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

One thing we did was a one pager that viewers could take away with some more detailed info about the house (ie the roses in the garden, the brand new oven ect) and some info about the neighbourhood, area, local things to do with kids, dog walks etc

Picture 7 isn't great, too much table, and too bright near the window so you can't see details. I'd want lounge etc photos to come up before hall and dow stairs loo photos I.e. show best areas/rooms first.

It is a beautiful home, no gaudy décor or anything like that. Unfortunately not everyone appreciates older properties with character features and with this being a 3 bed, priced at £600k it is considered quite expensive, especially for up North.

Take into account the current climate with interest rates through the roof and the added stamp duty on £600k it isn't surprising the interest hasn't been there. This is a country wide problem though.

What is the square footage? As others have said the ad needs a floorplan.

I've always found this price bracket an award one, £550 - £750k, it may be that it is too much money for most and not big enough for those who can easily afford it. We had practically no interest when selling our house which was a 6 bed and went for £750k. It was on the market for 7 months with only 3 viewings.

Apologies OP, I have just noticed it isn't a flat roof from looking at the previous sale pictures. This may be a point to bring up with your EA that the angle of the current photographs needs to reflect this.

For me it's price. I have seen some luxury looking 4 beds for between 500-650k into the same area, yours is nice but nothing to me stands out as wow for the price

EA lie through their teeth.

Full conversion - New kitchen extension and the rest has had a lick of paint - Mobberley

4 double bedrooms - 1 double bed, 1 Single & 2 barely box rooms, plus a damp wall - Knutsford

Both at massively inflated prices. 1 has now been removed from the market and the other flounders on it.

With respect, the estate agents are clearly wrong or they would have sold your home many months ago. As it is, you said that you aren't even getting viewings, never mind offers! It's pretty obvious that it's over priced and you have had several local posters confirming this too.

If you want to continue to market it at 600k, you can obviously do that but it's unlikely that you will sell your home and be able to move nearer to your family.

I agree. A couple of hanging baskets and flowers planters under the windows would easily solve this.

Looks a bit 'shop-front' from the outside. Add some greenery for kerb appeal, perhaps window boxes, potted trees or climbers like ivy to give it some character from the outset.

Thank you. With respect, have just said I’m digesting and very much appreciating all the response and we’ll definitely consider a price reduction but again, people’s suggestions have ranged over £150k so it’s not always an easy gauge on what’s right.

Also worth noting two houses very close walk to us who we know have reduced their price a few times and still no sale. They’ve both just gone on to let instead, so it’s not always the winning ticket sadly.

Which I am aware of! There are several posts on here all saying the same! But thanks for you input on mine! :)

if it hasn’t sold, it’s always the price.

It seems expensive to me, I've never considered a floor plan when I've looked at a house tbh. I'm not quite sure what the bit at the bottom of/under the stairs is meant to be.

My house was on the market for a whole year without a single offer but stuff was taking ages to sell. In the end I gave up and now they're selling within weeks when I'm not interested in selling any more.

Gorgeous house. The key features section is messy and uninviting and could easily and cheaply be hugely improved!

1. Personally I don't think guide price should be the first key feature - it just sounds grabby
2. Its looks like you have three separate bathrooms, huge plus for the property, but this isn't mentioned
3. I don't regard a home office in the bedroom as a desirable feature (although it may be necessary). How about softening to versatile space on lower mezzanine or similar?

Good luck!

You’re Manchester based, I would maybe put it up with someone like Jordan Fishwick, or someone recognisable anyway (with offices) that you notice are doing well in your area. I’m always a bit put off if it’s an agent I don’t know much about, especially if it’s online only. Also as others have said a floorplan is really important too and clear info about parking.

If I was a viewer I would be pissed off that the agent (and by extent you) lied about off road parking and it would put me off engaging further.

Fwiw it's a lovely house, I would love a mezzanine bedroom. Not great for (my!) Kids though, assume you can't fit a bed on the bottom bit.

No off road parking would make it unattractive to me. For 600 thousand I would expect a large drive for a few cars. My house is worth about 250 thousand but we have a drive.

I misunderstood your post, I took it to mean that your agents were correct.

Anything will sell for the right price. If other local properties are not selling wither, the likelihood is that the market has fallen, at least for certain types of house, by more than the local estate agents and owners realise. If you are determined to sell, perhaps try a decent 10% reduction, which will hopefully be enough to generate interest. Congratulations on your twins!

No, it was marketed at £575k and sold for £564k in 2021.

In 2017 it sold for £458k so they're asking for 30% more than it sold for in 2017. This sort of increase isn't at all unusual for detached houses in Stockport.

Don’t move to London then.

way overpriced

It’s overpriced.

Not helpful, but I think your house is gorgeous! I don’t like to live in towns, but in a village that would be EXACTLY the kind of house I’d buy (not that we could afford it here in the SE).

Agree with others though, floor plan right there on the webpage is an essential for selling nowadays.

This - the current EA is an idiot who has listed their clients house without a floor plan despite knowing that the client moved from another EA to them because they were getting desperate for a sale.

Agreed. There are a lot of crap local agents across the country and this one may not have the reach of a big agent.

I don’t know the area - are there no big franchises like Winkworth, Savills, Hamptons etc?