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Original poster

How can we sell this quicker?

58 replies

SquashedInTight · 25/05/2017 21:14

We are in a large 1 bed flat with 2 children and 2 adults - toooo small! We now have the ability to get a mortgage for a 3/4 bed with garden, but will need to sell this first.

Estate Agent said not to do work to it. Is he right? What else can we do without spending a fortune? Had viewings for 2 weekends then nothing. Feedback was nothing bad about the flat, more 'too close to the main road' or 'only one allocated parking space' type thing.

link

OP posts:
StarTravels · 25/05/2017 21:20

Is it on right move too?

It doesn't seem to have a floor plan? I'd get one added as I struggle to visualise it on the description alone. This is especially difficult as the room sizes aren't given in feet!

Orangebird69 · 25/05/2017 21:20

I know the building - a friend of mine sold his 2 bed place a couple of years ago. There's really not much you can do. It really is just waiting for the right person who likes that location. Which will probably be a single bloke who commutes....

SnowBallsAreHere · 25/05/2017 21:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lokisglowstickofdestiny · 25/05/2017 21:20

You've got loads of storage boxes - they are cluttering the place up and making it look small. Also the bedroom, ideally needs to be dressed up as an adults bedroom, the flat isn't designed for a family but that is how you are presenting it.
I get in your situation there may not be a lot you can do but it's going to put buyers off (when asked for feedback they will be polite and go for the mundane comments about parking).

If you want to sell quick you'll need to lower the price if you can't change the presentation.

Astro55 · 25/05/2017 21:25

You have stuff everywhere - boxes shelves worktops - all screams too small!! No space!!

They have no idea that 4 people live there -

What's that blue thing hiding? Is it washing? As in nowhere else to put it?? Negative
Overflowing book case - too small!!

And no personality in the walls - looks bland

Oh if ifnits a one bedroom why isn't it shown as a doubel?

Sorry you asked!!

On the plus side it looks like a nice building decent kitchen and bathroom but needs some TLC

JT05 · 25/05/2017 21:27

The living area looks really crowded, as others have said, especially the kitchen shot. Also I second the revamp of the bedroom, which may not be child friendly, but has to be done.
Maybe some plants on the balcony would show good use of the outside space. Can you get an early morning photo that doesn't have traffic in it?

Original poster
SquashedInTight · 25/05/2017 21:30

Thanks for the comments. If we clear it all out, we have two under fives with no toys and nowhere to put their clothes. We have hidden/storaged as much as possible. The bed is a futon so low to the ground.

We could do that and put our bed in there (higher) if it would sell quickly. It needs decorating too. Walls and doors need painting, chips in kitchen tiles...

Am wondering if we should just find a short term let/borrow from my dad and max mortgage to buy the next house first. Then we could do it up and sell it as it was when we bought it. Pristine and gloriously big! Or drop the price... How much by though?

OP posts:
Original poster
SquashedInTight · 25/05/2017 21:33

The blue thing has more box storage behind. The children's clothes and bed linen.

Honest comments are good - need to sell it so all comments appreciated!!

OP posts:
takesnoprisoners · 25/05/2017 21:35

I think you should probably rent some storage space, declutter your house and spruce it up a bit and add updated photos. Good Luck, OP.

GreyVelvet · 25/05/2017 21:35

I need a floor plan, why is there no floor plan?

callmeadoctor · 25/05/2017 21:37

Throws on the settees are a bit untidy too, chuck them. Put a proper dressed bed in (you can use underneath for storage). Dress th balcony up with bedding plants in pots, poss get rid of a settee?

JennyHolzersGhost · 25/05/2017 21:40

Needs a floor plan, needs decluttering, needs dressing to meet buyers' aspirations.
I appreciate this is hard with two small children but could you do it for photos at least ?!

monsieurpoirot · 25/05/2017 21:44

You need to dress it for your target market (young professional first time buyer?) I think if you can possibly move out and redecorate it would help enormously. You are not selling a lifestyle they will aspire too!! You can rent furniture to dress houses. Well worth it imo

wowfudge · 25/05/2017 21:45

Beds with storage underneath for you and the kids and some cupboards rather than open shelves in the living room. Basically hide the clutter and make it look more streamlined. The throws on the sofas look very studenty.

bojorojo · 25/05/2017 21:48

Get a bed with clearance so you can store under it. Put everything you really don't need into storage, e.g. Winter clothes, rarely used toys.

Take the covers off the settees. Buy a rug for the lounge. Declutter the bookcase. Buy a nice storage unit for the books with cupboards for the toys. Buy table and chairs for the balcony. Just make the flat look tidy and welcoming. There will be plenty of other flats on the market so yours needs to be well priced and worth a look. A single person will hate the clutter and won't see past it but you need to attract this type of buyer so think like them. Paint the walls if you have to.

monsieurpoirot · 25/05/2017 21:54

It's actually a great flat- kitchen and bathroom, flooring, balcony, big windows. It just needs a grey corner sofa (always!) and rug, new curtains, a proper bed and bedside tables, swish products and towels in bathroom, and 90% of your stuff removing. Are there any new show home flats nearby you could copy?

Blumkin · 25/05/2017 21:56

Its easy to see that storage is a real issue for you guys. Would buying a bed like this

www.amazon.co.uk/Storage-Ottoman-TIGERBEDS-BRANDED-available/dp/B00GQCZ0UG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495745574&sr=8-1&keywords=double+ottoman&tag=mumsnetforum-21

be a good idea? You can fit masses of toys underneath, put the rest in storage. That way the bedroom will actually have a bed in out, the kids will still have access to some toys but you can make your flat a lot tidier. And leave a bit of space under the bed so that for viewings you have some extra storage for bathroom stuff so it looks less cluttered in there)

OlennasWimple · 25/05/2017 22:01

Floor plan

Make sure that it's on the big sites like Rightmove

Go through and ruthlessly declutter more: all the stuff off the top of the kitchen cupboards, for example (and close the extractor fan for the photo!). Move the bottles out of the bathroom for the photos

The bed looks odd

take it of the market until after the General Election - the run up is always notoriously slow in the property market

sleepydee9 · 25/05/2017 22:02

Borrow family space or get a storage unit and clear all the clutter in every room. Pack away anything you don't use regularly. Think along the lines of what you'd need for a fornight's holiday and clear the rest.

Get a cheap proper double bed to store the kids stuff underneath and dress the room as an adult bedroom.

Dress the balcony, a small bistro set or just a chair and a plant to make it look like a useful attractive bit of space.

Sort the living space into designated areas. Either a small study area by the window with the room divider storage, or if that won't fit then storage it and just have a proper dining and lounge area.

Something on the walls can help tie it all together but mainly a clean neutral space with defined areas helps a buyer to see how they could live there. It's easy for a lot of us to see how we'd change a property but some buyers are put off by the littlest things.

Astro55 · 25/05/2017 22:03

Also - when decluttered ask the estate agent to retake the photos

Surprised he didn't suggest a clear out - change agents

Original poster
SquashedInTight · 25/05/2017 22:03

If we remove a sofa, someone loses their bed (one is a day bed, one is a futon). The day bed has no cover so the throw on the Futon just matches the one hiding the fact that the other is a bed...

Futon in bedroom is that low because my son falls out of bed every night, several times...

Honestly, we need to move out first, don't we? Then do it up and make it lovely. Will have another moan at the EA about the floorplan too.

I am going to show this to DH, who kept telling me we didn't need to remove all the clutter. I was so right (unfortunately!).

Off to google the tax implications of buying one before we sell the other...

OP posts:
neonrainbow · 25/05/2017 22:04

The first thing the description says is spacious but the photos make it look TINY! you've got a kitchen, diner and living room all in one small space - and if its not small the photos are making it look miniscule. Rearrange the furniture and declutter, stage each area as its intended purpose and get new photos done.

SnowBallsAreHere · 25/05/2017 22:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

namechangedtoday15 · 25/05/2017 22:22

Of course the EA says you don't need to do any work, they just want you to list it and get their commission. I agree with a previous poster that it looks studenty - which presumably is not going to get you top dollar. Be ruthless. Get a storage unit and de-clutter.

Dixiechickonhols · 25/05/2017 22:23

It looks very student y and not aspirational. Look how the developers of new flats present theirs.

Personally I would look at short term storage, we did before we sold. they did us an all in storage and removal deal.

So one sofa and plant in lounge, a bed nicely dressed in bedroom, nothing on show in bathroom except nice fluffy towel, nothing on top of kitchen cupboards. It will be hard for a few weeks, bit like going on holiday and only having a few things but should be all it takes and then easy to pack for new place.