Can't sell 1 bed flat in Eastcote, Middlesex

GDB2222

kazzamunga wrote: »

Ok but as I said above, we're going down to 295 now - so that might get offers below that, but viewings would be a start.

You are better off asking £300k, so it appear on page 1 in searches on Rightmove when people search up to £300k. Price it at £295k, and it will appear on page 2 or 3, depending on the search area.

Cakeguts

kazzamunga wrote: »

Do you know Eastcote? It's no great shakes, but it's a whole lot more desirable than central Harrow, which I know well.

Yes I do. That is how I know about all the new flats they are building in central Harrow that have help to buy on them. Yours doesn't so straight away that makes it less appealing. That and the flats in central Harrow are much nearer to the station than your flat and they are nearer to shops.



Here you go. A new one bed flat with help to buy https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75797989.html It is new and it is cheaper than your 2nd hand one which is much further away from the station and shops.



If they are asking £285k for a new one bed with help to buy there is no way that anyone will sell a 2nd hand one for more than this. The fact that you haven't had any viewings is an indication that people think it is very overpriced.

GDB2222

Cakeguts wrote: »

Yes I do. That is how I know about all the new flats they are building in central Harrow that have help to buy on them. Yours doesn't so straight away that makes it less appealing. That and the flats in central Harrow are much nearer to the station than your flat and they are nearer to shops.



Here you go. A new one bed flat with help to buy https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75797989.html It is new and it is cheaper than your 2nd hand one which is much further away from the station and shops.



If they are asking £285k for a new one bed with help to buy there is no way that anyone will sell a 2nd hand one for more than this. The fact that you haven't had any viewings is an indication that people think it is very overpriced.

That's a studio flat of only 388 sq ft. However, I agree that there's a lot of competition.

kazzamunga

Wow, 285 for a tiny studio, bargain...

I mean, I don't like new-build flats or houses myself and I wouldn't choose Help to Buy either, but I understand what you're saying.

If you live in NW London you would know that different areas have distinct characters, and that central Harrow and Eastcote aren't really very similar. Really don't see how you can say Eastcote is ugly because people paved their driveways but sing empty Harrow town centre's praises.

Anyway, let's see what happens now.

[Deleted User]

Yes but HTB EL means people can afford to buy with just a 5% deposit which makes Harrow more attractive to some people than your flat where a larger deposit will need to be secured.

I'm a bit confused as to how this property is currently owned. If the mortgage is just in your name who is/are the legal owners named on the Land Registry? Where did the mortgage lender think the deposit was coming from? A gift from your parents, a loan from your parents or was it understood by the lender your parents would have a beneficial interest?

Is there a Deed of Trust in place?

Titus_Wadd

Lover_of_Lycra wrote: »

Yes but HTB EL means people can afford to buy with just a 5% deposit which makes Harrow more attractive to some people than your flat where a larger deposit will need to be secured.

I'm a bit confused as to how this property is currently owned. If the mortgage is just in your name who is/are the legal owners named on the Land Registry? Where did the mortgage lender think the deposit was coming from? A gift from your parents, a loan from your parents or was it understood by the lender your parents would have a beneficial interest?

Is there a Deed of Trust in place?

I was just about to ask the same; it sounds a nightmare to split any equity fairly if you've been the only family member servicing the mortgage. I hope you sell sooner rather than later, but if you opt to wait to sell later in the year I think your brother might contribute more as "rent" until it sells. Does he have an idea where he'll live?

AnotherJoe

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser wrote: »

Bought it for 245k new-build and then sold for 335k in less than 2 years! That's one lucky b@st@rd!

Not necessarily. Maybe he bought another place for £500k thats now worth £450k.

Cakeguts

kazzamunga wrote: »

Wow, 285 for a tiny studio, bargain...

I mean, I don't like new-build flats or houses myself and I wouldn't choose Help to Buy either, but I understand what you're saying.

If you live in NW London you would know that different areas have distinct characters, and that central Harrow and Eastcote aren't really very similar. Really don't see how you can say Eastcote is ugly because people paved their driveways but sing empty Harrow town centre's praises.

Anyway, let's see what happens now.

I didn't actually say that the centre of Harrow was "nicer" than where your flat is in Eastcote what I said was that the whole of the area Eastcote, Harrow, Stanmore, Pinner and Kenton are all sinking in terms of area compared to other areas of London. The whole area is getting worse. One of the important things that you need to do to sell a house is to provide kerb appeal. There are whole streets now in Eastcote, Pinner, Harrow, and Stanmore where none of the houses have any kerb appeal all they have are parking areas that are not even separated from the pavement. There are no garden walls. When there is no kerb appeal houses become much more difficult to sell and the vendors have to eventually take a lower price. If that happens over a whole area the prices for the whole area gradually sink lower and lower. That is what is happening in the whole of Harrow Borough and in the Eastern bits of Hillingdon.



Harrow has built a several blocks of new high rise flats in the town centre right next to the station. There are also flats being built on the old Kodak site. Help to Buy helps people to buy a more expensive property than they could without help to buy. This means that there are likely to be more buyers for a new town centre studio flat than a second hand slightly bigger one bed flat. The town centre studio flat will also be likely to lose value once it is second hand like your flat but new flats sell for more than second hand ones. This means that no one is going to pay more for second hand flat than they will for a new one with help to buy. Because of the competition from new flats in central Harrow, the old Kodak site Wembley Park and Rayners Lane all of which will have help to buy second hand flats anywhere in the local area will be more difficult to sell. More difficult to sell means lower prices if people want to sell.



You also have to think of the kind of person who buys a one bed flat. Mostly it will be a young professional person who is working in central London. To them the centre of Harrow and closeness to the station will be more appealing than a flat miles from anywhere in the middle of a 1930s housing estate in Eastcote. If you live in the centre of Harrow you are close to shopping centres and entertainment. If you live in Eastcote you are not close to these kinds of entertaiments because you are in an area which is mostly families not young single people. Not so well off young single people can now also by a one bed flat using shared ownership. All of this is your competition. You have to ask yourself why would someone pay more to buy your flat than they would pay to buy a new one in central Harrow which is more convenient for a young single person. Think of supermarkets for example. The centre of Harrow now has a supermarket so you could live in the centre of Harrow without needing a car. It would be a lot less convenient to live anywhere in Eastcote without a car. Where is the nearest shopping centre for example? Where is the nearest supermarket to your flat?



Basically what happened is that the person who thought of buying that 1 bed flat there in Eastcote got the position of it wrong right from the start. It isn't even in a good place for letting because it is too far from shops and the station. Was it cheap for the area when new? There are new flats now in Rayners Lane very close to the station. These will be more appealing to a young person than yours in Eastcote.



It really doesn't matter what you think about the comparison of central Harrow and Eastcote. What matters is which area your potential buyers prefer and at the moment they don't want to buy a one bed flat in Eastcote at your asking price. If they did you would have had viewings.




Your competition is cheaper, more convenient and new. If you had got the price close to what someone would pay for it you would have had viewings but no offers. The fact that you haven't even had any viewings means that it is seriously overpriced. What the market is telling you is that no one wants to pay that much for a 1 bed flat there because they can find something that they like much better for less somewhere else. If you are serious about selling it you are going to have to drop the price to less than the new one bed flats are selling for otherwise people will always buy the new ones with the help to buy first.


The reason why you can't sell it is because your asking price is too high for the market in 1 bed flats in that position in Eastcote.

getmore4less

Who is down as the legal and beneficial owners of this place.
is the mortgage just in your name?

There are tax implication if someone else is paying you to pay the mortgage.

more like this 1m for sale/SSTC
price. 1b.....2b
0-250 01/3 00/00
0-290 03/3 01/01
0-300 06/5 02/01
0-325 10/5 03/05
0-350 14/7 05/09
0-max 15/9 52/36

There are 6x1 bed and 2x1 bed fior sale cheaper
5x1b and 1x2b SSTC cheaper asking.

This is what people have made offers on.
£300k 1b
£300k 1b
£290k 1b
£290k 2b
£235k 1b
£232 1b (shared 80% buyer eligibility)

Also note that over £300k you are competing with 2bed as 4 more of those are SSTC at £325k

Those 1 beds over £325 are HTB which although 1 entry on RM can be multiples if more of the same in the block.
£325k 1bed there were 2 of these

Watch as those prices hit the land reg to see what the actually got.


Sell through prices 1 mile in the last year prices assending
filtered on flats

RelievedSheff

kazzamunga wrote: »

Wow, 285 for a tiny studio, bargain...

I mean, I don't like new-build flats or houses myself and I wouldn't choose Help to Buy either, but I understand what you're saying.

If you live in NW London you would know that different areas have distinct characters, and that central Harrow and Eastcote aren't really very similar. Really don't see how you can say Eastcote is ugly because people paved their driveways but sing empty Harrow town centre's praises.

Anyway, let's see what happens now.

It doesn't really matter what you like, it is your what your potential buyers like that is the real issue.

Why would they buy a second hand property that is further away from facilities and isn't being presented to it's best in the advertisement, when they can have brand new for less money?

You need to appeal much more to your target market.