How do I sell my flat?!

[cloudjumper]

We bought a 3-bed flat about 10 years ago, as an investment. Never lived there, always rented it out. It's lovely, great condition, wooden floors etc, right in the centre of a small town, 10min walk from the station with excellent connections into London, so perfect for commuting.
Put it on the market nearly 3 months ago, the estate agent was raving how quick it would sell. Well, it hasn't. Had quite a few viewings in the first 2 weeks, feedback was that it was too expensive. Fine, we did try to 'play the market' (against the advice of the estate agent, I should add). We lowered the price, its now in line with similar properties in the area.
But-it's just sitting there. We don't get ANY viewings at all anymore, it's been weeks. I realise it's the summer holidays, but nothing at all?
I've never sold a property before, so don't know what to expect from the estate agent. They are, tbh, doing f**k all. Nothing. Squirm a bit when I call for updates, admitting they don't understand the lack of activity, but they don't do anything. Am I wrong to expect a more aggressive marketing strategy? What actually can they do? I'm starting to think I need a different estate agent, but don't know what to ask for... Any ideas?!

Has your contract with your current estate agent ended? If so, it would be worth trying another agent. Make sure the photos of your property are good. If you're brave, you can post a link to the property listing on mnet and you'll get lots of feedback!

Is the property empty - if so, could you afford to rent/beg/borrow furniture to dress it?

Post a link, we'll critique it for you

The contract with the agent is still on. We had furnished photos on at first, but now the tenants have moved out, and they've replaced the photos with those from the empty flat. Link below

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66408251.html

It looks to be in good nick but is obviously a bit bland with no furniture, etc. Might be worth staging it properly for sale.

On my android phone the floorplan doesn't show up in full on screen. The exterior of the building lacks kerb appeal.

If I am very critical, the wooden bath panel is dated and the kitchen looks a bit tired - might benefit from having the units professionally painted to give them a lift?

Someone will be along to tell you that having magnolia walls is the reason it's not selling, but I doubt it's that that's stopping you from getting viewings.

Just looked at sold prices: I think you would be lucky to get £200k for it. It's on for offers in excess of £250k. If you aren't getting viewings it's price that's the problem.

1. Stage it for sale.
2. Get total square footage on the floor plan and room dimensions on the plan

It is really hard to see how everything would fit and it looks super small on the floor plan. No idea if it is or not!

Well staged places are so much more attractive when all you have is photos and a room plan to go off.

Where would you put your sofa and TV? Looks like an awkward living space to me. Defo get some furniture there to show how it can be lived in.

It's a decent flat - if I was looking at it I'd be thinking it would need updating if I bought it. I'd immediately change the green bathroom floors to a neutral nicer colour like grey and replace the bath panel with a white one. I'd also be thinking about replacing the mantel piece with something lighter as with the floors there's a lot of wood. I think the lamp shades would be an easy fix for you to swap for something more modern to improve the look. Can you put neutral curtains/ rugs in the rooms that don't have them to soften the look and make it more homely? With the wooden floor and no soft furnishings it's quite hard and cold looking. The kitchen isn't to my taste so I'd be factoring in the cost to update the cupboards/ tiles as well. Looking at the estate agent's ad they have written of instead of or in the last line and they're advertising their photographer before they have finished the property description which would annoy me if it was my property. I don't know the area but are you sure the price is right as if it is competitive I'd be expecting some viewers to give it a chance if it's a good price and comparable to similar properties in the area.

Yikes feel sorry for the people who purchased Flat 6 in 2007... they over paid :-(

Looking at Flat 4 2007 photos I am vindicated in my opinion that it is a horribly awkward living space and I wouldn't view it because I can't work out in my head how it would work. Stage it to show people like me it can work :-)

It seems a nice flat but looking at the last time one sold in your block it was a year ago for £185K although maybe it didn't have three bedrooms? Maybe £250K is still too high?

Also remember a buyer will pay only 1% stamp duty under £250K and then it jumps to 3% - your estate agent should be advising you to price it under the threshold.

I'd change agents now if your contract has run out.

Yeah I would say it needs furniture and it puts me off a property when it says offers in excess of.

£75k increase in 10 years... that's just so depressing

July 2007 was the peak and then the bottom dropped out of the market.
We sold our house in June 2007 and bought a flat. It lost a whack of money in the interim and only began to recover value after some years.

If you plan to live somewhere for a long period then the vageries of price won't affect you too much 5Rivers

You're still way over priced. I'm sorry.

Here is the trick to selling property . If no one comes through the door it's because it's too expensive. Price it correctly and they will. You can attempt to sell a house for anything you want, but the reality is when you are too high then no one views or will touch it with a barge pole, as you are finding out. When properties don't sell it's always the price.

You're pricing at the same level as three bed houses. I dread to think what it was on at before. I think it should be in the region of 200 max.

I know that area and it is overpriced. The train connections are excellent but I would expect that to be below £200k, sorry.

I wouldn't have the first photo as the first one on Rightmove! Also it's above retail/a shop and this can be an issue for mortgage lenders.

I would want the floor plan to show the square footage too.

@sunshinesupermum except the OP is wanting a 45% increase on her 2007 price... so it does matter to some people!

Looking at other things on the market nearby you don't actually get a lot for £250k tho... so maybe it isn't as overpriced as we all think

This is the only other think I could see 1/2 mile from the train station under £250k that I thought was nicer.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67838048.html

Thanks for all the feedback! However, we will not put any more work into the flat, that's just not an option for us. It's ready to move into, nothing major needs to be done, so I'd be hesitant to change anything (plus, we don't have the budget).
We had furnished photos up before, didn't get any more viewings with those either...
good point about having the dimensions on the floor plan, I'll ask them to add that. Would it be worth adding that the boiler is brand new? I'll also ask them to add that there is no chain involved and start with removing the 'offers in excess of'. The problem is that this is pretty much the only 3-bed flat currently on the market in that area, so it's difficult to compare it. I had it valued by 3 different estate agents who all valued it at £250k or more, so we went with that. But I'll do more research.

Thanks again for the tips, keep 'em coming!

Totally over priced. A 2 bed sold a year ago for £185k. Another bedroom does not at £65k plus - especially in the current brexit doom and gloom market. And as pp pointer out, going over the £250k price whacks up the stamp duty. You need to revise the asking price to nearer £200k....

There is a full video of the flat with furnishings in. Imo it's a lovely flat but you probably need a new agent. Good luck.

I think it is more difficult to get a mortgage for a flat above commercial premises so purchasers are often cash buyers, limiting the market.

I also wonder who wants a three bedroom flat? Two yes, but for three beds people mostly want a house of some kind. It is a nice flat so the only issue is the price.