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Original poster

Why is my flat my selling?

42 replies

Tryingoutanamechange · 09/10/2018 13:10

I bought my flat 7 years ago and loved living in it. When my DH and I bought a house together, we kept the flat to rent out until the end of the mortgage term. So now I need to sell it but the trouble is that it has been on the market for 5 months and still not gone.

I've had three offers (all roughly at asking price or just below) but all have fallen through due to legitimate reasons but wondering if there is something else I can do to help showcase it better. All the feedback has been that the flat was too small which I can't do anything about but I could try and put in a different description if that would help.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73784456.html

OP posts:

imsorryiasked · 09/10/2018 13:17

Well if you're getting offers at asking price then its not that.
I think you need to buy/beg/borrow/steal a double bed even just a divan with a throw over it would do, to prove that the bedroom is big enough. At the moment people are doubting there is room for a bed etc.
Same with the single room - put a bed or sofa chair/ futon in there to show the space.

Momzilla82 · 09/10/2018 13:26

Sent you a PM

RollerJed · 10/10/2018 08:17

Why does it say ground floor flat when it's not?

It definitely needs some furniture. That second bedroom looks tiny, you need to show if a bed can fit.

sittingonacornflake · 10/10/2018 08:20

Agree with 'dressing the flat' with furniture. Also, get rid of that wallpaper - it makes the room look smaller - you want to go for plain really and something that reflects the light

Plentyoffishnets · 10/10/2018 08:21

It's a lovely looking building and the flat looks fine. I agree with the other posters - get a bit of.furniture in there and a few bright accessories - fruitbowl in the kitchen, a few decorative bits on the shelves in the hallway, just to make it a bit more homely. You need to get people excited to view it at the moment it's a bit flat.

ChateauneufDuTwat · 10/10/2018 08:32

Well it's all a bit drab and brown. I don't think the photos are great tbh.

And the second bedroom is tiny but as you say there is nothing you can do about that.

Also, minor things but the stained carpet in pics 3+4 is pretty off-putting and the exposed pipes in pic 2. Could you get a cupboard out around the pipes? Maybe new carpet?

Fuckedoffat48b · 10/10/2018 08:44

I would want to know why it is empty? It looks a bit landlord tbh and as more ex-landlord owned properties come on the market people getting increasingly wary of this as they are notoriously poorly maintained and/or sellers are difficult to work with. Is there a chain? It is all a bit unclear.

I would also want to know more about the communal gardens and views (of cricket pitch etc) as mentioned in the blurb.

The kitchen pic reveals some ugly pipes, could that be redone? And it looks like there is a bath in the bathroom but I can't quite tell. If there is show that as it means the room is a lot bigger than the pick suggests.

FiveShelties · 10/10/2018 08:46

Are the sales falling through due to the size? How far had the purchasers got with the purchase?
I think you definitely need furniture, most buyers have no imagination as to what will fit in a room - you need to make it look as though it will be big enough to take beds/settees etc

ileclerc · 10/10/2018 08:53

People are offering it so it's unlikely that staging it differently would make a difference. What are the legitimate reasons, three collapses due to legitimate reasons isn't great!

SusieQ5604 · 10/10/2018 08:55

Are there hardwood floors under the carpet? If so, it would be stunning

Spickle · 10/10/2018 08:57

Could you get the EA to add some helpful notes about the lease, i.e. how long is left on it, what the yearly service charges and ground rent are? I find it very annoying that I cannot find out such details unless I download the lease from the Land Registry which is not practical to do for every flat I want to view.

I do wonder if the price is still a little too high. A relative sold a well-maintained Victorian 2 bed terrace in Barbourne for £140k not long ago and the bedrooms were decent sizes.

TinyRick · 10/10/2018 08:59

I'd be replacing the carpets for a start. The stains are very noticible.

user1483387154 · 10/10/2018 09:01

Carpets are in a bad state so need replacing
Stage the rooms

snifflesnifflesnore · 10/10/2018 09:08

Carpets, wallpaper/paper, curtains, kitchen pipes.

snifflesnifflesnore · 10/10/2018 09:08

*paint

redastherose · 10/10/2018 09:14

Yep do a house doctor on it and dress it so people can imagine living in it. Also those photos make rooms actually look narrower rather than more spacious which might be because I'm looking at them on my phone or might mean that the agent didn't use a wide angle lens. Might be worth giving it a fresh coat of paint and getting the carpets cleaned or replaced if they are worn or stained. In that price Range you are going to get first time buyers who will be maxing themselves out for the mortgage and won't have cash to spare to do anything.

Original poster

Tryingoutanamechange · 10/10/2018 09:16

Thank-yo for your feedback - I agree it doesn't look great in terms of it being empty so will try and get at least a single bed in the small room and some bits to 'dress' it.

I will also hire a carpet cleaner and try and get the stain out of that carpet in the main room. Sadly there is no bath in the bathroom - just a really dodgy angle for the photo. I'll get my FIL to help me cover those pipes.

I will ask the estate agents to rewrite the bit about the ground floor flat, as you say, its a first floor with ground floor entrance. Essentially I lived in it for 7 years and then rented it out for 2 years so did keep on top of all the usual maintenance i.e. the boiler is only 1 year old. There is no chain so will get that on the listing.

Legitimate reasons are for two of the buyers, that their divorce house proceedings fell through and the other was a first-time investor but his wife left and consequently he dropped out due to various financial reasons.

OP posts:

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 10/10/2018 09:20

Are there hardwood floors under the carpet? If so, it would be stunning
No, it would be noisy for downstairs neighbours!

IdaBWells · 10/10/2018 09:27

Not a fan of the brown flower wallpaper, I would neutralize it. Good luck with a sale OP.

dogzdinner · 10/10/2018 09:58

It looks like a lovely location and gorgeous building, but the interior looks a bit grubby and unappealing TBH.

I think it would be worth furnishing it in a simple, modern style to make it look aspirational for first time buyers. Just get secondhand stuff, you don't need to spend much. Once furnished, the carpet won't be so obvious. Get rid of the wallpaper and curtains too.

Also - the description refers to a garden but there's no photo?

HeddaGarbled · 10/10/2018 10:07

Agree about the unsightly pipe work in the kitchen. Also the two white appliances look like they don’t quite fit comfortably. Are you leaving them for the buyer? Would you be able to replace with slighter smaller and nicer looking ones? Or maybe just take them out altogether.

wowfudge · 10/10/2018 10:20

The magnolia walls and brown, stained carpets aren't appealing. The photo of the kitchen is poor. It could look so much better just with better photos. Lots of people can't visualise how the space would work without furniture though it wouldn't bother me if I could see the room dimensions.

Buteo · 10/10/2018 10:38

Your second “bedroom” is only about 35 square feet, so can only be classed as a bedroom for children under the age of 10.

Buteo · 10/10/2018 10:44

And in fact the master bedroom doesn’t meet the standard of 110 sq ft to be described as a double either.

GiantKitten · 10/10/2018 10:49

Can you take it off the market for however long it takes to smarten it up a bit? Then it comes back on as new. When something’s been on for 6 months that in itself will put some people off.

Good luck

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