Please give your opinions on why we have not had any viewings on our flat? Listing included

The property is smaller than the OP's flat according to the given measurements. The living room kitchen area is a bit shorter but wider. Both bedrooms are smaller, one significantly so; both are narrower, one by as much as a foot but they've managed to make them look not so in the photographs. Both bathrooms are smaller as well.

This and the OP's thread remind me that it would be a good idea to check the estate agent's figures and do your own measuring, whether selling or buying. A room may be an irregular shape with a narrower part and the agent will quote the widest part of the room. The OP's floorplan doesn't suggest that and the OP's bedrooms on the given measurements are not narrow but the photographs and furniture arrangement do make them appear so.

When we were buying dh said that while he wanted a flat it mainly made sense in zone 1 or 2 (or in a zone 3 area like highgate) cos the house is over a million and ftb really can't afford that (nor can most Londoners). Plus no stamp duty ftb discount if above 500k. Our budget didn't stretch to highgate but we bought as close as possible to that.

But tbh the flats in Kensington have fallen far more than any other areas due to changes in taxes, non doms leaving, brexit etc etc. It's not the flats in the outer spiral of London and the Home Counties though they have stagnated. And the Kensington flats don't have cladding problems, they are very handsome mansion blocks and usually share of freehold and the service charge wouldn't be an issue for the people who are potential buyers.

And a new railway station opening in Beaulieu this year (the first in a generation in the region) with loads of parking, so commuting is is a doddle.

Plus flats with views across the lovely Victorian park on the market for less / same money, in a much nicer part of the city.

and that’s before you take into account the price / service charge.

I see what you mean about Beaulieu. There’s no comparison.

https://beaulieuestates.co.uk/property/28-choat-place-beaulieu-park-cm1-6hs/

Lots of people talking so knowledgeably about an area they know nothing about that the op has pounced on. And yet twice now the op has ignored my very specific, local knowledge of the flat market in Chelmsford. Go figure.

Those are clearly not the only two places available, it was simply pointing out that 'in chelmsford' you could get a 4 bed since people are acting like thats insane. There is several other properties all over the area including equivalant 2 beds for sale that do not have all the fees and have better future return.

OPs flat isn't £325k its £325k (so your monthly mortgage) plus £2.6k a year 'rent' (purely lost money). That is every year (which can also go up too) that you live there... on top of that it is rapidly devaluing as the demand in the 'flat' market falls as does London and the surrounding areas which have hit the ceiling and can only fall. Flats are constantly subject to changing laws that you cannot have any control over (look at things like the cladding issues since grenfell) and are likely to become near impossible to sell (well not without huge losses) in future.

You can of course feel free to buy OP flat despite the current market, I'm sure she will be delighted to offload it. You can contact the EA via the rightmove link to make your offer.

If you are commuting to London, 1.3 miles or 2 miles to the station isn't good. You would have to drive and pay for parking. What OP has to worry about is that it is possible to get a 325k to 350k 2 bed flat in places like pinner (zone 5 london, near good schools and leafy) and that is on the tube and commuting costs far lower.. but perhaps some people really want to live in Chelmsford though if it was about cost, you would find that a 325k flat vs a 400k flat is around £300 difference in terms of mortgage costs (4.37% rate) and while that isn't a small amount of money, the money you spend on rail fares and driving to station and petrol for a couple can easily be that plus the cost of time. So in a way OP's flat price should reflect that since such a flat is primarily for commuters.

I live in zone 3 and my 2 bed flat is still worth £400k. My dh actually cycles to work and it's 20 mins to Tottenham court road for me.

The first one isn’t close to the station, so not as good for commuters. The bedrooms are tiny and it isn’t clear whether the loft room is formally converted or not. The only bathroom is a shower room on the ground floor with what looks like a washing machine in it.

The second one needs a lot of work and doesn’t have parking.

It looks like both are in a slightly different area - I don’t know what that area is like, but may not be as nice if houses are that much cheaper?

If I was looking to buy in Chelmsford on that budget I’d actually prefer OP’s flat.

I'm not that poster and I'm aware southern prices are crazy compared to northern price but don't pretend that a 2 bed flat is all you can get for £325k. Many people who live there have said its overpriced. Past prices don't matter the market for flats in London and surrounding areas has completely bottomed out.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/160752275#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/154240133#/?channel=RES_BUY

You don't need a 4 bed detached to make the point that theres far better options out there that OP is competing with. You could even possibly get a 4 bed house in that prices and they aren't tiny, over looked, surrounded by depressing 'yard' and including extortionate ongoing fees. You would be MAD to buy a flat over a house in this market.

The main appeal of OPs place would be as I said earlier to students (according to google its 8 minute walk to ARU chelmsford uni) but (and I only know the northern market so might be different) where I live students tend to rent not buy.

I think the price for starters!! Way overpriced for what it is. Plus the balcony, although very lovely and very spacious, isn't very private.
Having said this, there is somebody somewhere who would find this to be their dream home!! They just haven't found you yet!
Good luck x x

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156279446#/?channel=RESBUY

I mean this is a suburb of Manchester and it's also 325k and it's smaller than my flat..so my london premium was 60k which I appreciate is a lot of money but it is the capital... plus for this chelmsford flat you can actually commute to London which is important for a lot of people.

I am in London and 325k would be an absolute bargain for a 2 bed flat. I tell people my 2 bed flat cost me 400k and most londoners can barely believe it, they say it's really cheap.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85969146#/?channel=RES_BUY

4 bed detached house in my area would be 1.6 million. Stamp duty alone of 100k could probably buy a flat or small house up north but there are presumably people who buy them..

Please show us the 4 bed detached in Chelmsford selling for £325k…

That price is ridiculous, it's a 2 bed flat not a 4 bed detached house 😂

To be brutally honest, it would look just as awful without any cars parked there.
It’s a bleak, ugly space.

Flats are struggling to sell at the moment. My cousin is looking at buy in similar area and refused to look at flats ..he rather have a small terrace house with own front door. It's the service charge. I don't think there's anything wrong with your flat. It's just the same as the others and no view. What do flats sell for in that housing estate

Google maps show its clearly used as a car park and has been at least since 2020. If its not meant to be a car park/road then why does it have markings and bollard where it does?

Useage is what it factually is, if its not 'meant' to have cars on then this has never been enforced and it is being used as a car park and has been in ongoing use making it a carpark.

Would you buy a house if the neighbors all parked on and blocking your drive and had for years and had no intent of stopping. You could say 'legally they aren't suppose to' but enforcing it is a long hard civil issue. This isn't even one neighbor dispute etc... its basically a whole public car park.

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.7378777,0.4699157,3a,75y,111.43h,83.77t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sevSY7VVL0Q0F_aFkoSWnqw!2e0!5s20201101T000000!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D6.228182933160369%26panoid%3DevSY7VVL0Q0F_aFkoSWnqw%26yaw%3D111.42621852260545!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDUyOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

I don't know anything about the area so can't comment on price/location etc, but as a photographer - the photos are crap! Get some decent ones done and it'll go a long way.

Personally I hate beds in front of windows so I'd be looking at moving some things around - although I'm not sure if it's possible to lay it out differently. Also the outside space that the balcony overlooks seems very sterile, but I'm not sure what you can really do about that. A lot more trees / planters / flowers around the place would soften it up.

Otherwise it seems nicely decorated and well looked after.

Narrow bedrooms with beds under the windows.
Bathroom with no window.
Outlook onto other flats.
No decent size dining area.

It is ALWAYS the price. Even the ugliest shithole will sell...at the right price.

The flat is in Chelmsford (county town/city of Essex), not London.

What do you mean by factor fees? If that's service charge then that's the £2,300+ annual figure that people have been discussing on here.

Well, our bathrooms are also totally interior, so that wouldn't put me off. There can't be windows everywhere.
For me, it's the price, the view and the yearly service charge. I would feel very cramped in it.

We viewed a flat here about 10 years ago! I think it’s a lovely flat! It’s so appealing for the right person but that person might not come around easily. I wouldn’t say it’s particularly family friendly. I would worry about the noise from the gym and potentially having some students in the block. It’s close to the uni if I remember. Would say it really suits a city slick, or a younger professional couple. With the cost of the flat (I don’t think crazy out) you’re just waiting for the right person to come along. As an idea you could always move the sofa by the balcony window so you can see more of the balcony.

You will get a 1 bed flat where i live in London zone 3 for 325k. I had a budget of £325k at first when I was buying in 2019 and everyone was saying to buy a house in the home counties.. all the estate agents laughed at me cos my budget was so small and I couldn't really get a house anywhere near the station in the towns I was looking at anyway.. plus commuting would have been £400 each. The houses are now more expensive so I can see why some people may not be able to buy a house in those towns with that budget esp if proximity to station is priority and perhaps they don't want to live in London.

So we upped our budget and bought a 2 bed flat in London zone 3 for 400k where the freehold is owned by residents. Service charge a bit less than 2k but dh can cycle to work for free and we don't have a car. So overall it's cheaper because we used the money saved on commuting to overpay the mortgage and now have nearly 40% equity.

The pictures are very dark, and it looks more like a shared working office space than a home.

the details of the lease aren’t immediately visible which makes it seem like there might be a catch.

the service charge and ground rent is huge, and the flat is very expensive.