No viewings on flat

RelievedSheff

Crashy_Time said:

RelievedSheff said:

Crashy_Time said:

RelievedSheff said:

Unfortunately I think after lock down people are looking at what they want from a property more carefully and a 1 bed flat with no outside space isn't necessarily going to be high on the list.

No viewings would tend to suggest that the price is just too high for the market. 

The market has changed a lot in the last few months. I think that properties like yours have taken and will continue to take the brunt of the price drops.

The pictures could be better in the agents advert but they are not by a long way the worst ever.

I disagree, most people are just going to go back to doing what they were doing as quickly as they can, many will be desperate for overtime or just to keep a job and they will continue to buy based on employment/location, size and price, and in a recession with banks tightening most people are in a less favourable position to pick and choose their ideal property anyway. Instead of boosting prices in rural areas this event is likely to drop them as the economy and city/town based property market that has fuelled rural purchases falters.This flat will sell at between 80 - 100k IMO, it is a price problem not a garden problem.

Meanwhile back in the real world a large proportion of the UK workforce are currently working from home with employers realising that in a lot of cases there is no real need for people to work full time in the office. 

I am included in this number with no prospect of returning to the office anytime soon, if at all.

For those of us in this position space to work from home and outside space to break up the monotony are important. 

Unfortunately for the OP a one bed flat with no outside space doesn't offer that and that is why in my opinion they are going to struggle to sell this property. It looks to be a great little flat it is just a case of bad timing.

As pointed out though people just go to the park, this was my back garden during lock down....

Crashy_Time said:

RelievedSheff said:

Crashy_Time said:

RelievedSheff said:

Unfortunately I think after lock down people are looking at what they want from a property more carefully and a 1 bed flat with no outside space isn't necessarily going to be high on the list.

No viewings would tend to suggest that the price is just too high for the market. 

The market has changed a lot in the last few months. I think that properties like yours have taken and will continue to take the brunt of the price drops.

The pictures could be better in the agents advert but they are not by a long way the worst ever.

I disagree, most people are just going to go back to doing what they were doing as quickly as they can, many will be desperate for overtime or just to keep a job and they will continue to buy based on employment/location, size and price, and in a recession with banks tightening most people are in a less favourable position to pick and choose their ideal property anyway. Instead of boosting prices in rural areas this event is likely to drop them as the economy and city/town based property market that has fuelled rural purchases falters.This flat will sell at between 80 - 100k IMO, it is a price problem not a garden problem.

Meanwhile back in the real world a large proportion of the UK workforce are currently working from home with employers realising that in a lot of cases there is no real need for people to work full time in the office. 

I am included in this number with no prospect of returning to the office anytime soon, if at all.

For those of us in this position space to work from home and outside space to break up the monotony are important. 

Unfortunately for the OP a one bed flat with no outside space doesn't offer that and that is why in my opinion they are going to struggle to sell this property. It looks to be a great little flat it is just a case of bad timing.

As pointed out though people just go to the park, this was my back garden during lock down....

Access to countryside is not the same as having your own outside space. Especially during the lock down we have just had where access to public outside space was severely limited.

We have access to miles and miles of open space from our front door which we did enjoy during lock down but that isn't the same as having some outside space at home to sit out in and enjoy a BBQ and a few beers, or whatever your tipple of choice may be.

Crashy_Time

RelievedSheff said:

Crashy_Time said:

RelievedSheff said:

blue_max_3 said:

RelievedSheff said:

Unfortunately for the OP a one bed flat with no outside space doesn't offer that and that is why in my opinion they are going to struggle to sell this property. It looks to be a great little flat it is just a case of bad timing.

Lack of outdoor space would not concern me. I live in a top floor flat and there are parks and a world outside if I choose. I had a big garden for over 30 years and didn't spend that much time in it!

In ordinary times that may well have been the case. However we no longer live in "ordinary " times. The memory of lock down, where visits to public spaces were severely limited, is still very fresh in people's minds. 

People are starting to appreciate property with a private outside space.

So if they don`t already own it, and we are entering recession with job losses and 15-20% deposits required where do they get the cash to buy it? 

Ask the people who are currently moving. Transactions are way up on last years figures so people are clearly moving somehow.

But are they moving from city flats to houses/flats with gardens? That was the specific claim you made, and you have shown no evidence so far that this is happening, all that has happened is that a backlog of transactions and a small boost from people hoping to save a few thousand on stamp duty has caused a spike in the stats.

TBagpuss

I've no idea how accurate it is, but most of the papers have had articles quoting agents as saying that outside space and home offices are much higher on people's 'must have' list then they were pre-covid, 

OP, I agree with those suggesting that you try to improve how the flat is presented by getting better photos, maybe re-arranging the furniture and 'dressing' the place to look a bit more welcoming etc, but I suspect that the issue is price.Using the 'similar properties' and excluding retirements homes, on right move, brings up 5 or 6 one bed flats within 3 miles, at prices from £110 - £120K, and there seem to be a number of 2 bed flats for £140K which aren't age restricted.

The stamp duty holiday won't help you much as your market is most likely FTB who wouldn't pay any at that price anyway, or investment buyers who would only any a minimal amount.
I think also that anyone who can is likely to go for a 2 bed rather than a 1 bed, so I think probably the reality is that there needs to be a bigger price difference between yours and the 2 beds. 
Speak to your agents, who know the area, but I suspect that you might see more interest if you were marketing at £125K  or thereabouts, with a view to getting £120K. 

Crashy_Time

TBagpuss said:

I've no idea how accurate it is, but most of the papers have had articles quoting agents as saying that outside space and home offices are much higher on people's 'must have' list then they were pre-covid, 

OP, I agree with those suggesting that you try to improve how the flat is presented by getting better photos, maybe re-arranging the furniture and 'dressing' the place to look a bit more welcoming etc, but I suspect that the issue is price.Using the 'similar properties' and excluding retirements homes, on right move, brings up 5 or 6 one bed flats within 3 miles, at prices from £110 - £120K, and there seem to be a number of 2 bed flats for £140K which aren't age restricted.

The stamp duty holiday won't help you much as your market is most likely FTB who wouldn't pay any at that price anyway, or investment buyers who would only any a minimal amount.
I think also that anyone who can is likely to go for a 2 bed rather than a 1 bed, so I think probably the reality is that there needs to be a bigger price difference between yours and the 2 beds. 
Speak to your agents, who know the area, but I suspect that you might see more interest if you were marketing at £125K  or thereabouts, with a view to getting £120K. 

Most people now will be more concerned with finding a buyer or raising the deposit, if they even want to buy at all during what is shaping up to be the biggest economic crisis any of us have seen, than creating a "must have" list, you need to take these property puff pieces in the media with a large grain of salt.

RelievedSheff

Crashy_Time said:

RelievedSheff said:

Crashy_Time said:

RelievedSheff said:

blue_max_3 said:

RelievedSheff said:

Unfortunately for the OP a one bed flat with no outside space doesn't offer that and that is why in my opinion they are going to struggle to sell this property. It looks to be a great little flat it is just a case of bad timing.

Lack of outdoor space would not concern me. I live in a top floor flat and there are parks and a world outside if I choose. I had a big garden for over 30 years and didn't spend that much time in it!

In ordinary times that may well have been the case. However we no longer live in "ordinary " times. The memory of lock down, where visits to public spaces were severely limited, is still very fresh in people's minds. 

People are starting to appreciate property with a private outside space.

So if they don`t already own it, and we are entering recession with job losses and 15-20% deposits required where do they get the cash to buy it? 

Ask the people who are currently moving. Transactions are way up on last years figures so people are clearly moving somehow.

But are they moving from city flats to houses/flats with gardens? That was the specific claim you made, and you have shown no evidence so far that this is happening, all that has happened is that a backlog of transactions and a small boost from people hoping to save a few thousand on stamp duty has caused a spike in the stats.

I guess the evidence will come once post covid sales start completing and a bigger picture can be built of the types and location of properties that people are buying.

For now all we have is the word of the agents and what their prospective purchasers are looking for which as the previous poster indicated is outside space and room to work from home.

AdrianC

RelievedSheff said:

Crashy_Time said:
As pointed out though people just go to the park, this was my back garden during lock down....

Access to countryside is not the same as having your own outside space. Especially during the lock down we have just had where access to public outside space was severely limited.

Indeed. We're very close to similar "park"land...

But the park authorities closed it off completely. Not that we could have driven there legally anyway until a week or two ago.

AdrianC

AnotherJoe said:

Crashy_Time said:

Re the OP flat - It is overpriced - we are heading into a major recession - start at 100k IMO.

In the supermarket this morning walked past the newspaper rack, one of the headlines was along the lines of "record house price rises" 
What's that about ? 

Express or Mail?

A more rational source...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/20/britain-housing-market-post-lockdown-mini-boom
"Britain’s housing market is enjoying a post-lockdown mini-boom fuelled by this month’s stamp duty cut, pushing asking prices to a record high, according to the property website Rightmove."

Crashy_Time

AdrianC said:

AnotherJoe said:

Crashy_Time said:

Re the OP flat - It is overpriced - we are heading into a major recession - start at 100k IMO.

In the supermarket this morning walked past the newspaper rack, one of the headlines was along the lines of "record house price rises" 
What's that about ? 

Express or Mail?

A more rational source...
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jul/20/britain-housing-market-post-lockdown-mini-boom
"Britain’s housing market is enjoying a post-lockdown mini-boom fuelled by this month’s stamp duty cut, pushing asking prices to a record high, according to the property website Rightmove."

Good sentiment (or lack of economic understanding) indicator but actual sold prices are more important.

ProDave

I had a chat with our local estate agent this morning.  She tells me that since the re opening of the property market they have had plenty of viewings and several offers for houses with gardens,  But not a single viewing of any flats.

Crashy_Time

AdrianC said:

RelievedSheff said:

Crashy_Time said:
As pointed out though people just go to the park, this was my back garden during lock down....

Access to countryside is not the same as having your own outside space. Especially during the lock down we have just had where access to public outside space was severely limited.

Indeed. We're very close to similar "park"land...

But the park authorities closed it off completely. Not that we could have driven there legally anyway until a week or two ago.

Sure, but it is open now? People have very short memories, they will just crowd onto beaches and drink lager in the park now, that is easier than raising the deposit for a house with garden, there won`t be another "Stay at Home" moment IMO, not unless it gets really bad, and by then most people wouldn`t need to be told to stay in anyway, but I can see shutdowns of flights/retail/hospitality being an easy/necessary move for governments who need to be seen to be taking some kind of action if it spikes. The idea that against the backdrop of economic damage caused by all the shutdowns people will be running around trying to outbid each other for gardens is more than a bit laughable TBH, IMO the "Must have garden and space!" thing will be as short lived as "Must buy 300 toilet rolls every time I go into a shop in case they run out" thing. If it gets really bad gardens will be the least of our worries anyway.