Flat doesn't seem to be selling?

[DAISYBELLAxx]

Hello everyone.

We are based in Surrey and looking to upsize. Our flat has been on the market for a month and it is just not selling.

We have had a total of three viewings but no offers. All viewings have been as a result of our estate agents calling people directly. Nobody seems to be enquiring from zoopla, rightmove etc off their own back.

I was wondering, as outsiders, if you could give your honest opinion as to why people are not proceeding to want to view. The link is: https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/67811323/

There are no bathroom photos currently and the estate agents are in the process of rectifying this (the photographer forgot to take photos of the bathroom??!!)

When people are viewing, I am always ensuring that I am keeping the flat clean, tidy and pleasant.

Your opinions would be much appreciated!

Thank you 😊

Oh gosh OP, it's a bit bleak.

Firstly, it's the lease, it's too short and that will put people off. Secondly, it's the price, that's too much of an increase from when it was bought. Thirdly, it's the presentation. The living room is absolutely soulless, particularly the window. Can you go and spend around £100 somewhere like Next home, some colour, plants, some nice cushions, and then (we might be over £100 now) a really nice blind/curtains? There is far too much furniture in the bedroom, can you move the drawers at the end of the bed out, it looks like you really have to shimmy round the bed and there's no real space...

Give it a good sort out, lower the price and you'll be getting there!

I wouldn't buy anything with that short a lease.

I've looked at the photos and the details and still can't work out if it's a ground floor or first floor flat.

It is incredibly bland. And looks very dated, especially the kitchen and main bedroom. That wouldn't be enough to put me off but I would expect the flat to be a lot less than similar properties which have been done up.

I don’t think the grey is a problem. Most people buying flats aren’t looking for them to look like a snug family home straight out of an interior design mag. It looks nice and neat to me.

It’s the price. Most properties bought during 21 and 22 were at the peak of house prices, and nobody is going to want to pay an extra 65k more than you did three years ago.

Most of the flats I have recently seen on houseprices.io are losing a LOT money in ‘real’ terms, most buyers are aware of the hoo-ha around leasehold reform and utterly pisstaking management fees, as there has been a lot of press around both. It is not a good time to be selling a flat.

If you priced it at what you bought it for, you might stand a chance of selling it pretty quickly. If you are in an extremely desirable area you still might stand a chance at closer to the asking price with patience.

You can find out lots online about extending a lease but here's a starting point:

https://www.gov.uk/leasehold-property/extending-changing-or-ending-a-lease

Sitting room is so dull and cold. It looks empty and not homely. The bedroom cupboards would put me off too as dated. Also the lease is very short. The outside photo as well makes the building look a bit unkempt too which would put me off.

The listing doesn’t include anything about the service fees etc just says to ask. Hard for people to know true cost without that

Anyone with an ounce of imagination wouldn’t be put off by the decor.

I think it’s more likely to be the leasehold & price combined.

The problem with such a short lease is that getting a mortgage on this flat will become impossible in the near future. It needs to have at least 70 years left otherwise most mortgage companies won't lend you money and you can only sell to cash buyer. For that reason alone I would not even view this apartment because when I come to sell it on it will will be almost impossible and I would take a big hit financially. I also wouldn't buy it and then pay to extend it, that would have to be done by the current owner.

It's also not great decoratively, but the lease and the price is the main issue.

Also - the agent says ‘Presented to market following extensive refurbishment’…

… which looking at the photos, is not really the case is it. It’s fine, but what refurbishment has taken place? A new carpet? Painting the living room walls?!

Info on leases. The less time remaining on a lease, the more you pay to extend.

In order of what logically will be putting people off (and therefore what you should sort out and spend money on):

The lease length, and the ability to get a mortgage on the property without it being extended
The price (especially compared to the local competition, there’s a “share of freehold flat that’s better looking for the same price in the list of nearby properties) and whether a lender will think it’s worth the price
Whether there’s any chance of adding value beyond the market changes so that you can go up the property ladder in the future
Service charges, maintenance costs and whether it’s had any of the expensive repairs, maintenance etc done e.g. boilers, central heating etc
and at the end of the list are the finishing touches like bedsheets or cushions to mitigate the grey and bland presentation

Sorry if that’s harsh but the market is tough and if you’re serious about selling for that price then you’ll have to work to get it, and that’s not just running the hoover around before a viewing, it’s making it very sellable to the viewers and the lender.

Once the lease is up the flat is no longer yours?

No floor plan - why?

You can't change the motorway, but the outside garden needs work to give it more appeal from the outside. The greyness is very depressing. Everyone will be checking past sold prices on Zoopla and nobody wants to pay you to go from £185 to £240k in just 3 years!

From memory, a fair few mortgage lenders won’t lend on a leasehold with fewer than 90 years left to go so you’re narrowing your market by not extending the lease. It’ll be lease term and price that’s affecting interest.

Lease length; outside maintenance looks poor - if the management company can't cut the grass can they be trusted to look after the roof?

Agree with others re lease - ask solicitor how much extending it would cost or weight that up re decreasing the price to attract people.
Few simple things would help, add colour to living room, cushions , rugs, artwork and some nice houseplants you can take with you. I would remove the drawers from bedroom (put them in storage / charity if you’re not taking them with you) and get rid of the striped quilt, go for a nice plain neutral/white in both rooms.
Bottom line is price, decide how long you are willing to wait and what you are prepared to accept.

Kindly OP, the agent are having you on with that valuation to win your business.

There is no way that it is worth 45k more than it was 3 years ago with the market being as it is. As PP said, you will be lucky to break even in the current market.

The lease length is a problem- a lot of mortgage providers will not lend on a lease that length. You could extend this but this will come at a cost, several thousand. Or you will need to take this off the cost of the property.

Pictures wise it's not very homely and I personally wouldn't view a property with no floorplan or pics of the bathroom (a clue as to how crap your agent is honestly!) but really none of that is as important as the first two things.

To me it’s like a blank canvas so that would be fine (but my god how boring to live like that!). The outside maintenance looks..like there has been none. That area looks like a complete dump.

Hi OP, a few things:

• It's a leasehold, and it's a short lease!!
• "Extensive" refurbishment... where?
• Photos of the storage in the communal hallway would be good
• Communal gardens look absolutely awful. Can you give it a really good tidy, and re-photograph?
• No mention of any parking, if there is any.
• Kitching/Dining space... not sure if this is a typo but I can't see where you'd eat in the kitchen...
• No curtains... or decor... looks lifeless. Add some plants/photos/rugs!!

Sorry- just seen there is a floorplan.

It’s very depressing and institutional. You do need to sort the lease. Estate agent has done him no favours not advising him on that.

Thank you everyone for your honest feedback.

I will need to speak to my partner about extending the lease, I don't think he has the funds to pay thousands upon thousands 😫. Do you think that if we dropped the price of the property, people would be more likely to buy despite the short lease? Or do you think this is something we absolutely need to do?

I can see what you're saying about a 45K price increase... it seems very steep and we were surprised at the time.

There should be a floor plan on there under the floorplan tab? I am going to check again...

In terms of the bland colours, we have redecorated on a budget as we knew we were selling. We wanted to go for neutral colours as we thought thus was the safest bet. Although I do now see what you are saying about it being depressing! Any ideas on what colours I could get for some cushions, rugs etc?

Thank you again, this advice is very valuable and not things that I had previously considered.

Firstly as others have said, it's a short lease and people might not want that.
Secondly the bathroom seems to actually be a shower room? Now I don't mind that, but it's a 2 bed and people with small children often prefer a bath. A shower over the bath is fine, but getting a small child to take a shower can be difficult.
And the grey is a bit uninviting.

In terms of communal areas, these are often a problem. The company does not maintain things well and we have had many complaints against them. They charge us a service charge yet do very little which is disappointing.

I agree about the need to extend lease length. When we sold our flat a few years ago, it had 89 years left on the lease and every single estate agent advised us to get it extended before going on the market (which we did and then it sold quickly at full asking price). I think anything under 99 years will put off a lot of people, as they will be thinking of resale value etc.

As others had said, the decor is very bland - can you at least put a few colourful pictures on the wall, and a few large plants here and there?