Selling a flat quickly after buyers dropped out

[NibbleQueen]

Can anyone advise how to sell property quickly?

We are selling our 3 bed flat and due to bloody incompetent solicitor on our buyers' side (Juno) our buyers are now out of the running and we now need to find new buyers at short notice. We have already reduced the price £10k, will probably end up taking less. If we don't find new buyers we will miss out on our new home. Devastated doesn't even begin to describe it.

You could auction it, reduce the price again or go to those companies that buy properties quickly (but for 80% of market value).

Where about are you? If London the market is fluid enough that you le always have a buyer for the right price.

Greater London. Area is technically Ealing but we don't have a W postcode. We are near a crossrail station.

It's a 900sqft 3-bed flat on at £390k. But I'm just concerned because estate agents have said there are a lot of flats on the market right now so it's highly competitive. We have already reduced £10k.

Just wondering if that seems like the right price for a flat this size. Also I wonder if people still care about being near crossrail stations seeing as most commuters who would have used it to get into the city work from home now!

Has your flat been re-listed online? Potential buyers often have email alerts set up for when new properties come on. They won’t see yours unless it’s listed again.

But yes, flats seem to be generally harder to sell than houses in the current climate.

The listing had been taken down but put back up. We'll hopefully get it live with a second EA soon too.

You could offer the agent an incentive to sell? Ie if they get it under offer in one week they’ll get greater commission, 2 weeks slightly less etc? We did this type of thing with ours with a sliding price scale - so the more they sold it for the greater commission they earned (as a % not just price increase) to encourage them to really fight for the very best price they could - and it worked, we sold for the highest a flat like ours has sold int he area since the last peak! We were happy as had made more than we anticipated and they were happy as got more commission. That way they will fight to sell as quickly as they can and prioritise yours above others

Were the agents good? They should have a back up buyer. Poss time to change agent

I cannot imagine that anyone will be willingly looking to buy anywhere with no outside space with a lockdown fresh in their minds. I imagine flats will need to be dirt cheap to sell at the minute.

If you want to sell, reduce your price.

And yes, you’re right - if you can work from home 4 days a week then cross rail matters much less.

Also the value of being near a crossrail station fell last week when the opening shifted back to late next year.

@ladybirdsarelovely33 the agent wasn't bad TBF. We were at the very final stages - honestly all that was left was to exchange. We only got the one offer when we were on the market (in January!) and then stopped viewings so we didn't have anyone in reserve.

Actually our building has communal lawns and a pond and is gated @PotteringAlong so it's probably more attractive than a pokey modern new-build. But agree it will probably be difficult to sell as lenders seem to be penalising FTBs by withdrawing many of the low deposit mortgages. Plus if I were FTB I'd eagerly be waiting for the market to crash... Though I guess there's a market of people downsizing or divorcing.

We'll see how we get on with the current reduction. Give it a week or so then knock off another 10k perhaps.

Oh no. I would reduce it now as much as you can to get it gone. Another buyer will come along

show us the listing! one of us might be interested.

Does the listing include lots of positive info about the outdoor space and photos? Very important I should think.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/56027644?search_identifier=2eec5037db7a9d773b18b50956f04874

This is the listing. We're also going to do a video of the grounds. Do you think videos of inside the flat help to sell? Bearing in mind it's in disarray right now

We reduced to 380k today to get people through the door, though I'm not sure that's even competitive now with so many flats on the market

Is the third bedroom really a bedroom? It's a lovely property, but I'd be marketing it as two bed and a box room.

Also does the outside area look better in the summer than when the photos were taken? It's a good area but looks poorly maintained.

The title is bizarre

"3 Bed Block of Flats For Sale"

???

There's no information on the listing about the lease. How long left, what is the service charge? If you want a quick sale you need to be upfront.

There is a picture missing for the third bedroom? Regardless of size I would get that up there.

The title is VERY miss leading! Block of flats sounds awful. I would want to know ground rent and service feeds/maintenance

Listing doesn't do it justice at all! Looks stunning.

@ChaChaCha2012 the photos were taken in January. I'm thinking about doing a video of the grounds so you can see them in better light. The box room is big enough for a single bed. Ceilings are 12ft I believe so to could get a platform bed in.

We've given the agent details about lease and service charge. Also I've asked her to add that there is a loft as that's a handy feature in a ground floor flat

How much do people actually read the listings? I just go on photos myself

Yes people read the listings!!

The photos are not wonderful so I wouldn't be relying on them.