Please can someone tell me why my flat isn't selling?!

[Puffykins]

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-84873916.html

Price-wise, it's appropriate - even cheap - for the area. I know that it hasn't got it's own garden, but there is a huge communal garden which, in central-ish London, I'd argue is better than a tiny garden.

Admittedly I don't like the estate agents pictures much. It's really light in real life, but they always seem obsessed with turning on all the lights.

Anyway, any tips would be hugely appreciated. Thank you!

The more I look at your flat the more I just blooming love it OP. However, for a sale yes everything people have already said sorry.

However, I think you would be amazing to have lunch with

@MaryGubbins 😂 yes our bins are emptied twice a day and the streets are spotless. The difference is particularly noticeable after Carnival. I'm not sure how else to describe it though - Westbourne Park is kind of a non area, while Notting Hill emphasises it's closeness to Portobello etc. Which is literally a three minute walk (down filthy K&C streets.)

I would look to see whether there have been other recent sales in your block/area. May be speak to other estate agents about it. Speak with the freeholder and/or managing agent. It may be useful to have a read of ‘Advice for Building Owners if Multi-storey, Multi-occupied Residential Buildings’ Jan 2020

God the clutter !! It looks like a jumble sale!!

Way too cluttered, with books lying everywhere, which makes me think there's no storage space and puts me off completely. The rooms look light though, but I also hate the bathroom as it's far too busy and childish for my taste.

It's a lovely flat and very reasonably priced for the area. It will sell but things are difficult at the moment with uncertainty about jobs, etc.

I had a very nice one on the market in Norfolk for a few weeks and then the agent suggested I let for six months which I have done, probably for the same reason. I expect you don't have that option because you're living there and want to move but take heart, someone will snap it up sooner or later. Don't worry about your flat having no private garden, not everyone wants one especially not a single person or a couple with no children. It would be ideal for either. A young couple are renting mine.

It looks cosy and well loved and I do actually like the internal space, but if I was looking to buy the clutter would put me off and the outside shots are pretty ugly.

[quote Puffykins]@themethodicmeerkat I didn't really approach it with any sort of strategy. It's the first house I've ever tried to sell. I write about interiors sometimes, but they're never in houses that are for sale - so my experience is in interior decoration and styling etc. Rather than selling. Interestingly though, every single estate agent (I got 4 valuations) said that they didn't think that the stuff/ clutter was a problem. [/quote]
Your background probably explains why the aesthetic appears to be the entire focus here, even if unintentional. Notice the posters commenting positively are complimenting you and your taste .

That’s not the same as selling bricks and mortar though and the majority of posters are seeing the same negatives. The handful who like it (and feel the need to dismiss others views with sneering comments) are a small minority and you can’t depend on appealing to a minority to sell your property. It seems four EAs were wrong about the clutter!

I do this professionally (stage properties) this is what you need to do:

Kitchen: Clear all surfaces, windowsill, remove bookshelf, remove wall decor/photos etc. Leave a few small counter accessories out but store everything else, leave 1 or 2 plants on window. Install plain white subway tile on backsplash. Put blind up (unless the view is terrible).

Living room: Declutter, remove all artwork, but keep 1 large to go above sofa and maybe 1 or 2 others for opposite wall. Keep sofa, accent chair, large rug, lamps, side tables. Remove flowery tablecloth replace with white. Remove writing desk and chair. Repair nail holes and paint wall neutral colour.

Main Bedroom: Keep bed, accent chairs, curtains, yellow rug. Remove everything else. Put white bedding on the bed and use a few accent pillows. Change lampshade to plain one.

Kids Bedroom: Keep beds, curtains, blue rug, declutter art, declutter bookshelf, remove chair, remove piles of art, remove kids name banners.

Bathroom: Store away all towels, clutter, toliettries, paint cabinets and bath.

I think your flat looks great, but trust me this is not what 99% of buyers want. You are moving anyway, so just pack away the stuff now, you will get a better price and be more organised for when you move.

Good luck.

I love your taste. The flat is adorable. But as others have said, you have got to put some of your treasure into storage for a while.

Yep. People aren't paying nearly half a million for your style. They're buying an empty space to make their home. It doesn't matter what your decor is - it just needs to draw attention to the space, to let the buyer see its condition and its features.

That's even MORE important for an online viewing, because they can't see round corners or look behind the sofa, and can't get that physical feel for the place. So they need to be able to see your storage. They need to get an impression of the size. They need to see where your boiler is. They need to see what the kitchen would look like without that bookcase, because they can't be there and physically measure how much room it takes up. etc etc etc

Photos are more important than they've ever been right now. As is showing off your house and not your posessions.

Great advice there from @oobedobe

@oobedobe thank you so much. This is amazing.

I think your home looks absolutely wonderful. I love it. I wouldn't buy it though because:

1. It is ex-LA. There is always the risk of huge increases in service charges or charges for major renovations/regeneration schemes. It's a greater risk than private leasehold properties because if all the flats are leasehold the leaseholders have more power in decisions than they do when only a small percentage of the flats are owned. If the council decides they are spending millions on regeneration, you will have to pay your share. Plus Westminster no longer allows residents to vote on regeneration. Add in that it looks like your building looks has significant concrete construction and it's a listed building, that spells potential big bucks.

1. Google the estate - a stabbing in April, an ISIS terror plot, the London gang maps... I live nearby and I would happily rent where you live but I wouldn't buy there because I know anyone looking at crime stats will be put off.

1. Mortage companies have restrictions on lending on properties over a certain height/concrete construction/ex-LA so the market is limited.

1. You are right next the the railway and the Westway.

Apart from the bathroom being a bit marmite (that would cost money to change) and the balcony being a bit untidy and not shown to its full potential, I don't think it's the decor that is the issue. With Brexit and a pandemic, it's a risky market, the market in Central London isn't great and your property is a riskier invenstment. People are playing it safe.

In a normal London market, I think your home would be snapped up because it is a great price for the area (beause of the downsides but the upsides when we are not in the middle of a pandemic are great too), and the beautiful, quirky interior would be a selling point.

I love so much about this! The rugs, Brutalism, books, Welsh blanket, Timorous Beasties... However as much as I love it, it’s still easier to view a neutral property and imagine it as my home. Yours has so much personality it’s probably hindering people imagining it as their home.

The debate around the decor and clutter is obscuring the fact that the block is ugly, as is the outside space, most buyers would want to put in a new kitchen and bathroom and there is a problem with the wood around both internal and external doors which will make buyers nervous about other maintenance issues.

You can price it low to attract a developer/buy-to-letter, or you can empty it and spruce it up.

Jesus, some of these comments are downright mean.
OP I must say you're taking this very well.
I love your maisonette btw, I even love your bathroom
Glad your dc is doing well now

The clutter! And the bathroom...

Yep. Your new mantra needs to be 'less is more'.

The outside looks like a prison but there's not much you can do about that!. Whatever possessed you to buy it in the first place!

I defer to oobedobe's professional expertise but, on the other hand, when I think of friends who have bought similar properties (Trellick Tower, World's End), a Timorous Beasties lampshade and Welsh Blanket over a white, white, white have been what sold the "lifestyle" and upped the price.

More than anything I’m shocked about the price - W2 and UNDER £500k for a 2 bed with a communal garden!

I actually really like your style BUT not many others will. It's cosy and welcoming

Agree it's homely and has character - for London the clutter is very typical as people don't have a lot of space! But yours is ordered and I like a bookish flat.

People who buy in London look at the SIZE of the flat - and yours is very good! Condition too is fine.

BUT I'd never buy next to major railtracks, so that's the issue - and cirrently also the lack of proper balcony (not sure why the bothered with that photo of what looks like a ledge - at least mabe put large plant pots there (on the floor).
With the massive choice of flats on the market people aer looking for perfection - but yours is a very good size fr that price and central location, it's just a limited number of people wouldn't mind the train noise - so not suprised it's slow, and you may need to rop the price a bit.

every single estate agent (I got 4 valuations) said that they didn't think that the stuff/ clutter was a problem

just what I said above - people are so used to in london and the fact you can fit in so much yet have all the proper large pieces of furniture there, speaks for its size. But honestlt, people look at the FLOOR PLANS and measurements a lot more than in any other plae in the country where you get more space for the money, people really aer well-versed in dimensions there! (bought and sold in London myself)

I love it, it adds lots of character to a very plain flat.
I wouldn't call it clutter, as to me clutter means mess and random stuff everywhere, but actually most of your "stuff" looks placed and styled.
I thought it must be a decent sized flat to get so much in there.
If you "declutter" it ruthlessly, it could look boxy and soulless.

However, although you want it to remain your home until you move out, there are things that could be stored. I like the walls covered in pictures but the spare pictures propped up against furniture should go. And unless you are reading all entries for the Booker Prize, cull the books. Ditto the two magazine towers.
One cushion per chair, not three.
And lose the deer head or at the very least, remove the festoon over it.
Sort out the towel collection hanging on door

It looks ok to me. I like to see a place that looks lived in, with all a persons personal possessions , as in loads of books and pictures etc. You see lots of house ads in all the same style, as in all grey, or bare walls, and kitchens all the same, as though no one ever uses the kitchen.

I would like your place, but only if it was in my village in Herts, but I only live in a one bed old 160 year old terraced cottage, I have loads of books and paintings,and photo's, and three cats, so nowhere to spread all my things around like your place.