MIL's Flat Not Selling

[Frankfurt17]

To cut a long story short my MIL sadly died just over a year ago. Her flat has been on the market since May last year. My SIL has been doing all the negotiations with the estate agent as we live overseas.

There was one offer in November which DH and his sister accepted. We thought all was going well and we were likely to complete soon. However we have just discovered today that the sale fell through in early December. SIL hadn't even bothered to tell us!! I find this extraordinary. She also reduced the asking price without telling DH either.

Do we change agent? Is the UK property market really so stagnant that the price needs to be reduced again?

Grateful for your opinions. The flat is in a good area in the south east. It could do with some updating but nothing major.

I’m not sure the 30 k difference in price to is enough. To re do flooring, redecorate, new kitchen and bathrooms will cost a lot, especially with cost of builders in south east. Plus it’s a flat- is there space for builders to park during work? How would they get materials up. May not be issues but just possibly things buyers are considering. Also you s the service charge unusually high? Does it snell of cigarette smoke? It may be worth your husband phoning the ea and asking their opinion and also for feedback from viewings.

A house is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it, not what a commission-hungry estate agent claims it’s worth. If there is nothing fundamentally, structurally wrong with the property the reason it isn’t selling is price.

1500 sqft is MASSIVE for a flat and with 2 bathrooms - lots more sq ft to renovate = costly.

Presentation, Accommodation and Location are all key to selling a property. You cant move it somewhere else, you cant extend it and you have chosen not to renovate ('presentation') - so it is priced too high.

Dont expect the SE property market to bounce back, recover, even stay flat for next few years - so just drop the price and get shot before it deteriorates or the market deteriorates further.

How many viewings? How many second viewings? Where (roughly) is t and who are the target market (young profs, retired etc)

If it's a reasonable flat in a nice area isn't selling, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong (next door to a pub/railway line) then it's nearly always the price.

Estate agents are notorious for over-valuing initially to get the business, though I think this is less common now that prices are stalling or coming down a bit in various parts of the UK.

Can you not check online what similar have sold for locally? I don't mean asking prices, they are often higher, but actual sold prices. However they can take 2-3 months to show up, and even then will usually reflect agreed sale prices 2 or 3 months before that. So may well be lagging behind the current market.

I agree that if it's dated, then a lot of work and expense will be needed.
Kitchen, bathrooms, decoration, flooring, possibly plumbing, electrics and windows. Having done up two dated flats I know just how much more is often needed than is immediately obvious.
I would drop the price to just under the £300k mark, and expect lower offers.

agent certainly won't keep your DH updated (as the poster above suggests).
If SIL and OP’s DH are now the beneficial owners they are both the agent’s customers, and s/he should keep them both informed.
If the agent won’t do this then they are a bit rubbish.

Bonnie most agents worth their commission would agree with you.

After 9 months why wouldn't you try a different agent?

There are all sorts of reasons why the flat might look comparable to one up the road but actually not be - school catchments, parking, garage, weird conversions like being open plan to conservatory, neighbouring an industrial unit or electrical substation.

But mainly your DH needs to be talking to his sister. It's pretty normal for an agent to assume the people selling the property talk to each other, isn't it? I would frankly be pissed off if an agent I was paying refused to reduce the price until he'd consulted my husband, for example! I think your DH should be phoning his sister or the agent every week or so. The agent will know what's wrong with it and why it's not selling, and they will tell DH if he asks the right questions.