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 👍

The North Sea does not usually flood land in that location.

On street view you can see a row of houses far older than the OP's -one of which shows a SOLD sign.

If your point was valid, why would almost all the homes on the estate be sold?

Two very simple points OP

1 Reduce the price to less than you paid

2 Be realistic- 4 weeks! It's nothing. If this was 4 months you'd have a reason to be concerned.

Ask the agent to add something to the listing that points this out. Something like 'Due to extenuating personal circumstances, this wonderful family home is returning to market...'

Best to face these things head on and to make sure agents (if they are handling viewings) mention that you have been very happy there and are really sad to leave but that you must due to having to relocate for an elderly parent.

The house looks perfect for a dog-owner, with the beach so close, and the price is hardly outrageous. If there are other houses up for cheaper locally, check why (bigger? More bedrooms? Off road parking etc) and highlight this.

It's only been a few weeks. Give it a bit more time.

Good luck, OP. I hope you get a buyer and find something perfect for you and Mum.

The floor plan is possibly for the house on the other end of the row, so the EA needs to change it. Most other issues have already been covered here. But for me, as a buyer, the position would be the problem. Having someone else's garage right next to me would be off putting. Obviously, nothing that can be done about that though.
In agreement with previous posters and I suspect you'll need to lower the price considerably. Sorry.
I hope all goes well in regard to getting your mum settled again.

What is the broadband like, I see that it is 150Mb and recommended is 3, 5g home broadband. It looks like there is no FTTP and no Virgin Media

I LOVE all the big city and southern type people saying 'what a bargain' and 'Id bite your hand off'... it's in HARTLEPOOL.

Location really matters.

Its of the roughest places in the UK to live. It ranks in the top 10 most dangerous UK areas to live and it most commonly committed crimes are 'violent assaults'. Its the only place I have ever left due to fear of my life after being attacked (3 different times).

Its overpriced not under priced, feel free to buy it just because its cheaper than £500k where you live but I imagine you'll be horribly shell shocked by the culture change.

I live in another north eastern town now, one that is overall better than Hartlepool (far less crime, virtually no abandoned/burned out buildings, less drug use) and average house prices according to 'Mouseprice' here are only £65k. OP is asking over twice that (and more than what she bought for only a few months ago) for a smaller house in a rougher town.

The Gov flood risk checker flags this property as ‘High’ risk of flooding which is the highest risk available; did you check this before buying? Do you have insurance to counter the risk or something ?

I am amazed developments like this get signed off in high flood risk areas - I’m not sure how many would be ok buying somewhere like this.

I haven’t RTFT, but you can’t usually mortgage a house that hasn’t been owned by the previous vendors for less than 6 months - so it’s possible your house is currently unmortgageable and so I wouldn’t have looked at for that reason.

Maybe add into the narrative that you are moving for unforeseen family reasons to help head off that there may be an issue with the property or neighbours.

To confirm, it's very low flood risk because of the protection from the high dunes that surround the development.
There's around 300+ houses in total and about 6 left to sell, mainly large detached ones.

Fibrenest is supplied to all the houses for broadband.

The floorplan is the correct one

an end-of-terrace is not the same as a semi.

I mean, it kind of is, in all but name.

To me the photos look odd. Either photos hope or AI elements,.
Op, does your house look like this in real life?

These viewers didn’t even come back for a second viewing op. They were disinterested so when I’ve been asked a similar question and know the property isn’t for me… I just fudge any old answer

I feel the opposite. I’d be scared of flooding.
My first question would be ….is there a good enough sea wall right along that coast to hold back high storm tides?
My second question would be ….is there enough storage?
I think it’s a nice house for a first time buyer but it looks a little characterless.

The house was built December 2024 and I'm selling to move into a detached house,

did you have any issues with your neighbours? Otherwise I’m baffled by the relevance of this detail?

Please note I am in Canada, so have a different viewpoint. IMHO the house is tiny, about 525 square feet. There is little storage, and bedroom 3 is tiny, at 50 square feet. Is that even a "legal" size for a bedroom?

How long ago did you drop by £5k? And any viewings or enquiries since the drop? That will tell you whether or not the drop was sufficient to engage interest

The floor plan is incorrect - your stairs are on the RHS of your lounge - whereas the floor plan on RM show them on to be on the LHS. They are better to be on the adjoining wall to the neighbours (as you have for sound proofing).

I think the house is really nice. Bedrooms look a bit on the small side on the plan so make sure it's obvious where there is wardrobe space. Agree that some kerb appeal would be good. It is a bit over tidy at the front and looks a bit uninviting. Maybe a few pot plants would look lovely.

For a private home, I don't believe there is a minimum bedroom size.

If it was rented out, then minimum sizes do exit:

• Single Adult: 6.51 square meters.
• Two Adults: 10.22 square meters.
• Child Under 10: 4.64 square meters.
• Rooms smaller than 4.64 square meters cannot be used for sleeping, and landlords must notify the local authority of any rooms below this size.

Bedroom 3 is only 4.5m2, therefore if rented, it couldn't be a bedroom, even for a child!

as per pp you need to update the listing to refer to change in family circumstances and brief the agent on your mothers dementia : people really will be worried about why you’re moving. We prevaricated on making on offer on our last house as the owners had two dc the same age as ours and we were suspicious about schools etc

also again per pp; the photos are not good at all. Laundry in the washing machine, belongings all over the table, ironing board just propped up. There’s overly sterile and then there’s tidy - aim for tidy, also when you have viewings.

and it’s not a 3 bed sadly : 2 plus study

@JDM625 Thanks for the info... incidentally, my calculation for square footage is wrong, the house is about 800 square feet. <blush> I need more coffee (it's first thing in the morning here)

I ended up disagreeing with a valuation that an agent suggested and actually went lower. It eventually sold.

There's a grand old tradition of tiny third bedrooms in the UK. Once they were called boxrooms, now they tend to be used as offices, dressing rooms or nurseries, but no one would be surprised by a small third bedroom in a home like this.