Anyone selling a flat in London?

[kirinm]

If so, how are you finding the market. I've got an agent coming over in an hour and don't really trust what they say. Two agents have already told me there's a huge gap in the market for our sort of flat but seem to think we've not noticed the other, very similar, flats on our road that have taken about 6 months to sell.

London isn't one market, it's a collection of lots of different markets.

So one person's experience may not be yours, and if two similar flats in a similar area have taken ages to sell then that's gonna be more relevant then what anyone says on here unless of course they are in the same area as you selling the same thing.

You can judge whether there's really a gap in the market yourself - just go into Rightmove and search for your own area, you don't need an agent to tell you this.

The primary reason flats seem to struggle to shift is because they are priced too high. I see blocks of flats near me where the owners put them up for sale at 2020 prices (£450k or similar) and then complain the market is slow when they invariably do not sell. But a while back I noticed someone putting up a flat for £350k undercutting everything else by some way and it was gone in a week (and when the LR came out it was £370k).

Yes I appreciate London is made up of mini towns so it's all fairly variable. The flats that sold near me (actually next door and across the road) aren't the same - particularly as they lack the garden we have.

We've had valuations between £525-575k and then some of the flats around us (on different roads) are sitting on the market at £485k - £600z LR is taking so long to update it's hard to find out what things are selling for.

I'm selling in SE London and finding it slow. A steady trickle of viewings - 6 in 8 weeks, plus a 7th who cancelled at the last minute having had an offer accepted elsewhere. I'm priced low for my area (10-12% under the estimates from 3 EAs very active locally), but finding that FTBs are being very picky. I reduced after a month or so against the advice of the EA thinking that it would boost viewings, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. (Although OTOH maybe I'd have had even fewer viewings if I hadn't!)

More info needed. Where in London, on tube/overground/train? What type of flat: new built, conversion, mansion block? How much is the service charge? Who is the average person living in your area? I sold in SW London and had a lot of interest but took some weeks to sell, my flat was stunning 🤭 with retro vibe, high ceilings, green area, communal garden etc

Zone 2, SE London. On the overground with trains to London Bridge (6 mins) and Victoria.

Conversion flat in big Victorian villa. Private garden of 100ft. Conservation area Immaculate condition.

Share of freehold and we pay on an as and when basis.

EA came yesterday and came in with a price nearly £75k less than 2 other agents which is a huge difference and frankly we aren't that desperate to move.

I think this was my neighbours experience. Lots of first and second viewings and picky FTB. I can understand why FTB are nervous about spending so much money when rates are so high,

I mean we are on the overground- 2 stops to the underground - but with trains to LB and Victoria.

I had 3 valuations with the lowest being a 100k lower than the high one😳
I went with the middle one, as they also had the lowest commission. Your area sounds quite desirable and very pretty which definitely puts you in a good starting position. There were two flats up for sale on our road at the same time as ours and our was the most popular because it was so nicely decorated and furnished by my artistic hand 🫳🏽
we were quite desperate to sell, so I pretty much facilitated any viewing request including Sunday mornings or weekday evenings and treated it like a job. You can just put it on the market and ‘see what happens’

Funnily, we had a local EA in last week. He gave us a price for a sale value whilst in our flat. When he returned to his office, he sent through a list of similar properties from rightmove- all of which were £200,000 less than his quote! I mean, I don't expect an absolute figure to the nearest £, but a £200,000 difference is ridiculous!

We are going to rent it for the moment. I don't trust EA either! I can't answer your question OP, but wishing you all the best.

We sold last year, flat on the river in SE London. Lots of viewings and met our asking price. Could maybe have gone for higher but we were happy enough with our asking price so left it there. I guess it depends on whether the area and type of flat is in demand.

This EA's approach seems to be start low and try and get into a bidding war.

I wouldn't want to use them at all - and actually only contacted them because they are selling a house we'd interested in. Nothing they said changed my mind!

This guy kept showing me flats with communal gardens. I had to repeatedly remind him that ours is private. He actually then said oh the particulars are wrong on this one (flat he showed me).

The pictures and the descriptions they use are also pretty poor. Think I've decided we won't be going with him!