Struggling to sell my home

Hanbal

I bought a new build 2 bed, 2 bath flat in Hampshire in 2017 for £237,500. It is in a desirable location and is nicely finished and we haven't had any major issues since we moved in, honestly I love the flat and think it is a nice place to live. 
However, since buying it, the world has changed and our situation has changed. I have started a new, better paid job and both myself and my partner are now looking to be working mostly from home (even once the pandemic is over) and as such would like to move in to a bigger house so we can have a dedicated home office space. Not just that, we are now in a position where a 3 bedroom house with a garden is very much affordable for us so it seems the right time to move.
We know about the new build premium and that we will be taking a loss on our flat, we can take a small loss and be ok with that so we decided to list the flat.
We got 4 seperate valuations at £240,000, £225,000, £225,000 and £210,000 respectively.
The last one was a bit of an insult as similar properties in the area that have sold for that price were only 1 bath with no parking and the bedrooms were a lot smaller. 
We eventually listed at £240,000 initially, then dropping to £230,000 and now down to £225,000 (knowing that we would likely need to do this, but throught it worth trying our luck). The lowest we can realistically go is £220,000 so don't want to drop the asking price to that.

In the 2 months since we listed we have had 0 requests for a viewing, let alone any offers on our flat. We spoke to an estate agent who is not our estate agent and he said flats are like that at the moment because they are only really bought by first time buyers and because all the 95% mortgages have been pulled because of the pandemic, first time buyers are finding it harder to move. 

We can't even rent it out as we have help to buy on it and don't have the £47,500 needed to pay this off.
We desperately want to move before March due to the stamp duty holiday. Is there anything we can do, or do we need to just accept our fate and the fact we are now stuck in a property that we can't sell that is far too small for what we need it for now?

Any advice, guidance, anything at all would be useful. 

Thanks

steve866

Post the listing and you will get feedback. There are new buyers looking every day, the question is where does your sit compared to others on the market? I think I read somewhere on here (or a link posted here) that when people list at higher ends of their valuations, they often sell for less overall. 

SpiderLegs

Not much you can do tbh.
If there are no buyers then you can’t sell at any price. 

If there are a limited number then you will be discounting heavily if you want it sold.
if you can’t afford to discount it then you have to wait it out.

billy2shots

Unfortunately trying for top end valuation you have missed the 'honeymoon' new to market window. Buyers will now be seeing it hanf around constantly changing price. 

Knowing nothing about your area (apart from living on the Dorset/ Hampshire border ) it surprises me that you didn't put it on at £225k from your above valuations. 

numbercruncher8

Thing is, a lot of people will be thinking like you, so flats have become unfashionable relative to houses. This is markedly more noticeable with new builds, because in many locations I have seen a new build flat is around the same asking price of an older, uglier house but crucially comes with garden and more space.

You need to look at the competition for your place and not anchor to any particular price points - put yourself in the eyes of a potential buyer, and what they might be looking at. If you don't post the link then at best there will be generalisations. For example, 2 months with 0 viewings IMO says way overpriced, but there could be other reasons.

The stamp duty holiday I think is a mirage - at this late stage you'll end up competing against others who have the same reasoning and the upfront saving is just transferred to an increase in the price of the new house.

Neither are you really stuck - everything sells at a price. You might not get as much as you want for it, but then you can always bargain harder on the next place, or move to a cheaper area. 

fishfingerbutties

Sadly the EA sounds right, flats are a struggle to shift anywhere at the moment. People wants gardens, don't want leasehold or cladding issues (not saying you have either, but it's become more of a focus when people think of flats).

Either sit tight or go right to your bottom, it's not going to get any better soon.

hazyjo

How many years on the lease? Is there a any cladding? Just wondering if there's something putting people off.

theoretica

I fear you may also be suffering from a help to buy trap - if you couldn't have bought without HTB, it means someone like you were 3 years ago can't buy from you.  So who are your potential buyers?

Angela_D_3

I’m 99.9% sure the stamp duty holiday will extend and even if it doesn’t the money you’d save on that has been added to the current asking prices so you’re no worse off.  

SpiderLegs

Angela_D_3 said:

I’m 99.9% sure the stamp duty holiday will extend and even if it doesn’t the money you’d save on that has been added to the current asking prices so you’re no worse off.  

Why are you 99.9% sure the govt will extend a scheme which you believe has had no impact?

GDB2222

theoretica said:

I fear you may also be suffering from a help to buy trap - if you couldn't have bought without HTB, it means someone like you were 3 years ago can't buy from you.  So who are your potential buyers?

I agree with that.

Plus, prices for flats in Hampshire have dropped 5% since the OP bought, according to the Land Registry:-
https://landregistry.data.gov.uk/app/ukhpi/browse?from=2017-08-01&location=http://landregistry.data.gov.uk/id/region/hampshire&to=2020-08-01&lang=en

I'm not sure whether that link will work, but LR is showing 'all property types' as up a little bit in Hampshire since August 2017, but flats and maisonettes as having dropped 5%.

The OP paid £237k. Knock off the 5% decline. Knock off say 10% new build premium. That's very rough and ready, but it brings out a figure of around £200k.

Several agents valued the property, and one said £210k. Maybe that was fair? Anyway, if the OP can't afford to sell at £210k, it doesn't really matter. But, it probably explains why the OP is getting no viewings.