What to do with flat sale???

AdmanPea

Hi all

So my flat (upper 2/3 bed in northern England) has been on sale since mid to late September and I have had literally two viewings on it. Positive feedback but they both offered elsewhere. I'm aware that due to the supply/demand issue and people wanting houses, this has created an issue with such sales meaning prices will have to go down. My own position is that I need a certain amount to be able to 'buy up' and with this in mind I can't just simply fire sale at this point. I can, however, lower price a bit. 

The way I see it, I have two options. Drop the price now to see if it garners interest and try to move in not too distant future or hang fire completely until late Feb to time the drop for March pick up. Estate agents say that the market is buoyant just not for flats and they are taking longer to sell. 

I don't know what to do for the best. I feel like things will only get worse next year so should I go hard now to try and get a deal or play the timelines and hope for better come the start of Spring? If I drop now, and it doesn't work, I could technically drop a little more in Spring so could do both but I'm currently unsure what to do for the best. I had viewed some properties but once I found I wasn't garnering interest here I stopped and it does appear many of the 'good' houses I spotted are being snapped up now. 

Still, if I wait for an ideal home to appear on market, I'll not be in a position to move ahead unless mine gets an offer so I have to focus on the sale I suppose. 

Any thoughts or advice welcome.... I'm saving more money as each month passes which will hopefully offset what I can accept on flat the longer this takes. I just don't know what the right tactic is.

Scotbot

March coincides with the SDLT holiday review. God knows what will happen but I wouldn't bet the farm on the market picking up. I would drop the price now as much as you can afford, only 3 viewings is a good indicator it is too high. This will either work or not, if not you can review in the spring. Prices on flats will probably fall and very unlikely to go up so no point in waiting

Eilidh1970

If you drop your price now and it hasn't sold by spring, my instinct would be to see if spring itself makes a difference, before any further drop. In that time period there might also have been further announcements to help the market, who knows. 

FinallyStoppedLurking

You may have to accept that you can't 'buy up' and have to take a step sideways (or even down) to get a house instead of a flat. 

Frustrating but, like all investments, there's always a risk with property. 

NameUnavailable

What type of flat is it? If it has any whiff of needing an EWS1 form then that may be putting people off (and may mean you aren't able to sell unless you had a cash buyer).

The press keep reporting that the market is booming, highest prices ever etc. etc. yet all we see on here are tales of woe about lack of viewings or mortgage valuations coming in well under the agreed price. Something ain't right!

OTOH if prices drop soon, which I think they will, you will be paying less for your next home as well.

AdmanPea

NameUnavailable said:

What type of flat is it? If it has any whiff of needing an EWS1 form then that may be putting people off (and may mean you aren't able to sell unless you had a cash buyer).

The press keep reporting that the market is booming, highest prices ever etc. etc. yet all we see on here are tales of woe about lack of viewings or mortgage valuations coming in well under the agreed price. Something ain't right!

OTOH if prices drop soon, which I think they will, you will be paying less for your next home as well.

It's an upper Tyneside flat so no EWS1 form needed, I believe. 

grumiofoundation

NameUnavailable said:

What type of flat is it? If it has any whiff of needing an EWS1 form then that may be putting people off (and may mean you aren't able to sell unless you had a cash buyer).

The press keep reporting that the market is booming, highest prices ever etc. etc. yet all we see on here are tales of woe about lack of viewings or mortgage valuations coming in well under the agreed price. Something ain't right!

OTOH if prices drop soon, which I think they will, you will be paying less for your next home as well.

I think partly down to the fact few people are going to post when the process goes smoothly - so will skew towards buying/selling where issues are encountered.

Seems logical to assume market will be stronger in certain areas and especially with certain properties, with (unfortunately for OP) flats maybe more likely to be harder to shift. 

Pricing at the lowest level you would be happy to sell at seems sensible. 

moneysavinghero

Wait for spring, maybe the vaccine will have been rolled out by then and people will be more willing to buy a flat if they think the prospect of lockdowns has gone / can't work from home anymore.

But bear in mind that the value of investments may go down as well as up. You are not guaranteed to recoup your initial investment.

Crashy_Time

NameUnavailable said:

What type of flat is it? If it has any whiff of needing an EWS1 form then that may be putting people off (and may mean you aren't able to sell unless you had a cash buyer).

The press keep reporting that the market is booming, highest prices ever etc. etc. yet all we see on here are tales of woe about lack of viewings or mortgage valuations coming in well under the agreed price. Something ain't right!

OTOH if prices drop soon, which I think they will, you will be paying less for your next home as well.

High headline prices on lower transactions just mean most people are not able to sell for the higher price, and I don`t buy the "people want houses/gardens" line from the media either, they may "want" them but unless there is a good price correction most won`t be buying them because people who couldn`t afford a house/garden before don`t magically afford it because of Covid! They actually have less chance to buy a bigger house in a recession, and who is going to buy their pokey little overpriced city flat anyway! House price bubbles are just a disaster for ordinary people really?

flyingv

I'm in a similar position to the OP.  Flat went on the market mid-late September only 3 viewings so far.  EA is pushing for me to reduce the price, but 16 out of 31 1-bed flats on Rightmove in my postcode have been reduced in the last 6 weeks and are all still sitting there unsold.  I spoke with EA today and said I'd rather wait a bit longer as it seems silly to reduce the price if it's not going to sell either way.  I don't have any outside space which he thinks is the problem, but some of the (much pricier) flats in my area have outside space, have been reduced and still haven't sold.  So hard to know what to do for the best. 

GDB2222

flyingv said:

I'm in a similar position to the OP.  Flat went on the market mid-late September only 3 viewings so far.  EA is pushing for me to reduce the price, but 16 out of 31 1-bed flats on Rightmove in my postcode have been reduced in the last 6 weeks and are all still sitting there unsold.  I spoke with EA today and said I'd rather wait a bit longer as it seems silly to reduce the price if it's not going to sell either way.  I don't have any outside space which he thinks is the problem, but some of the (much pricier) flats in my area have outside space, have been reduced and still haven't sold.  So hard to know what to do for the best. 

Of all the types of property, one bed flats are the hardest hit by the pandemic. Well, maybe studios are worse. I really don’t know how people managed during lockdown in these smaller spaces, particularly with finding space to work from home.  I think that you have to accept that the demand for these has gone right down. With 31 similar flats on the market in your postcode, unless yours is very competitively priced, it is probably not going to sell. 

Whether a vaccine rollout will change that is hard to tell. I expect that memories of lockdown will fade, and demand for smaller flats will pick up, but that might not be for some years. It also depends on whether WFH several days a week becomes the new normal.