Feedback for London flat

It's in a gorgeous area - a friend used to live on that street. I was very envious. As PP have said - the service charge is low. My DS pays much more service in an ex-council block in a much less central area.

But the decor is very dated - the dark carpet is oppressive. It needs to feel light and fresh. Can she afford to spend a bit on pulling up the carpet and getting the floorboards sanded and waxed; maybe paint those black doors a neutral ivory or sage or white. The whole place will look so much brighter and ready to move into.

And Foxtons notoriously overprice. She might have to drop it to £750k to get interest.

Where does she keep her clothes?

It must be so pokey given it's parading as a 2 bedroom flat within 48
sqm.

It is overpriced, the location is what will sell this place but not for 800k and I imagine the 89 year lease will pose a problem to serious buyers..

Your friend needs to strip it of all the clutter and make the place as neutral as possible which would open up the space a little. As it stands it isn't appealing at all.

I know it’s convent garden but £800k for a front door that opens straight into your living room and a bathroom in the kitchen 😂😂 oh and you’re unlikely to get a mortgage on it given the length of the lease. It’s very dated and quite drab.

layout is off putting and it needs a big decluttering

I think it’s a shame that the disproportionately large bathroom has taken such a giant chunk out of the kitchen, which is teeny as a result. Fabulous area to live in though!

What is appealing is the area, if you like that sort of thing, that is the main selling point, you are supposed to overlook the fact that you can hear your guest taking a leak while you eat your breakfast, in the days of super cheap mortgage debt people would stretch themselves for a good postcode or "trendy" area in London and other "trendy" cities, but now that mortgage debt seems to be going back to more normal pricing levels buying a student crash pad for 800k isn"t on many people"s radar.

if shes willing to.

1. Move the bathroom and make it off Bedrrom 2- curring bedroom 2 in half This will make bedroom 2 more of an office or single room. I would rahter a nicely portioned 1 bed than a rubbish layout 2 bed.
2. Create a lovely kitchen where the barthroom is and have a dining space
3. Get rid of the dark carpets
4. Nice light coloured L shape sofa in living room

Tiny rooms, bathroom off the kitchen (not a big kitchen either) and very central. Not everyone wants to live right in the heart of central London, in the middle of the congestion zone, surrounded by tourists 24/7, no parking, bars/restaurants/shops open until early hours, it might be great for a hotel location or a crash pad for someone working close by but as a home it really wouldn't appeal to me - and I say that as a life long Londoner.

Either-

Take the bathroom out of the kitchen, which is completely unacceptable to many, and put it into the left side bedroom, making the kitchen into a proper space with room to eat, and accept its a 1 bed flat, redecorate and recarpet in neutral colours, get rid of clutter.

Or

Drop price by at least 100k.

The lease length is the main issue here, she needs to extend it as i dont think the buyer could for 2 years (?)

I love it and the location is amazing. If I was single I would love to retire somewhere like this, at the centre of everything and with space for visitors. Serious buyers can see beyond decor etc, so I probably wouldn't worry about any of that. I live in fairly central London (not that central though) and the layout is not that unusual, and service charge looks very reasonable to me.

The thing that would stop me is the potential cost of the lease extension, and that lease needs extending ASAP. At the very least the cost of that needs to be established, and taken off the asking price.

There’s a floor plan on the link.

I know it’s central London but 800k for that tiny flat is absurd

If it is high up and double glazed you won"t hear anything?

Of course it is, London is awash with these sort of sky-boxes at super daft prices that no one wants to buy anymore, the only good thing here is that the owner bought in the 90"s so can afford to do a really big price cut to get rid if they actually need/want to sell.

I just had a look at flats for sale in Covent Garden around that price point. Wow, there are a lot, and mostly beautifully done up. I think a drop to £700k might start getting some viewings in, but even then it would be a push, because of the lease.

Her furniture is awful and her carpets absolutely dire. The kitchen and bathroom also look pretty ropey. I know it’s an expensive area but she needs to make more effort if she’s going to convince someone to spend £800k on a tiny flat.

FFS. I'm now getting bombarded with Foxtons ads on my FB feed.

Well we did when living nearby hence I mentioned it! We only used the car to travel to family/friends outside of London. 3 flats of the 6 in our block owned a car for similar reasons.

The state of the flat is irrelevant as it will get fully renovated. She just needs to make the price make sense for the work required + lease extension.

Location is amazing, but a lot of people are struggling to sell flats in London right now, so shes not alone there. I'd say it has a bit of a boho/studenty vibe, which is fine, but possibly not for an £800k price tag? Any chance she could change the carpets to something lighter and more neutral? Will make the rooms look so much larger and airier. Maybe put some of the signs and pictures into storage for now, to also help it look lighter?

It’s not irrelevant at all. It’s a buyer’s market and you have to market your property to sell

I also think it’s off putting to have your bathroom directly off the kitchen but not a lot she can do about that!

It’s very run down - the ceiling in the second photo looks as though it needs urgent attention - and the students furnishings aren’t doing it any favours. It really needs gutting and the layout working on to get rid of the bizarre kitchen/bathroom mash-up, I’d say it’d need at least £70k spending on it to make it liveable. Nice location though….!