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Original poster

Any left-field ideas for selling a flat that nobody wants to buy?

34 replies

AveAtqueVale · 14/05/2019 12:38

Flat has been on the market since December. Now on with a second agent. In that time we've had six or seven viewings and no offers. There are four or five others in the same block (all virtually identical) up for sale. We've already dropped our price so it's one of the two cheapest, despite being in good condition, but just nobody will come and look. I'm losing the will to live a bit!

NB: this is mostly a rant - I realise it's unlikely that anyone has a magical house-selling secret. But worth a try...

OP posts:
mclady · 14/05/2019 12:42

Link to rightmove?

BlackcurrantJamontoast · 14/05/2019 12:45

It is always price.

RobotNews · 14/05/2019 12:46

DH works in property and says any house will sell at the right price. Are there any disadvantages about your flat that the others don’t have? Is it well presented?

HollowTalk · 14/05/2019 12:47

You need to draw up a table of what's involved in each flat and see whether you can see why some can charge more, some sell more quickly etc. Have you been to view the other flats? What does the estate agent say?

cakeandchampagne · 14/05/2019 12:50

Some photos would help.
Does it look good from the street?

VioletCharlotte · 14/05/2019 12:53

I used to be an estate agent and agreed with Robotnews DH that if a property isn't selling, it's nearly always down to price. Where I live, the market is saturated with flats in the town centre. The only people who want to buy them are investment buyers, looking for a good deal.

Are you able to post a link?

whenyouaredemoon · 14/05/2019 12:55

If no one will come and look could it be the pictures on rightmove aren't doing it justice? Or look like they're hiding something eg weird angles, no photo of the second bedroom, etc?

But also, if I saw 4 flats in a single block all for sale at the same time I'd worry there was something wrong, unless the block was massive.

(Apparently I'm a very suspicious house buyer!)

Original poster
AveAtqueVale · 14/05/2019 13:05

Yeah I've been thinking we need to drop the price. Infuriating though as we actually sold it last year for more than the current asking price but then the move didn't happen. Will link (they're ridiculously expensive for two bedroom flats but that's the area unfortunately). It's the top one of these. There is also one on at 240 (or there was this time last week) but I can't seem to find it. They're basically all the same. The block is massive - there are actually four different blocks in the road, but there are a lot on at the moment Hmm.

OP posts:
Original poster
AveAtqueVale · 14/05/2019 13:05

Oh god wrong link! Not that zebra one!!

OP posts:
Original poster
AveAtqueVale · 14/05/2019 13:08

Ok ignore link - this is our flat. The link in the post above shows you comparable ones. Including the one in the same set of blocks that's now on at 245 Shock.

OP posts:
scarus · 14/05/2019 13:17

Dont' know the area to comment on the pricing but the listing looks good, nice modern decor and looks bright and spacious.

Ground floor flats sometimes not as popular but with all that grass you can't have people walking right by.

I couldn't work out from listing how far is the garage from the flat or where the parking is in relation to the flat entrance?

CuppaSarah · 14/05/2019 13:17

The first flat is either my old one, or one of my old neighbours!! I wasn't expecting that blast from the past.

I think the big issue is there's not a huge amount to do in Ash Vale, compared to other local areas in the price point. People are happier to move to Aldershot and Farnborough now they've had some redevelopment and Ash Vales selling point used to be that is was nicer than them, but has the same transport links.

It's a really lovely flat though.

BlackcurrantJamontoast · 14/05/2019 13:21

based on previous sales- drop to £215 which was the feb 2018 sold price. After that they went up against a falling market generally in SE.

VioletCharlotte · 14/05/2019 13:22

It's a lovely flat, well presented and a good area, so I think it must be the price. Do a search for a 5 mile radius for 2 bed flats and see how many are on the market and for how much. I believe there's also a feature where you can check the actual price properties sold for. Brexit has had an impact on the housing market, so the price probably had fallen since the offer you had last year.

HundredMilesAnHour · 14/05/2019 13:25

The agent's comments on your link sound really silly given that there seems to be 7 (?) flats for sale in your building:

AGENT'S COMMENTS "An apartment like this is rarely available, set in a popular, well-managed development with extensive communal gardens."

As a buyer I would think there is something very wrong with so many flats on the market at the same time.

Nyon · 14/05/2019 13:30

Ah OP - I know where you are. Unfortunately there are flats in Guildford and Godalming selling for near that, and those are considered nicer areas. The price is too high I think.

ControversialFerret · 14/05/2019 13:37

Two things: price and pictures.

As PP have said any place will sell at the right price; do your research on what's sold near you recently that's similar and base your price on that.

Pictures - get professional shots done. They make a world of difference. We had them done when we sold our place a couple of years ago and they were well worth the money as they made the place look amazing, which is what you need in order to catch people's attention as they are scrolling through the listings.

Dermymc · 14/05/2019 13:37

If there are that many others up for sale I'd be worried as to why. This will put off potential buyers.

Ninkaninus · 14/05/2019 13:39

Yes, people will be wondering why so many flats are on sale.

If you really need or want to sell sooner rather than later you probably will need to reduce further.

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 14/05/2019 13:49

It kinds of feels neither hither nor thither in a weird way.

It's not professional or centrally located enough to be right for townie workers who want to go out every night and have poggenpohl appliances;
Nor is it a family home - I'm guessing you're moving because you have growing children?;
And it's also quite expensive if its a first home (although under £250k admittedly)

It also looks exactly like my first place which was an ex-LA flat/estate which does put people off, like it or not.

And if there really are 7 other flats on the market too, that smells like "ooh, people selling up, they must know something we don't" - I saw similar here on a bunch of townhouses that faced onto open arable farming fields. Within months all went on the market, because there was local knowledge about LA building plans/intentions. Lo, those nice townhouses now look out onto dozens of new homes.

Original poster
AveAtqueVale · 14/05/2019 14:27

Yeah the 'rarely available' is clearly bollocks currently - though usually it's true! I have no idea why so many are on. There's definitely nothing we know about causing such a glut Confused. Tbh most of the people in the flats that stay here long term are retired, but there does seem to be a bit of an upsurge in families moving in recently. Which is probably putting off people looking for peaceful retirment flats. We don't need to move location-wise, so we could just take it off the market and try again later...

OP posts:
isseywithcats · 14/05/2019 15:31

one thing i noticed is agent hasnt put room sizes on the listing thats one thing i looked for recently when we were house hunting as in will our furniture fit in the rooms, is the kitchen a kitchen or a cupboard with units

HundredMilesAnHour · 14/05/2019 16:38

one thing i noticed is agent hasnt put room sizes on the listing

The room measurements are all listed on the floor plan.

Dowser · 14/05/2019 16:55

Well you did ask OP for any left field suggestions, so as a Dowser I remembered my friend had her house on the market for a long time
She was totally fed up with it
Then a friend suggested she dowsed Over it and it sold really quickly and she’s now very happy in her new flat.

So, I’ve dowsed over your flat and asked to remove any negative energy from it or any blocks to having it sell aka Raymon grace technique.
Hope it might help 👍

isseywithcats · 14/05/2019 17:41

sorry didnt look at the floor plan some agents put individual rooms and sizes at the front page in the description had a look and your kitchen is very small compared to your lounge

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