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

I still can’t understand the parking situation when you are saying that there are 2 spaces outside and there are 3 houses in your mews. Does it mean that you have designated space in front of your house where you can realistically park 2 cars or do you mean that between 3 houses you’ve got 2 spaces plus some neighbors have garages? if I was looking I would need the answer.

I also was a bit suspicious when we were looking if families spend less than 3 years in the house. I know you’ve got the obvious reason - relocating closer to family but it still might put off a bit some people.
I also declined one of the houses we were looking at as we wanted move quickly and they had small children ( 3 under 8) and I told my DH : No way they would move to rental, we would have to wait for them. And we couldn’t afford to wait.So your plans/timescale should be clear to prospective buyers.
The problem with charming cottages usually is that they are old and people tend to patch them here and there so at some moment someone have to do the whole rewiring/replacing kitchen and bathroom/ redecorating thing and it’s expensive. So while it’s ok for you to live there atm it might be that the usage potential is running out and the next person will have to do the big refurbishment and it pits people off for that price.

The other point is that family house has to tick certain boxes: amount of bathrooms, outside areas, parking, schools etc. so if your are not ticking some of them it has to be reflected in the price, especially if the average house in the area are ticking them.
Charm is nice to have but only if charm goes along with other features.
I don’t know the area but you have to look realistically at all points, yes, the right buyer will come along for say £600.000 but will you be happy if he comes along in 3 years? I know a few houses which were on the market for more than 3 years and eventually they’ve got their asking price but obviously in 3 years this asking price has different value. Saying this it might be ok for you to hold on and wait. It depends on your circumstances.
Forgot to add that you are so brave to ask on MN!!!

I think wherever the location of a house, when someone buys at the peak of the market as 2021 was you have to be prepared to sit it out for a few years.
We bought our 2nd house at a market peak and if we'd sold it any time in the first 3 years we'd have lost money on it. Fortunately it was 7 years before we needed to move for more space and we sold it for 10% more than we paid for it

could you rent it out and move immediately? then sell in a couple of years.

Yes. The stairs need to be rethought, and opened up underneath. Glass panel along the front. Even so, the proportions aren't right, in height above/below or respective floor space. Platform extended - but also roof raised/platform dropped, neither feasible. Or just convert back to original and get creative with windows. It's a mess.

This is a good point - Inigo might take it on. They use incredible photographers. My brother used them and I didn’t recognise his house at first in the listing.

It’s lovely OP. Nothing is moving round our way at the moment- I’d put in an offer on yours tomorrow if mine were under offer. Everyone is in the same boat waiting for the property market to start again.

I’ve cut the price on mine twice and it hasn’t impacted at all. I’m now in the process of relisting at the higher price again. The market will pick up when it picks up.

I think you need a new estate agent - the house looks lovely and is beautifully presented but, after a year, they should have added some summer/sunnier pics and a floor plan.

DH and I are house-hunting atm, and we won’t look at anything without a floor plan as I won’t waste my time looking unless I know that it really is ‘3 beds’ and not 2 plus a storage room, or whether the bathrooms are full bathrooms or 1msq shower/wcs. Room sizes are really important for comparision (with existing properties) or values of other similarly priced properties.

Dump the EA and hire someone new. The market usually picks up now with families hoping to complete before September, so a good agent will have no problem getting footfall.

Its the price, having briefly searched rightmove there are many 3 beds with driveway and garage and some larger for from 250K up.

If a property is priced well (even in a slow market) it should have viewings weekly.
Yes a floorplan should help a bit but essentially it is way overpriced.

You have lots of helpful practical feedback, but also unfortunately you may not be able to sell for more than you paid in 2021. I've been househunting around this area and around for 2 years and my experience has been that prices haven't risen at all and have fallen since the peak if anything. You may need to suck it up as a cost of the change, and accept that it cancels out as it sounds like the move will help you save on childcare and is the right thing for you. Gorgeous house, at the right price it will sell and the suggested changes should ensure you get the viewers in at the right price.

OP@Veebie86 you really need to look at other properties close to you…there is a detached 4 bed house with garage 0.11 miles away for £695 k for eg. …..and all the similar price band properties are lovely looking detached or large semis…character properties do command a premium in some areas but less so when there are much larger properties that are also well presented.

I have to be completely honest. But 600K for a 3 bed in Cheadle is the main problem.

It's a lovely home and has a lot going for it but in addition to the comments re: floorplan, dimensions, parking I'd also suggest that the external shots aren't great.

On pic 1 - get the front paving jetwashed and get rid of the green, it just makes me think of damp, and unless the corrugated roof garage is part of the property lose that too. If it is part of the property then move the car and shut the door so it looks neater rather than too small to fit a car. Invest in a new door mat and possibly some matching planters - even if it's just for the photo. Now spring is on it's way get the pics taken on a sunny rather than rainy day. The second external shot isn't particularly appealing and looks like a bit of a backstreet tbh with all the garages. It's not adding anything so just lose it.

Think about who is going to buy it - probably not a family so lose the kids stuff in the garden and have a pic focusing on an outdoor entertaining space rather than just lawn.

Good luck.

Needs a floor plan as everyone has said.
The photos aren’t great can’t work out the layout, particularly upstairs and doesn’t give a good idea of the size of the bedrooms or how the house flows.

Can you ask EA to photograph the street so parking is clearer?

Also, some do the video tours where you can kind of move from room to room online, as yours looks slightly unusual layout can you ask for this?

It's a beautiful house. Others have already pointed out the obvious things like the lack of floor plan and parking. However, adding a floor plan won't suddenly make it sell when it didn't sell with the previous listing (with FP and better pics) in 8 months on the market.

The problem is that you overpaid in the craziness of 2021/22. A lot. It is over priced compared to your competition and people simply can't afford these kind of prices now, with rates having risen significantly. If you really want to sell to move closer to family, it's likely that you will need to accept a loss. Perhaps re-list with a better, local agent at 525 or 550k.
It's interesting that several poster have commented that they expect the market to pick up next year or soon. There is no reason to think that this is likely so perhaps just wishful thinking. The economy is deteriorating and rates show to signs of falling significantly (if they do it will because of a huge recession).

I haven't RTFT so maybe this has already been covered.

I note that you bought the house in Sept 2021 for £564k. The Land Registry says that between Sept 2021 and now, detached houses in Stockport have increased in value by an average of 14% (they peaked at 17% in October 2022 but have fallen back since then).

On the face of it, you asking for £600k is entirely reasonable.

There's nothing wrong with the house (that wasn't already an issue when you bought - eg no off street parking etc).

As others have said, lack of a floorplan but really, at the moment, many people are in the same situation as you - very few buyers.

The people who are saying "reduce the price" are correct if you need to sell. If it's not a case of needing to sell immediately then just hang in there as there are plenty of sellers who are facing the same situation.

I just checked Rightmove myself and you're correct
Okay so most aren't "character properties" but in a niche sector there's only so much folk will pay for one that is, and with all the disadvantages I'm not sure this would come into a desirable bracket

Sadly, as PPs have said, it looks as if OP overpaid and it's hard to come back from that without a financial hammering

Yes absolutely. Honestly have spent the last 2 hours whilst my twins nap reading over 500 comments 🫠 majority helpful and constructive with obviously a few unnecessary jabs at personal taste 😂 have to appreciate though so much is based on personal opinion. Case in point I think the suggestions on lowering asking price have ranged from £1k - over £150k and all are vs two EAs who said the price was fine and both were working on a fixed fee vs sale % commission so I’d thought they’d advise dropping to push a sale rather than say we were right for local market.

No, it's not as simple as that.

Parts of Cheshire are pricey!

Cheadle is one of them.

I really can’t understand the comments about the garden & storage. You can clearly see there is storage (at least in the other agent pics), there’s lots of space & it looks pretty well maintained. I do think these threads can get a bit ridiculous in terms of peoples expectations- anyone would think it was some kind of overgrown mess when it looks perfectly nice!

I would style it more - at the moment it doesn't look pulled together enough. It looks very much like your home, not something people can imagine themselves living in. I would take it off Rightmove as it's now stale, go through room by room with a property stylist, and get better photos taken.

I’d take a Georgian cottage over a semi any day and such properties always command a premium.

I don’t think OP needs to drop the price by much - say 25k - even a small drop indicates to the market you’re open to offers.

I agree that they bought at the height of the market and it has dropped considerably since 2021. It sounds like they will just have to inure themselves to a bit of a loss.

Seems pricey to me but absolutely beautiful. However, I don't know the prices in your area so I can't really judge based on that.

1. the garden seems small in comparison to the size of the house and I'm not a fan of sash windows (I know this is a period property so this isn't likely to put people off)

2. kerb appeal - the path and cobblestone outside looks slimy and the garages next door are a bit of an eye sore but there's not much you can actually do about either of them unless you want to jet wash the path and road.

3. In pic 4/20, the bathroom wall seems either a bit damp or badly painted and there is a lack of privacy despite there being a blind on the window (frosted glass would be better to be included as no one wants to shut the blind every time they need the loo). The silver/steel cistern doesn't work aesthetically.

4. in pic 12/20 there seems to be some water ingress on the wall

5. in pic 16/20 the placement of the lamp makes the ceiling height look extremely low and claustrophobic

6. The flat roof of the house would be a concern for me in regards to how watertight the property is

7. it is a gorgeous home but looks more suited to an adult household or those who have children 8+ years rather than a young family

It is a lovely house - I am house hunting in Cheadle Hulme at the moment and in all honesty, I think the price is too high for a 3 bed house.

House is gorgeous. However, as others have suggested, a floorpan is essential. You really need to ramp up the kerbside appeal. The price is ridiculous. Sorry you can't afford to drop, but honestly, if the house is lovely, you've had some views and no offers, it's always the price. Although lack of parking would put lots of people off.

vs two EAs who said the price was fine and both were working on a fixed fee vs sale % commission so I’d thought they’d advise dropping to push a sale rather than say we were right for local market.

In all fairness you can't really include the opinion of your second EA. If they can't even be bothered to include a floor plan and have lied about off road parking, they're not actually interested in selling your house.

Unfortunately the reality is it's over priced. Even if you didn't want to sell quickly, zero offers in almost a year clearly shows it's too expensive. The fact you want to sell quickly means you need to have a serious price reduction, or you'll still be there in another year.