How long to sell?

[kirinm]

We've had 3 weeks of viewings (2 of those weeks were on a Saturday only). We've had one offer but it was a bit low.

I think we've had about 16ish viewings so far.

It's driving me mad already. Overthinking everything particularly as we've had no feedback from the estate agent. We are the cheapest flat in our area excluding one or two on RM so don't think it's price and the agent hasn't suggested it is.

It's a FTB flat in London. Zone 2. Large garden. 2 beds. Anyone else selling and have any encouraging words?!

We also had someone come for a second viewing earlier this week and even showed the agent proof of her earnings so sounded like she was gearing up to make an offer but her friend apparently put her off overnight.

Proof of funds! Not earnings.

If it's a flat could it be to do with the lease? If you're happy to share the Rightmove listing that could help x

My belief is that London flat prices have not recovered because there are so many of them around. Its good yours has outdoor space but everywhere you look there are developments for 2 bed flats and a lot of LL are selling theirs too before the new budget.

Lease is 250 years but it's also share of freehold. Victorian conversion in a conservation area.

I'm afraid I'm not ready for the Mumsnet feedback on the flat. Maybe if we've not sold in a couple of weeks time!

Without knowing the price and location it is impossible to know what is causing buyers not to offer. I see stuff selling fine in Zone 3 but it has to be priced reasonably or in very good shape with no lease/service charge/cladding issues.

Lease is 250 years but it's also share of freehold.

How do you mean it is both? Is the freehold held by the flat leaseholders, but separately to the individual leases?

It's a leasehold flat and we own a share of the freehold of the building as shareholders in the management company. Anyone with a share of a freehold will still have a lease.

The underlying lease is still important and the usual rules apply in not letting it get too short so when we bought we got it extended to 250 years. It was down to about 86 years. The whole process of extending the lease when you also own a share of the freehold makes the process much easier and less costly!

It's a Victorian conversion so no cladding and no service charge etc.

Our estate agent said there's an average of 1 offer per 10 viewings which held true

Around 100 flats are built in London PER DAY on average. Why buy old stock if you can get a discount on new builds instead?

Obviously I can't guess without seeing yours but we're looking to buy at the minute and we'd consider a flat. The things that have put us (personally) off certain flats are: price. Too many steps (we have a baby in a buggy). Difficult garden access. Low ceilings. Size (some 2 beds really should be nice spacious 1 beds). Awkward layouts (conversion flats). High service charges.
I do think things are generally slow right now where I'm looking too.

Some of these could apply to us actually - although ours isn't really a family flat (ignoring the fact we've lived there as a family for the last 8 years)! We have a balcony with steps into the garden which could be off putting. Very much as was designed by the victorians but was a pain for us until our daughter got a bit older.

Flats are notoriously difficult to sell especially if for a similar price you can get a house. So in somewhere like South East London, flats that are 600k + take an age as the alternative could be a 2 bed cottage which many would prefer

19 viewers, (mostly time wasters or as I call them house tourists), 1 offer, accepted, then they lost their buyer, so we lost them. Been on the market 12 months, along with quite a few properties in my area. Ready to give up and just stay where we are. It's soul destroying....

Oh god, I couldn't manage 12 months!

We've been told there are two potential offers coming but one comes with a ridiculous list of things they'd like us to do which I'm not prepared to do. The other person knows the area really well and has family close by and that, is a massive bonus, for us. Those who know the area will love it for what it is even though it's still rough around the edges. They'll also know what sort of buildings they're dealing with.

This is such an emotional rollercoaster.

16 viewings in 3 weeks sounds pretty good, especially for a flat in London. I would be pretty optimistic that you will get another offer soon, hopefully one that it better than the previous.
The negatives for you are that there is a lot of choice for many Londoners and flats in general haven't been doing well/ some have been falling in price depending on the are/ type. Still you have had a lot more interest than many so have a very good chance of another offer soon.

We have had a bit of interest but overnight I've decided I'm not keen on progressing with one of the viewers. A really long list of demands which before an offer is made is really off putting. Fix this, remove that, replace carpet etc etc. I can guarantee that would be a nightmare of a sale.

Having sold a flat in London earlier this year, what I learned is that it's just really hard to sell a flat in London at the moment.

Mortgage rates are absolutely killing FTBs in particular, and there are so many new build flats being built every day- developers with massive portfolios can afford to offer huge discounts and accept 5% deposits, and anyone selling a non-new flat just can't compete in a lot of cases.

Our place was very reasonably priced, we weren't looking for a profit on what we'd bought it for at all, and even then we had to take a huge loss in the end because we just wanted to sell and get out of there. In our case we were moving somewhere that property was cheaper so we were able to do that, but appreciate this isn't an option for everyone.

To answer your question- it took us about 3 weeks to secure an offer, and another 5 months to actually complete the sale after that. If we hadn't taken the big loss, we'd probably still be there.