No viewings on my flat...

Sonia84

Hi,

I am new to this so apologies in advance...

We have had our flat on the market for 8-9 weeks and in that time we have only had 4 viewings - none of which were genuine. We spoke to our estate agent about why there was no interest and they immediately told us to drop the price from £150k to £145k.
We are very reluctant to do this as we don't understand our estate agent's reasoning. We have had no feedback that it's overpriced and surely people would at least view to decide for themselves if it is? It jst seemed like a generic response that would benefit them rather than offering other alternatives. Also, if we drop the price we assume a buyer would offer even less and I'd that's the case we'd actually make a loss which we can't afford.

It really is a lovely, brand new flat in a nice area of York. It would be perfect for an investor, but we just don't know how to get people through the door?
Does anyone have any suggestions? This is the first time we've sold a property and are probably very naive, but also very stressed by the whole thing!

Do we just accept we need to drop the price? Would it make a genuine difference?
Please help!!!



I can't post a link to the flat on Rightmove but if anyone could take a look and give us feedback the postcode is YO319PN.

PHARR

This is it for anybody who wants to see it.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23613210.html?premiumA=true

I personally think its a very nice flat. Honestly. I would love to rent a place like this(as I'm only interested in renting at the minute). I have no answers to your questions I'm afraid and I'm sure you'l get help and advice but id like say it is a very nice flat.

Sonia84

That's it! Thank you :-)
We are considering trying to rent it out if we can't sell it but I doubt we'll ever be able to borrow enough money to keep the flat and buy a house :-(

cootuk

How does yours compare to the ones locally at £125k that are also on rightmove?

Fire_Fox

I'm having a sense of deja vu, like I have seen this flat posted here before! :eek: What are sold prices like for similar properties in the area? It is a buyers market at present, any FTBs with finances in place can afford to view properties which they have a realistic prospect of getting at a good price. You not being able to afford to make a loss is your problem, not the buyers.

The flat looks well presented and spacious. However there is too much furniture in the main bedroom/ it's poorly placed/ very badly photographed/ a combination. The wardrobe is in your face and it doesn't look like you can walk round the bed. The kitchen is also small which you can't help, but that might put young families off. Can you move a storage unit from the bedroom to the dining area?

If you can't afford to buy somewhere else, rent until you can save a deposit because the market isn't going anywhere in a hurry. You will only be able to let the flat if your lender agrees and your freeholder agrees if there are any restrictive covenants in your long lease.

Also I'd like to see information about service charges, ground rent, buildings insurance and a floor plan in the particulars - get the estate agent onto that.

lavandergirl_2

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/map.html?locationIdentifier=POSTCODE%5E4170843&maxPrice=150000&minBedrooms=2&radius=0.25&includeSSTC=true&_includeSSTC=on

roonaldo

this is a fairly easy one, its overpriced. the sold prices show you are asking top price as in the last 12 months the below is what they have sold for.

also the previous post shows what else in the area is available, there are houses at the same price and other flats on the market significantly lower.

it took my wife and I 18 months to sell our flat and had to drop £17k from initial asking price and we're in the south.

5 sold properties found


Sorted by:

• 9, Russet House, Birch Close, Huntington, York, York YO31 9PN
  £111,428 Flat, Leasehold (New Build) 04 Nov 2011
• 14, Russet House, Birch Close, Huntington, York, York YO31 9PN
  £111,428 Flat, Leasehold (New Build) 19 Oct 2011
• 15, Russet House, Birch Close, Huntington, York, York YO31 9PN
  £143,500 Flat, Leasehold (New Build) 15 Feb 2012
• 32, Russet House, Birch Close, Huntington, York, York YO31 9PN
  £139,500 Flat, Leasehold (New Build) 02 Dec 2011
• 10, Russet House, Birch Close, Huntington, York, York YO31 9PN
  £119,950 Flat, Leasehold (New Build) 18 May 2012

englandcrew

Four viewings in that amount of time would suggest it is overpriced. You mention not receiving feedback saying its overpriced, the feedback is people not viewing it.

It will sell at the right price

roonaldo

One thing I noticed is that the bedroom is smaller than the nursery room, this isnt a good look as the bedroom looks cramped. Can you repaint the nursery a neutral colour and swap rooms over? just a suggestion.

Miskate

We had only 3 viewings in 10 weeks, and the 3rd viewer was interested and bought straight away.

We had an extremely similar flat, but with 2 bathrooms (1 en suite), a balcony and a larger kitchen, and it sold for the asking price of £138k. I think £150k is pushing it a bit.

I would say drop to offers in the region of £140 - 150k to start with, and see how you go.

C_Mababejive

It is a nice flat but sadly,buyers are generally not interested in flats anymore..certainly not at those prices. The sad truth is that apartment blocks were the bread and butter of the manufactured housing boom. They are easy money for builders. The footprint is the same for all flats and the sky is free so just build up. The sale prices never were realistic. When people find they cant sell,they are then locked into negative equity. Some just allow repossession,others take a haircut and sell,others rent it out and so the spiral continues since renting in apartment blocks often accelerates the spiral of decline making other flats more unsellable. Apartment blocks will be the social housing of tomorrow.I'd get out while i could..