Why isn't my flat selling?

[mynamechange94]

I've name changed for this, for obvious reasons. It's been on the market since June, we sold it at one point for £440k but the buyer pulled out. We're out of exclusivity with our agent next month so trying to work out if it's worth doing anything different with the flat before we move agents. What do you think?

Here's the listing...

I know it’s really common in London but I just could not pay over £400,000 for a flat where neither bathroom has a window. Also the second bedroom doesn’t have a window to outside. Possibly not what you want to do but I think that would be much better as the living area but opened up and the living room a bedroom.

The dining area space could be much better used and have a couple of armchairs there as well so you can sit and chat while someone cooks.

Definitely the picture of outside as the first and the lease and service charge as well.

For me, the kitchen and living room are tiny. However, the main thing which would make me scroll on by is the lack of proper office space.

The sofa is dominating the living room - way too big, makes the room seem small.
Flats are difficult to sell right now given the experience of Covid and desire for open space.

Looks like a lovely flat to me.
If it were me I'd

• paint the beams in dining room white
• take pink out of bathroom and add some green plants, nice accessories (nice towel, soap dispenser. It looks really cold
• paint the kitchen units
• make the first picture the outside. It looks like a lovely building
• include the leasehold

I agree with this. It was the first thing that jumped out at me.

It looks (& is) tiny. I agree it’s really off putting to just put “ask agent” for crucial things like lease length, service charge & ground rent. Lazy lazy lazy agent.

The video makes the kitchen look tiny and the sofa and coffee table make the sitting room very cramped as they are too large for the room. Also the video is poor quality.

It looks much better than the flat 25k cheaper that I think is in the same development, but:
*First picture is awful. Put one of the photos with the external of the building - or the one of the table looking through the window.

• if there is a window in bedroom 2, get the plans redone
• how easy would it be to paint te bathroom a different colour?
• what are the big red and yellow stripes?
• picture 6 is very unflattering

I do think it could be dressed better, bowl of fruit in the kitchen, nice (ironed!) white bed linen and cushions in the bedroom, some nice throw cushions in the living room on the sofa and maybe an extra plant, some very simple nice bathroom bits, maybe even just a plant. At the moment it is so stripped back it’s hard to imagine living there and feels like a student flat. You may also have to think about your price. Sounds good to me, but we sold at a loss post Covid because we had a shared garden and everyone wanted outside space (not shared). Have you seen if there are other flats in the block up for sale/similar blocks locally? Are you priced competitively?

It’s a bit too white and clinical. If I could change one thing it would be the sofa.

What are the management fees? Could that be a factor?

I think it is is a lovely flat but I agree with others...The kitchen looks dark...especially more in the introduction video. May a few decorative items to make it more "lived in".

They definitely need to add ground rent/lease must be listed. The flats where we used to rent had a charges over £100 a month may be 150 even.
Since the pandemic more people want something with a garden. Can they show also more of the development.

Take the table out the living room- looks cramped

It's not really my area of London but I feel there is something missing. There is no "atmosphere" in the photos. Also - how much are the service charges? Sometimes people see these big blocks and feel SC will be high. It's not really a great time to list and sell - I'm not an expert but I'm going by what I have heard. Spring is usually good.

Well for starters it's over £400k and it's in Woolwich.

At first I thought the photos were distorted and making the ceiling look unusually low, but then I realised the ceilings are very low - only slightly higher than door height? But I still think some of the photos are distorted and that makes me suspicious that the rooms are lot smaller in real life.

Does one of the bedrooms really have no external window, only one that overlooks the internal void? I didn't think that was allowed under planning rules.

Are you getting viewings or not even getting people through the door?

How long left on the lease.

And how much is the ground rent?

Definitely remove photo 6. I agree with other posters with regards to ironing the bed sheets and making the beds properly, I'm sure I can see the mattress protector/topper on one photo. I'd be tempted to buy new light coloured (possibly white) plain bedsheets and add a throw and cushions in light neutral colours. Overall it's well presented though.

Lovely building.
agree the styling is a bit dire. Looks like you’ve already half moved out! No rugs in sight, no homely touches. Agree the photo 6 makes it look too small- I think it’s the angle. It’s nice and bright - lovely white walls - I would regroup all the little pictures; they look really small & very dotted about in the photos, i would regroup so you’ve got one interesting gallery wall, maybe up behind the sofa or on the left wall in that first photo. A nice colourful rug, some matching cushions and a big art canvas or two would make a big difference imo Xo

While it’s helpful to flag proximity to the Elizabeth Line, you are in the business of selling the flat, so you need to state the service charge and lease details up front. Why is your microwave near the ceiling? Also, the the presentation of price is odd, who is going to call to offer to pay 25k more and young first time buyers lacking confidence may be put off. It is very clean and tidy, but doesn’t looked very lived in. Makes me think someone has already moved out.

Swap the corner sofa for a nice 2 seater. We did this and got a sofa for £80 from FB marketplace. Get a storage unit and put as much furniture and stuff as possible in it to make the rooms look bigger. This is what we did and.our property sold within a week.

Be upfront about annual maintenance, ground rent, concierge cost. There’s a lift and I know they cost a bomb in fees. What’s the leasehold? Under 120 years?
I wouldn’t go near this place unfortunately.

And ps - a sofa with legs makes the room look bigger too

Ignore the comments about dressing-it looks really nice. It’s honestly the market at the moment, it’s dead. Been trying to sell our 2-bed flat in central south London zone 3 since April. Had two buyers pull out, one of them nearly two months in.
been back on market 6 weeks with one viewing. We dropped the price by 2% this week and already have 2 viewings. ours was on was £100K less than yours - for similar amount of space- but your building is nicer and better transport. You’ll get there - either have to wait a bit more or lower the price. August is always quiet, plus concern over energy bills and interest rates.

Anything will sell at the right price. If it's not selling, it's on for too much money.

We can paint the upstairs bathroom white this weekend - originally we'd planned to retile the floor to go with the pink paint but we never got round to it and then I got pregnant so we decided to move.

I'll also look at adding some home comfort touches to the bathrooms, some nice fluffy hand towels and soap dispensers etc. We can also look at taking the table out of the living room for viewings/future photos.

Generally speaking, I agree the furniture is too big for the flat, especially the living room, but it came when me when I moved in here (it was originally my husband's place that I moved into when I sold my last place) and I can't justify getting rid of it when we're already looking to move to a bigger place where (hopefully!) the furniture will blend in better.

There is (sadly) nothing I can do about the second bedroom only having an internal window, the kitchen being small/dark and the size of the rooms etc. If I could, I would! :-)