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!

@Anoisagusaris

Missing the point here but the attitude to books on this thread is seriously depressing me. Children who can’t read should still be surrounded by books and read to every day. Homes should have books!!

Absolutely. The attitude to books as “ clutter” is profoundly depressing.

@Murmurur

Wondering if you could get a desk swapped in for a toddler bed just for the pics, even if you put the toddler bed back for viewings. I have been known to mock up a bed with cardboard boxes and pallets...

🙂👏🏻

[quote Puffykins]@Bluntness100 if I did bunks I'd put a desk in too though... looking out of the window. So showing that it could also be a home office?! [/quote]
This is a great idea. If you get bunk beds that can be seperated then you can still use them for the children when you move.

OP, can’t believe you’re asking what people do with all their stuff! Do you realise that hardly anyone has the volume of stuff that you have. That’s why people are saying it is cluttered. I have never seen a house that has so many books, art, no room to use the kitchen and generally stuff on every surface. And I have friends and family with a wide range of homes and lifestyles (and none of them in dreary grey Hinch type homes). Your home and lifestyle is very unusual, which is great as it obviously works for you... but people don’t do anything with all their stuff cos people don’t have this amount of stuff!

Books and paintings (to which I’m also addicted) are clutter if they’re in the wrong place. They need to be on shelves or on the wall.

Stacked everywhere and propped up against a child’s bed just makes me think, “not enough space”.

@martysouth

It is an absolute myth that there is such a thing as 'neutral' styling and decor. People believe this because they watched a property programme on TV in 2004 and that includes property agents.

There is no such thing as neutral decoration in the same way as there are no neutral accents or ways of dressing. As a southerner many people presenting tv sound neutral to me but not am aware that someone from another part of the country might think they sound posh or stuck up.

When I view a 'neutrally' decorated home I don't start imagining how it would look if I lived there I just think it reminds me of a provincial 'executive' catalogue style and it actively puts me off. It could be anywhere in the UK (or the world) and anybody can style a house like that in a weekend with no thought. It's not neutral to me it's actively off putting. I wouldn't want to live somewhere with no style.

The OP has actively styled her home. It's not chaotic or accidental. There's no need to patronise her by saying it's cosy or friendly. In fact I think it's very artful indeed. It's clear that the piles of books are not there because she's lazy or lacking in organisational skills. They are deliberately in camera view (though she may not have been conscious of it) because they signify her life style.

My DS is looking to buy at the moment so I have been viewing flats with him in London. He has a well paid professional job. He is actively NOT looking for the fitted kitchen, fitted wardrobe, fitted carpets look because this is so ubiquitous and a look anyone can create in a couple of days. He is looking for a place with real style. Places with style are aspirational. They signify that the person, the place and the area are not run of the mill ikealand.

Yes^^

@Anoisagusaris

Missing the point here but the attitude to books on this thread is seriously depressing me. Children who can’t read should still be surrounded by books and read to every day. Homes should have books!!

Of course they should. But this is about staging a home to sell for maximum profit.

FYI I think the home is beautiful for the current owner. But it is busy and full and it needs pared back so the buyer can visualise THEIR belongings in it.

Children not having stacks of books around them for a few months aren’t going to be irreparably damaged, I’m sure the OP’s new home will be equally full of books.

@Martysouth:
The OP has actively styled her home. It's not chaotic or accidental. There's no need to patronise her by saying it's cosy or friendly. In fact I think it's very artful indeed. It's clear that the piles of books are not there because she's lazy or lacking in organisational skills. They are deliberately in camera view (though she may not have been conscious of it) because they signify her life style.

Well said. Why are people finding this difficult to understand?

OP, can’t believe you’re asking what people do with all their stuff! Do you realise that hardly anyone has the volume of stuff that you have. That’s why people are saying it is cluttered. I have never seen a house that has so many books, art, no room to use the kitchen and generally stuff on every surface. And I have friends and family with a wide range of homes and lifestyles (and none of them in dreary grey Hinch type homes). Your home and lifestyle is very unusual, which is great as it obviously works for you... but people don’t do anything with all their stuff cos people don’t have this amount of stuff!

Bollocks. I have easily that much stuff, probably more. I'm just lucky enough to have a house more than twice the size of OP's.
Books are not clutter. Art is not clutter.

So calm down.

I assure you I am perfectly calm @Bluntness100.
What an odd thing to say!

You may have a lot of stuff, but I like your style. It shows personality and feels homely. Far far nicer than those dreadful bland, grey everywhere inside houses.
It also shows potential buyers how much stuff you can fit inside.
Fingers crossed you have some luck soon.

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.

I totally agree with this and the various other things @martysouth has said. This thread has completely run riot for a 'look at my house on rightmove' thread and there's been a lot of ignorance expressed. I had some advice for @Puffykins upthread, but tbh at this point, in her shoes, I think I'd be tempted to ignore the lot of it and just leave the flat as it is. It's clear opinions are wildly varied and only a fraction of them have any relevance to the likely response of anyone who's actually looking for this type of property in this part of the world. In any case, I think any perceived slowness to sell is mainly down to the wider socioeconomic picture, and not amenable to any manipulation.

Btw, OP, I work in a very similar field to you and live very close to your intended destination, so if I can help with local info at all, feel free to PM me. I think you've taken some of the frank bitchiness on the thread really well and, to complete people's MN bingo cards, think you sound lovely.

No-one is criticising the OP for the way she lives, or has her home BUT this is going to be someone else's home and they need to be able to visualise how their way of living will work in the property.

The walls of art - potential buyers may well think it looks fabulous but they will also be considering that when all the art work comes down it will leave masses of holes in the wall which will need to be filled and the entire wall will need to be repainted because no matter how clean you are the pictures will leave marks of where they have been, particularly if they have been there for a number of years.

Books, I have loads, but to have piles and piles of them everywhere, stacked to the ceiling just looks cluttered, untidy, no storage, can't really assess the size of the rooms.

No purchaser is going to think "Oh a well read, educated family live here I must buy this as then I'll be one."

Why is it patronising to say it looks cosy?

I think it's a lovely flat and can see the potential. I just think you need to depersonalise it a bit and put all the excess stuff - books etc in storage whilst you sell. Good luck OP sounds like you've been through it with your DH so I sincerely hope you get a sale soon and find the house of your dreams

@ConquestEmpireHungerPlague thank you so much, that is a really kind offer.

The attitude to books as “ clutter” is profoundly depressing
Point being missed a bit here. Books aren't clutter in themselves. Too many books everywhere to the point where a prospective buyer loses focus on the property is. Kitchen appliances aren't clutter, but if you're viewing any property and the sides are covered in kitchen stuff then it looks cluttered.

Then again, maybe all the potential buyers out there just lack your uniquely superior appreciation of interiors and are selfishly looking at a property for THEM to move THEIR things into.

It really doesn't matter whether any of us would like the OP's style or not, the house isn't being marketed as a fully furnished and curated property with a specific vibe. It's a property thay prospective buyers need to be able to see themselves living in. The OP has asked for advice and is taking it on board, so I've no idea why you seem to be so invested in challenging everyone

Hard to tell what its really like under all the clutter, although I suspect it has good "bones".

There's obvious work needs doing - bare plaster in the kitches so I would wonder what else needs doing and cant be seen - hidden behind everything. Also the general colour of the kitchen tiling, that bathroom would need to be out roght
Tje walls after removing the pictires probably need at least painting and from the way the inside of the front door looks the whole place is overdue a good cleaning.

Thaf said I can see why you love living there with all your favourite stuff around you, its just not going to sell the place.

OP, your flat is absolutely lovely (thank goodness it's not bland and gray!), in one of my favourite parts of London and really well-priced for the location (I lived in a similar-sized flat in Notting Hill in the past which is now valued at around 1 million!). The only things I can think of are the market cooling down for flats (rather than houses) in general, no pictures of the communal gardens and maybe the feeling it would be a bit tricky to navigate when viewing? Clearing floorspace may help with that and also let more light shine through the photos. I am not terribly keen on it being an ex-council block but that doesn't really affect the livability of the flat.

OP, aren’t you just down the road from the Workspace serviced offices?

Could you and your DH rent one as your office?

It would mean you could stay in your flat and send your kids to the excellent secondary schools on your doorstep.

Another question is why you’re putting your place on the market now? You won’t be able to leave for seven months, when the children finish school, which isn’t the sort of lead time I’d expect a chain-free FTB or BTL landlord prepared to wait.

@inchyra the lack of office is not the reason we're moving - we need more space in general (and more walls!) and another bedroom.

The children can switch schools in January if necessary. I'm not obsessed with their finishing out the school year. I just don't want to move to my parents house in the Yorkshire Dales, and then to Hastings, as that would be two school moves in a really short space of time (also my parents live very remotely, miles from any schools.)

@Shortfeet many posters including me have pointed out that there is a middle road.

As for the poster who suggested that bookshelves should be half full, words fail me. A full bookshelf is fine. Books piled up everywhere else isn’t if you are trying to sell a place.

I really don't get what people dismissing any constructive feedback by saying 'ignore them, they love clinical, grey, soulless homes' think they're trying to achieve (other than trying to prove how oh so infinitely more cultured they are because obviously they appreciate style more than anyone else).

Well said @LolaSmiles

OP, can’t believe you’re asking what people do with all their stuff! Do you realise that hardly anyone has the volume of stuff that you have. That’s why people are saying it is cluttered. I have never seen a house that has so many books, art, no room to use the kitchen and generally stuff on every surface.

This ^^
I live in a four bedroom house with a downstairs study. We have books and paintings, but nowhere near as many as the OP. I won’t tell you how much our house is worth because it would make Londoners cry.

@Puffykins

Also I'm spending today packing more boxes ready to go into storage. I'm also looking into new beds for the children - so, bunk beds? Or two singles?

I will put a lot more of the books away. I'm not taking down all the art or repainting the bathroom yet as that's a much bigger job.

I can't move to the country - the children need to go to school (here.) (There are other issues too: covid-related ones mainly.) I also don't want to rent - I'm not exactly cash-rich, and so the idea of paying the mortgage on this and rent somewhere else is not overly appealing....

Bunk beds or even better, get a single with a truckle bed hidden under it. Style and do the photos with only one bed visible then once photos are done, open up the truckle bed and use it for second child. It will be useful long term once you move

@BruceAndNosh GENIUS. Thank you!

but I don't really know anyone who would not buy a house because they didn't like the previous owner's pictures/furniture alignment.

well, I thought the same, as my parents always bought wrecks with 'potential' I am good at looking at the bones and not the dressing.

But one interesting thing from all those famous property shows is when they film people going round and listening to their comments

• I wouldn't wnat to live her, it wuold all need painting

-Oh don't like the colour on the wall.

• really isn't to my taste (referring to wallpaper and paint)

Also on here, on property threads, some people want it to be move in ready, which to me means that you can live in it and no building work needs doing, but to them means that they don't even have to repaint.