Flat not selling-any London EAs out there?

[Stickaforkinimdone]

Flat has been on the market for almost 7 weeks, it is in a very popular area of North London where prices have risen steeply over the last few years, seem to be settling down now though
When the agent first came round we were assured it would sell in no time at all-it's in imaculate condition and is in a really prime location.......
Roll on best part of 2 months and not even a sniff of an offer, had approx 10 viewings which I feel is quite low, no second viewings and not even a low offer. The feedback is that people liked the flat but were either still 'thinking about it' or found somewhere else they liked. It's on all the right websites etc, and I don't think it's particularly overpriced for the area-even if it was surely we'd have got a few low offers?

Not sure where to take it from here other than to just lower the price, is the London market starting to weaken does anyone know?

TIA!

[cruusshed]

Is it possible that the EU ref has put a hold on the market? If the doomsters are to be believed if we vote out the pound will crash and economy will stall - maybe people are waiting for a crash or plateau....what is your EA saying?

[Artandco]

Too expensive.

[Stickaforkinimdone]

EA is saying the other flats are slow to sell too, and that across the board offers are down

Artandco if it was too expensive do you not think some buyers would have chanced it with really low offers?

[Artandco]

I don't know. Maybe it's just smaller/ near a road/ something people didn't see from pictures

[Artandco]

I think also estate agents put people off offering low. So a property on at £500k, someone might ask agent if an offer would be accepted and most say ' oh I think they are looking for £500k minimum really'. So nobody bothers offering lower

[lalalonglegs]

I think the market in London has plateaued (and possibly dipped a bit) since (a) the BTL surcharge stamp duty has come in (b) the market in the Far East has receded and (c) no one wants to commit before the EU referendum. I tried to sell a flat before the general election last year and it was murder - sat there for several months: three days after the election result (no mansion tax, business as usual etc), I got three asking price offers. I sold another flat in autumn and it was similar to yours - vague feedback, nothing I could really do - then George Osborne announced the extra stamp duty and it went to sealed bids a week later.

If we remain in the EU, the market may start moving again but I do think it has softened for the time being as there is less BTL investment, fewer foreign buyers and there is likely to be another election if Cameron stands down in the autumn once the referendum is out of the way.

I don't know what price bracket your flat is in but I was speaking to a property journalist last week who told me the market for London flats was sluggish and that properties between £800k and £2million were completely stagnant. There have also been reports that prime central London is, if not tanking, definitely sliding.

So, in short, unless your flat is exceptional (and I'm sure it's very nice), don't hold your breath that anything much will happen before 23rd June.

[sleepwhenidie]

I think the timing is probably bad, as far as I understand it, there was a rush of buy to let investors in the last few months, looking to complete before stamp duty changes came in at end of March, so it would make sense that a lull/drop off in interest from BTL would follow. Also I agree EA has probably overpriced (because they almost always do ) and there may be an element of them discouraging low offers.

[namechangedtoday15]

I agree that if people wanted it, they'd have made an offer at what they thought was a reasonable level. The fact that no one has offered would suggest there's something that is putting off buyers - parking / neighbours / proximity to road ??? Something that isn't evident from the photos?

[Sparklycat]

The only true reason properties don't sell is because of the price.

[lalalonglegs]

I disagree that if viewers wanted it, they would have made an offer - you'd have to be nuts to offer at the moment when there is a fair to middling chance the UK could leave the EU in a couple of months' time and that will have massive economic repercussions, not least in London where the market is built on confidence in the future.

[Stickaforkinimdone]

Thanks all
I had wondered about the EU issue but had hoped it wouldn't impact too heavily, alas I fear you may be right

We've found somewhere we like so I'm now thinking whether to just cut our losses and reduce the price to see if we can move ahead

[DustOffYourHighestHopes]

Definitely price. The number of viewings sound about right. Did you instruct your EA to say you would consider lower offers, or did you say that was the absolute minimum?

Also, make sure you check online to make sure the photos are good, the property details accurate etc.

[mrsmeerkat]

Do you want to link it op and see can we help ?

[Stickaforkinimdone]

I would prefer not to link it-lots of people I know are on MN! I'm happy with the photos though-they look great and it's over 500sqft which for a 1 bed is fine, the bathroom and kitchen are also up to date so other than painting to match individual tastes it's not like anything needs doing to it

The price was original a range which I wasn't really keen on as I felt it was off putting, after 2 weeks I asked the agent to change it to a single guide price but they know we can accept approx £20k below and still be able to manage the house we've found, equally they know we want to get going
There's a viewing booked in for this afternoon so I'll see what happens after that then perhaps reduce the price on Monday

[helloitsme2016]

You're not alone. I had the same problem when I was selling. In the end I reduced by £25k from my first asking price and then accepted £13k less than that. The issue is that the London property market in my experience is NOT what the media and everyone portrays it to be. Yes, in East London/South East London where the properties are still under £300k, flats are selling like hot cakes as that is what most professional couples can afford so there's a large number of buyers but a small (and getting smaller) number of flats at that price. But I don't think it's the case elsewhere and for higher priced flats. My asking price was £525k originally which was right for the area - it was very comparable to everything else on the market. But people weren't looking. We reduced it to £500k and people still weren't looking. Luckily you only need one though, and my one came along and we completed at the end of March (went on sale 2nd week in January but did offer to completion in just 28 days as my buyer wanted to complete before 31st March).

If you've found somewhere, I'd definitely consider reducing and if possible, getting another agent as well when you can. No one was coming from RightMove - 90% of my viewings were people that were already on my estate agent's books so if you get another agency, they can contact their database as well. (might be some of the same people but might not be).

Also, download Property Bee and you can look at how asking prices are changing in your area. I found this really useful as it wasn't just me that was reducing my price. Stuff is selling but slower and not the way the media portrays.

Hope the viewing goes well today and you get to move soon!

[Artandco]

What the price for the property and rough location?

[JillyTheDependableBoot]

Yes, I think the issue is that the people who want 1-bed flats can't afford £500k+ and the people who can afford 500k+ are able to buy 2-bed houses a bit further out for the same money.

[Artandco]

Oh and we live in a one bed, zone 1. It's much bigger than 500sqft. So for me that would have to be a decent price for that location

[helloitsme2016]

Exactly Jilly! It used to be location location location when an extra £10k could get you a better location. Now that difference in London will be £100k or more so price is far more important!

[GinIsIn]

We are having exactly the same situation with our N London property - 8 viewings the first weekend then not a single one for weeks now!

[JillyTheDependableBoot]

I think the other thing is that people are buying their first homes when they're so much older. So the market for one-bed flats just isn't there - first-time buyers in their 30s are going to be thinking about starting families (or already have families), whereas when you could afford to buy as a single 20-something person, a 1-bed flat was perfect.

[kirinm]

As a FTB I've started looking at one beds as two beds are getting out of our budget and I keep saying that prices are so ridiculous, they have to stop somewhere. A one bed is really only any good for pre-children couples so there is presumably a limited number of prospective buyers.

For what it's worth, it's not slowing down in my part of London but you can just about get a 2 bed for £500k.

[FrikkaDilla]

I'm in Richmond and was out looking with my daughter today. Her budget is 300k and the EA that showed us the flat said that the flat had already been reduced and the owner was motivated to sell so would accept offers.

He then said that the market was a buyers market at the moment! His words. He said the market was saturated.

My daughter has decided to wait (she hopes for a crash)