Help my flat isn't selling and has been on the market since Oct 2018 ☹️

Crashy_Time

NinjaTune said:

Crashy_Time said:

As predicted, AL gets mentioned...tumbleweed.

Grow up Crashy.  Keep this up and one day you'll disintegrate like the Wicked Witch of the West, except instead of water it will be in a pool of bitterness and bile.

The tumbleweed isn't anything to do with lack of sympathy, it's purely because what needs to be said has already been said.  OP needs a better EA who will list the property with accurate descriptions and decent pictures.

All the best with your sale @Mcgowan1988 - you have a lovely flat, it just needs a decent EA advertising it.  If your current EA had done their job properly you'd probably have sold a long time ago.

Obviously you are not familiar with the reaction landlords often get on here.

seven-day-weekend

davidmcn said:

seven-day-weekend said:

For me the most important thing of all though, however nice the flat might be, is the length of the lease.  If it is only short I would need to figure the cost of extending it into my financial calculation before even going to look at the flat.  

It's Scotland, everything's freehold.

I stand corrected 😂

penguineater

As others said, the listing is lacking SO MUCH INFORMATION.

Also give us 25-30 photos. Different angles of each room, views outside the windows, view of garden, view of parking, everything. You need to sell people by the photos and description otherwise why would they go visit the property?

It's difficult to see how big or small the place is as the rooms are very empty and limited photos. I seen there is a floor-plan but it can sometimes be much easier to visually see things instead of looking at measurements.

If there was a double/king bed in the bedroom i'd be able to see very quickly if it was something I could live with.

If you paid or are hiring someone to handle the listing, fire them immediately and either do it yourself or look for another person because there is really very minimal effort put into the listing.

I'm a big fan of zoopla over rightmove due to the images being much larger and easier to see. The images uploaded should have been larger as they don't go full screen: https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/52679929

[Deleted User]

I notice the property isn't advertised on ESPC and I'd expect a property being sold in Scotland to be advertised on the regions's solicitor property solicitors property centre.  I also note that 7 pages on and the OP hasn't been back.  

Mcgowan1988

Ok guys thank you so much for all of your time and effort. Me and the hubby have a plan now thanks to the advice given 😊. I somehow have 3 viewings this sat which is amazing, so if everyone can keep their fingers crossed for me that would amazing. It's been a tough couple of years and I know I should be thankful for even owning a place of my own but the negatives are outweighing the positives, hopfully once the place is sold I can start remembering the good times xxx

Crashy_Time

jacko74 said:

ProDave said:

jacko74 said:

ProDave said:

This is a sad situation. I have mentioned before that many parts of the UK the market has been very slow since the GFC and has never really recovered, and prices are still pre 2008 levels and have never got back to that. People in the south just can't comprehend that.

I am surprised it has not sold recently.  Even where I am, at the start of the year before Covid came along, houses were selling and some going to a closing date, something I have not seen for a while.

If it has been on with the same agent for 2 years, I think it will be viewed as stale. Re list it with a different agent, different set of photos and better description.

But now you are in the lap of the gods until we find out what Covi-19 has done to the market.

I'm not sure what's so sad about prices not ''recovering'' back to post 2008 levels?... Prices that were only brought about by mass fraudulent and irresponsible lending and borrowing resulting in an unsustainable bubble that almost brought down the entire economy.

It is sad for anyone that paid peak price and now 12 years later still can only sell it for less than they paid.

But they can still sell it.. just not necessarily for quite as much as they were gullible enough to pay at the peak of the fraud/greed bubble.

As applies to everything... the value of your investment can go down as well as up.

Very true, and even more relevant now!

homersimpson246

Crashy_Time said:

jacko74 said:

ProDave said:

jacko74 said:

ProDave said:

This is a sad situation. I have mentioned before that many parts of the UK the market has been very slow since the GFC and has never really recovered, and prices are still pre 2008 levels and have never got back to that. People in the south just can't comprehend that.

I am surprised it has not sold recently.  Even where I am, at the start of the year before Covid came along, houses were selling and some going to a closing date, something I have not seen for a while.

If it has been on with the same agent for 2 years, I think it will be viewed as stale. Re list it with a different agent, different set of photos and better description.

But now you are in the lap of the gods until we find out what Covi-19 has done to the market.

I'm not sure what's so sad about prices not ''recovering'' back to post 2008 levels?... Prices that were only brought about by mass fraudulent and irresponsible lending and borrowing resulting in an unsustainable bubble that almost brought down the entire economy.

It is sad for anyone that paid peak price and now 12 years later still can only sell it for less than they paid.

But they can still sell it.. just not necessarily for quite as much as they were gullible enough to pay at the peak of the fraud/greed bubble.

As applies to everything... the value of your investment can go down as well as up.

Very true, and even more relevant now!

Maybe but consider the whole life costs, how much did they pay, how much did they spend on it and how much will cost to sell versus how much rent they would have paid in the last 12 years?

Lets say they paid 50K for it, spent 10K on it and spend 3K to sell it and then only get their original 50K back so its cost them 13K.

I'm not sure what the rent on something like that would be in that area but lets say its £300 per month, thats £3600 per year which would be £43,200 over 12 years.  Overall the saving for buying over renting would be 30K.

As an example I had a neighbour who rented their house for 10 years and paid 60K in rent over the period, the house increased in value (based on other identical houses) from around 100K to 160K and when the neighbours left they had nothing to show for it.  The landlord on the other hand had 60K in rent, 60K in captial gain less their expenses, tax etc. so would have walked away with well over 80K -90K if not more.

Whilst a lot of people set a lot of store by house price increases the most important thing is what is cheapest, buying a house or renting it and its probably nearly if not always cheaper to buy unless you want to be able to move frequently and easily to relocate for work etc.  Its also worth bearing in mind that after you have paid your mortgage off you then have no rent to pay and its a free home whereas if you rent rather than buy you whole life what are you going to do in retirement?

bob_the_dinosaur

Right then lets have a look.....
First of all OP I hope your viewings go well today and you are in a position to not need advice.
Looking at the listing I have a few points:
Your flat looks lovely, the photos do not show it.  Your EA has majorly let you down and you should ditch them (I have seen this a lot with YM properties).
You need to put some furniture in, not too much but make it look like you love it, even if you don't.
Make sure the EA is doing the viewings and is fully informed, the most picky buyer should be able to ask the most odd question and be given an accurate answer, no ifs, buts, or maybes.
As long as everything is bright, clean and modern, that should be fine.
You should be looking at either BTL investors or FTBs, if you have any spare furniture that can be put in then be prepared to offer it to a FTB to sweeten the deal, gives them a chance to get settled in and save for stuff they want.
What is the commute like to Edinburgh? if it is doable and not too expensive then shout about it, ditto parking and outdoor space.

Crashy_Time

homersimpson246 said:

Crashy_Time said:

jacko74 said:

ProDave said:

jacko74 said:

ProDave said:

This is a sad situation. I have mentioned before that many parts of the UK the market has been very slow since the GFC and has never really recovered, and prices are still pre 2008 levels and have never got back to that. People in the south just can't comprehend that.

I am surprised it has not sold recently.  Even where I am, at the start of the year before Covid came along, houses were selling and some going to a closing date, something I have not seen for a while.

If it has been on with the same agent for 2 years, I think it will be viewed as stale. Re list it with a different agent, different set of photos and better description.

But now you are in the lap of the gods until we find out what Covi-19 has done to the market.

I'm not sure what's so sad about prices not ''recovering'' back to post 2008 levels?... Prices that were only brought about by mass fraudulent and irresponsible lending and borrowing resulting in an unsustainable bubble that almost brought down the entire economy.

It is sad for anyone that paid peak price and now 12 years later still can only sell it for less than they paid.

But they can still sell it.. just not necessarily for quite as much as they were gullible enough to pay at the peak of the fraud/greed bubble.

As applies to everything... the value of your investment can go down as well as up.

Very true, and even more relevant now!

Maybe but consider the whole life costs, how much did they pay, how much did they spend on it and how much will cost to sell versus how much rent they would have paid in the last 12 years?

Lets say they paid 50K for it, spent 10K on it and spend 3K to sell it and then only get their original 50K back so its cost them 13K.

I'm not sure what the rent on something like that would be in that area but lets say its £300 per month, thats £3600 per year which would be £43,200 over 12 years.  Overall the saving for buying over renting would be 30K.

As an example I had a neighbour who rented their house for 10 years and paid 60K in rent over the period, the house increased in value (based on other identical houses) from around 100K to 160K and when the neighbours left they had nothing to show for it.  The landlord on the other hand had 60K in rent, 60K in captial gain less their expenses, tax etc. so would have walked away with well over 80K -90K if not more.

Whilst a lot of people set a lot of store by house price increases the most important thing is what is cheapest, buying a house or renting it and its probably nearly if not always cheaper to buy unless you want to be able to move frequently and easily to relocate for work etc.  Its also worth bearing in mind that after you have paid your mortgage off you then have no rent to pay and its a free home whereas if you rent rather than buy you whole life what are you going to do in retirement?

1) Yes, making buying look like the best bet on paper is always great until something comes up that challenges the view, maybe it is a massive repair bill, maybe house prices drop or the main employer in the area shuts down, or maybe the person can`t sell their house for two years and the stress just isn`t worth the anecdotal profits people on the internet keep telling them are baked into the deal? What interest rate are they paying on the 50k in your example?

2) Rent is a cost, a mortgage is a debt - secured on the roof over your head - and vulnerable to prevailing market forces regarding interest rates, costs etc.and you are basically attached to the house if you need to move until you can find a buyer, and there is enough evidence on threads here to put most people off the landlord route for all time IMO.

3) Unless you know how much your neighbour`s landlord paid for repairs. mortgage etc. you can`t really crunch the numbers, and if he had not found a tenant to stay for ten years (many posters try to tell us that the average tenant moves every few months!) the numbers would look very different (as they will now going into a recession with falling house prices)

4) Someone in retirement might just pay the 300 p.m  from savings/investments, or buy a suitable property for cash when they need to. What does someone on an I.O mortgage do near retirement, or someone who can`t sell their house to downsize?

leonj

Your Move, there is your problem get a decent agent