London flat not selling. Why? Why? Can you plz help me to understand.

[Mypizzicato]

My 3 bedroom flat is not selling. It has been on the market since a week before the 1st National lockdown in March.
Had a few viewings but not offer. Price was reduced twice since March.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/68930043#/

I think it's a nice flat in a great location. We also extended the lease till 2197
I know that London at the moment can be a difficult market but this would be still a nice flat when things would be back to normal.
Thanks for any suggestions

(looking at what else is on, I think you are now priced with replacement kitchen, bathroom and decorating taken into account)

Correction: Sellers think they should be getting for their property

To be honest it's simply that flats are not what people are wanting right now. It's a lot of money, you can buy houses which won't take you that much time commuting into central London. The market may change in the future but it has currently swung away from city living for families - you either need to style it youngish and funky to attract the affluent 20 something market or reduce it I would think. How far from the station, could be the issue

Quite ugly flats externally which will put a lot of people off. Most people I know who are moving are looking for gardens. It’s just not a good time to be selling an inner city flat.

Price.

I suspect it's the lack of outdoor space – for half a million, I'd want a garden!

May be a hard sell as leaseholders are liable for a share of the cost for any renovation works to be done to the block

Take all the curtains down and take pictures when it's really bright.

What does 'resonable outgoings' mean in the particulars ?

Gosh it's TINY.

Leaving aside the price which is eye-watering for London, the main issue is your kitchen. It's very dated. Lose the yellow frills around the window. Painting the units white or pale grey would make it look a lot more modern too. Outside is ugly, but there's nothing you can do about that.

Where's the third bedroom picture?

Does your block have an EWS1 certificate (fire safety)? If not no one can get a mortgage on it so it's cash buyers only. Speak to your estate agent. If you don't know what that certificate is, you need to. It's a big scandal. I think it's in a good location and a small bedroom makes a good office, but unfortunately ex Council flats are a no no for many buyers plus it's quite high up which is another thing against it. See what a letting agent says about renting it out, it's easy to show an empty flat in lockdown.

I live nearby - the price seems pretty reasonable for the size/type of property and the location is great. Clearly it needs work doing do it but I think that's taken into account with the price. I do agree with others though that things just aren't selling at the moment, particularly flats. I always keep an eye on the market and it's so slow around here right now.

It looks lovely to me, if its priced right I don't see why someone wouldn't want it. The only things that jumped out at me.were things others have already mentioned, the closed curtains in the loving room looks like its hiding something grim outside, the helmet in the kitchen I think makes it look more dated than it is, there's a couple of rooms not pictured (loo and a bedroom) and the initial pic of the outside isn't the most attractive, could you swap it for one of the balcony? It looks like a lovely home, just right for someone to move in and make it their own

OP I live in London and was looking to buy before the first lockdown, but me and most people I know in my position are holding off buying for a few more months to see how everything pans out. Some of my friends also need to now boost their deposits to move as most banks are looking for higher deposits. We had a look at a couple of properties but decided to delay it to March next year, prior to this (last year Oct/Nov) the market was moving very quickly.

We have just decided to rent a bigger place for 12 months. The rental market seems very busy (we saw 2 places on Saturday morning by 3pm both were gone as someone had paid the holding fee). Have you considered renting it out? You could get £2000+ but realise a lot of people dont want to become landlords. It's a lovely property and being slightly dated is normally not an issue in London from what I've seen, and actually I've seen really, really old dated decor, go for a fortune. A friend that's an estate agent said buying had slowed down drastically and many of their clients were moving away from London or doing what we are, moving slightly bigger (but interestingly still in flats just an extra bedroom) to see what happens with the housing market. I would suggest renting it out or taking it off the market for 6 months. Sorry, I realise that's probably not what you want to hear.

The other thing is no bath.

It's also on the 5th and 6th floor - is there a lift (if so, the agents need to state that in the description). This will put off one of your key markets (young families).

Ironically, I've actually looked at your flat (online) as I want a three bed in that area, but until my flat sells, I can't look seriously. (My flat is not selling because i have taken it off the market, which I had to do otherwise I was going to lose my tenants, and I can't risk it being empty).

If I was looking seriously, I'd be put off by the external shots - is it ex LA? Is it well maintained? As others have said, the interior does look dated and unloved which will put off another key market - youngsters being bought an investment pad by the bank of mum and dad.

Do you need to sell? If you can afford to, put it on a BTL mortgage and rent it out till the market evens out. You may need to do a quick redecoration, but better to have tenants in there paying you an income than leave it sitting empty for another six months.

I want to sell a property in London too, but the market is dead at the moment, and it’s tedious. On the upside, winter will remind people why living in cities is worth while. I also think that as soon as a vaccine is announced (should be quite soon), London will start bouncing back. Every serious employer I know is over wfh. People are starting to slack off (whether through taking the piss or just getting depressed sitting at home) and it’s not a permanent long-term option. I think people who think they’re going to wfh forever are going to get a sharp reality check soon. London’s seen off the everything from the Black Death to the blitz. It’ll bounce back from this too.

I’ve been encouraged by a guy I know who has made a lot of money on property who thinks this is London touching bottom. Bloody annoying if you’re trying to sell right now, but not a long-term thing.

It's quite dated, OP. And a bit bare.

Maybe take down the chintzy kitchen curtain things and replace with fresh blinds, a few rugs down, pictures up etc.

It does look spacious for a flat but, as ever, the photo of the outside of the block never looks nice.

I'm sure Covid has messed the market up. It's been really up and down this year and now we're heading back into Lockdown things have slowed again.

It's difficult for those of us outside of London to see these posts and be supportive. We paid less than that for a 5 bed Grade 2 listed old Manor house in a pretty village!

people are moving out of london, not into it at the moment. You might have to just wait it out.

The main problems you will have unfortunately are things you can’t change—lack of garden, size of rooms (assuming the 3rd bedroom is small), attractiveness of building.

The only way to get past these is price or having everything else outweigh the negatives. The kitchen would be the biggest changeable issues tbh—people looking to live there would probably want to update, and a lot of buy to rent landlords are not buying at the moment.

Personally I would spend a little bit on staging, and work in particular on kitchen (to make them look a bit more modern).

Is there a nicer photo of the outside available? Like a lovely autumn or summer one—tbh I think a lot of people won’t look further than this.

Sitting room is lovely but the photo doesn’t look immediately appealing? I think it’s the curtains and the way it had been taken? A big rug on the floor and open curtains would be way nicer—it looks really dark.

Kitchen: curtains need to go. Could you pay a builder to remove the kitchen cupboards, sand and paint? Wouldn’t be that expensive and would make it look a lot better—I think a lot of people see a brown kitchen and assume they’ll have to tear them out.

Lack of third bedroom photo makes you assume box room.

If i were you, I would restage and relaunch with a further discount—do both at the same time, try to hit a new price bracket.

Remove the dead plants from the window boxes on the balcony, remove or rethink those blue net things from the lounge, maybe paint the kitchen units and add some modern Handles, the second bedroom needs a bit of character maybe a picture on the wall?

It took us a while to sell our London flat - similar price point, similarly nice area, and first floor, couple of bedrooms. I think over 550k is a lot for first time buyers and second time buyers are often a teeny bit older and are thinking about having children at some point in the not too distant future and this flat isn’t suitable for that.
That’s what I found anyway

You're asking the same as the highest price a flat in your block has ever sold for and judging by the date that was some BTLer overpaying to beat the stamp duty deadline. Flats where the main attraction is proximity to Central London are a lot less desirable now plus it doesn't have a garden, the block is ugly and the flat itself is dated. You'd probably need to drop it sub £400k to shift it any time soon.

Sadly I know this isn't what you want to hear ...

But I suspect with the lockdown and fire safety concerns there simply aren't many people willing to pay over half a million pounds for a flat:

• with no outside space
• leased from the council (in a block that is still mostly council)
• in a building over 4 storeys tall

Before 2020 people were willing to put up with all the potential disadvantages (lack of outside space, the risk of bad neighbours, risk of being forced to pay for expensive fire safety work or being unable to sell, service charges) in exchange for the excellent location for transport - but with everyone working from home that advantange is gone for now.

Even for a landlord it's not much of a yield for the above risks + the risk of not being able to evict + possible restrictive covenants on letting ex-council properties.

e.g. gross rent achievable is about £1800 per month judging by www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86339404#/
so that's what, 3% a year net maybe?

Hang on though, that's the same property for rent isn't it - I do hope you will tell your tenants you are planning to sell it from under them?