1 Bed Flat which just wont sell!!

[danielleir]

Hi everyone.

Me and my boyfriend put our 1 bed flat on the market in September of last year to try and sell with the view of up grading to a 2/3 Bed house in the same area. By December it had lots of viewings but no offers so we took it off the market as we didn't think we'd be able to buy anywhere before the end of the stamp duty holiday and would need a few extra months to save the difference.

Then the stamp duty holiday was extended so we went back on the market in March with a different agent (still not expecting to complete before the end of the holiday but we have more saved now).

Its been over a month and we've only had one viewing this time round!! We've since reduced the asking price, took all new pictures to jazz up the listing. and nothing!

We don't have the option to go any lower on our asking price and don't have the option of letting the flat out instead of selling.

This is our first flat (we're 25) and have no idea what more we can do to get it moving as know the longer its on now the 'staler' it looks...

Is it just the market at the moment?
Any top tips for property newbys?
Or even just advice to not loose faith?

For context, we're in a village in St Albans and have lived here 2.5 yrs. Its a first floor flat with large private garden

Agree with others. That drone picture doesn't tell me anything.
I would actively want a garden, but I would want one with easy access from the house. If you have that, it needs to be on the details.

The flat looks really tiny, yet you say you are working in the living room, which tells me it isn't as small as it looks.

It would be the lease for me. I scroll to look at this before anything else on flat listings. You could offer to extend the lease as part of the sale or at least get the ball rolling and transfer it to the owners. You can’t extend a lease until you’ve owned for 2 years, so it would be 93 years at that point and you’d be looking at thousands. That’s what I see when I look at your listing.

Sadly some people are put off by ex council - ex council are, to be frank, utilitarian but with better space internally, & people expect to get a good deal. As pp have said back garden needs brightening up.
Quite a few nice pots with flowers, different sizes-shapes grouped together (buy pots from Homebrands, B & M or charity shops et al) a few nice large ones. Remember these can go with you! I got some nice cheap plants from Morrisons. & edging in the garden is important it makes it look cared for. B &Q often do those seasonal plant packs for planters & perhaps a cheap planter for the front after you have tidy it up to give kerb appeal

The garden is a mess. If that is your main selling point it needs tidying.

I don't know why people are so anxious about 95 year lease you should be able to get ordinary mortgage down to 80 years & the government is actually looking into controlling high lease costs.
Actaully I think the problem is 2 things - you are competing with a lot of new flats often shared ownership etc & landlords who might of previously be interested in buying small flats are actually selling or not extending their stock.

It’s the price. If you click on market information on Rightmove and look at things under offer, there are bigger (by square footage) one-beds that are more jazzed up/polished, with storage, longer leases, garden (albeit one is communal), etc, for £225. Yours is really very small at under 500sq ft and no one’s looking for small right now, after the experiences of the past year, however big the garden. Why would someone buy your under-500sq ft short-lease flat for £220 when they could get another 100sq ft of space and 10-20 more years on the lease for only £5k more?

I wouldn’t even view due to the length of the lease.

The drone picture doesn't tell me anything, the garden looks messy and hard work which would put many single people/young couples off. The blue circle and hanging thing are weird, could you paint the wall behind the bed to get rid of the circle?

I’d agree with thr others, improve the images, remove the uterus, it made me do a double take, and tidy the garden up.

Get the kitchen window cleaned inside and out, it looks very cloudy? Could be a blown glazing unit, could just need a good clean.

The space needs some TLC, it looks like unloved.

• Living room: Remove the armchair, side table and the hats. The rug should be placed the other way around. Put a vase with flowers in the coffee table.
• Garden: Pay someone to tidy it up and buy some big plants and flowers. Buy some nice garden furniture

Its a cute flat well done!
My first flat at your age (rented) was way smaller than that, the kitchen was the size of half your sofa 😂

Anyway!
One thing which is bugging me a bit is that I can't see any dining table. The living area isn't big (mine's the same size, not judging you at all) and all I can see is a massive sofa and coffee table, it overwhelms the space a bit and doesn't show any opportunity to do something else than watching TV.
I'd go for a smaller sofa, smaller coffee table, a little console which could stage a home desk, and a small dining table for 2 (unless you have that in the kitchen, in which case i'd love to see that on the photos.

I personally don't really care about space, what I want as a buyer is to see how versatile a space can be.
Ditto for the garden. Without any furniture which would give away how you guys use it, I'd just think its inconvenient to get there and would pay a premium for something I wouldn't use.
A small table, two chairs, a chaise longue, some herbs...

Maybe also a lick of paint on the ceiling in the kitchen and in the bedroom (I'd do the wall behind the bed entirely navy, your target is FTB, young people like you, some would want some place they can put their furniture and not do anything, and the round patch might not be everyone's cup of tea)

Where do you park? From the drone photo it looks like there are zigzags on the road at the front and double yellows stretching around the corner. And is it a pedestrian crossing - does it beep all day/night?
There is a lot of ivy making it look dark and dingey. I'd clear that for starters, replace the dilapidated fence if you can afford to, give the lawn a decent hair cut and clear any dead vegetation from the garden. Trim everything back. Dig a flowerbed down one side and plant few shrubs and bedding plants (perfect time of year to do this) to get some colour.

Agree with the PPs re: the bits and bobs you could do to make it look better in the photos.

Also, one bed flats are usually what first time buyers go for (in cities, at least) and with covid, etc. it's a rubbish time for them to get a mortgage. I think I read that since covid, the number of mortgages available for first time buyers have reduced by 70% 🙁

It needs a good smarten up OP, that garden looks great, but it's really scruffy, have a massive sort out/tidy up, what's going on with the borders? Where's the colour?

Take the jars off the top of the kitchen cupboards, indicates no storage.

Take the thing down from over your bed, remove the blue circle if possible. Iron your bedsheets and make the bed really tight, like a hotel bed.

The living room is where you need the most action, remove the hats, and the chair by the door. Think about removing the coffee table and turn your rug around! The living room curtains look a bit scruffy, can you get something a bit smarter and the right length, from somewhere like Facebook marketplace? Sofa looks scruffy, can you get some new cushions?

If you absolutely went for it, you could sort everything out this week/weekend for about £100 spend. You sound lovely, you just nerd to have one big push and you'll be outta there!

Spend some money on the garden. Get it tidied, new fence up and highlight where it is on the drone photo.

Take the stuff off the kitchen cupboards and re do the photo. That shouts “ kitchen ain’t big enough “ too

Could you get a couple of fancier bits for inside, some candles, nice towels in the bathroom, flowers, plants etc? I fully appreciate that I sound like a right bossy cow but I did this with my house a few years ago following MN advice and got 4 offers in 48 hours as a result!

Is this flat yours from a previous listing? www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=85049722&sale=8825278&country=england

The living room looks so much bigger! Can you use those photos instead, or get new ones taken from the same angle?

Looks like you've got decking in the garden too? Would be good to include that. Autumn/winter gardens with long wet grass and leaves never look tidy, but the pic on the old listing looks much neater.

Agree with PP on garden etc. The bedroom looks tiny too.
Where do you eat? Do you have a dining table? Also worth having a photo of your hallway?

@SallyOMalley

Is this flat yours from a previous listing? www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=85049722&sale=8825278&country=england

The living room looks so much bigger! Can you use those photos instead, or get new ones taken from the same angle?

Looks like you've got decking in the garden too? Would be good to include that. Autumn/winter gardens with long wet grass and leaves never look tidy, but the pic on the old listing looks much neater.

These photos are so much better! The flat looks much bigger overall (but where do you eat :-)

God these photos are way better!
Can't believe that they didn't show that the living room had dual aspect, its such a great feature! Means loads of natural light and easy to cool down.
Kitchen looks way better in this listing.

Basically this listing shows 3 big selling points that aren't highlighted at all in the other listing:

• a cute decent sized kitchen
• a great decking area
• a bloody dual aspect living area + chimney and built in shelves.

And all of that with the sun, what else to ask for?

It’s your lease hold ,would never buy with lease hold ,definitely not one with only 95 years

@SallyOMalley

Is this flat yours from a previous listing? www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=85049722&sale=8825278&country=england

The living room looks so much bigger! Can you use those photos instead, or get new ones taken from the same angle?

Looks like you've got decking in the garden too? Would be good to include that. Autumn/winter gardens with long wet grass and leaves never look tidy, but the pic on the old listing looks much neater.

these pictures are SOOO much better!

This flat looks lovely and not tiny and the living room looks large.
This flat the front is attractive.
This flat the bedroom looks twice the size too.

Agree! Use the living room photo and the decking photo from the other listing - so much better!

@DragonDoor

The picture of front of the house and path is unappealing. Is the front garden a shared area? It looks uncared for.

The back garden looks neglected. Could you take new photos and put out some plants in pots and some garden furniture?

This, the front garden would well and truly put me off and I’m not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination.