So frustrated, can't sell 1 bed flat we're living in with our baby!!!

[MadameG]

I both need to vent and need some advice.

Me and hubby own a 1 bed flat in a nice London suburb (no mortgage) and we had it on the market when I was about 3 months pg, but the agent messed us about awfully (KFH- avoid like the plague) and the pregnancy became quite rough so we took it off the market with the intention of putting it back on as soon as the baby arrived.

As it turned out, the birth was awful and complications meant I was laying in agony for weeks afterwards. The flat went on the market as early as poss (Jan) and we have had our offer accepted on a lovely place we want to move to, but because we haven't sold this place yet it is still on the market and we are stuck here.

We've had well over 20 viewings, and the first 15 or so all dismissed it immediately for being 'too small'. I then noticed that the agent had made a bodge on the dimensions, making it seem like our living room is 5 foot longer than it really is. I complained and they changed it but then said we'd get less viewings as a result, so I reckon they did it on purpose. I voiced my annoyance and frustration to them about people's negative feedback about the flat, and since then every time they ring with feedback it's suddenly become all positive, such as 'they liked it and will keep it in mind' or 'they loved it but found something better suited to them' which makes me suspicious that it might all be bollox as they're worried we'll change agents.

We are struggling here with our ds, its very cramped and I am very worried that we'll lose our place we want to move to. It's doing my head in.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what we could do? Would you change agents? Is it supposedly a crap market at the moment anyway?

There doesn't look to be much wrong with it, it is probably over-priced for what it is. It doesn't matter how much you need from the sale it is only worth what people are paying in the current market.

Maybe the budget announcement for FTBs will help you.

I think CarGirl is trying to help. I don't think she meant the attitude. Don't get too frustrated, we all get there eventually but it's tough going in this market, you need all the help you can get! :)

cargirl was trying to be helpful. No need to be so rude, she does not have an attitude.

We have a vase of twigs we can lend you... :) You know people are always arguing on here whether it's important to present your place and I think it is, I'm always too ashamed to admit but I'm one of those who cannot see past clutter. Anyway, out to take the boys for some fresh air, check back on you later.

Is there room for a small table in the kitchen where what looks like a towel rail on the wall?

Small table and a couple of chairs on tue balcony along with a couple of pots of flowers makes a difference. As does a new shower curtain - something tasteful with some colour. Your flat is a bog standard FTB property so you need to make it look fab to distinguish it from all the other clones. You need to add some accents in the living room - rug and cushions. Not too much but at the moment it looks like a buy to let flat rather than a home. Structurally it all looks good so there isn't much you need to do to give it some appeal.

It's been very badly photographed and it looks like the light on the day it was done was horrid too. You need a full set of new photos, I think. Taken from the correct hight (about 4') from the corners of the rooms.

Obviously less clutter the the in bathroom & kitchen, evry helps. Even the shower curtain needs to go for the photos.

Can you use your garage for temporary storage? I'd be tempted to pack away all your clothes bar a capsule wardrobe each if it meant being able to move out a chest of drawers for a month or so.

I've looked on right move at other 1 bed flats in BR3, there are quite a few 1 and 2 beds on there at £180k and even the 1 beds seem bigger. It may be worth looking at them on line and see how they've staged their rooms to give you an idea of what you could do cheaply and easily. Also what the competition is like and work out if your flat is overpriced or not.

Do you have low ground rent/maintenance anything that does give an extra selling point, if so have it in the blurb. Def insist on new photos with your lovely flowers in etc.

Im not sure the photos matter. The OP said they have had 20 viewings. I'd be more concerned at the lack of offers.

CarGirl- I know you were, you just came over as a bit harsh. There are definitely plenty of flats out there with wow factor. We should have done up the bathroom before the baby came for sure but my dh is very stubborn and not very up on home decor and thoght it was fine as is. When you say saving, do you mean how much we're sticking in savings? Cos we aren't at the moment.

Angel- we have splashes of colour in the flat, cushions and teatowels etc, but the agent made us move them all for the photos!!! That flat is very nice indeed, wish ours looked like that.

First 15 viewers were there because they thought the lounge was 5' longer!

Can you get a new agent now or are you still under contract? Or at least negotiate a better commision rate?

Your agent sounds nuts! He's made it look unhomely.

If you're not able to save at the moment will you be able to afford the mortgage?

We're about to borrow some money to finish our house (it's a hole - was rewired almost 2 years ago but haven't touched the downstairs since) but we're only borrowing the money because we have for the last 5 years been able to save money every month so we're financing it mainly via savings and very little loan which we are confident about being able to repay.

Will your finances change when you go back to work or are you planning on not working for a few years?

Bamboo- I took CarGirl to be offending me when she made the random comment about my husband never being here.

Mollie- no room for table and chairs in the piddly kitchen as we won't be able to open the fridge. We will def jazz up the balcony. You have a point about the lack of offers. It could well be the price. This place is small compared to others and it does need new bits like the bathroom and carpets throughout.

Hetty- I agree about the photos. Appalling. They make the rooms look even narrower than they are, and they made us move so much stuff that it looks like a rental.

CarGirl- yeah we have tons of stuff in the garage, its very full with stuff. I will look at whats what in the bedroom and see if we can declutter more, its hard though as we have so much baby paraphenalia taking up all the cupboards in here. Our ground rent is high, sadly, same as all other flats round here.

CarGirl- Yeah we can afford the mortgage, I just meant that lately we haven't been sticking more cash in savings. We can move agents, yes. I'm planning on working part time when ds goes to school in a few years, but until then I really want to be here for him, especially as child care is so costly anyway.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh I just meant he's out at work 5 days a week until I presume at least 6ish where as you're there 7 days a week with your ds, not that he worked long hours every day.

Believe me the more hours you spend in the house the more it drives you nuts. I certainly care less about the state of our hole now that I'm back at work full time rather than SAHP - meanwhile dh is now here more and he was the one that suddenly painted the downstairs cloakroom because "he couldn't stand it anymore"

My friend had a similar experience, she went to work at a local school and her dh was redundant for a few months. All those jobs she wanted doing for years months she now longer cared about, they suddenly really bugged her dh and he got thems sorted.

You are possibly thinking ahead a bit more - lugging an older child up and down the flat stairs, when he's mobile, has even more clutter essential equipment/toys.

Just a quick look at what else in in Beckenham for roughly your price and I found this one:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33123983.html?premiumA=true

If you look at this one it has a lighter, brighter and more modern feel to it. That one doesn't looked lived in which means it is easier to look uncluttered than a family flat but shows what you are in competition with.

When we sold I begged friends to take in some of our clutter (under their beds, in garages, attics etc) and removed anything we actually couldn't live without. I had a 10mo at the time and was pg and it wasn't easy but it was worth it to get a better feel in the house. TBH the house looked better than it ever had before! I think mostly it just need to look more loved, like its a nice place to live.

Sorry if anything has been already said but:

Lounge - Get rid of table/chairs, put a funky coloured rug down with co-ordinating cushions on the sofa. I would go with a bright, up to date bold colour. Try somewhere like Asda/Dunelm Mill for cheap options. Maybe get rid of the 3 glass vases and put some happy family pics up so it feels more homely.

Kitchen - Find somewhere else (even if it has to be the car boot!) to get rid of the change mat, all the stuff above the fridge. Just leave the microwave and kettle. Put a nice clean co-ordinating towel on the towel rail. When people are viewing have no washing in the machine - you are selling a dream house and laundry doesn't exist in dreams!

Bedroom - I think its the best room, its the first room which looks homely.

Bathroom - I don't know if you can afford to do anything to this but if you can buy some tile paint and paint over the patterned tiles with white. Then choose a new shower curtain, matching towels and bin in strong current colours (Argos colour match here are quite good value) This should make it look more loved and will draw away from the older bathroom fittings.

Another option if you get a bigger place is considering becoming a child minder even if it's just for one other child. Not an easy job but if you think you'll like it worth looking into. Is there a high demand for childminders in the area?

The other option is the horrible one of accepting that you may have to work at least part time to afford a bigger home. I live in the SE and nursery/CM rates around here are shockingly high as it's commuterbelt for the city workers. There were times when I had to work though as we needed the extra £50 per week it brought in .

I agree with the poorly taken photos, some possible helpful changes:

Any chance you could get some cheap floaty curtains for your living room area voile with or/and
this

A cheap way of updating and making more wow possibly and showing how light and airy your flat can be,

also could you put the sofa at a different angle almost cutting the room in half (I appreciate not easy) as I think having a seperate eating/ sitting area would make it look bigger in the piccies.

I would buy a basket to put your bathroom things into on the window sill

I would also say you need some colour injected into your kitchen in some form, teapot? and some teatowels?

Very inexpensive to do, available online and would brighten it up a bit - I know its light but I think it needs to look a bit more lived in and have a bit more heart to it in the photo's, also even if you have to move things and hold them whilst the photographer is there it would be worth doing.

New shower curtain, a clear one would make the bathroom look bigger.

By no way are we being critical, don't think that but we are looking at it with the idea of buying and some little touches - flowers always work and lots of lovely cheap daffs/tulips etc around at the moment.

i think cargirl is offering you excellent advice tbh. the whole set of photos should be scrapped, imo, they make the place look like an overseas student let. no fresh flowers, no flashes of colour, nothing. you poor thing, your agent has not served you well.

CarGirl- no hubby works 4 days a week, which is 2 evenings and 2 daytimes. He also does bits from home too. You're right about getting out of the house, I went and sat in the park with the baby the other day and it was heaven. I would definitely consider childminding, I think that would be a nice job. I know a lady who does it so I could ask her for advice. I will force my overly laidback hubby to sit down and look at the finances with me, even if I have to tie him to the sofa.

Sally- thanks for your advice. Some of your suggestions re the lounge have already happened. I'll declutter the kitchen a bit more. The bathroom is a tricky one, its far worse in real life and desperately needs ripping out. I have put all the bottles etc in nice wicker baskets and glass jars to tidy it up and I have urged hubby to consider more stuff but he is too laidback to worry about it.

Figgyrolls- good ideas, thanks. Am writing all of the good points down. Its hard not to be offended when everybody is saying what we should change about our house, but then I'm also reminding myself that this is mainly hubby's decor and nothing has changed since we moved in as we had plans to move very soon.

Aitch- yeah, horrid photos. I agree. I'm new to all this house selling stuff so sometimes I need people to say these things before I realise them fully.

I've seen rooms where people have used tile paint and it does look good, perhaps using that, new trendier taps, and accent accessories it would help.

Does sound like talking to your dh is the way to go. Could he do the childcare one week day whilst you worked?

Having looked at what else is for sale in BR3 on line the competition seems stiff - perhaps show him what other 1 beds have sold for to work out what is realistic.

Good luck and at least the weather is improving so you can hopefully get out and about more.

CarGirl- no sadly his workdays differ from week to week so committing to doing childcare for me is a no go. V frustrating. Thanks for all your advice. And yes I want to sack the agent.

Hope the chat with your dh goes well. We are further out - right by the M25 in Surrey (and not a "nice" town) and the prices aren't really any cheaper, probably your flat would be £10-£15k less but the people who've really had to sell have had to drop their prices. A friend has a 3 bed detached victorian house, downstairs bathroom, okay sized garden, no off street parking but right by the M25. They had to drop asking price to £250k when their initial buyer fell through

I think there are just so few first time buyers out there, no one is lending much and not many people can afford to buy anything.

We couldn't afford to buy a property at all now and we only bought 9 years ago.

Great looking flat, good location, would suit a prof couple or singleton. It would be perfect for that market.

Is it priced too high tho? Check to see what other similar properties are selling for in your area.

With regards to estate agents I am yet to find a good one. They all seem to be full of shit. I'm in a simialr position to you, but trying to shift a 2 bed flat, quite nr to where you are. I only sign up for 8 week contracts with them, sole agency so that if they are rubbish, I can move onto another one.
Always get a mate to phone them up as well, pretending to be an interested buyer, just to see how they are marketing your flat.

What is your service charge like? This seems to be the real pain for us, buyers think it is too high.

Good luck.

If it helps my very decor concious and stylish sister got very upset when their newly decorated house that they were selling was deemed "in need of decor" by the viewer , not everyones taste is the same and although you may love you own home not everyone else does . It is truly tricky to see past the smaller things (your dh doesn't think there is anything wrong and therefore there is nothing wrong etc etc - happens to us all the time boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) its a bit like cobwebs, I never see them in my own house but go to mil or my dm and see them everywhere!

Doing some of the things we have suggested might a) make it easier to live in for YOU and b) more attractive to others. Trying to move house is a little like living in limbo - its horrible and made even worse by the fact you have found somewhere that you really want to live .

Also have you been to the bank and had a conversation with them with regards to potentially borrowing off your current home to purchase your new home - almost remortgaging your own flat as a buy to let and then owning your next home? Difficult I know but it might give you an opportunity to get yourselves together until the property market becomes more easy? I am not sure how it is done but it might be possible for you.