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 noticed you had it previously listed for 635. and you are still looking for that.

If you need to sell and move then price it too move. Advertise it at 525k, and get a couple of competing bidders to discover the price in 2024 x

I agree with much that is said here @Veebie86 including that you live in a lovely home. I would also say a floor plan is needed and clarity on parking.

Unfortunately there is no guarantee that a house will go up in sale price - especially not if it was only bought a couple of years ago and at the top of the market.

The first home I bought cost £xx, and I lived i it for about five years. In that time there was a massive boom and houses in my street were selling for 40% more than I paid. I installed central heating and a fitted kitchen. But this was bc I wanted to have a nicer home, not to make money. In the end, when I sold, prices had dropped again and I sold for about what I had paid.

If you really want to move, I suspect you are going to have to bite a similar bullet - floorplans and better pictures are all very well, but if such a lovely house hasn't sold in a year, it must be the price. You bought at the top of the market so it is worth less now, not more, sadly.

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.

This ^

The archived listing is here:
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/property-history/3-higham-street/cheadle-hulme/cheadle/sk8-6le/57463629/

It seems to me on quick glance with the exception of the downstairs toilet the changes are mainly cosmetic.

Ask yourself though, how much would it cost someone in mortgage costs with, say, a 20% deposit in 2020 (when the mortgage offer would likely to have been made) compared to today?

Even though wages have increased even at the same price someone has to pay the best part of £1k more, so it's no surprise interest and the potential pool of buyers has shrunk.

If you want to move soon reducing price is the best lever to pull rather than spending more money.

I think it'd be a mistake to spend more money doing it up - it's nice enough, because if you're price sensitive to the money paid then you'll just be increasing the price again to add on those renovation costs which compounds the error.

this re neighbours. having "been there" I would not rely on having lovely neighbours to solve issues like parking.

@usertaken

It’s perfectly reasonable to relist 3 years later + 25k. Purely on property price inflation in that time 600k is about right, regardless of work done.

But that is a different matter to the current market stagnation, impact of CoL crisis and borrowing rates etc.

Beautiful house.

My advice would be to switch agents (I'm sure this has already been said). You need it to be showing at the top of the listings and a new agent might bring a bit of fresh blood to it.

I know how you feel though we are in a similar position although we've had three offers fall through in a year. Desperate to move but feels impossible.

The house was bought in 2021 when mortgage interest rates were about 3 percentage points lower than they are today.

To be able to afford the same price today, the prospective buyers need either 5 figures per year more net income than the current owners, or a deposit that's six figures higher than the current equity in the house.

That narrows the pool of buyers.

I would just go back to the previous agent. It’s clear it wasn’t not selling due to them. They already have the better photos ready!

Kind of depends whether they overpaid in the first place - who knows? It's possible due to the time of purchase. The stamp duty holiday boosted prices and transactions and that would have been a rising tide for everything.

Or that house price inflation affects all areas and property types uniformly? I don't think it does. The property is quite niche with a low EPC and heating costs have also gone much higher since 2021 and the properties most effected are inefficient and big properties.

Really they can list it at what they want, but the only barometer of what is reasonable or not is the market.

It's been on for 9-10 months now and as the OP says a handful of viewings and no offers. It's not as if this is a new listing that has just come on.

In very simple terms any EA should confirm after 2 weeks of marketing if you don’t have any offers then the price is wrong. What you need the price to be is unfortunately irrelevant.
A house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. I’m sorry but that’s the truth

I can see a floor plan!

Photo of the front looks green and drab - need a sunny photo.
Mezzanine ceiling looks damp? Left hand side of the pic.

Otherwise looks nice.

I have worked as a " Property Presenter" and I can tell you, you're doing everything right as to how your house is presented. I would possibly add pots/ flowers at the front to add to the cottage feel for immediate curb-appeal, but that's it. Do you keep it this tidy for viewings? I would ask the estate agents for feedback and possibly try another Agency.

Am I the only one that sees the floor plan??!!

@Judecb it's been added to the listing since the OP originally posted.

My property has been on 7 months. Viewers come in dribs and drabs, 1 offer, 4 weeks into process, they lost their buyer so we lost them. We have a drive, 80% of houses in the area don't have a drive, largish mature garden at the front, courtyard at the back. Feedback, lack of garden at the back, well why view then, it says courtyard on description and the estate agent also tells them...

I don't love too far away (hazel grove) and think £600k is a lot even for SK8.

It's beautiful but I'd say £100k too much.

Good luck with the sale x

i can see the floor plan so unsure if you’ve added it. I think it’s a gorgeous house but you need honest feedback from the agents ( it’s their job not to sugar the pill). There are tiny things that would put me off that are v easy to rectify - outside looks dull and boring which would improve 10x for a few pot plants/ hanging baskets/ two bay trees at the door etc. . In one of the rooms there seems to be a strange tall wood effect (?) radiator which is very incongruous and would make me think it was cold and you had to shove an extra radiator in as an afterthought. There’s a LOT of white , and I disagree with those saying you need to make the house brighter - with makeover shows etc people are wise to these things and - if they are considering buying a cottage- probably want a cosy cottage not a place that has been painted to try and make it look big. I’d definitely try and put a few homely/ cosy contrast colours around. Whilst it’s a lovely property and would make a lovely home at the moment it currently looks a little bland and characterless to me.

First of all, your home is beautiful. Some of the comments are astonishing, seems there is more than a bit of the old green eyed monster on display here.

It's overpriced. Knock £100k off it and you will get some interest and offers. Or leave it priced as it is and continue to sit there unsold.
I'm assuming as you bought in 2021 that you overpaid due to the covid stamp duty cut hype? And whatever you have put into renovating the property is not automatically added to the value unfortunately.
My advice would be to cut the price. Cut your losses. And move on.

Do you have decent storage for xmas decs etc? It looks like you have no attic which would stop me viewing, esp if no garage

1 - there is a floor plan
2 - this property was only added on 21st March - so only been o market for 5-6 weeks'

It's the price. Whilst you don't want to make a loss, the market has dipped and if you sell now, you need to be prepared to accept a lower price. It is irrelevant what you paid. Your house is only worth what people are willing to pay at that given time.

I know this because it's the same in our area. Last year we would have marketed our house for £25k more than we recently did. We had an asking price offer within a week of coming to the market. But we also offered £25k less on the house we love and that was accepted. It's a buyers market.

If your house is on the main road, that will instantly limit people interested. If you want to sell fast, you're going to need to drop your price.

If I were you, and you're not in a rush, I'd wait for another year. Take it off the market and put it back up later when houses are moving. I have three young kids and your house is plenty big enough for now!

It's beautiful by the way, which is why I think the problem is the price (and location), not the house.

The floor plan has been recently added to the listing. It was not there originally. I know, because I viewed it a short while after the OP.

The OP has recently changed estate agents. It's been on the market for longer than it appears via Rightmove, which shows when the current agent started marketing it.