to wonder why nobody wants to buy our flat?

[pimsandlemonade]

or to even see it?
We are trying to sell our 2 bed flat in London zone 2.
We have already found a lovely house we like (out of London) and our offer is not officially accepted until we get an offer on ours.

When we listed the flat the estate agents made it seem like it will be superfast considering a fairly central location, very good condition of the flat, lovely views etc.
Before the listing was up on Rightmove we had 2 viewings booked - 1 was a rental investor, made a very low offer which we won't accept. The other one cancelled the viewing and now, nearly 2 weeks later we have not had anyone to even see it!
I just don't get it!
We have already dropped the price a bit as we thought maybe the initial asking price was too much (again, the initial price was recommended by the estate agent, I suppose to get up to choose them), but still nothing.
The estate agents are saying that because of the election everything has slowed down and they expect it will get better next week...
I'm struggling to believe anything they say at this point.

Any advice, comments?

Take your own photos! Then you can do the dressing yourself and just move things out of shot.

However our EA was also crap and didn't put in a pic of the second bedroom (as big as the third) or the bathroom .

I used to live on that street!

OP, I’ve got pretty good knowledge of the local market (I live in your area and work in property). I would:

a) Drop the price, it will sell easily at £400k. You don’t want to be chasing the market down! By the way, that agent is well known for overpricing, they are as bad as Foxtons.
b) Emphasise the benefits of the area - you are 5 minutes by bike to CW station, a few minutes to the Hilton or Greenland dock from where you get the boat to Canary Wharf, an abundance of good and outstanding primary schools (there are loads of couples with primary age school kids who live in the area, it’s not just for young couples/first time buyers), award winning library, award winning ecological park, nice friendly community, major regeneration area etc etc.
c) As everybody else has said, get some new pics done as they are doing a disservice to your lovely flat!

Good luck OP :)

It's just too expensive. We have looked at several properties in the last few months. £450k gets a 2 bed house in Putney, a 3 bed ground floor flat in Canada Water with garden and parking, and a 2 bed huge flat in Vauxhall with wrap around balcony. In comparison I would be looking to pay max £385k for your property as the location is worse than all the others we have seen, no garden or huge balcony only small one, and it's far smaller. It's also further from central London

No way would I spend half a million on the basis of seven photos. It's nice but I'm just shocked at the price. I bought my flat in 1995 for £41000. Sold in 1997 ish for £56000. Is now about £80-100,000. I think a nicer area so really shocked at the price of yours.

Now I don't like places with only one sofa - I instantly think " obviously too small".

I remember years ago buying a new build which was teeny but lovely. The show home made them look huge as it did things like having a small round table setting three places (never realised), two seater sofa and two diddy chairs...I didn't twig that it was extremely clever dressing but now it sets off a radar for me - I'm thinking "what furniture is missing and why?".

curtains opened WIDE - your bedroom is half shut

I'd be wanting a lot more for that price!

Mind you. I'm 'oop north' and just sold my stunning penthouse apartment (3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, lot bigger than yours!) for £125k.

Could cry at those prices!!

I would remove the 'in excess' though personally. When I'm house hunting, I mentally remove £20k odd grand from the asking price and start there. Nobody pays asking price surely?! Although I realise things might be different in London.

Are you in a highly desirable area? Also agree, you need more photos. I had photos of both of my bathrooms, plus every room, plus balcony, plus views etc. Oh and our parking space outside.

Oh god I'm so late. Sorry I've x-posted with loads of people - had a fire alarm at work so had to vacate the building!

The photo's aren't the best. They make the living room look a bit cold and colourless.

Can you move the sofa's so they are facing each other?

The photo's make it look like everything is pushed back against the walls, so it looks a bit empty in the middle?

If it's possible to have the sofa's face each other, with a warm toned rug in the middle and perhaps a low table, I think it might look like a cosier space, especially if you get some cushions in warmer tones as well to compliment the rug.

If you can't move the sofa's, I still think a low table, rug and warmer looking cushions or a throw might help to fill the empty floor space a little and warm up the room.

I might also be tempted to take down some of the framed pictures in the living room, they do dominate the wall a little in the photo's. The one's in a group of six on the small wall maybe.

What's the big thing under the TV in picture 2?

Can you move the toy kitchen for the photo's? And the big dog head thing on the chair?

In picture 3 you can see a pile of stuff hidden at the side of the sofa. Can you move it for the photo and then put it back, just so the space doesn't look cramped and used for storage of stuff that can't go anywhere else.

In picture four the kitchen is mostly lampshade and wall. It shows a space but you can't really see much of the actual kitchen.

The lampshade and hanging pans are nice but not what people need to see.

I'd unplug the appliances and hide the wires as well.

It does look like a nice warm room though, but you need the photo's to show more of it. Even if that's just having a photo from another angle added to go with this one so people can see both sides.

Picture 5 does need the bed to be shown off a bit better. I agree about tucking a throw into the bottom third, and maybe having the pillows on top of the duvet rather than under it. At the moment the photo does just make it look like the bed is covered by a dust sheet that dominates the space.

I'd also move most of the stuff on the shelves and unit opposite the bed, so it looks like a tidier space for the photo.

And if they have to pull a curtain across, maybe it should be the one that shows how the balconies outside can see into your bedroom.

You need photo's of the bathroom and balcony, and if you have a nice table or chair out there, and a plant or something, to dress it up a bit then that can't hurt.

They need to take the exterior shots and balcony one on as sunny a day as possible.

I would also have a proper price rather than an "offers over" price. Vague prices put people off, they worry about bidding wars or offering more than you are prepared to take.

Oh and to improve I would have sofas facing each other with coffee table in between. And show storage somewhere in living room

Add table in kitchen

Retake all picture so you can see whole rooms

Add room sizes to floor plan

I would suggest making it more homely.

The living room (at the moment) has a waiting room feeling.

Lovely flat.

Just think about making a bit more personalised. I know that isn't advice normally given, however, a few 'feminine' touches would make a difference.

Try taking pictures with your phone, look at your rooms objectively. Play around a bit.

Good luck.

I'd also take down the baby gate for the photo's.

We have the same "dining table" extended from the counter.

I'd still get another one, and put it in the window. You are missing a trick there. Under £100 from Ikea. Or cheaper from Gumtree.

Mind you..

This is what you can get for that sort of money here! Luxury!!!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50635649.html?premiumA=true

If you picked the estate agent because they were the cheapest/suggested the highest valuation then it is also worth looking at your commercial arrangement with them.

We agreed 1% commission with our EA but 1.5% on anything achieved above our asking price [which they felt was bullish]. We ended up going to sealed bids between 5 people.

It's a great flat for an BTL investor or someone who wants a 5 mins commute across the river to work. Your target buyer is unlikely to be on MN today don't forget if some of these comments are smarting a bit. You probably bought the flat when you both worked long hours in Canary Wharf and went to the gym/ate out most evenings. Years before you ever looked at MN.

If you do get a storage unit, it's handy to have it near the place you are moving to unless that's 40 miles away obviously! You always keep them a lot longer than you plan to while you get sorted in a new house.

There are also companies like this one www.roomservicebycort.com/ They give no indication of cost though it might be handy to find out how much a contemporary corner sofa might cost to hire for a couple of months in case you get towards the end of 8 weeks and decide it's time for drastic action. Ikea is great for something if you can use them later but you won't want to buy large items if you can avoid it.

I can recommend James Removals in Blackheath if you want a remover to come and take away furniture and stuff to be stored. It goes in a big container though so you cant access it to take stuff like summer clothes out. Cheaper than self storage for large items and they come and take it away for you. We used them for 6 months while we gutted the house.

Offers in excess imply you are not interested in offers below which you will get if you advertise it as an asking price. If someone comes to you in 8 weeks with a cheeky offer would you consider/can you afford to knock £10k off and buy your new place? If so, then drop the "in excess of" now and get people through the door before the summer market slump.

Thanks! Lots of very helpful comments!
In regards the price, yes it's expensive, and I tend to agree with the "Excess of", so we'll think about getting rid of that.
But we definitely won't be dropping it to 400K!
The first guy that had a look offered 450, but we are not prepared to accept this low.
The one that 19lottie82 linked is a ground floor flat and slightly smaller.

There was one sold for 498 last month on the 4th floor - yes, higher/better views, but in the context i don't think asking price of 485 is too much for ours (if we remove the "excess of")

We are going to re-do the photos and rearrange/remove/replace some furniture and also ask them to fix the floorplan and mention stuff they have left out like the outstanding schools etc.

Art&Co, Canada Water IS in Rotherhithe, (although I admit the flat is on the north edge of the peninsula so it is about a 15 min walk to the station, but many people cycle through the gorgeous woodland and get there in five - plenty of bike parking spaces etc) so it's not like it's in a worse area than the area next to the station - in fact I would argue it's better as it's cleaner and more peaceful.

The agent's listing only lists Heron Quays, Westferry etc as stations which are useless as they are on the other side of the river! Not all buyers will have the local knowledge so this needs to be emphasized.

I agree about it being overpriced though.

Having had a very bad experience trying to buy a property some years ago I'd never view an "offers over" priced flat. The "offers over" price on the house was about right as a price and each time we offered a little bit more the vendors were very rude back. You know what you want and that should be the price, negotiations are scary enough without them being a requirement.

I would move the tv onto the big wall where the pics are, take all the pics down as there are too many. With the tv on the big wall leave the smaller sofa where is is and put the big one facing the tv on the big wall then leave the unit/sideboard on the wall where the tv was, that way people will see they can get more furniture into the living room and put a nice rug down, Anything you buy you can move to your new house. Wheres the fridge? I think i would draw the curtains as the views not good, you can see more or less into the other flat so they can see into your living room i guess.

I guess it is hard when your up North, you look and think bloody hell that's a lot for a flat, where i am in Gateshead you would get a 4/5 bed detached house with a double garage and a garden for half a mil.

It's a fab location - right on the river, how brilliant is that. And also quiet and green. I know the area well. Photos of the view should help - that's one of the selling points, and one of the reasons people will pay more. I would love to live on the river!

Sorry OP, I know you don't want to hear this but the way things are going in a few months time you'd be biting the hand off the person who offered you £450k!

But I'm sure you know best :)

The bell - yes I do know, having lived there myself! However living a 2 min walk v 15+ min makes a huge difference to commute if you then have another 45 mins on tubes. I'm just saying the closest property to there we saw was a 3 bed, with garden and driveway, and closer to station. The kitchen and bathroom was brand new, and it was £35k less than op is asking, hence I think it's overpriced

The bedroom and kitchen look very small. Its very expensive but no idea re price in your area. I was in another part of london. Go back to agent and better photos.can you use a smaller bed in that bedroom and get rid of the boxes. Looks like yiu no storage. Rent a storage unit for a month if necessary.

I though OIEO meant offers in the environ of, not excess. MN taught me something new today.