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 ☺️

600sq ft with limited ceiling height is going to limit appeal. It is SMALL.

I'd double check that floor plan as i dont think the total sq ft stated and room sizes tally so people cant tell how big it is

It's the sloped ceilings, and any external type photos are of older buildings, but that doesn't look like it is in an older building, so what building is it in? I'd swipe past for those two things.

Price.

It's way too expensive. You can buy a 2 bed with a balcony on the seafront for £325 with no sloping ceilings or, if you go out a bit, a two bed semi detached house in Portslade, with a drive, also for £325.

Seems you get more bang for your buck here!

That's a stunning flat. Really well presented and decent price for what you're getting.

Too expensive for what it is. It's a small converted loft with no outdoors space. Not worth £320K, even in Brighton. I'd drop it to £290K and see if you get any response. That might still be too high.

According to the estate agents, it is a 'chefs dream'

A very small chef who could fit under the slopping roof. Like this one:

From the agents map via Google
https://maps.app.goo.gl/vW1X6jFyZKTMXqMt6

A third of a million quid for that, however nice - yikes.

We have some buy to let flats which we will soon be selling and we are also helping our son to buy a flat currently (not in Brighton but in a city which is also expensive) so I spend a lot of time on Rightmove and monitoring the Property market generally and I'm afraid this flat isn't attractive to me either as a buyer or a seller.

So many landlords are selling up at the moment and that situation isn't going to change any time soon so while I don't know about Brighton specifically I imagine there's quite a bit of competition on the market. This flat isn't a good rental prospect because of the sloping ceilings in the kitchen and bathroom, you immediately cut out half of your potential market.

As a prospective purchaser I don't have the time, and I may not live in the area, to be able to hunt around on street view, drive past etc in order to establish what this area looks like and I'm therefore relying on photographs which in this case are frankly terrible. It's almost impossible to tell from the agent details what this flat looks like without investigation. No one has the time or interest for that. If the flat has been on the market for months why do all the important headings like heating, parking etc all say "ask the agent". Your family member needs to get their finger out and supply that information – and the agent needs to act upon it! The EPC rating is E which is terrible and suggests that the insulation is poor and the flat will be cold in winter and expensive to heat. Council tax band is B which is also high and a considerable additional expense each month for a very small amount of space. I'm sure that larger flats are available for the same kind of costs.

The flat doesn't appear to have any outside space at all and post Covid such flats are really difficult to sell.

I know your family member doesn't want to drop the price anymore, but I think that's the only solution here. No amount of staging or decorating is going to change the situation although it would certainly be a bit helpful to improve the photographs and stage the second room as either a bedroom or workspace because currently it isn't photographed as either.

My first thought given the lack of outside pictures of the building is that it’s potentially in a tower block and very high up which would put off people for lots of reasons regarding practicality. However I’ve seen your update that it’s actually in a converted house. Were the outside pictures taken by a passing jumbo jet?! Why not pictures of the actual view from the property to give people realistic perspective?

The photos are amusingly terrible. Only 8, and only 2 of 8 actually showing the flat. 3 pictures of the surrounding area and 3 pictures of walls/ceiling instead of rooms. I suspect this might have something to do with people not wanting to bother to come view it. 😁

I know Brighton is pricey but £325 is too much for 600 sq fr

It’s the price, it’s always the price.

The photos are awful, The outside isn't nice at all, it would make me wonder what the people were like who lived there and the kitchen is hardly " a chefs dream". And I haven't even mentioned the sloped ceilings

I think more pictures are needed. Only 8 and two are of the view from outside. I just don’t get a feel or vibe of the place at all. Also why do you need to ask the agent about parking, I’d rather just know from the off if there was or not. I wouldn’t view this flat based on that, I’d need to know up front about parking and I’d want at least double the amount of photos. Hope that helps!

I just bought a two bedroom house in London for almost the same price as this flat is listed. It is very expensive, and the market for flats is shrinking post-Grenfell and with changes in rental laws/tax meaning BTLs no longer as popular (lots banks won’t offer mortgages on flats now). The flat market was also pushed up by overseas investors who have got more savvy about where they put their money and anyway usually want to buy brand new build apartments. The flat is absolutely minuscule from those photos, with hardly any storage space. I’d say someone with a budget to offer on that flat has a lot more attractive options to the point that no one in that bracket even wants to view it. Sadly, homes are not a guarantee of profit and flats in particular are losing value - my brother sold his at a loss last year because the estate agent said ‘no one’s buying flats anymore’.

This was my thought too. The photos all angled at the windows too makes it feel like the flat is so awful all you can do is think of escape. They need new photos that show the rooms. The photos of the view I also find quite off-putting as they make the flat seem very high up and add to the sense of claustrophobia. They also need a photo of the front door for the building.

I'd live in this one, looks lovely!

I like that it is modern and doesn't need immediate renovations unless you want to. The location seems good.

The pictures are not great. Can't really figure our the bathroom or the second bedroom.

Also the kain issue is that it is 56m2 and £320k. With sloped ceilings that make is smaller. That is essentially a flat for a single person (maybe a couple) so paying £320k alone is a lot. Also since it is a house and not a block of flats I'd be very curious on the set up regarding maintenance and taking care of the always and how separate will I be with the neighbours.

Price and how small it is. In comparison to others in area

The photos are terrible. You get no sense of the internal space or the building.

I’m not familiar with prices in the area, so can’t comment on that. But for that price tag I’d expect a bit of effort to stage it. Make the bed properly, a couple of plants, cushions, throws and nice lighting. It currently makes me think of student rentals.

But at the end of the day, just because they paid a certain amount 10 years ago it doesn’t mean it’s worth more now. Have they invested in the flat at all or do the kitchen, bathroom and finishes have an additional 10 years of use and they just expect to sell for more? Because that’s not usually how it works. You need to improve a property in a way that adds value.

Sorry @TokyoSushi , I put the wrong property on my earlier link and can't edit or delete it, it's this one
https://maps.app.goo.gl/maCwWhYPSaNVvUcG8

Ultimately it'll be the price.
It’d help if there was an arrow showing which house it is on the aerial pictures.

Stick it on for 200,000 and it will sell

Of course it will sell at that price

That’s less than the 1 bed places in that road a year ago

I think price per square metre it is actually an ok price. It just looks like it’s in the concrete high rise

Lead with a picture of the house it is in and you will get people through the door and don’t put anything about views and have drone photos as that is so misleading

Make sure any photos you have taken that when people see out of the window they can see reference points that make it look like it is close to the ground

Its confusing atm because it does look in the first few photos as that is the view you have from your window and it’s only when you see the photos of the kitchen and see the eaves does it look like it is a house

I don’t think people are getting that far. They are just dismissing it

Waaaaaay over-priced! Reality check needed big time.