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!

Rent a lock up. Buy a few tins of trade white.

Accept that if you want it to become someone elses home that you need to care less about it feeling like yours from now on.

I agree with the other posters about the clutter. Also, the picture of the balcony makes it look really grotty. It's the only outside space the flat has, so it should look stunning!

I think it’s clearly a well loved home with lots of personality. However others need to imagine themselves in that space and if they don’t share your style then it’s a challenge. I’d remove a lot of the pictures and stuff to let people see the space. I imagine the bathroom again is going to be a bit like marmite. A lot of people will look at it and think they will need to shell out for a whole new bathroom when you really just need to neutralise it all a bit.

Is your kitchen missing the wall tiles?

@Puffykins

It is genuine! Truly. And oh. I need to do quite a lot of work then....

I'm shocked. I honestly thought you were taking the piss. 😲😲

Definitely clutter is a problem. The books and framed pictures on the floor draw attention from the room itself. There’s so much going on with stuff on the walls and floors, it’s hard for a prospective buyer to visualise living there. You need an uncluttered ‘blank canvas’ look.

I would box up as many of the books as you can and take most of the art off the walls, get rid of the clutter - hire a small storage unit if you need to.
The bathroom would put me off in its current state.

I didn't think this was genuine so I've looked and can see that while you are a long term poster, you mention your kids ages. Are they both still in toddler beds at 8-10yo?

I genuinely had no idea that the photographer was going to photograph the minuscule balcony or I would have tidied it a bit more ...

Thank you all for pointing out what I've been avoiding admitting to myself. I do know it needs to be done, but.....

Should I put all the rugs on the floor in storage too? So that there is a more neutral palate?

You need to sort the kitchen wall out too. Really off putting as suggests a lot of work to be done x

Clutter, and your personal decorating. I actually love it but it needs to be a clear
Blank space.
When I sold a house I literally took everything out other than necessities for the photos - everything was shoved in cupboards.

When you have stuff all over the flat like you have people assume there is not enough storage. You do need to thin it down to a minimum and paint over the jungle. As someone else said lose the picture of the narrow, dirty ugly "balcony"

@ILoveMyMonkey

Is your kitchen missing the wall tiles?

Oh yes, I didn’t even notice that first time I was so distracted by all the clutter and crazy bathroom!

You have to turn it from a home back into a house- a house that the next person will turn into their home. Potential buyers cannot see their stuff in the rooms with so much of your stuff there.

There's a mish mash of colours. Choose one colour as a base throughout the flat and have a highlight colour in each room.

Your flat screams out that there is no space. Rent a storage unit and clear everything that you don't need in the next 3 months into it.

@MrsPworkingmummy

You need to sort the kitchen wall out too. Really off putting as suggests a lot of work to be done x

I hadn't even noticed the wall due to everything else

De clutter.

Move grotty towels hanging up.

As everyone has said already - lovely lovely flat but it needs to look more hotel room and less home. Books etc need to be tucked away.

Get rid of the clutter. Storage facility if need be. The outside photos are awful too. Take photos of communal garden?

I’d say the rugs are probably fine.

What are the towers on each side of the mirrored headboard? Are they columns? Or piles of books/magazines? That's a death trap

Even if you stuck to just one rug per room it would help, unless you have nice flooring underneath in which case you should try to show it off and give more of a feeling of the space that’s there.

Can i just say i love the bathroom but wouldn't actually want it in my flat..

I love it! That living room looks a great size and the kids room is gorgeous. You need a photo of the communal garden though.
We bought our last place partly as a result of the gorgeous clutter filling it. We actually bought a lot of the ‘clutter’ off the seller too as she was downsizing. We dislike generic decor but are probably in the minority. Good luck.

There is one photo where the books are so prominent in the corner of the shot that it looks more like an author's instagram post than a property particulars photo.

I'm sure your kids love the bathroom but it's going to be pretty off putting to most people. When you're thinking you're about to spend half a million quid and the first thing you have to do is deforest the bathroom.

You have a very stylish flat, but it's a very specific style. It's going to be hard for people who don't see that style to look past it.

The stacks of books etc give the impression that there is no storage space and the walls having so many pictures on just means that its hard to visualise the shape of the room. Remove a few of the pictures, hide a lot of the stuff that is out on surfaces and tidy away the bottles around the bath and dressing gowns on the back of the door.

I love the Barbar picture over the child's bed though!