Please tell me why this flat isnt selling?

[curiouscat1987]

Posting this for a family member. Flat has been on the market for months and not only hasnt had any offers but hasnt even had a single viewing! The price was in line with the area, but has been dropped twice and agent changed too with new photos but still no viewings. Its a lovely little place, not the biggest but lovely and bright and quite modern. Im not the best at design etc so would appreciate any thoughts on what they could do to improve the desireability or improve for the photos etc to get some more interest?

Obviously they know they can drop the price, however if they drop it much more they'll be selling for what they bought for 10 years ago!

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156450941#/?channel=RES_BUY

Thanks everyone ☺️

I would love to get a bigger flat with a balcony and sea view for less than that in Brighton/Hove. Sadly the ones I see are about 850k.

I think your relatives probably over paid for the flat. The second bedroom is small. The kitchen looks tiny and half the space looks unusable. Not a good photo of the bathroom. It makes it look cramped. The EA has not given any details like the cost of the lease, how many years left, maintenance charges and not even a photo of the block of flats. It makes me think they must look ugly from the outside because if they looked nice they'd have included a photo. Instead they've added two photos of other houses which is confusing. Also the flat doesn't have much personality. I'd not like to live in a flat but if I wanted to buy one I'm sure I could get better for my money. If they need to sell they need to drop the price significantly.

Share of Freehold doesn't mean shared ownership. It means the flat owners jointly own the Freehold. They can, for example, extend the Lease.

It would be helpful to have information on length of lease and the annual service charge. Also Parking!
This flat unfortunately has some other serious negatives. It needs to be priced low for the size to have a good chance of selling.

This is about price. A similar (non sloped ceiling flat) with same sqft sold for 15k less last year:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/details/england-128448227-21057670?s=7ba670c5b58875a0038788f6e3d31884ca69ebe8622d91b4c97b1f529f623029

there are also many flats with same sq ft for much cheaper in the area.

It seems like they overpaid 10 years ago.

Do people commenting about price actually know the area? As if not, it's beyond pointless saying it's far too expensive and to knock at least 100k off 🙄

How can anyone live in Brighton if this is what £325k gets you??

Brighton is pleasant enough but its so not worth it.

Where I live (city with a similar demographic / nightlife / culture but other end of England) you can get a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom flat with outdoor space for half this price.. it's a completely different world so I suspect only a Brighton MN audience is likely to be able to give real practical advice to this post.

Apologies, I missed that bit🤗 rest of my suggestions stand then.

Not enough interior photos and the ones that are listed are unappealling. Why would I need more photos of houses and sky than the actual flat?

It's the kitchen. Looks horrendously pokey to the point of being unusable.

I like the views, and it seems light and tidy but it is a small apartment, made smaller by the sloping ceilings. If the oven is approximately 60-70cm in height, then from the photo it would be hard to move about without banging your head on the slope. I can't speak for Brighton prices, but it is very expensive.

I'm 5' 1 so the ceilings didn't register much to me. 😂

It's a nice bright flat, lovely views.

I was thinking it could only be the price, but it seems like the ceilings are a big issue for most people.

Looks like you wouldn't be able to stand up in it... and the weird half windows are weird!
Too cramped. Maybe the photos are bad.

It looks nice enough but those sloped ceilings, is a no straight away.
Lack of space, no balcony, photos need redoing, crap views, [views and ceilings. can't be helped] but waaay too expensive.

Brighton used to be the place you moved to if you couldn't afford London. You can definitely get a similar flat in an OK part of Zone 4 London for this price now.

Unfortunately the economy and the context is not favouring flats at the moment. FTBs are few on the ground. 10 years ago was the peak of the market - before Brexit and when there was still an Olympic wave of optimism in this country. Can it be rented out instead?

I don't live in Brighton but just along the coast and that little flat is more expensive than my 3 bedroom house with a fairly large garden! There was actually a feature on BBC Radio Sussex this morning stating how Brightonians can't actually afford to live in Brighton now because of house and rental prices. Madness.

To the OP, I know it's Brighton and Brighton is notoriously expensive but I'd want a lot more bang for my buck.

Pictures do not flow. I didn’t even realise there are two bedroom until I read the floor plan.

It feels tiny. The pictures of the inside make it look like half the space is un-usable because of ceiling height and the second bedroom is a) too small to be described as a double and b) not presented as a bedroom. I feel like I've seen all there is to see of the flat in 5 interior photos and it doesn't wow me.

It looks like there's minimal storage space, which would make living in it feel extra cramped.

The odd windows are off-putting. They'd annoy me far too much.

3 photos of what's outside the window, and they're all a bit same-y, really.

No photos of what the outside of the building actually looks like.

The language used doesn't reflect the images. Who is the flat being marketed at? It doesn't look like a cosy, tranquil or sleek home, or a chef's dream. It looks more like it could be marketed at young professionals who need something practical and close to links for commuting, but the pictures and text don't give a coherent picture. The schools nearby generally don't look that impressive from the Ofsted ratings (mostly good, one of the closest requirements improvement and one a little further away in special measures) so it's unlikely to attract people who are willing to compromise on property size/features to get children into the nearest schools. I'd probably say young professionals are your best bet demographic-wise, but they're not necessarily going to pay that much for a small high-rise flat.

Get the photos and text re-done and lower the price.

I know some peeps might like the views of endless buildings and the odd tree but....everyone is different.

flats seem to be difficult to sell atm. It took ours two years (we took it in and off the market in that time) and we sold it for less than we bought it for in the end 😕 our estate agent said they it’s not uncommon atm (we’re in north London).

The pictures are poor. It's really difficult to get a sense of the space from them. I think they need to show the rooms in their entirety and from better angles. I'd also like to see a front of building picture and one taken in the communal hall/stairway.

Not enough interior photos. The sloping ceiling looks like you literally can't stand up.

Look at the photos of the one bed that sold recently, they are great ( on the 'recently sold ' in the listing.
Change agents to the agent who took those photos. This agent doesn't even seem to be trying g to sell it.

It’s overpriced for a flat. And a lot of people are financially worse off than they used to be due to cost of living, massive utility bills, employers can’t afford inflationary pay increases or bonuses due to the increase in employers NI contribution. Unemployment is going up for the same reason. Mortgage rates are going up and people are getting more jittery about what they can afford and whether they will be able to still afford mortgage payments in the face of more tax rises, unemployment, increases in cost of living. I’ve also heard that landlords are selling up as buy to let is now less attractive.

There doesn’t seem to be any sign that things will get better and it feels like the UK is in a state of managed decline.

It’s a tiny, cramped attic space and the limited photos are seeking to disguise that but buyers aren’t daft.

Buyers can view several better properties in Brighton at that price. So why would they view that little flat?

Price it realistically, add more photos, and it will sell. It reminds me of my mate’s first place which was nice (she was a small woman so it suited her fine and got her on the ladder at age 22). There is definitely a buyer out there for your relative at the right price.

The kitchen looks completely unusable. How do you unload the dishwasher without banging your head? And no outdoor space at all.

I rather reminds me of the top floor flat that Hyacinth Bucket conned husband Richard into buying........the poor bloke couldn't straighten up
Seriously though, the sloping ceilings are a big turn-off - we have similar in our loft conversion which is basically a spare bedroom/ironing room/chill out space for the GC and MrA is always bumping his head up there