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

So @Veebie86 after all the (mostly) good advice on the thread, do you have a plan of how to move forward and sell the house?

Absolutely true!
I’m not familiar with Northern house prices, but do remember middling house prices were harder to sell than first time buyer houses, or really expensive ones.

A Mews cottage ( this is two knocked together by the looks) in Notting Hill or Knightsbridge would be many millions.

Location is important
Are there good schools nearby?

Edit
Do not paint the beams!!!!!

Firstly congratulations. Price seems reasonable your not far from me tbh and similar prices for ours, my friend just sold his 2 up 2 down terrace for £350 in my area.
Area is good due to schools in the area which is a definite plus same for my twon just up the road. Enclosed secure garden is a plus

House is lovely but no floor plans need these asap. Set price don't have guide between £600 - £635. Decor is lovely and modern but I would go more to the £600 as possible epc putting people off.

We had a BTL in macc Grade 2 listed a few years ago and the EPC was the tenants biggest concern despite the fact we were replacing windows as quickly as we could and she knew what she was signing up to

It really depends on the area of the South and the area of the North so it’s not helpful to generalise based on half the country without knowing the area. There are plenty of places in the South where you can get a 3-bed for less and plenty where it would cost a lot more and the same applies to the North. Saying something costs a lot “for up North” makes no sense given the huge variation.

I honestly wasn’t expecting such a volume of response! So I’m very appreciative but definitely need to digest all the helpful comments, like you say there’s many; presentation front of house, clarity on privacy and parking etc.

We are having the orangery (or conservatory to not offend some 🫠) roof windows covered in 2 weeks. We were already ahead of that feedback some have given re the heat or cold in that room so are having a roof across its entirety to replace them. So may take it off the market whilst we get that done then speak to our old EA or potentially another people have mentioned on here in a few weeks to get it back on at a revised price. Again, that’s a very big price window people have suggested so need to have a proper evidence based convo with the EA to decide what’s right.

Needless to say it will include the floor plan again 😂 the irony is that was on the draft when the new EA sent it and was on the listing when they initially put it up and we checked it. So don’t know what’s happened there or when it got deleted. Funny how people jump to thinking there’s something to hide! I do get it but there really isn’t - it’s just an annoying admin error in this case.

We are having the orangery (or conservatory to not offend some 🫠) roof windows covered in 2 weeks. We were already ahead of that feedback some have given re the heat or cold in that room so are having a roof across its entirety to replace them.

I would not advise this if you are definitely selling the house. Replacing the roof windows will make the area so much darker and the house will seem a lot less attractive to viewers.

Regarding price, I think it helps to consider your pool of prospective buyers.

I think the price is 'correct' in a theoretical, comparable sense as it's a beautiful period property in a good area. There are 4 bed detached priced the same, but they're not as nice.

Unless someone really values the period features/detached - They could either get one of the above, and do it up, or get a semi for 3 beds, later upsizing to a larger detached. This is what most people IME do. A 3 bed detached is a bit of an awkward sell. Usually attractive to people who are 'one and done', downsizers or single people looking for a beautiful house space for hobbies and guests.

Obviously interest rate rises have hit everyone hard and a lot of downsizers are choosing to stay put because they can't get as much as they wanted for their house, and this is having a knock on impact.

Personally I think about 570 would be right, or a bit lower. That's a 5% price reduction.

I hope you prove me wrong though!

With respect OP this is a terrible idea. First it will make it a lot darker and secondly don’t spend money on what buyers may or may not like - you’ve no idea. Plenty of buyers will be perfectly happy with that extension as is - there’s quite a bit of roof there to protect from sun and light. If the buyer doesn’t like it they can change it.

Sounds like you’re potentially looking at a loss as it is - so minimise the loss. Don’t spend a penny more, get a good agent like Savills and accept a price reduction if that’s what it takes to sell.

Agreed. If anyone changes the extension they may extend it - so it would be a complete waste of money to do anything to it now,

We are having the orangery (or conservatory to not offend some 🫠) roof windows covered in 2 weeks. We were already ahead of that feedback some have given re the heat or cold in that room so are having a roof across its entirety to replace them.

I think that rather than doing this, I would have glass doors put in the aperture between orangery and dining room. Your orangery roof clearly meets building regs for insulation standards, but usually there are double glazed doors separating the house from a conservatory type structure in order to improve it. If you must do something, maybe that rather than altering the roof?

I don't think I would do anything to it at this stage, not work that costs a significant amount anyway.

Do appreciate the feedback but it backs onto our south facing garden so that whole open plan room is super bright from the kitchen windows and the French doors and windows surrounding the orangery regardless.

With it being south facing however we already in April get sun covering that room from 10-4 with 11-2ish being super warm even at 10 degrees outside last weekend. We don’t KNOW how quickly we can sell the property even at a reduced price given what we’ve seen happen to other houses nearby. What we do know is that’s our kids playroom and with 3 tiny people in there this summer, we have to make some immediate changes for our family whilst we still call this our home. No one’s bought it in nearly a year as is so I’m not concerned that’s a deciding factor. It will still be a very bright room (we’ve already trialled covering those windows to see what a difference it made on cloudy and bright days - it thankfully didn’t make much at all).

Have you considered heatproof blinds instead? I’ve lived in south facing houses all my life, I know how light and bright that much glass can be. But what you’re planning will be expensive.

Oh some of these responses. It’s not not selling due to window coverings etc,

the simple fact is you’ve had hardly any viewings, they aren’t even coming through the door and it’s been a year,

it’s the price. Everything sells for the right price.

Yes we got three quotes for blinds from Hillary’s, a specialist online and our local shop in cheadle hulme. They all said ours was quite a tricky job and we couldn’t cover the outer windows completely due to their shape so they’d look off. It was actually the local guy who said he hated not taking the job but he’s lovely (we’ve used them for other blinds before) and he advised it would be better to get it covered if heat was one of the main factors as he said blinds would only help that so much. I may have made it sound like a bigger job than it is as what we’re going for really isn’t costing too much more than the quotes we had for blinds.

@Veebie86 floor plan and room sizes - but it should also state all the plus points that I spotted when I went to look at the satellite view - tiny little side road which mitigates the lounge looking over the street, etc. Like a good CV, the details need to entice people in with all the plus points so maybe write them yourself (I wrote ours when we sold).

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

Definitely

I love the bungalow I bought, but missed out on an even better one for this very reason - parking was deeply awkward, though the vendors went on and on about how wonderful and considerate the neighbours were

Which is all very well, but neighbours also move ...

Floor plan is the new cancel the cheque 🤣 But also agree the old photos were so much better- amazing what a sunny day and having all the lights on does for the property.

Don’t agree that there is anything wrong with the decor btw - your indoor plants or lack of them outside wouldn’t put me off, nor would stained pavement or bath toys etc 🙄.

Would might put me off is weird pricing (I’d expect it to be on for £595,000), the likely head height issue in the master mezzanine (if the bed can’t fit in the lower area then you definitely need to set up the 2nd Bedroom as a pretend Master bedroom imo), the fact it’s not clear from the blurb that the wide pavement outside belongs to you? and is your private parking (many people like to have their car easy to check on from their windows).

Your estate agent is majorly letting you down - the fact that your garden is South facing would be a major selling point for some, yet it’s not mentioned. If your Mews is small and quiet ( not a thoroughfare) then that should also be mentioned at the start as it might alleviate many concerns about being right on the road. Yet they go on about well presented, modernised, feature fireplace - anyone can see all that from the photos 🤣

No, it won't. We have a south facing conservatory and recently replaced the roof with a lite tile roof. It still gets plenty almost too much of light. I'm now thinking about colourwashing the whole ceiling in a darker colour to manage the brightness. I don't want blinds and curtains as we have a fabulous view.

The third bedroom with the mezzanine is a very strange layout. Off putting.
The downstairs and garden are gorgeous.
The loo looks very close to the basin in the main bathroom.
You can get much better bedroom layouts and parking for that price. Apologies!

Another for floor plan- I'd need to know it wasn't all higgledy as it looks like it could be.

Price- I don't know the area but £600k is steep.

Opens on to pavement - no thanks!

I had a look at the previous listing and the floor plan is a fairly good layout- it definitely needs including. The orangery and hallway/study area particularly looked cluttered in the photos. The there was also a pile of books on the floor in one room.

The pale colour scheme is fine, but tends towards the minimalist and immaculate expectation. Some of the previous listed photos looked better, with two matching sofas in orangery and a very clear hall/study space. I realise this is difficult but you may need to do it up to sell a bit. The front could be painted freshly too?

What everyone else said - use a fresh agent, fresh pictures preferably with a WIDE ANGLE LENS, floor plan and video walk through / augmented reality. Specify actual price and at least £50,000 reduction from your lowest asking figure. This is how a new agent who is worth anything would process it and have a good chance of selling quickly. If that garage & car in the picture is not yours, then ensure it or the car is not in the picture. Best of luck, it is beautiful, but the marketing needs a major revamp.

I don't disagree, which is why I said 'generally'. You're being rather pedantic over a non issue. I'm sure most people are aware that house prices vary across the country.

The pictures and the floor plan and the decor and whatever else are not the issue. The issue is the price.