Selling BTL

[Skimama123]

I inherited a BLT last year which I am now selling. We had three estate agents round, first one said to put it on at £200,000, second one said to put it on at £230,000 and last one said £220,000. I liked the first one, she came across well and I had confidence in her, second one didn’t actually know he was there for a valuation and seemingly pulled a number out of his arse (they never called me back after that) and the last one I decided to go with despite him pissing me off my calling twice in the hour before we met and being quite pushy, when he arrived he had a lot of paperwork to back up his points, print offs of similar properties nearby etc and was v professional.

When we decided to go with him he decided £220,000 was actually too high, so we listed for £215,000 although we dropped this to £205,000 after a week on his recommendation. He is now pressing us to reduce further (after 3 weeks), which I am somewhat reluctant to do. We have not yet had any viewings, after 1,400 clicks on rightmove. We are 3 weeks into an 8 week contract (and it is the summer holidays!).

Houses in this area do seem to be on the market for quite a while before they sell, 7/8 months seems the norm, so it still feels early days yet. The tenants haven’t looked after the house very well and it does need some work, all three agents said don’t have anything done, but I am now doubting this advice. We had already repainted the bits where the paintwork looked terrible, but now I’m thinking I need to do more.

What from the following list would you prioritise?

• repaint bright yellow kitchen white - I can do this myself and have the paint so cost is £0
• replace kitchen cupboard doors - currently blue with white from Facebook market place £80
• Replace dark disgusting lounge carpet £450
• Replace carpets throughout £1500 (other carpets are ok but a bit tired looking)
• Repaint hall/stairs/landing - not sure on price, looks a bit crap in the photos
• Replace grotty wooden bath panel £35, bath and shower screen would still need replacing at some point and I don’t want to get into that.
• Repaint gloss throughout not sure on price, doesn’t affect the photos but looks shabby inside.

Most importantly is it now empty ?
Secondly 205k is obviously quite a bit too high if you still have had no viewings.

The agent quoted higher than market value to get the listing.

Yes to painting everything white if you have the time. Replacing carpet is not worth it but you could clean it, or lift it if its that bad and show without a floor covering.

The flat market is not great at the moment - lots of landlords have sold or are selling and the changes due re leasehold to commonhold has created uncertainty so again that has affected the price.

If you're not too bothered about the price, I.e. you're not desperate to get a higher price do the work on it and then new photos and drop the price.

Personally I'd just rent it out until the market for flats improves, but that could be 5 or 10 years and lots of landlords are scared of the renters reforms coming in 🤷‍♀️

Yes it is empty, which is obviously costing me a chunk each month for council tax. I am not interested in renting it again, I want to buy somewhere bigger myself so I need the money out of there but it’s not urgent yet, I haven’t found what I want. I think the agent just wants a quick sale at any price, 3 weeks seems quick to be dropping by 30k which is what he wants to do.

The market is struggling a bit - and could get worse. Particularly for anything in the flat sector that looks a bit scruffy and smells of ex btl. Its better to readjust your expectations now - or put the time and effort into making it something really well presented. Buyers are rightly understanding how ridiculously expensive trades and materials have become. If it were me I would be taking it off the market and using my annual leave to get it into tip top shape before re-marketing at a bargain price. There is a real danger of being stuck with a depreciating asset at the moment if your not realistic. Viewings would be coming in if it was priced well according to condition. That's the key - plenty of buyers out there but the 2025 market has changed significantly I'm afraid.

I should have said, house is magnolia all the way through except kitchen, all redone in the last few weeks except hall and stairs which the tenant repainted magnolia but in a different shade and only as high as she could reach. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Keep as is. Take it off for a couple of weeks. Put back on with first agent who you trusted.

I agree with PP who said the higher value is just to get your business - it's not Connells is it? as they have a reputation for doing this.

I'd take it off the market for a month, then put it back on with a different agent as it seems your agent has over-valued it. Better that than to reduce the price by £30K which will make potential buyers wonder what's wrong with the property.

I would get the hall repainted where the tenant only painted as high as she could reach - I hope that you kept part of her deposit to do this, unless you gave her permission to redecorate. The only reason for this is because of first impressions, you don't want a potential buyer to start with the idea that work has to be done.

It's likely that whoever buys it will want to do some work on it replacing carpets, maybe some re-jigging of rooms etc so I wouldn't bother wasting your time & money doing anything more.

DH & me have had several rental properties over the years for various reasons, We've had flats over business premises, we bought his brothers out of his DM's house when she died & rented that out and I bought a flat with an insurance pay-out after a major car accident that I had. We've always painted them magnolia as it's fairly neutral & easy to paint over between tenants. The fact that 'magnolias' come in slightly different shades makes it easy to paint over as you can easily see the bits that you've missed, whereas white is more of a challenge. We've also always gone for mid-priced white kitchen & bathroom fittings that don't date & to provide a blank canvass that will appeal to potential tenants.

Good luck OP.