Advice on (trying) to sell flat in London

[kleto]

This is the first time I've tried to sell a property, and my head is spinning! I've had my 2 bed, zone 2, victorian terraced flat on the market for two months now. Dropped the price £50k, changed estate agents, done everything I can think of.

Had one offer that fell through and maybe a total of 8 viewings. I know the market has changed dramatically since i bought it in 2015, but I'm not sure what else I can do to sell it. I keep hearing the market is really good and people selling up super quick, but not happening at all for me. I

Really want to sell as my partner and I are moving out of the country, but at this point I'm trying to decide if I should just drop the price even more or rent. Wondering if others are having similar problems? If so, are you trying to wait out out and rent the property or dropping the price more?

I wouldn’t consider 95 years to be a good lease and think this will definitely deter a sale.

I really like it but I would not spend half a million on it. I would want somewhere bigger or more cental for that kind of money.

It has 95 year lease and low charges, which I think is pretty good

See 95 years would put me off a bit, because I would need to extend the lease whether I was staying put or reselling in 5 or 10 years.

It's not really a massive chore or very expensive but... I'd prefer a longer lease. I see why the agents haven't put it in the listing, although the lack of info might also make me skip past.

I would want somewhere bigger or more cental for that kind of money.

Yes, maybe a house in Primrose Hill for your £500k.

I would want somewhere bigger or more cental for that kind of money.

Chortle... good luck with that!

It’s a lovely looking flat OP, hope you sell soon!

I'm guessing you don't live in London. This is an average sized Victorian flat and they don't usually struggle to sell or appeal to landlords only.

Not quite, I currently have my 2 bed flat under offer in a similar North London location so I know quite a lot about selling a flat in London.

600 sq ft is tiny for a two bedder in London.

I would probably have it neutrally redecorated between tenants and rent it out again. This isn’t a good time to sell this kind of property, and in the meantime perhaps you could find out how difficult/ expensive it would be to extend the lease. Then you’d be in a much better position to sell it after the next tenant.

It’s not tiny and comparable to many other two beds but the short lease (I would consider anything under 100years to be short) and the fact there are tenants in are the two big factors IMO. You will need to give your tenants 6 months notice and there’s no guarantee at that point that they will go. That’s very unattractive to any buyer. No wants to wait at least 6 months for exchange

I also agree with the pp who said change the tiles. I think you should also look into the tax treatment of any improvements. For example, you may be able to replace the bathroom or kitchen like-for-like with a new one and offset it against rental income. When you come to sell, this will obviously make it easier to sell your flat but also likely increase its value. I think you can also claim costs for refurbishment against CGT if the purpose is to sell.

@TheYearOfSmallThings

It’s very small, no outside space, absolutely no storage & you’ve got tenants in situ. Flats like this struggle as there aren’t really any landlord buyers around.

I'm guessing you don't live in London. This is an average sized Victorian flat and they don't usually struggle to sell or appeal to landlords only.

They will only appeal to landlords if they have tenants in situ Nobody with sense will offer on a property with tenants in if they plan to live in it

@lllllllllll

I would want somewhere bigger or more cental for that kind of money.

Chortle... good luck with that!

It’s a lovely looking flat OP, hope you sell soon!

When the demand for central flats was high perhaps, but it's not now. I wouldn't buy an expensive flat in London until we see how things pan out with home working and what that does to prices.

600 sq ft is tiny for a two bedder in London.

Lol! Um, it really is not! It’s actually pretty spot on average

For the price you've listed at, i'd be expecting at least 800sqft. It's overpriced imo, sorry but it is.

@Koalababy

600 sq ft is tiny for a two bedder in London.

Lol! Um, it really is not! It’s actually pretty spot on average

My one bed is almost 600sq ft and I don't find mine particularly generously sized. It's just ok.

I live in London and vaguely know the area though I'm now on the other side of town. The lease length wouldn't put me off - value starts to be affected below 80 years iirc, cost of extending before then tends to be reasonable and you can extend once you own for two years. I also don't think it's that cluttered (parent of toddler...). It's just a bad time to be trying to sell a small(ish) no-garden London flat with no scope to extend, imo. So the two options are either drop price drastically, or don't sell. Especially for that kind of money, which is absolutely "standard cost of flat in NW6", but post-covid people look around and realise that they can buy half of Catford for that kind of money.

Theyearofsmallthings and lllllllll

Pleasant scoffing there.

Also inaccurate. I didn't say I would be able to get a house or something central for half a million. I said if I was going to spend that amount of money I would want somewhere bigger or more cental. Not sure why anyone would scoff at that. I don't live anywhere near London anymore because I don't like it. I would have no desire to live in a small flat with no outside space on the outskirts of London even if it was much cheaper. Hence, I think the price is too much though it is a nice flat. Valid point. Obnoxious laughing emojis or not.

Ok - thanks for all the feedback. The flat is what it is and nothing I can do about the size.

Tenants are leaving next month. Re-renting, fixing up a bit in between and looking into updating lease sounds like great advice,

Thanks again.

London rents are frequently being reduced right now and hang around longer as fewer tenants around.

I don’t think you need to worry too much about the lease. We didn’t have any issues raised with 93 years and our estate agent wasn’t concerned. I think the price is pretty reasonable on a psf basis, so I don’t think it’s the price either.

The problem is that after 12 months of WFH, people are realising if they go one zone further or a 20 minute walk from a tube, that they can get an extra bedroom/outside space for the same price. We kept getting this feedback - they’d see 6 flats in a day between Zone 2 & 3 and always would go for the Zone 3 option.

I suspect the market will come back towards the end of the year as London kicks into life. It’s just a really bad time to sell this kind of flat & in situ tenants makes it extremely difficult.

Did you have any luck selling yours? My agent has said lease is done too ... who knows!

We did eventually (listed during the third lockdown) but we have a large outdoor space.

I live in a first floor Victorian terraced flat with a similar floorspace in zone 2 south London. But the room at the front hasn't been chopped up. It makes for a large lounge with a bit of wow factor.

My kitchen is where you have your 'Bedrooom 1'. There's room for a floor standing fridge-freezer, a tumble dryer, and a table for meals with friends (when that's allowed).

My flat has a box room carved out of the bathroom. It's big enough for a child under 10 but not really for an adult.

I think these flats are great for a couple, or a couple with a small child. But I just don't think there's enough floor space for two adults (and partners) to co-exist in them in the work-from-home, exercise-at-home, socialize-at-home era.

So... My suggestion... Remake the original large lounge... Move the kitchen to bedroom 1... Reduce the price and market it as a 56sqm 1 bed!!

Or don't do any of that but just reduce the price because there are just so many 60sqm 500k flats that were 250k-300k flats 10 years ago, and something has to give...

If you can drop the price to make it the most cheapest then it will sell...i would also extend the lease to a longer period....its early days with the flats and houses property cycle....i would maybe let it out for another year and see what happens....
lots of new build flats near me are all unsold yet loads more going up...some one must buy them eventually !

It’s a nice flat, but the kitchen is pretty dated Having a look at what else is available in the area around that price they are two bed flats, but they are bigger and really smartly done. You may need to cut the price a bit further I’m afraid OP

Ha - if you don't live in zone 2 or closer you can't comment on the value of the flats or size! This flat is slightly bigger than my two bed, and mine is worth over £700k, and if I was a mile east it would be over £1m. It's all location.
The size is fine and typical. The decor and presentation is not - I think you need to remarked it once your tenants leave and you've spruced it up a bit.
I don't know that area, but it seems looking at the other for sales, under offers and sold comparables they are under £400k, except for two. And the sold ones over that all have nice outside space.
Of you don't need the capital now I'd relet after doing some repairs and updates (and I hate exposed boilers - put a cupboard around it).
Once your lease drops below 90 it will be a hard sell- have you investigated extending it?