Viewers saying flat is too small

[AlabamaArkansas]

Has anyone else selling received feedback that their property is too small?

Our flat went on the market the day before lockdown so obviously no viewings. Since estate agents were allowed back to work we've had loads of viewings but consistent feedback that the flat is too small. Slightly confused as to why anyone would bother coming to look at it really as you can clearly see the size of it in the floorplan.

To be honest we didn't think there was much point keeping it on the market as we thought it'd never sell in the current climate, but as we had so much interest thought we might as well keep it on the market. But not much I can do about the size of it, is there! We've already decluttered as much as humanly possible and put stuff in storage.

im shit at visuliasing distances and measurements, so looking at floor plans and sizes wouldnt mean much to me unless i see it in the flesh

As long as you have genuinely decluttered, and reduced furniture to a minimum, theres not a lot you can do, and people do this all the time. In our previous house, it was a very small terraced cottage with a downstairs bathroom. Lots of people came to see it and said they didn't like the size or the downstairs bathroom..

Does the listing have pictures that make it look bigger than it is? Might be creating a false impression and people are disappointed when they don't get what they imagined.

Some properties feel much smaller than they look on paper, especially if they are gloomy or have too much/too large furniture, or lots of clutter.

I’m like @chipsandpeas. Measurements mean nothing to me. Perhaps your photos are too good and the place looks huge??!?

Does the floor plan show indicative furniture or just empty rooms? I work for a developer (often smaller than average homes) and we always show beds, sofas, dining space on the floor plan so people can see the proportions before they bother viewing.

Estate agent photography is often very deceptive and it’s hard to gage room size from just the measurements.

I think the listing is a pretty accurate reflection of what it looks like tbh. If anything it makes it look slightly smaller as it is difficult to get a decent angle.

LilyE1234 indicative furniture!

I agree the photos might be making it look bigger?

I also wouldn't discount somewhere on a floor plan if it was equivocal. I would go see it if everything else seemed good on paper.

If you have decluttered, have good lighting, light coloured walls, light furniture there is nothing else I can think of!

Are they saying it’s too small for the asking price??

Floor plans and photos can be really deceptive, paint colours and light can make a huge difference to how big a room feels and that kind of thing is hard to tell unless you actually physically go and look at a place.

Also, viewers may be aware of the dimensions and think it's on the small size but they'll compromise on that if they like other things about the place.

But yeah it's frustrating for the vendor.

I’d also look at your decor, dark and ‘feature’ walls can make rooms look smaller.

Have a look at how your furniture is arranged as well & think if it could be laid out differently to give more apparent space.

So eg I would possible shift a coffee table to create more visible floor space.

Do you have a link?

Maybe something else is putting them off but to be polite they say "too small"

Or maybe the place looks amazing and they wonder if they could go for somewhere smaller because it is so brilliant in other ways, then they visit and realise no it really is too small for them, it would be a compromise too far.

I’m work in an estate agency and I’m constantly surprised about the size of properties when I go into them compared to the photos, floor plans etc. You really do need to see a place to know if the space will work for you.

I'm not sure if some estate agents use a fish eye lens, but I've found the vast majority of their pics are deceptive!

Not everyone will read the floor plan measurements in depth, nor have a full understanding of how large or small it will feel. They might look at location and price and want to view, without reading every finer detail. Especially after viewing and reading up on multiple homes, I lost interest in reading the entire write up details!

I'm not brave enough to link, sorry!!

It has light walls. I'm not averse to lowering the price but people just seem to think it is too small full stop.

Don’t worry too much OP, buyers can be so weird. Years ago when I was selling my flat, I had viewers saying it was in the wrong postcode, and asking if it comes with a garden....hardly things they wouldn’t not know before viewing!

Are you sure that “too small” isn’t actually “too small for the price” which is actually “too expensive”?

Odd if the pics are realistic, this does happen but it’s usually the pics make it look bigger than it is.

When we were house hunting when we bought this one, I learned very quickly to look at floor plans and sizes and compare it to a benchmark property that was small. It was astounding how many photos made properties look much bigger than they were.

The way round it op is to do a video. They are usually much more accurate and give folks a feel for it, and will stop you having your time wasted.

Then maybe you just haven't had enough people through yet?

If it isn't about light issues (furniture and walls as part of that) or space I think it's more than likely to be about price and they can get somewhere bigger for the same money.

Just to be clear I am not remotely averse to lowering the asking price, but my feeling is that if somewhere is too small for someone to contemplate living in at 350k, it isn't going to be suddenly big enough at 325k. Or am I wrong?

A video is a brilliant idea thank you

Unfortunately you will get this. A lot of people seem incapable of reading dimensions and using a tape measure to work out if a room is going to be big enough for their needs, or comparing to their existing home (neither of which is hard) and instead just go tramping round houses that clearly are going to be too small for them. A lot of the population are not very bright and I'm afraid you are going to see a fair few of those and the usual time wasters when selling any residential property. Tell your agent to start working for his commission and try to reduce the amount of time wasters.

What did they expect you to do-push the walls out?