Help! House on market, little progress, feedback needed!

[IcyCoralMaker]

So, my house by the sea has been on market for 4 weeks, had 3 viewings, no offers.
The house was built December 2024 and I'm selling to move into a detached house, closer to my family.
House has been reduced by £5k to bring it down to the search point on Rightmove and to attract first time buyers.
I think the photos are good and agent says they'll continue to push it but when asked how they were doing that, they didn't answer my question.
Any suggestions on what I can do to attract more views?
Thanks 👍

I'm certainly not surprised by the third bedroom, our 3 bed detached 1930s house has a bedroom about the size of OP's house. I use it for storage and the boiler is in there so we call it the boiler room, I also wfh in there in Covid.

Could it be the risk of flooding stats? Medium and high is ....not great.

What a terribly unhelpful comment @housethatbuiltme

People do live in Hartlepool in spite of the opinions of others like you.

Is it beyond your imagination that there may be young couples in Hartlepool, living with their parents, or renting, who would simply love to buy a 3 bed home for £150K?

Unless you erase Hartlepool from the map, people will live there and move within the town.

The average price is meaningless. An average takes into account higher prices too. If all these 300 homes were over priced why would they be sold?

The first thing I would do is remove the cat scratcher from the photos. If people are buying a five month old house they’re going to want the brand new carpets, not ones that already smell of cats.

I have to say, as someone from the south of England, that's a fab house in a fab position for an amazing price. Good luck.

Is it leasehold or freehold?

Listing says freehold.

The average size house in the UK is about 900 square feet so this house isn’t particularly small for the UK.

For a 3 bed… tiny

I LITERALLY was one of them... so no its not beyond 'imagination' of the reality of what its like to live there.

My real life experience is not changed by you being 'offended' (ridiculously so) by the truth.

My friends (many still living there) are pushing 40 now and still cannot afford a first starter home at the much lower prices ranges, this is factually pretty unachievable price to most hartlepool natives that still live there. Once again just a realistic and truthful fact from someone with personal experience of it.

If the house is over priced why is it being sold? its not selling hense the OP posting here, and she is looking to move after less than 6 months.

It really isn’t. I live in a 2700 square foot house but I’m very familiar with three bed houses and this isn’t out of the ordinary. And I’m not just talking about recent new builds. I grew up in an early 70’s house and there were loads of this size on our estate - and the same houses were built by Wimpy all over the country. My friends three bed Victorian terrace is even smaller.

What does the square footage of your oka e have to do with anything?

it is below average.., indeed as you point out.

It is a very small 3 bed property.

According to gov data (I’ll link) the average house uk size is 1100 sq ft
so this is way below that

I’m showing that I am not so up my own arse to know that this is a very average sized house…unlike some people. In fact, some reports state that the average sized house in the UK is 818 square feet.

I would suspect issues moving In the time frame you have bought it. Especially being a new build. That would be a red flag for me.

Look, there are places in the UK that are not all classed as desirable.
But people live there! The fact you did is not relevant.
There are 92K people who live in Hartlepool.

I'm not remotely offended. I too know Hartlepool.
I just think your reasons for the no-sale are wrong.

Because one of the 92K people in Hartlepool may want to move out of shit hole (which is really how you feel about it) into something less of a shit hole.

300 people in Hartlepool have paid for one of those houses.
Maybe not your friends, but there are people for whom £150K is quite posisble.

The house has been for sale for 4 WEEKS.

Op is unrealistic.

www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2023/05/size-matters-uk-homes-amongst-worlds-smallest-but-most-expensive/

It's a cute house.

Get rid of the cat stuff, that would put a lot of people right off.

Move the piles of clothing and the ironing board. Put cookbooks in the open cupboard in kitchen.

That's it really. It's a new build, they are quite stark until someone puts their mark on it.

OP have you committed to the new detached house you mentioned? Honestly if you are ok with this house, I'd stay for a while longer and re assess in Spring next year maybe? A lot can change. But if you just don't like it then go.

If you are moving to be nearer family, there is no guarantee that they will be helping at all hours either. Can I ask what prompted you to move here in the first place, and not a house nearer family at the start? Look, I know it looks like I'm prying, but sometimes going over the reasons for this and that can give a new perspective on things.

Hope it works out, whatever you decide.

And so close to the beach!

97 sq metre average size
1044 sq foot

so a 800 3 bed….. that is small

I agree. It’s not about how ‘cheap’ the house appears to Southerners. It’s how much it costs compared to other properties in the area. I live in Wales and there’s plenty of parts of Wales where you can buy 3 bed houses for the price OP is asking, or less. We paid 275k a few years ago for a 3 bed where all bedrooms are a good size, good size mature south facing rear garden, front garden and own drive, garage, two reception rooms and very comfortably in catchment of excellently performing primaries ( 2 to choose from) and excellent performing secondary. And it’s in a quiet affluent ( for Wales!) area.

It’s only been 4 weeks but if the house doesn’t sell it’s just overpriced. As pp said, the estate has probably already sold to most of those wanting a new build in that area.

Not for a terraced house. The average size of a semi is 1033 square feet. This isn’t a semi, it’s a terrace.

Dwelling size
In 2022, the average (mean) usable floor space of all dwellings was 97m2. Social rented homes tended to be smaller (67m2) than private rented homes (76m2). Owner occupied homes were larger (111m2) than all private and social rented homes, Figure 1.10, Annex Table 1.6.**

Government data

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/chapters-for-english-housing-survey-2022-to-2023-headline-report/chapter-1-profile-of-households-and-dwellings#household-type-and-size

It is at the end of a terrace

I regard a terrace as have attached neighbours on both sides

how does the OP’s differ from a semi detached?

My parents moved from a “modern” three bed semi to a “modern” three bed end of terrace. The end of terrace was significantly smaller than the semi and exactly the same size as the mid terraces in the same row. In a row of terraces, it’s rare for those on the end to be bigger than the ones in the middle, although you sometimes get a bigger garden. Builders build smaller terraces than semis as they market them as starter homes and charge a bit less for them.