time buyers so would probably fit well into the type of demographic who would be interested in your house because it is too expensive for your average FTB. A quick look on Bridgfords shows that there are several houses sold STC which appear to offer more for less money. One is ten minutes from yours with a drive, is detached, and has been modernised. It was £65k less than yours.

I also agree your old agent did a far better job in marketing your property (for example in emphasising its CHHS catchment, the photos) but I do think if you are desperate to move then you will have to significantly drop the price when changing agents.

I think this is so true. It’s actually a pretty big and spacious house! Nowhere feels big enough when you are swamped with baby clutter (I have friends with massive houses and they still get cluttered). And in relative terms they are fairly close to family. The market has a lot to answer for in this particular case and a year or so down the line will probably look quite different!