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!

Thank you @TheYearOfSmallThings @inchyra

Also pp is right that if you use the Rightmove "draw a search" tool which I most often do, I don't think your flat appears.

I love the bathroom mural and decor. Your family has fantastic maximalist taste. At the moment everyone seems to want light grey, clean lines and empty rooms. I would hire a storage unit to put some of your belongings in (I don’t think clutter is the right term to describe books and art), use plain white bed linen and substitute some plain white, silver or light grey mirrors for the (gorgeous) art. Finally I would add in a photo of the communal garden. You have a lovely home.

Sadly I agree with what needs to be done to sell it.

But

I love, love, love it!! It makes me want to come over and sit with tea and cake and chat with you. It's a space you can "be" inside. It must be hard having your very personal space harshly critiqued, but those of us who love it LOVE IT! If I ever win the lottery I'm going to get you and your DH to come and make one of my homes like yours!

[quote mocktail]Here's a flat in (I think) the same block for comparison. Less clutter but much less homely! www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=70554431&sale=83892879&country=england[/quote]
Yes this one looks depressing as hell. I would 100% prefer to view yours than this.

I have been on MN for more than 10 years now and apart from obviously bonkers threads which get deleted this is one of the oddest I have read. I think it really highlights the geographical and cultural bubbles we live in.

What I find the most strange is people posting on here to question why OP is marketing the property at such a high price as if she was out of touch or nutty and had just decided a random figure for the lols. The price is normal for the area. That's what flats in that part of London go for. Yes of course it's a lot more than some other places but that's the way it is. Nothing to do with the OP.

Secondly I wonder why so many people are really convinced that their sense of style is 'correct' Just take a look at any style or interiors magazine and you will see loads and loads of places with a similar look to this. Some of you react as if OP has just randomly thrown clutter into her home. I see a very carefully put together look which had been styled to look that way on purpose.If your sense of style has been formed by Next Catalogue and Dunhelm websites then maybe you see things differently but surely you can just conclude that it's not your style rather than it being 'wrong' or chaotic and unthinking. I will go further and say I'm not just defending a bohemian look for the sake of it (it's not my style either) but that this look is actually aspirational for this part of London.

Also, brutalist concrete blocks are now very fashionable. There are specialist estate agents catering to people who are actively looking to live in a place like this. Take a look at The Modern House as just one example. Again, I don't understand how people can make judgments about style or what is popular or fashionable if all they look at is high street style. People who choose to live in this area do not necessarily want to live the way you do. They buy art and read books. That's a lifestyle not a messy behavioural trait which needs fixing.

A very quick look indeed at celebrity's houses bring up this photo of Sarah Jessica Parker's extremely expensive home in New York. You will notice that she is also silly enough to have 'clutter' on her surfaces and paintings she has 'forgotten' to hang neatly on the wall. Perhaps some of you could go to her place with some pots of magnolia paint and some nice bits from Wilko to sort it out for her?

images.app.goo.gl/MN3DwinjTtFgsP7EA

If views are amazing put pictures on details. You need to stop seeing this as a home but an asset you want to sell. Declutter and make it a blank canvas, yes I love it but buyers want to imagine their bits in and not all have imagination and have new pictures taken. Can you find out the cost of extending the lease as when they get below 90 years mortgage companies dont like to lend so may be worth your while extending it.

Haven't read all the thread, but can I say I love your flat? Looks like a lovely warm home, and I love the jungle themed bathroom. I think it's rather magical, on the outside looks like a normal estate, but walk in through the door, and you shut out the mundane into an Aldin's cave of magic and wonder. The stories you could tell in your flat are awesome, I'd buy it tomorrow if I was looking in London.
But I guess clearly I'm in the minority!

Wishing you and your family all the best; and I'm sure the right buyer will come along very soon.

New photo of outside much better OP.
I wouldn't look at your flat and think its small. There's room for a sofa, chair and dining table in the living room easily with space to move around.
Loads of storage shown on the floor plan too.
Looks great how it is.

Marty, wow, what a bitchy post, who shit on your cornflakes this morning? Accusing anyone who says it’s cluttered of wanting to decorate a la next or Dunelm is comical 😂

I love your flat! You have style.

It's great and full of personality and interest, so cosy! And a hundred million times better than all those dreary grey identical soulless places I see on Rightmove.

Basically, you live in a magazine house- I see many similar properties in my line of work, and it would not be a surprise to see it in H&A et al.

Good for you, sorry you've had a tough year.

@martysouth The OP’s interior style is very typical of the Portobello but she’s not got the stucco fronted house to go with it. People who are attracted to that style will go find flats in Victorian cottages in Shepherd’s Bush or Acton.

The exterior photos will appeal to a modernist. The interior needs to either match their expectations, or be presented in a way that suggests a modernist look (think the White City development, Barbican, Retrouvious) can be achieved quickly and at minimal additional cost.

@firedragon101

Haven't read all the thread, but can I say I love your flat? Looks like a lovely warm home, and I love the jungle themed bathroom. I think it's rather magical, on the outside looks like a normal estate, but walk in through the door, and you shut out the mundane into an Aldin's cave of magic and wonder. The stories you could tell in your flat are awesome, I'd buy it tomorrow if I was looking in London. But I guess clearly I'm in the minority!

Wishing you and your family all the best; and I'm sure the right buyer will come along very soon.

Yes! Great comment.

Accusing anyone who says it’s cluttered of wanting to decorate a la next or Dunelm is comical

Considering the vast majority of posters have mentioned it being too cluttered, or needing to reduce the amount of stuff I expect Next and Dunelm to have massive profits this year. 🤣

There were more than 500 bitchy posts before mine bluntness. Bitchy and comical because many of them are just revealing how many people live in an aesthetic bubble.

@martysouth spot on!

@martysouth

I have been on MN for more than 10 years now and apart from obviously bonkers threads which get deleted this is one of the oddest I have read. I think it really highlights the geographical and cultural bubbles we live in.

What I find the most strange is people posting on here to question why OP is marketing the property at such a high price as if she was out of touch or nutty and had just decided a random figure for the lols. The price is normal for the area. That's what flats in that part of London go for. Yes of course it's a lot more than some other places but that's the way it is. Nothing to do with the OP.

Secondly I wonder why so many people are really convinced that their sense of style is 'correct' Just take a look at any style or interiors magazine and you will see loads and loads of places with a similar look to this. Some of you react as if OP has just randomly thrown clutter into her home. I see a very carefully put together look which had been styled to look that way on purpose.If your sense of style has been formed by Next Catalogue and Dunhelm websites then maybe you see things differently but surely you can just conclude that it's not your style rather than it being 'wrong' or chaotic and unthinking. I will go further and say I'm not just defending a bohemian look for the sake of it (it's not my style either) but that this look is actually aspirational for this part of London.

Also, brutalist concrete blocks are now very fashionable. There are specialist estate agents catering to people who are actively looking to live in a place like this. Take a look at The Modern House as just one example. Again, I don't understand how people can make judgments about style or what is popular or fashionable if all they look at is high street style. People who choose to live in this area do not necessarily want to live the way you do. They buy art and read books. That's a lifestyle not a messy behavioural trait which needs fixing.

A very quick look indeed at celebrity's houses bring up this photo of Sarah Jessica Parker's extremely expensive home in New York. You will notice that she is also silly enough to have 'clutter' on her surfaces and paintings she has 'forgotten' to hang neatly on the wall. Perhaps some of you could go to her place with some pots of magnolia paint and some nice bits from Wilko to sort it out for her?

images.app.goo.gl/MN3DwinjTtFgsP7EA

I concur. Well said. The flat is a joy and carefully created. It is a million miles away from the grey paint and fake wooden floor places or the painfully glitzy creations.

@martysouth

There were more than 500 bitchy posts before mine bluntness. Bitchy and comical because many of them are just revealing how many people live in an aesthetic bubble.

I disagree that there were so many bitchy comments. Yes some were unkind, but the vast majority were trying to help the OP.

They buy art and read books. That's a lifestyle not a messy behavioural trait which needs fixing.

Exactly. I cringe at some people’s lack of knowledge about such things.

Do you not think architects, media folk, IT types read books and buy art @Janegrey333?

But those that are being critical are doing so from a position where the OP has asked for selling advice.

8f she had just come on and asked what people thought of her flat the responses would be different.

Something can be beautiful and interesting and full of character and personality and be a nightmare to sell.

Equally, something could present well to appeal across the board but not feel like a home until someone comes in and injects character into it.

I love it!!

If OP wants to sell quickly then she needs to a) declutter b) make the flat look more neutral and c) remove some of the personal touches of which there are too many. That is a well known general rule for selling, as the majority of people can’t imagine themselves in a space that shows too much of its owner’s personality, and many people will also be put off by the impression that there’s not much room for stuff and loads and loads of work to do to get the property the way they want it.

This rule makes no judgment on the OPs style or decor, it’s not about her or her home, it’s about the general psychology of potential buyers.

I’ve already said I love it, I think it shows great flair and creative talent. But I’m not potentially buying it.

If OP doesn’t mind staying in the flat for a while longer then she can leave it as is and wait for someone to come along who loves it and appreciates it and is happy to buy it. But it might take a while.

@Ickabog

Accusing anyone who says it’s cluttered of wanting to decorate a la next or Dunelm is comical

Considering the vast majority of posters have mentioned it being too cluttered, or needing to reduce the amount of stuff I expect Next and Dunelm to have massive profits this year. 🤣

Those who do not see this beautiful flat for what it truly is, must gravitate naturally to the Next school of interior design: a surfeit of grey, bought-in wooden floors, puffy leather sofas, an absence of books, prints as opposed to art and matchy matchy to the nth degree.

@Janegrey333 I know you’re trying to support the OP, but you’re actually being quite reductive in your thinking. Nobody with half a million quid to spend on a 2 bed flat is going to be shopping at Dunelm or painting every surface shiny grey.