Property had no viewings after 6 weeks on market

[stewart26]

Hi, can you please check out my listing and give me some feedback on my property which has been on the market for 6 weeks with no viewings at all! We have just reduced the price this week but still nothing.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/51403680?search_identifier=9b00e842d2885fa0b61602aea249f7af

I would guess that most people seeking 4 beds would be looking for a family home rather than a flat, unless you are in London or similar where people are priced out of those decisions.
Your flat looks great, did I see a bathroom picture? Don't recall it. The garden looks strange with the clotheslines all making a cross shape.

Can you buy 3/4 bed houses with a garden for a similar price? That’s the only issue I could think of as the flat itself is lovely.

Just googled the average house price in Kirkcaldy and it's slightly lower than your asking price. I think the problem is that it is a flat and not a house. Unfortunately the only way I think would be to reduce it even more or just wait it out

I live in an affluent area in the SE of a city, we have a 2 bed flat which cost the landlord considerably less than this (the average house price for our direct area is around £500k)

Looks lovely but agree that 4 beds and flat are an unusual combination (certainly where I live anyway). Where do you have it listed? I wouldn’t usually go to zoopla to buy, I thought it was more for checking prices. You need to be on Rightmove and preferably with your most popular local agent (we have one here that almost everyone uses, so I would automatically choose them if I wanted to sell).

How is it freehold? Didn't know you could get a freehold flat.

Lots of good space there - amazing for the price, in fact. The images are a bit fuzzy and oddly angled, but that shouldn't rule out viewings.

Price, it normally always come down to price. I don't know what other housing stock is available there but presumably most people looking at a 4 bed are looking for a family house. Lack of garden would seriously put me off and I wouldn't want to be above a ground floor flat and worrying about noise with small kids.

Sounds counter intuitive but I wonder if making it a 3 bed flat in your listing might actually help?! Even if you add on an office/playroom or something. Just thinking that more people will be looking for a 3 bed and it’s obviously very nicely decorated so once you get them in the door they’ll love it.

It's a lot more common to have big flats in Scotland and also drying greens. The flats are freehold if they're older too, so it's very different.

There's only a couple of things that mean it's not being viewed, condition or price and even if the condition is poor, price should reflect that, so price is really what you need to think about.

You possibly need to think about time of year too, people will be finishing up school and holidays. Sept might be better,

Talk to your agent!

It doesn't have a dining room? Just a large breakfast bar.

It's nice though.

Is it significantly more expensive than the modern flats around it? I think it might be a micro-location thing, looking again at the pics.

It's a family sized property in great order but it has double yellow lines round it, is on a main road, directly opposite a late night supermarket, has hardly any garden and no parking.
An unextended 3 bed very similar flat nearby has been on the market for months and had no luck either (20K less than yours).
It is gorgeous but unlikely to appeal to an average family. Is there any way you could target HMO landlords or professional flat shares?
I'd be asking the EA to amend the description to highlight transport to city, restaurants, shopping, broadband etc and perhaps dressing one room as a study.

The access via an external staircase at the back sounds off-putting, especially as there‘s no picture. I know you can't change it, but I'm imagining climbing up a fire escape in the dark. If it's not like that, a photo would help.

rightmove
The stairs outside are stone but quite steep. I wouldn't want to navigate them with a buggy in the rain.
Such a beautiful flat though. It's going to be perfect for someone, just not the usual 4-bed property seeker.

The listing states en suite/dressing room. Get them to remove the slash because it implies an en suite bathroom.

Is it on top of two one-bed flats? Are there any other families in the immediate area? If the single parking spot is yours do you share the garden ? If not, perhaps put a toy in it. What is the local school like?

The listings leave so many questions.

I agree that most people would prefer a 4 bed family house too but there aren't many in this area for the catchment. No bathroom pic as its outdated and thought it would put viewers off, we would be willing to negotiate this though.
Thanks

You need to have it marketed as an "upper villa" and not a flat. You have an upstairs and a downstairs. I grew up in a house just like yours. Do you have a separate entrance?

Internally it's fine, nice period features. Where do you sit to eat? All I can see is a breakfast bar with three stools - not nearly enough space for a 4 bed family home.

We are on Zoopla, Right Move and On the Market. Many thanks for all your feedback, i really appreciate it. There is a shop over the road, this closes at 10pm which i can see this putting people off. But we are within walking distance to the local primary and high school and central for buses.
The other first floor bedroom (the one without the dressing room) used to be a dining room but we needed 4 bedrooms. Good idea about changing to 3 bed plus dining room/optional bedroom.

How is it freehold? Didn't know you could get a freehold flat

Scotland. We don't have leasehold in Scotland except in a very tiny minority of cases.

We have a separate entrance, i'll get a photo added for this. The breakfast bar is quite big, there are 4 stools at the moment but we can easily sit 5 around it. I will get it changed to an 'upper villa', that a great idea. thanks

I think that the living room looks small for a 4 bedroomed place. Definitely make one of the bedrooms a dining room so that the ratio of living to sleeping space is more in proportion

Meant to add, lose the close up of the fireplace as it doesn't add anything and put up the most flattering picture you can of the bathroom

It's a lovely home in good order, but the things that would put me off you probably can't do anything about. With 4 bedrooms I would expect an extra loo/cloakroom. I agree the dressing room being described as en suite implies it is a bathroom. The lack of outside space too, presuming a family would be the most likely occupants.
I think it would be better set up as 2 reception rooms and 3 beds, but I appreciate you probably can't do that if you are currently using all the bedrooms.

Do you think an open day is a good idea? It's not something we do a lot in Scotland but I know it's getting more popular.
Thanks

I'd get the room dimensions put on the floor plan as the 1st floor rooms look v small in the pictures but they're not that bad looking at the sizes.

I'd have a look at your sofa placement in the living room as it looks v cramped at the moment by the TV and then the other sofa is pushed into the corner which again makes it looked cramped.

The first floor bedrooms look dark and small. The blind is half closed in one room, that doesn't help.

The second picture of the kitchen back towards the breakfast bar looks cold/empty and uninviting. I'd change the angle of the photo and perhaps put a vase of flowers on the breakfast bar which would help.

It doesn't look like there is much living space especially for a family. I think changing one of the rooms to a dining room/family room would be better.

If it's in a good school catchment put that in the description.

The decor throughout looks v mismatched, there is no cohesiveness about it and it looks (sorry!) like a student rental property (other than the attic room with toys) which I think makes it harder for people to imagine themselves there or want to go and look.

I would change the first picture as it looks cramped and small.

The one of the front of the house I would take from more straight on and closer to avoid the less attractive houses set back on the left.

If the bathroom is dated then don't describe the house as in 'magnificent decorative condition'

Good luck!

Take the 'offers over' off.

As a buyer it's a big turn off and probably wouldn't even consider viewing.