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

“Up North” is not one place with consistent pricing. A house in Rotherham will be priced very differently to a house in Hale or Bowdon where a 3 bed terrace sells for around £850k. Just like a house in London will be priced very differently to a house in Portsmouth.

Well I love the style which accords with mine! The lack of floorplan would put me off, and I would want clarification about the parking.

I also think there's an element of suspicion with the OP moving so soon. People are going to wonder why.

Anyway OP you have 3 children and 3 bedrooms, while I appreciate that things are difficult without family help you're not exactly overcrowded. Two of the kids can share and there are a lot of clever storage solutions.

You're in a beautiful house located in an excellent school catchment area. Things could be worse.

You have to set a time limit in your mind, after which you decide whether moving is worth a loss. And if so, how big a loss.

The last few years have been an anomaly with rapid price rises but moving so quickly is always risky.

Are you looking at the same house?

Yes, it's old- it's called 'character'.

What do you mean about 'people don't have books and LPs now'?

Jumping out for me is:

1. No floorplan, no idea on layout
2. Poor curb appeal and pavement looks slippy!
3. Parking concerns
4. Open garage door on photo- is there an issue with the door? Is that your garage?
5. Principle bedroom is mezzanine? Not ideal for young kids trying to get to mummy/daddy
6. Price seems expensive

That to me would be enough to avoid a viewing

I think it's absolutely beautiful. But does look cold for the price and the side gate doesn't look very secure to stop anyone just coming into the garden.

I think it might be that it's a big space downstairs and someone looking for a bigger property, at that price, might be expecting a four bedroom. Most people don't look for big expensive 3 beds, in my experience. As you say, it feels small to you now. Maybe take the conservatory sofas out to make it look more like an extra playroom?

Also OP I just noticed that the 'guide price' is more than 600K?
You'll be missing buyers whose budget is just under, but might go higher if they love the house.
Pricing it at 595K or similar will show up in their searches.

I’ve only read OP posts and some of pp posts so sorry if repeating, The previous listing has a photo from the garden looking back to the house, this was the wow picture to me so I would get that view again.
It’s not clear on the listing that it’s down the tiny street rather than on the main road, I would highlight this.
Unfortunately when I was trying to find it on street view there seems to be a boarded up pub which is off putting but obviously out of your control.

Good luck OP,it’s a lovely house.

Something else I thought of was that when you had it on with EA1 you were asking £635k or thereabouts, and you moved to EA2 and dropped the price with them but comments here have said that the photos and floor plan with EA1 were better. Would you consider moving back to EA1 but at the lower price?

Gorgeous house. Are other houses in the area selling? There are dozens of houses for sale in and around my village in NE Scotland. I think people are short of cash just now with high fuel bills and other increasing household costs. Mortgages are expensive and hard to get so the market has slowed right down. Check with Rightmove how many houses they have managed to sell recently. Honestly, don’t think the absence of a floor plan would have made a difference. The pictures ought to have been enough to tempt people to have a look.

It will be the price. It's always the price. There are 4\5 bedroom properties priced at 50-7500 less than your 3 bed and are STC.
As others have said, you need a floor plan, to clarify the parking. I would brighten up the exterior with some planters maybe just to oomph up the kerb appeal. You (or your estate agent more to the point) is going to have to work hard to point out to buyers all the great aspects of your home against the larger more practical properties that are out there.
Your home is beautiful- I love it.

Yes people do have books. I have hundreds of books and I'm in my early 30s.

The thing is that the OP knows that was a disingenuous description and didn't pull the agent up on it when they sent the draft for checking. Or if they didn't send a draft the OP has failed to ask for the mistake to be corrected.

Thank you. Appreciate the feedback re the EPC rating. Honestly though, we couldn’t love our 3 neighbours in the mews more. Genuinely wish we could move them all with us! I can’t speak on behalf of previous owners before the vendors we bought from, however the couple who sold to us were doing the same as us. They were from down south and moving closer to home to have her family near by to start a family of their own. I was pregnant and moving back up from a few years in London for same reasons. We’re moving so soon vs what we initially expected as two more babies wasn’t in our plan last year 😂 wouldn’t change it for the world obviously now x

Of course. However, prices in the South are generally more expensive.

Well it wasn't a great idea to buy this kind of house when TTC but I guess the quick sales during the boom years gave you confidence in selling quickly, at a good price. Sadly that's no longer the case.

I'm struggling to think of an area ,1 hour away where you couldn't get a 4 bed for 400K or less... Where are you looking to buy?

If it was a good price, it would have sold no matter what was wrong with it, or the listing. Over half a mill for a 2 and a bit bed in the North is mental. I know exactly what you're saying about lowering the price, but nobody cares how much you paid or spent on it and that is showing. Sorry to be negative, but house prices are coming down all over now and if you can't afford to take the hit on it, I'd advise staying put. It's a really lovely house

Honestly though, we couldn’t love our 3 neighbours in the mews more.

I understand you're probably telling the truth, but you only bought the house in 2021 so potential buyers are going to be suspicious of why you're moving.

They're going to wonder if the neighbours are noisy. They see an open garage and think is someone working on the cars all day?

The house states off road parking but it's down a tiny street and has no drive. They wonder are the neighbours twats with 6 cars and there could be problems parking.

Or is the reason for selling because there's another problem with the house? The photos potentially show mould.

I appreciate why you're moving. But moving closer to family and outgrowing the house are lies sellers often use to hide the genuine reasons for selling.

Stupid advice omg. That’s the entire character of the place 😩

The people we bought our home from did a bunch of bastardization moves like this pp has suggested. DO NOT PAINT OVER WOOD BEAMS.

Yes, it is "ancient" - it dates back to at least the 1850s. Although, in reality, it may well be much older.

"I have a 1980's house..."

Yes, there's no real difference between a house that was built in the early Victorian period (or even earlier) and a 1980s semi!

"The concrete frontage..."

I really don't have words.

It the price was fine it would not still be for sale.

Change agent. Or go to purple bricks to manage it yourself. You need a floor plan.
Also, beautiful house! It’s totally my style, stunning.

I know what you mean, and then it is so ridiculously expensive to undo all of these things.

Thank you. Helpful to know we need to make it clearer how private our mews is. It’s so private to put it into context, I often tandem breastfeed my twins in our front room with the blinds open! That’s how confident I am from 3 years here no one is walking by aside from maybe our neighbours occasionally walking down the mews (not near the house) but who I know wouldn’t be looking in regardless.

I agree with this- Estate agents tend to use wide angle lenses that distort anyway ( trying to make rooms look larger than they are)
The rooms need to be much better lit.

The philistines who suggest painting the beams- absolutely not! People wanting a period house do not want to be removing paint.