Advice- Not sold after 8 months

[Outsoldya]

Wondered if anyone could share their experiences with having a property on the market for a while. We've not been able to sell ours for the past 8 months and I'm unsure what to do next.
Our place has been on the market since the beginning of the year. We had an offer very early on but the buyer wasted our time with the chain collapsing after 6 months. We then changed agents and reduced the price by 7% in August. Since then we've had 7 or 8 viewings (2 second viewings) between August and September but no offers yet and it's all gone quiet now. Our new agent is now pushing for us to reduce the price further. Whilst we've a bit more bandwidth to reduce the price further, we need the cash for the onward move and, I'm wary of a knee jerk change as there are two other neighbours up for sale around us at a similar price it could appear there is something seriously wrong with ours. I wonder if ,after 8 months, our property has become a bit stale on the market. Also, things seem a lot slower now than at the start of the year. Not sure if it's best to take it off the market until after Brexit or speak to one or two other agents for an up to date valuation or lower fee if we need to reduce our price. We are really desperate to move due to lack of space so would be interested to know which options you've have taken in these circumstances. I've looked into temporary renting which seems like extra headache. I also looked at part exchange schemes but not seen many available yet.

If it's been on that long it's too expensive

After 8 months it will appear stale. Can you send a link? How similar is your sin price to others on sale?

Can you link?

Can you post a link?

Are you priced at the same level as the two neighbours? How are they finding things, are they getting viewings etc? I think 8 months and definitely it will be stale so you might benefit from pulling it off for a whole, refreshing over the next few months and relaunching.

The market has, without a doubt, almost ground to a halt especially around the 400k+ mark. Cheaper properties seem to be shifting slowly but even then, 8 months is still quite a long time.

I think there will now be a continuation in prices dropping until after Brexit shows it’s hand, so if you really can’t afford to drop any further, it might be time to withdraw and sit and wait to see what next year brings.

So frustrating, I know!

Thanks
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55835409.html

Nice spacious rooms, but I would be worried about the damp in the bathroom behind the bath, the fact that the bath has wedges under the feet indicates something wrong with the flooring and the fireplace in the living room isn't welcoming. Can't comment on price as I don't know the area.

If it was sold for 6 months then really it’s only been on the market since August

It looks better than the one for sale since March at £305K and seems in keeping with prices in the area. But perhaps you do need to talk to other agents to get an up to date valuation/view. Nothing I can suggest to make it look better than it already is - it's a lovely flat.

Thanks for the feedback. One of the others is now under offer but after being advertised for about 6 months then reduced so looks like a steady decline in prices.

Agree that the obvious damp problem in the bathroom would put me off.

Its not necessarily a damp problem behind the bath but mold/dirt in the grout. Needs a good bleach/clean or re-grouting at worst. The market has been bad and will slow down more towards christmas and then brexit. You need to lower the price - ignore the nearby properties and get interest in your own. Moving on - anything you look at will need to be ready to accept a lower price as well.

Wedges under the bath feet is probably to spread the weight of the bath - we had this in our previous house - doesnt mean there is a problem.

As one of the PPs has said, it's not really been unsold for 8 months - just since you put it back on in August. If you aren't desperate to sell, perhaps sort out the bathroom so that the pictures don't get buyers to think there's something wrong (especially if there isn't!), paint something and get new photos done in a bit.

If you need to sell now, drop the price!

Photo needed of garage and of the flat from
The communal garden
There’s just a random tree in afield.
Huge bonus having a garden but how does the flat open into it?
That would stop me bothering to view

I agree bathroom mould is foul and other suggestions :
Description is poor. Local schools good? Primary schools, rail links? Close to X and Y etc? Picture of second bedroom doesn't show it well -looks like a passageway.

Kitchen fitted with X and Y........

Is the commual garden just a big patch of dry grass? is it fenced in?

Picture of garage -detail any security automatic garage etc.

Do you have somewhere to move to -long chain etc?

What about a floor plan?

Croydon prices peaked quickly and have dropped a bit lately. The bad news is you will probably sell for less, but the good news is if you buy in Croydon your purchase will also be cheaper. In this market, putting offers in excess of on the property advertisement is a put off. Good luck.

Always look at sold prices,not what properties are being offered at so that whether buying or selling you are being realistic.

To me, the photos look filtered and a little bit unreal somehow.

I would also say that getting the bathroom photo redone after mould removal is a must! Good luck with the sale, OP.

I would highlight that you are walkable to West Wickham - High street & station, would be a massive positive for me and many others I’m sure. The fact that you are on the boundary is great.

I agree with SavoyCabbage. I find it really off putting when estate agents enhance photos like this.

The photos don’t sell it at all, the estate agent isn’t helping. Photos of every room with lots of diff angles, the view from the rooms at the back would help. Floor plan as well would really help too

I’d start by...

A better ‘street view’ photo, there’s no indication which is yours. I presume bottom right (?), but potential buyers shouldn’t have to guess.

• sorting out the mould in the bathroom, it’s really off putting. There are plenty of grout cleaners and sealants etc out there that you can use yourself, no need to pay someone. Upload a new photo after.

• new photos of both sides of the kitchen without the stupid lens they use

• take the wardrobe and big shelves out of the kids room and put the beds either side of the window with a bedside table, or two, in between. It’ll look a lot less cramped. You can use under bed rolling boxes for some of their clothes and put hanging stuff in your wardrobe. New photo.

• outdoor space just looks like a big dry field. New photos now it’s green again and show, the location from your flat - that could be field in the next town over. Very odd photo.

• photo of the garage - people don’t always ways read the description, but they look at photos. A garage is a huge bonus.

• photo of the parking spot that’s yours, if one is, otherwise people will assume it’s just luck if there’s space available.

• What’s with the ‘no fire fireplace’ being the focal point of the room? Can you remove it? Add a fire? Rearrange the furniture? You need to do something because having the sofa facing a white wall, will a ‘no fire fireplace’. Is odd. At the very least you need some interesting objects on it and to replace the high mirror with a print.

monday. There IS a floorplan. It’s cunningly hidden in the ‘floorplan’ tab 😂