trouble selling flat

GDB2222

googler wrote: »

..because most of the time involved is the decluttering, which isn't the agent's responsibility - it's the homeowner's.

The equipment is a minor consideration. Given a well-prepared room and some daylight, a basic £100 compact will be perfectly acceptable.

The main problem with the OPs photos is that they were taken late in the day or after dark. All of the issues mentioned above should have been sorted by the OP before the EA got there. It's not the EAs job to tidy the coats away, move stuff off the top of wardrobes or kitchen units....

Will an ordinary compact camera have a lens with a wide enough angle? It might be worth involving a geeky friend.

lessonlearned

somethingcorporate wrote: »

It's just too expensive as a number of others in this thread have pointed out.

£145k for 350sq seems very expensive.

I deliberately didn't discuss the price because I am unfamiliar with the area and current property values. However given that the two Rightmove properties shown above are £350K & £380k - admittedly London - I don't think that the price is too far out given that the OP's property is in Farnborough, which is comparatively an expensive area anyway. I did once view properties in the area because I considered relocating there for a job, but decided against it.

By the way - I am not an armchair property expert - I am a retired sales negotiator/lettings agent with 30 years experience. I also have several years under my belt dressing show-houses.

I have just sold my own property in 3 weeks at 7% less than my asking price.

Back to the price. An asking price of £145K with an eventual selling price of say 10% discount - current averages are between 10 to 15% will fetch around £130K.

Assuming stamp duty threshold is £125K then an asking price of say around £130K to £135K starts to make life difficult because you will be in stamp duty limbo, and offers will almost certainly be less than £125K.

The real issue is the presentation. The only people likely to want to view a property looking the way it does on the photos would be an investor. An investor will want to snap it up for sub £100K.

The only option is to go back to basics. Work on the presentation and then a new set of photos.

The flat looks dated and oppressive and will not appeal to a young professional who will be the target market. It needs to look grown up, sophisticated, and glamourous. The look needs to be James Bonds' apartment, not a student flat.

The two Rightmove links are great examples of how this property should be presented.

googler

GDB2222 wrote: »

Will an ordinary compact camera have a lens with a wide enough angle? It might be worth involving a geeky friend.

Yes. All that an ultra wide angle lens gives you is leaning verticals and nausea, along with a false impression of the size of the room.

GDB2222

googler wrote: »

Yes. All that an ultra wide angle lens gives you is leaning verticals and nausea, along with a false impression of the size of the room.

It's that last bit that is quite useful.

artbaron

googler wrote: »

..because most of the time involved is the decluttering, which isn't the agent's responsibility - it's the homeowner's.

The cleaning and decluttering is essential, of course. That always has to be done.

googler wrote: »

The equipment is a minor consideration. Given a well-prepared room and some daylight, a basic £100 compact will be perfectly acceptable.

You need a lens of a reasonably wide angle and ideally you need a tripod. Not a fisheye lens, granted, but something that makes the room seem a little larger than it really is. And unless you're David Bailey you need a s/w editing program. For instance, it's borderline impossible to take a photo of a room and also get a clear view from the window without editing. You either get the room too dark or the view overexposed and white.