Cant sell - help!

goggle

If you want honest answers:
The other flat mentioned above has a proper sized kitchen, the block looks nicer & it has parking. It has fitted wardrobes etc too which save people buying/moving heavy pieces of furniture. Yes it needs a bit of tarting up, but price wise it's far more attractive than yours ...
Sorry, but there is nothing special about your flat - in fact it lacks character/interest. I'm not sure whether it's big enough for a couple - it seems to lack storage/furniture at present ...

1) get rid of the huge wardrobe in the bedroom, put a couple of bedside tables by the bed & maybe some drawers where teh wardrobe is for the piccies - prove to a potential buyer that they can fit what they need in there! At the moment it looks as if there's nowhere to fit even a small table where I can put my alarm clock or specs at night! Think what your buyer may be seeing from the photos not just how you live!

2) add a fireplace or similar type of focus to the living room - not everyone wants to face a blank wall & we assume you are taking your tv with you so the buyer will be left with nothing unless they also have a whopper of a tv - and not everyone wants to face the TV
2.5) Add some storage to the living room - even bookshelves or similar - I wouldn't even look twice as the room looks only big enough for a giant tv & sofa - where can I store anything etc?

3) parking is a biggie for many people - but if it's fairly close to the station that's less of an issue. Can you mention the garage (including price!) or even bus routes that pass close by? Maybe get a friend to walk to the station & see how long they take, if it's a mile then I can see that it would take many people 20 mins not 10 ... esp if they are carrying a briefcase, wearing heels, it's snowing etc

Doozergirl

fairy188 wrote: »

The flat in Lynwood close for £160 is a studio flat.

It isn't a studio flat.

Allowing the odd inch here or there for discrepancies in EA measuring:
It has a lounge the same size as yours.
A kitchen the same size as yours.
A bedroom the same size as yours.
A bathroom which looks the same size as yours.

In fact, every picture in that flat is taken from the same angle as every picture in yours which leads me to think that the layout might be identical.

I'd have another look if I were you. With the added benefit of a new lease - yours needs renewing now really - it represented much better value for money

Interesting that it was Haart that sold it; suggests that they can sell similar property at the right price.

EDIT: Seen that you've altered the price. I think it's a good move. If you are getting viewings still then you're not far off. I just think that there a bit too much of a gulf between yours nicely finished and the others where people could do it themselves for a bit less and get exactly their own taste. FTBs are not always keen to make low offers so offering £10k less as a starting point might seem a bridge too far as well.

fairy188

After looking at the flat I have noticed its not a studio flat but cant find it on rightmove!
I agree with what you are saying about the pictures but we do have a big cupboard in the hallway for storage.

There is no way we can take the wardrobe out of the bedroom as it has all of our clothes in it, although the picture fails to show that there are also two sets of drawers in the room for extra storage the picture doesnt show the room justice i agree.

Eric1

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=E18+1DP

1 30/04/2010 £125,000 Flat 30, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP
2 22/01/2010 £175,000 Flat 24, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP
3 09/10/2009 £135,000 Flat 21, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP
5 14/11/2008 £131,000 Flat 45, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP
6 11/07/2008 £170,000 Flat 10, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP
7 25/01/2008 £170,000 Flat 13, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP
8 26/06/2007 £149,995 Flat 56, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP
9 27/02/2007 £125,000 Flat 15, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP
10 09/01/2007 £138,000 Flat 48, Lynwood Close, London, Greater London, E18 1DP

is No 24 a one-bed too?

KiKi

I agree, I did a quick look at other properties in the area. There's also a balcony flat (also done up nicely) for £157k. You need to drop the price.

£120/month service charge is high; I wouldn't pay a premium price for a flat and the service charge on top. It's not in your control, of course, but that's how it is.

Best of luck!
KiKi

Running_On_Empty

Fairy
Have you got a mortgage lined up for a new property?
Given your credit history, it might be a good idea to check out what the lenders think.

goldbyron

Interesting - my partner is trying to sell her one bedroom in Woodford Green (near the cricket ground). Its on at 165k and after 6 viewings in 2 weeks, there has been nothing at all in the last 2 weeks. A couple of the viewers have said its over-priced as well although feedback all very positive. Thing I am struggling with is the fact that house prices in the area are not sinking as much as the flats seem to be - the sellers are being very fussy with their prices so there is a Catch 22 - flat sellers not being able to afford the houses so can't reduce the asking price. I feel like it is all going very stagnant at the moment.

cardinalbiggles

See now if you never lived in London but relocated to sunny Scotland you could get yourself a nice 2 bed place like this

http://tspc.co.uk/details.asp?id=98496

arachne

Hi fairy188! I have a flat on the market at the moment and have also had some comments about the service charge being too high, which, like you've said, is very frustrating when there's not much you can do about it. For my last few viewings I've produced a fact sheet about the flat and area to give viewers. In this, I've highlighted that the service charge is set by flat owners, we keep it as low as possible, we're building up a reserve fund for future big jobs so there are no unexpected surcharges and over the last few years we've done a lot of maintenance work, so we're not anticipating anything big round the corner and the block is in good condition. I can't promise it's working (no offers yet) but I figure at least the buyers can see that even though my service charge might be higher than another flat round the corner, all the money is going into the block (not some freeholder's pocket) and it's spent on keeping the block well maintained. I'm also hoping it might get them thinking that low service charge in another block may equal badly looked after block or lots of surprise high surcharges. Might not be the case in your block but if there are good reasons for the service charge being set where it is, make sure people know.

Also, 83 years left on your lease is not very long. Obviously if people ask, then you need to tell them, but it's not something to shout about IMO. I echo Doozergirl that it may be worth looking into renewing it now. The flipside is that there are lots of FTBs out there who think 83 years is good (I made that mistake 5 years ago and it's cost me dear!) and lots of solicitors who don't explain that it's not, so it could be wasted money depending how savvy your buyer is.

tomstickland

I think the photos are fine - good enough to show what the property looks like.
According to the floor plan there's no door into the living room though!

Price will be the issue.