trouble selling flat

leighclark1

My flats been on the flat for nearly a month and I haven't had the slightest amount of interest in it. My estate agent keeps telling me everything is fine and not to worry. Any ideas on how I can improve the chances of getting viewings without drastically dropping the price? I can't post a link to it, but it's a one bed flat in Farnborough on for £145000

Yorkie1

Is it this one?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-24822102.html?premiumA=true

If so, it's a nice write-up. Does it come with a parking space - needs adding to the details if so.

There's not a lot you can do about room sizes but it does look a little narrow in the lounge between the TV wall and the sofa - made narrower and a little oppressive by the dark colours. Can you paint the TV wall lighter & have pics retaken?

Also, if you do get the pics retaken, consider removing the items on top of the TV wall, the coat from the hall and the shower cubicle items. I'd probably remove picture 15 as it shows how tight the fit is in that room.

That all being said, it is nicely presented and this is a slow time of year.

How proactive is your EA being, do you think? Get a friend to ring up as a mystery shopper.

Difficult to gauge price - only 1 sale in this block in the last 2 years, according to nethouseprice.com . That was at £68K but a sale in 2010 was at £160K.

leighclark1

It is that one indeed. Thanks for the tips, every little helps.

BitterAndTwisted

One month isn't a spectacularly long time to have had a property on the market and not had any viewings booked yet. It could be the time of year that's deterring people but the usual reasons are that it's either over-priced, not well-presented or not being marketed properly. Or an unfortunate combination of all three.

ognum

If I search 1 bed flats in Farnborough I find 39 for sale yours is the third most expensive that means there are 35 cheaper!!!

is the price right?

moneyistooshorttomention

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

....... or not being marketed properly. Or an unfortunate combination of all three.

I am not in Farnborough to see how well or otherwise the marketing is being done - but I have noticed what a difference marketing makes here in my own area.

There is a "rival" house to my own up for sale near me and I noticed its price had dropped a little after only a few weeks on the market - but it is the case that that initial few weeks don't really count for much in "marketing" terms because it took that long for their useless estate agent to get the details right and indeed even to get the name of the street its in correct. In fact I only managed to find the house because I'm a "local" and knew there was a tucked-away little street there (which cardrivers wouldnt even be aware of - because there isnt a road in front of it). Also I had to repeatedly request paper details from the estate agent concerned before they finally supplied them.

Hence - the only marketing that house has had for those first few weeks is its place on the Rightmove website - but none of the other marketing was in place/correct during that time. I'll admit I was surprised at the buyer putting up a price cut on it already when it had literally only had a couple of days of "correct marketing".:eek:

Re that price set for it - I don't think we can really tell whether it's correct price unless we knew Farnborough. I know my own area and houses like mine (ie 2 bed terrace) are priced all the way from £145,000 to £220,000 (dependant on whether they're in Troublemakers Area, Will Do Area, Nice Area, Posh Area or Poshest-of-All Area).

hellokitty08

I am going for price as well, although most of the other properties that are listed in a similar location are retirement properties I did find this one,

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-36124867.html?premiumA=true

which I would be thinking I can put in a offer for and get it cheaper then yours (maybe)

The_Pixi

I'm not saying anything personally just what I thought looking at the pictures.

1. The flat looks to have no natural light and the windows it does have seem to look out onto tall trees blocking light.

2. The several outside shots don't help, there are leaves everywhere. What is the service charge being spent on? Not gardening obviously.

3 why is your outside area not fenced off? Doesn't seem particularly private, what if a neighbour had a dog and it does it's business everywhere?

4 the kitchen dining living room appears just a dark corridor

5. The bedroom is tiny, it looks like the bed only just fits, I think my other halfs feet would get burnt on the radiator

6. Bathroom, like the rest of the house looks very cramped despite you not having much actually in the property to clutter it up.

Can I ask what attracted you to buy it in the first place? If I were looking, all those points esp n.o. 1 would have stopped me enquiring further.

Not sure what you can do about those points, but thats my 2 pence

namecheck

Yorkie1 has made some good points.

There are lots of photos, which is good, but some do need removing or changing.

For example - pic 10, remove the coats for the photo. Remove pics 11 and 12; pics of the bedroom - remove the dark bedspread. In fact, remove as much as possible from surfaces as Yorkie1 says. The black wall (?) around the TV does not do the room any favours.

I think there are too many photos of the outside, considering they are a bit autumnal/wintry.

Parking, especially if allocated, needs mentioning at the start, and within the description.

I do not know the area at all, but the flat IS quite small - could it be overpriced? Having said that, it is probably not the best time of year to try and sell.

googler

Need to declutter, tidy, and remove the bloke-i-ness from it.

And take the pictures in daylight, not after dark.

Pic 2 - clear the clutter from the top of the TV unit. Move the cinematic lights out of shot. Decide, one or the other, whether to have the candlestick or the flowered as centrepiece on the table - it looks as though they're jockeying for position at the moment.

Pic 3 makes it look as though you're struggling for space again, with the clutter on top of the units, and the clothes bursting out of the wardrobe.

Pic 4 - clear the clutter - the draining tray, the drinks bottles, the books atop the fridge, the fridge magnets. The butchers block trolley looks easily moveable - why not move it out of the way to give a cleaner photo? Again, the flowers and candlestick too 'busy'...

5 - neighbour's table and chairs neatly arranged, but yours not, with other clutter seemingly thrown to the far end of patio. 6, 7 and 8 all tell the same story.

9 - all that tells the viewer is that if they move in, they'll have to go out in the cold to collect their mail.....

10 - move the coats, the JD memorabilia, the Zonda calendar, the draught excluders..... same in 11 and 12

13 looks as though you've made some effort to arrange the shelves, but you've left the shower gels cluttering the cubicle, the stuff atop the units, and your bog brush. Is that there to attract viewers?

Tidy the towels up as well....

Anything that is in your photos should be something which will explicitly attract people to your property. There's a lot here which will put people off.

artbaron

I agree with some of the comments above. The presentation is better than many I've seen but get rid of the clutter. Stuff piled on the microwave, coats in the hall, fridge magnets (argh!!), garden furniture slumped against the wall. Then take the outdoor photos again when it's sunny, the first photo is a pretty grim introduction. Some houses and flats are grim and it's difficult to suggest otherwise but this, with a bit more care, could look more inviting.

I'm no expert at property prices in Farnborough but I'd say £145K is a lot in today's climate for a compact 1-bed ground floor apartment. Also, how much are the service charges and ground rent? That could be putting people off if it's excessive.