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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to wonder why nobody wants to buy our flat?

300 replies

pimsandlemonade · 30/04/2015 11:26

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?

OP posts:
TheRealMaryMillington · 30/04/2015 16:51

For that kind of money (and the commission that they are going to get on it, though I appreciate it is modest compared to much of London), I would want much better photos (maybe take your own), and lots more of them.

Agree re comments on sofas and bed.

But I agree the election will be a massive factor, it will make a huge difference to people's perceived security of income etc.

And 2 weeks is not long. And a 2k reduction is not a massive percentage reduction.

pimsandlemonade · 30/04/2015 16:53

BatonRouge I can see the total floor area on the floorplan?
Actually now there are 2 differen floorplans up - the one when you click on the tab (next to Description) is the one EA did now, and the one where you click on the link below Description is an old one I have sent them...
They might be in the process of updating it.
However the internal floor area is different in the two floorplans (I can only assume the old one didn't include hallways.

FrenchJunebug
Actually because we pay service charge (which seems expensive but is actually one of the cheapest in the area for similar buildings) we have not had to pay anything extra for any repairs during the 10 years.
This includes annual repainting of communal areas (entrances,sairwells,outside window frames), recent refurbishment of the tennis court and upkeep of the garden as well as live cctv in car par and outside.
Once when we had a power cut that was due to the fuse outside out flat (and therefore their responsibility) we also got a paid stay at the Hilton next door (It was a weekend, so they couldn't get it fixed for 2 days).
So it does have it's benefits.

OP posts:
OracleofDelphi · 30/04/2015 16:53

change agents.... we had a flat in a popular seaside town on South Coast for sale. Agent put it on at £25k more than we thought it was worth but was adamant that that was the price. 2 weeks of no viewings, I changed agents.... Properties down here move very very fast so 2 weeks is a long time. 2nd agent valued -£25k as we thought, listed it and had 5 viewings that weekend (2 days after instruction) and had 3 offers by the end of the day. I would have presumed the market would move fast where you are especially on flats.

I would seriously give it another week and move agent fast

SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker · 30/04/2015 17:02

Your floor plan is more informative.

MrsDeVere · 30/04/2015 18:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nettlewine · 30/04/2015 18:16

OK I can see why some might like it, Iin my 20s it wasn't for me.

For that price you could get this with a high spec, sadly your kitchen and bathroom look dated.

Look at what you could get a bit west and the standard

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51763373.html

MrsMcColl · 30/04/2015 18:29

Yes I'd have wanted to be somewhere more central in my 20s, I get that.

Amethyst24 · 30/04/2015 18:32

It looks from the floor plan like the balcony - and therefore the river views - are off the second bedroom. Is that right? Nothing you can do about it obviously but that would rule it out for me regardless of the price. It's a lovely area though.

steppemum · 30/04/2015 18:50

it had/has hardwood floors, marble bathrooms, secure underground parking, communal gardens with a tennis court, which a lot of those new build won't have

make sure all that is on the description!

SelfconfessedSpoonyFucker · 30/04/2015 18:55

This might help with staging, see if you can find anything you like on here that would work for your room

www.roomservicebycort.com/property-marketing/recent-installations

Justusemyname · 30/04/2015 18:57

It's really quite simple to move things out of the way for the photo and then put them back to live with.

whois · 30/04/2015 18:59

Look at what you could get a bit west and the standard

Lovely spec but pretty small (no room for a table and only one double).

However, those photos make you want to go see the flat. It screams to me 'cool, sophisticated living'. To get too price you really need to sell the aspirational lifestyle.

I think it's important to have a photo of the outside of the block (as you have). Without one i always assume it's a super run down not particularly ex-local block.

puffinsaregood · 30/04/2015 19:04

Do you have a nice view from the Windows? In your bedroom pic you can see a wall of flats outside, creating the impression that you are overlooked. Can you retake from the other side of the bedroom showing the view, or pull the curtain half closed to hide the adjacent flats, and take another photo showing the view e.g. of the balcony?

puffinsaregood · 30/04/2015 19:07

Also a dining area in your photos is a must- otherwise buyers will presume there is no room for one- everyone needs to eat dinner.

ZolaBuddleia · 30/04/2015 19:15

Can you put the telly cabinet on the wall between the kitchen and the living room, then you have your sofas on the long wall and beside the window? That weird configuration at the moment makes it look like it must be tiny, because they're not even big sofas.

I'm no photo expert, but could they take a photo of the view from inside the flat, keeping the window frame in, so it's explicitly clear that the nice view is what you can actually see from your flat? It looks from the photos like you're really near to another block and that the photo of the river is just to give an idea of the area.

zukiecat · 30/04/2015 19:24

I am going to be a lone voice here but your flat looks lovely and I don't see why everyone is saying your bed is too big, sofas not placed correctly, no kitchen table, etc. Do people not just look at the house itself and imagine their own stuff in there?

Also what's wrong with "In Excess Of"? I'm in Scotland and all houses are marketed as "Offers Over"

Don't mean to be argumentative, I'm just curious.

Woozlebear · 30/04/2015 19:29

Agents have failed you on photos. They need a new kitchen pic without that light in the middle of the shot. And with the curtains drawn nicely in the bedroom.

I would move the sofas around- they way one is blocking the other would make me think there isn't really enough room for the photos.

And you need a bathroom pic and a pic of dining area.

PrimalLass · 30/04/2015 19:33

zukiecat the problem is that if you see furniture not fitting then it's a simple leap to think 'too small'.

I buy dumps and do then up however, so that doesn't apply to me as I keep having to buy new furniture when it doesn't fit

merrymouse · 30/04/2015 19:34

Sure I'm just repeating what others have said but those photos are awful. Also, I would want to know the square footage of a flat for comparison - but I don't know if that would help or hinder your sale.

valrhona · 30/04/2015 19:35

I think your flat looks lovely and bright and fresh. I do agree with the shoe box, sofa and super large bed comments though. Good luck!

(And now I'll just go and pick myself up from the floor at London prices!!)

Good luck OP, I hope it works out well

mathanxiety · 30/04/2015 19:39

Photos:
#1 unflattering building angle, looks like a Soviet style view;
#2 couch is jammed up against unit; shot only shows partial view of the room;
#3 the couches are jammed together; shot shows partial view of room; basket, green cushion and pink thing visible in right corner beside couch;
#4 too many appliances out on the counter and shot shows only partial view. This photo is exceptionally bad. You may need more than one photo of the kitchen.
#5 cardboard files/boxes lend nothing positive to the 'bedroom' image, and they suggest there is nowhere else to put them; photo is out of focus;
#6 photo out of focus; area looks windswept and lacks a human element;
#7 photo out of focus, scraggly vegetation near the fence detracts from the amenity portrayed.

You need better photos and you need more of them. Your current ones suck. Photos should be wide angle and should show as far as is humanly possible the entire room each time. If this is not possible then more than one photo of each room should be shown. You need photos that show the windows.

You need (much better) photos of all the rooms, and photos of the views from your flat. You also need to suggest where a dining table might go. If you have one in the kitchen this needs to be shown. Your kitchen seems to have a nice window area and this needs to be shown. The photo you have of the kitchen suggests there is no window and not enough room to eat there.

Staging:
You need to rearrange your living room couches. The way they are now makes the room look impossible to furnish/small. Pay attention to details like basket/green thing/pink thing appearing in photos. They suggest junk piled high out of the picture. Get rid of your visible cardboard files from the bedroom.

You need a few details such as potted plants to make the place look less antiseptic/impersonal. You can get huge plants that lend architectural interest and break up the white/beige appearance. Avoid small potted plants like geraniums. Get some rubber plants, mother in laws tongue, big frondy plants. You could also get some tall cases in different colours and put some twigs/pebbly shit in them. They are not everybody's cup of tea Wink but they can draw the eye into the far corner of a room or towards a window and thus emphasise dimensions or other features.

If you are so inclined, I would paint your kitchen cabinets a solid grey, which is very of the moment. I would redo your kitchen tiling in either white subway tiles or small one inch square or small horizontal strip style tiles in some grey/light blue/silver colour scheme with maybe a pop of burgundy here and there.

Take down the pictures from the walls and put up one splotchy colourful one instead in each place where there are groups of small horizontally arranged art (living room, kitchen and the bedroom that is shown afaics). Your pictures make the flat look dated. Your new art could be posters -- maybe some political propaganda or theatre posters from obscure artsy productions in Budapest or Berlin c 1981.Look on Etsy. Or get yourself a canvas and stretch it over a large frame (three feet high at least) and produce something bright yourself with a brush and little sample pots of paint.. Figurative representation is not necessary. Just make sure you add colour and that the lines in the art as well as the art itself are vertical as opposed to horizontal, and not hung too high.

What you want to do with staging is suggest a lifestyle.

For the price you are asking, you want to suggest a chic, urban, fairly youthful but with money lifestyle here, not the lifestyle of someone who might be my age.

mathanxiety · 30/04/2015 19:41

I lost my bed paragraph. Get rid of the huge bed and add one that doesn't take over the room. Put some nice bedding on it in bright/warm colours or colours that suggest comfort, quality, good taste.

SaucyJack · 30/04/2015 19:44

I don't think the OP's kitchen looks dated.

It's a nice, neutral kitchen that'll look much better in ten years time than a red or black gloss one will.

They are the avocado bathroom suite of the future.

Abraid2 · 30/04/2015 19:46

If you put a darker and smarter cover/throw over the bed it would look smaller and smarter. With cushions to match.

mathanxiety · 30/04/2015 19:47

tall cases = tall vases

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