Hardly any viewings, no offers

Debtslayer

Sounds like you know what you want and need to do. Be firm with the EA as they're working for you (not just trying to make as much money as possible for themselves). Drop the price by say 5k and see what happens.
How much could you afford to accept for the property to be able to make your move?
If baby is 4 months and you want to move closer to family it's probably best you do it sooner rather than later. It's not ideal bringing up baby with no family close by
Good luck and let us know how you get on X

ACG

Clh2017 wrote: »

Which they argue is because of their high success rate and network but that doesn't seem to be making any difference.

They are just words. High Success rate? Every property more or less will sell in an active market, so long as the price is right.

Their network is pointless. They can have branches up and down the country, but they are only going to sell to people who want to buy in that particular area. I would say 99% of your potential buyers are looking on rightmove and would not care less who it is up with. If you were looking to sell a retirement home, then it might be a little different but younger first time buyers will all be on line.

Name and shame them. Have you checked that they are not forcing your buyers to use their in house solicitors/mortgage brokers? That could be putting people off - you will see LOADS of threads about that on here.

goodwithsaving

Estate agent is working for you. If you want the price dropped, you tell them to drop it. Don't be swayed by their mumbo jumbo.

Mutton_Geoff

Is it Foxtons? They may also have a vested interest in keeping the price high so it enables them to attract other vendors from your area who want the maximum price for their flat.

Debtslayer

ACG wrote: »

They are just words. High Success rate? Every property more or less will sell in an active market, so long as the price is right.

Their network is pointless. They can have branches up and down the country, but they are only going to sell to people who want to buy in that particular area. I would say 99% of your potential buyers are looking on rightmove and would not care less who it is up with. If you were looking to sell a retirement home, then it might be a little different but younger first time buyers will all be on line.

Name and shame them. Have you checked that they are not forcing your buyers to use their in house solicitors/mortgage brokers? That could be putting people off - you will see LOADS of threads about that on here.

Very well put ACG!
If a property is nice and priced right then it sells itself
OP
Are you able to post a link of your flat on Rightmove?
Sometimes pictures aren't very good or it's not being shown at its best?
Unfortunately some buyers will scour Rightmove and discount properties from pictures, if they actually went to look at the property they may like them

Crashy_Time

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5004675/House-sellers-face-fines-pulling-deals.html


They want to lock in the crash now it seems?

troffasky

Debtslayer wrote: »

Unfortunately some buyers will scour Rightmove and discount properties from pictures, if they actually went to look at the property they may like them

"Some" buyers? I would have thought that it would be pretty close to 100% of buyers. There would have to be a compelling reason to go and look at a property that has a rubbish listing.

Fosterdog

Mutton_Geoff wrote: »

Is it Foxtons? They may also have a vested interest in keeping the price high so it enables them to attract other vendors from your area who want the maximum price for their flat.

We have a local EA like that, they seem to think they are a premium EA, they never have the grotty probate type houses on the books, but the houses they do have on are always priced at least 10% more than similar houses with other agents. How people can’t see through them I’ll never know.

Cakeguts

Clh2017 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies.

In terms of valuations, we had 3 and 2 were pretty much the same, one was £50,000 less. We went with one of the 2 which valued it at similar prices.

We don't have to move immediately but we're a 3rd floor flat with no lift and a 4 month old baby. We're also hoping to move closer to family as we don't have any nearby at the moment. We aren't desperate to move but there will come a point where we'll need to.

The flat is 2 bedrooms, 1 large double bedroom and 1 small single so would probably be best for first time buyers as I was when I bought. The rest of the block is mainly first time buyers either in a couple or with one child.

We've done as much as we can to present the flat in the best way. We've got a storage unit and moved loads of stuff out. We don't have any baby stuff around except the crib and his bouncer chair so it doesn't look full of stuff or won't appeal to single people. I change the tea towels, linen, throws etc for viewings to look as neutral as possible.

The estate agent feels they can get this price for the flat and they just need to find the one person who will pay it when I asked to lower the price to attract more people. The estate agent in question is one of the more aggressive by reputation and have high commission. Which they argue is because of their high success rate and network but that doesn't seem to be making any difference.

I think I'm going to go back and insist the price is dropped to generate more interest. I've looked at what else is on offer and we're not really that different in price to comparable properties but I feel that in our part of South London, a lot of people prefer Victorian conversions rather than purpose built.

Thanks all for the advice.

It isn't the asking prices that you need to look at it is the actual sold prices of similar flats that are important. The asking prices could all be too high of the flats on the market because anything priced right might be selling straight away.

poppy10_2

Nobody asked for a rightmove link yet? Hard to give advice when we are working blind