Why Has Nobody Made An Offer On My Property

steve2005

My flat has been with EA for 3 weeks now, and they've had the keys for the last 2 weeks to conduct viewings. They've told me that quite a few people have viewed it, both private buyers and investors, but nobody has made an offer yet.

It's the 10th cheapest out of 25 within a 1/4 mile area, and it's the largest in terms of floor space of all of those, with the next biggest property for sale at more than £200k more than mine!

Am I being a bit paranoid or is this normal?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43204930.html

[Deleted User]

I think it's very over priced for your area. For example this property is much nicer and is available for £360,000 (which has been on the market for a while and has been reduced). Also perhaps they've noticed that your price is almost 100% more than what it was bought for just 5 years ago, that might make people feel they're getting a bum deal -- even with crazy London prices at the moment.

(ps you can link to your property if you want, links are fine here)

steve2005

Thanks I have posted the link.

I looked at the property you posted, but it's in a different area, in a different borough. Yes it's the same price but it's also only half the size of mine.
Even basic stats such as crime are a lot higher in W7 than TW7 - if you visited the 2 areas you'd notice the difference.

What do you think would be a better asking price then?
I know it's a lot higher than when we bought it, but we did get it very cheap as the then seller was desperate to sell.

Okydoky25

Without doing any homework the photos are awful and far to dark. And are those 2 large dehumidifiers in one of the photos? This would worry me.

Slinky

I know nothing about the area, but to me it looks like it needs a lot of money spending on it. Have you spent anything on it at all to improve it? Kitchen looks really basic and the 1950s shelves on the left aren't exactly doing it for me. Nasty leftover from a 1970s fireplace in the lounge needs ripping out also.

If I was looking at this and can see you're trying to double your money for what appears to be no effort at all, I don't think I'd be keen to line your pockets.

duchy

How many agents valued the property and did you price in line with their average valuations ?

I used to work in Richmond and have lived in Staines at different times so I'm not unfamilar with Isleworth and with such uninspiring photos it stands out on a Zoopla search for a 2 bed flat in Isleworth as drab, probably ex rental as the house seems to have no personalization at all and there's nothing in the photos that offset the tiny kitchen with a benefit that would offset that disadvantage.

I think you definitely need better photos ......and to look at what else is on the market in your area and at what price.

I wonder how many viewings you have *really* had. It's unusual for an estate agent to say "lots" usually they'd be telling you about the viewer's situation -and it sounds strange that with "lots" no feedback was offered at all ?

Did you wonder why the owner was so desperate to sell? Hopefully that won't be you too . I think a bit of smartening it up would help ...at the moment it looks like a tired and unloved flat that will need some money spent at a higher than a lot of other 2 beds in the area price. I'm also not so sure you've had as many viewings as you think. Is the flat empty or occupied ? It looks empty and stark (and the humidifiers imply damp issues). There are other flats in the area at lower prices that look far more inviting. If I was looking on Zoopla I wouldn't be shortlisting you as even though a large kitchen isn't an essential for me but just on the "would be nice" list so wouldn't be a deal breaker-there's nothing to make me think your flat is worth a look as it all looks a bit neglected and cold.

[Deleted User]

steve2005 wrote: »

I looked at the property you posted, but it's in a different area, in a different borough. Yes it's the same price but it's also only half the size of mine.
Even basic stats such as crime are a lot higher in W7 than TW7 - if you visited the 2 areas you'd notice the difference.

oh huh, my bad. I searched the postcode that you provided and for some reason Zoopla listed that property. I'll take another look.

steve2005

duchy wrote: »

How many agents valued the property and did you price in line with their average valuations ?

4 Estate Agents, all gave the same price to within £10k

Slinky wrote: »

I know nothing about the area, but to me it looks like it needs a lot of money spending on it. Have you spent anything on it at all to improve it? Kitchen looks really basic and the 1950s shelves on the left aren't exactly doing it for me. Nasty leftover from a 1970s fireplace in the lounge needs ripping out also.

If I was looking at this and can see you're trying to double your money for what appears to be no effort at all, I don't think I'd be keen to line your pockets.

Fireplace is a wood burner. It is old, yes, but still fully functional
The only improvements we did were the fitted wardrobes and cupboards the bedroom, and some shelves here and there
Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate them

Okydoky25 wrote: »

Without doing any homework the photos are awful and far to dark. And are those 2 large dehumidifiers in one of the photos? This would worry me.

They are dehumidifiers, yes, but they were for my asthma due to having carpets everywhere and 3 cats.

I think it might be an idea to go there and take some photos myself? The EA took the photos with his iPad, which I did think was a little odd.

SerialRenter

Key points from me:

Photo's far too dark, looks sunny outside, which has just caused lots of shadows inside.

Need to sort out the first photo to draw people in, it's way too gloomy and unkempt. Sort out the vegetation on the driveway and around the steps.

Get a floor plan with dimensions. You say your house is larger than the others in the area, but apart from the dimensions in the description (which are hard to visualise) you've got nothing to actually show its size.

You need more photos, I don't see the bedrooms, or the communal garden.

Remove things like dehumidifiers and empty flower pots when taking the photos. And yeah, don't let the EA use an iPad! Use a real camera!

steve2005

duchy wrote: »

How many agents valued the property and did you price in line with their average valuations ?

I think you definitely need better photos ......and to look at what else is on the market in your area and at what price.

I wonder how many viewings you have *really* had. It's unusual for an estate agent to say "lots" usually they'd be telling you about the viewer's situation -and it sounds strange that with "lots" no feedback was offered at all ?

Perhaps 'quite a few' is EA talk for 'a few', lol.
Yes, I think I do definitely need better photos - I'll pop over at the weekend with a proper camera.
And yes, it is ex-rental - tenants left last month.

Doozergirl

It needs work, which isn't going to put prople off but the photos are so dark and dingy which may sugest to people that it will always be dark. The photographer has taken pictures into the light of the windows, so the camera acts accordingly and darkens the rest of the room.

Photos need to be taken away from the light, or if you do take toward the window, they should use a flash on the camer to lighten the room. Putting the lights on would also help.

A picture of the whole house would be better than half of it. Whyno wide angle lens?

You can't control what people think when they get there, but you may entice more viewers with much better photography.

No floorplan and a no square footage is a cardinal sin if your selling point is space!

Not impressed with agents presentation at all. They have done you no favours - check the quality of each agent's listings against others before you choose - that is what buyers see.